And Mos Def?
Well, I think he’s a very deep actor. As you pointed out, I worked with him when I did Block Party with Dave Chappelle, and he was easily the most charismatic actor . . . equally with Dave, but he’s more of an actor, inside. He has this quality — just by looking at him, you feel something going on deep inside him. And he’s a lower-energy character than Jack, with more inside, so it was a very good pair.
They play small characters who come into their own, the catalysts for bringing the community together to tell their story, even if that story is based on fiction.
Yes, exactly. We underestimate ourselves. I had a French teacher when I was in seventh grade. She told us at the beginning of the year that our story is as interesting as anybody else’s. She was trying to unlock our fear or embarrassment to tell our stories, and I think that’s a very good point that I took in and I always remember and I try to express that in this film.
Isn’t it a bit anachronistic that people are still watching movies on VHS in your film?
Well, I know that my mother could not work a DVD player, and I’ll tell you exactly why. It’s very simple: with a DVD, when you press “PLAY,” you’re not pressing “PLAY,” you’re asking the system if it wants to play! You have to wait for it to say, “Yeah, okay, I’m going to play your DVD,” but with video, you press an actual button and get your immediate order. I can see why my mother wouldn’t like it. Sometimes, when your DVDs get scratched, you’d be happy to have VHS, because VHS, even when as bad as possible, you can always get the information out.
