Actor and humanitarian Nate Parker first received critical
attention for his starring role in The Great Debaters opposite
Denzel Washington
and Forest Whitaker. Denzel handpicked him to play the troubled yet brilliant
Henry Lowe who overcomes his selfish ways to become the team’s leader. Nate
received an honorary Doctorate from Wiley College in Marshall, Texas, the school
on which The Great Debaters was based.
More recently, he appeared in the action thriller Non-Stop, opposite Liam Neeson
and Julianne Moore. Last year, he starred in Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, opposite
Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, and Ben Foster.
In 2012, he was the toast of the Sundance Film Festival when he appeared in
Arbitrage opposite Richard Gere, Susan Sarandon and Tim Roth. That year, he also
starred as the lead in Red Tails, supported by Terrence Howard and Cuba Gooding,
Jr. It told the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, who were the first
African-American military aviators in the U.S. Army Air Corps and were some of
the finest pilots in World War II. George Lucas funded, produced and co-directed
this feature.
Earlier in his career, Nate starred opposite Alicia Keys in
The Secret Life of
Bees, which featured an all-star cast of Queen Latifah, Jennifer Hudson, Dakota
Fanning and Paul Bettany. Additionally, he’s been seen in
Pride alongside
Terrence Howard, in Dirty opposite Cuba Gooding Jr., in Felon with Stephen Dorff
and Sam Shepard, and in Tunnel Rats with Michael Pare. And onstage, Nate
appeared opposite Dustin Hoffman, Annette Bening, Rosario Dawson and James
Cromwell in “American Voices” at the Broad Street Theater.
A Norfolk, VA native, Nate studied computer programming and trained his way to
become an All-American wrestler at the University of Oklahoma. He mentors
twenty-four children from schools in central Los Angeles and spearheads projects
and events with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America. He sponsors a Peace for
Kids scholarship fund and works in their afterschool program.
Here, Nate talks about his new movie, Beyond the Lights, while waxing romantic
about his career and his life philosophy.
Kam Williams: Hi Nate, thanks so much for another interview.
Nate Parker: My pleasure, brother.
KW: I really enjoyed Beyond the Lights. What interested you in the project?
KW: She certainly devoted herself to developing and fleshing out her characters in this picture.
NP: Well, she had the time. You know what they say: “Cheap, fast and good. You can only have two.” This is a woman who takes her time. Four years for this project, four years for the last one. She’s been in the driver’s seat for so long, and been so passionate about it, and she’s never taken no for an answer. And it shows in the work. Not only did she write the perfect script, but she was so intentional about her vision coming across, that it made it easy for me to do my job.
KW: But you bring a lot to the table, too. I’ve seen you do reliably great work in picture after picture.
NP: Thanks, Kam. You and I will probably be on the phone a lot in the coming years, and you’ll always hear me say the same thing: I attribute everything that I’ve attained to my leadership. I am nothing without my director. I really believe that. I can prepare a character, and put myself in a position to deliver truthful nuance and put on the skin, but it’s the director’s job to usher me into a place that achieves the vision in way that’s understated and believable.
KW: What message do you think people will take away from the film?
NP: I think the first is that the language of love transcends all
obstacles. I think the second is that in order to love someone else you
first have to know yourself, and be comfortable in your own skin.
KW: The Melissa Harris-Perry question: How did your first big heartbreak
impact who you are as a person?
NP: Oh my goodness! That’s a good question. My first great heartbreak was
losing my father. I was 11, when I lost my dad. It changed me, because I had
to be the father for my family. My outlook on life changed immediately, and
it became all about service. And that’s how I approach my craft, as if I’m a
servant of the film. Losing my father was the biggest transition that
affected so much of my life.
KW: The Harriet Pakula-Teweles question: With so many classic films being
redone, is there a remake you'd like to star in?
NP: Funny you should ask. Yes, A Place in the Sun. It’s one of the best
films I’ve ever seen, and we’re developing a picture that’s very similar to
it, thematically.
KW: The Viola Davis question: What’s the biggest difference between who you
are at home as opposed to the person we see on the red carpet?
NP: I do my very best to be the same person. I always say I’m an
“actor-vist.” All I do, I do for my people. I make no apologies for that,
and I try to live my life as an example for young black men navigating the
life space. I want to leave a legacy behind that, when you reflect about me,
you’ll think, “Okay, there was a sacrifice made on behalf of people who
looked like him.
KW: What do you think about the unrest in Ferguson, Missouri?
NP: I went to Ferguson. I think the problem is deeper than police brutality.
I believe there’s an overall dehumanization and hyper-criminalization of
black youth that affects everyone. It wasn’t a cop who killed Treyvon
Martin. So, Ferguson was not an isolated incident, but emblematic of an
epidemic that’s been around for over 400 years. The injuries and
conditioning caused by slavery continue to live within us today. We’re
constantly told that the value of a black life is less. There’s a certain
level of white supremacy and black inferiority that’s entrenched in our
society. Once you become desensitized to that truth, you fall right into the
trap. And until we have an honest confrontation of those evils, we cannot
heal as a country, and a Ferguson is going to continue to happen every other
week. That’s why it’s so important that you, as a journalist, and that I, as
an artist, pursue justice, and make it a strong thread of who we are as
individuals.
KW: That makes me think of that famous saying by Faulkner, “The past isn’t
dead. It isn’t even past,” and how Sugar Ray Leonard told me the toughest
fight he ever had wasn’t Marvin Hagler, tommy Hearns, Roberto Duran on
Wilfred Benitez, but his fight against a lesser opponent in Boston because
of all the racism he encountered from the moment he stepped of the plane
right through the fight. He said the relentless, palpable hatred sapped his
spirit. I was stunned by that totally unexpected answer.
NP: That’s interesting. I can help but mention the irony of listening to you
relate that story as I sit here looking out a window watching a huge
American flag waving in the breeze. We are a great country, but we are sick,
and we need to be made well. And America has a long way to go.
KW: When you mention the American flag and irony, that reminds me of an what
happened to a good friend of mine, Ted Landsmark, a fellow lawyer, when we
were both in Boston back in the Seventies. He had his nose broken by an
American flag when a bunch of racists attacked him right in front of City
Hall. The photographer who happened to capture it won a Pulitzer Prize for
the photograph.
NP: Oh my goodness! I never heard about this incident. I’m googling it right
now… I’m looking at it right now. How ironic! That’s incredible! This has
been the plight of the black man in the U.S. Crushed by the very instrument
that’s supposed to symbolize freedom.
KW: Are you thinking about entering politics in real-life someday, like your
character, Kaz?
NP: No, not at all. Anything that’s been done for our people in the past,
was done outside the realm of politics. Our greatest inroads were achieved
with the help of leaders who were among the people. That’s not an indictment
of politicians, it’s just that things don’t change quickly when you work
within the political structure.
True revolution transpires on a grassroots level where change can occur very
quickly.
KW: Let's say you’re throwing your dream dinner party—who’s invited… and
what would you serve?
NP: I would invite Paul Robeson, and I would serve a vegetarian meal,
something that’s healthy for us both.
KW: Have you ever had a near-death experience?
NP: No one’s ever asked me that before. Yes, in summer camp when I was in
the 7th grade and had asthma desperately bad. I was kayaking for the first
time when it rolled over and I didn’t know how to roll the boat back
upright. I was zipped in and couldn’t get out. Fortunately, a friend, Isaac
Paddock, swam over and saved me. I literally had an asthma attack while I
was drowning. I don’t know how I survived it, except with Isaac’s help and
the grace of God. If Isaac hadn’t pulled me out, I wouldn’t be here right
now.
KW: Have you ever accidentally uncovered a deep secret?
NP: Sure, every family has its dysfunction, but I wouldn’t want to talk
about it.
KW: The bookworm
Troy Johnson question: What was the last book you read?
NP:
On Film-making, by Alexander Mackendrick, because I’m about to
direct a film in December called The Birth of a Nation. It’s a
biopic about Nat Turner. Revolution is in the air.
KW: Where did you interest in Nat Turner come from?
NP: It’s pretty much all I care about nowadays. I grew up in Norfolk and
Chesapeake, Virginia. Nat grew up about 40 miles away, in Southampton
County. And of course, he led the most successful slave revolt in American
history. I’m very much interested in aggressively pursuing justice for all
people, especially during times of moral crisis. I’m less worried about my
brand than about alleviating the plight of oppressed people. So, I speak my
mind, particularly about injustices in my community, even though that can
sometimes get you in trouble.
KW: Keep up the good work, Nate, and best of luck with Beyond the Lights.
NP: Thank you, Kam.
Related Links
The "Blood Done Sign My Name" Interview
Blood Done Sign My Name - Film Review
The Great Debators - Film Review
Beyond the Lights (2014) - Film Review