WATCH | Sanaa Lathan, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Mekhi Phifer And Russell Hornsby Bring The Story Of ‘The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat’ To Life - video Dailymotion

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The Hulu film explores the enduring bonds of friendship as three women navigate decades of love, family, and life’s challenges.

Transcript

00:00We're all going to go through ups and downs and trials and tribulations, you know, it's

00:05not the measure of a person on, you know, if they fall, it's how they get up.

00:11And you know, because everyone is going to fall, but not everyone gets up.

00:16And so, you know, to put love and trust and admiration and just, you know, all of those

00:29different traits at the forefront, I think, you know, helped James and Odette get through

00:35the things that they've gone through, not just in this, what you see on screen, but

00:39throughout the years in our backstory, at least in my mind.

00:44And so it took a certain strength and I love to see that there's a man, a black man in

00:53particular in this film that is a true support structure.

00:59And it doesn't make him weak.

01:01He's actually a stronger presence because of his support.

01:05Mama said I was born cursed with a life of fearlessness.

01:09Barbara Jean, your friends are here.

01:12If you don't want that hand broke, you better get it up off her.

01:16Go on and zip it.

01:17I want blood all over my dress.

01:18Come on.

01:19Fate might've put me on a one-way street, but I was destined to walk that street well

01:30loved with my girl Clarice and our best friend, Barbara Jean.

01:35Look at the three of y'all walking in here, all pretty and shiny.

01:39Remind me of the Supremes.

01:40Welcome to Earl's.

01:41All you can eat.

01:42We still look as good as we did back in the day, right?

01:47Come on.

01:48My first question is for you.

01:51Barbara Jean is one of the most complex characters in the film, and she went through a lot during

01:55the duration of the story.

01:56What initially drew you to the character of Barbara Jean?

02:00I just, I loved her resilience.

02:06I have had a lot of people in my family who have dealt with addiction, the disease of

02:12addiction and have seen their stories and their struggles.

02:17I've seen some people succumb to it, and I've seen some people triumph, and so that

02:22really resonated with me in terms of her journey, and yeah, I mean, I just love, she's a fighter.

02:29No matter how unlucky her life path has been, she's a fighter, and I admire that.

02:38Now, I just want to know, Odette is portrayed as a strong character, especially in the face

02:42of adversity.

02:44What was your process when preparing for the role in bringing the balance between her strength

02:48and her vulnerabilities?

02:49You know, I try to bring my well of personal experience to what I do, and then I had a

03:01wonderful director in Tina Mabry, and just brilliant, brilliant co-workers in Sanaa Lathan

03:10and Uzell and Makai and Russell, so that, honestly, that's 80% of the work, you know?

03:20And the rest of it is just me, you know, the patterns, looking at the patterns of women

03:27like that in my life and, you know, pulling from that.

03:31Now, the relationships in this film are deep and they're real complex too, and it's a lot

03:36of love and loss throughout the film.

03:38Makai, as an actor, what did you find most rewarding in portraying these difficult moments

03:44with your wife during a time of need?

03:47Well, you know, one of the things that, you know, was rewarding by playing in these difficult

03:54times is what also drew me to the script initially anyway, was that, you know, we're all going

04:03to go through ups and downs and trials and tribulations, you know?

04:08It's not the measure of a person on, you know, if they fall, it's how they get up and,

04:13you know, because everyone is going to fall, but not everyone gets up.

04:19And so, you know, to put love and trust and admiration and just, you know, all of those

04:31different traits at the forefront, I think, you know, helped James and Odette get through

04:37the things that they've gone through, not just in this, what you see on screen, but

04:42throughout the years in our backstory, at least in my mind.

04:47And so it took a certain strength and I love to see that there's a man, a black man in

04:55particular in this film, that is a true support structure and it doesn't make him weak.

05:03He's actually a stronger presence because of his support and to me, that's what drew

05:09me to it and what really got me excited about this film and this character in particular.

05:16So Russell, for you, my brother, I had a question about this because I've seen a lot of films

05:20that kind of like chronicle a person's lives for like a long period of time and this can

05:25actually be for the entire panel.

05:27Did you two do any dialogue with your younger selves in the film to kind of bring cohesion

05:31to the older roles and vice versa?

05:34Yes.

05:35And what was that conversation like, what were those dialogues like for you?

05:41For me, it was very simple.

05:43Xavier, who played my younger half, I actually just kind of tell it to him.

05:49I think it's about the character having fun and just kind of embracing that and embracing

05:54just the love of himself for himself, you know?

05:59And that's a dot that's connected throughout their journey, their story, until Richmond

06:06has an opportunity to redeem himself towards the end of the film.

06:12What about you, Sinai?

06:13Did you have any dialogue with your younger self as well?

06:16Yes.

06:17Tati Gabrielle, the wonderful young actress who shared Barbara Jean, it was great because

06:23we were all encouraged to get together with our younger counterparts and Tati and I talked

06:30about Barbara Jean's history.

06:32We kind of came up with things together.

06:34We came up with her arc, some little gestures, subtle things, and it was surprising when

06:42I finally saw the movie how it kind of was really seamless with all of the younger parts.

06:49I really think it paid off, but it was great to collaborate on a role like that, you know?

06:55Angelou, you've played in a couple of period pieces in your career, and I know that your

07:02role particularly, and this was in the 90s, but a lot of this story is set in the 60s

07:06and 70s, during a time of great political and social change.

07:10What resonates with you most about the 60s and 70s in America?

07:14I think if it were up to me, I would only do period films.

07:21I enjoy them.

07:24Just the experience of making a period film, the clothes, the culture of that kind of filmmaking

07:32is exciting, is really particularly exciting to me.

07:37And I think art, someone asked this question earlier, I think art is far more consequential

07:43than any policy, any political work that has ever been done.

07:48Art moves the needle in a much more profound and quicker way.

07:56And the reason why I'm always interested in doing period films, 60s or 70s, it is the

08:03act for me of giving voice, giving presence to figures that are actively now being redacted

08:13from history books.

08:14And it is my way of reclaiming that space.

WATCH | Sanaa Lathan, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Mekhi Phifer And Russell Hornsby Bring The Story Of ‘The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat’ To Life

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