Jeffrey Wright Talks the Cultural Relevance of ‘American Fiction’ and Hopes for ‘The Batman Part II’ – Exclusive Interview (original) (raw)
Jeffrey Wright is one of those actors who has built an omnipresent presence across the landscape of film and television. A luminary in the world of acting, Wright is known for his depth of character and the rich emotional landscapes he brings to every role. His versatile and expansive career has seen him foster roles in celebrated projects such as HBO’s Westworld, Daniel Craig’s James Bond 007 movies, The Hunger Games franchise, and most recently, Marvel’s animated series **What If…? **as its narrator, Uatu the Watcher. Jeffrey Wright’s unwavering commitment to his craft has continued to captivate audiences, and this has been yet again proved in American Fiction, which has earned him his very first Oscar nomination.
Based on the novel Erasure by Percival Everett, American Fiction is the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Cord Jefferson. The comedy centers around Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Wright), a black writer struggling to gain recognition for his literary work. Frustrated by the commercial success of stereotypical narratives about Black America, Monk decides to pen a parody of the urban fiction genre, titled “My Pafology.” Monk’s faux novel is deliberately exaggerated and filled with graphic violence, sexual content, and profanity, intended to mock the tropes and stereotypes prevalent in mainstream literature. However, the book becomes a runaway bestseller, raising questions about authenticity and the commodification of Black culture and Black identity in the publishing industry.
American Fiction sees Jeffrey Wright delve into the complexities of societal expectations and familial tragedy in a performance that has earned him a Best Actor nomination at the upcoming 96th Academy Awards, one of five nods scored by the film. This nomination was a long time coming, considering that Wright has previously given worthy performances in films like Basquiat and Cadillac Records. In the time since the release of American Fiction, it has quickly grown popular and has been celebrated for its careful balance of sharp wit and profound insight into the human condition. Having shot entirely on location in Massachusetts, Wright found himself submersed in American history and he was navigating the challenges of his own real-life familial responsibility amidst personal loss, echoing Monk’s journey.
We sat down with Jeffrey Wright to dive into his Oscar-nominated performance and discuss why audiences are engaging with American Fiction on a deep-rooted level. Additionally, having taken on the iconic mantle of Commissioner Gordon in Matt Reeves’ The Batman alongside Robert Pattison, Wright reveals to us what he hopes to explore with Gordon when its highly-anticipated sequel, The Batman Part II, enters production, despite official details remaining scarce to both cast members and audiences at the moment.
So, first of all, what were your initial thoughts on the script for American Fiction when it first came to you?
Jeffrey Wright: Cord [Jefferson] sent me the script for American Fiction via email through the usual suspects, my agents, who were very enthusiastic about what they had read. He had attached a letter to the email describing how he had come to find the book, how it had struck him so personally, and how there were many overlaps between the book and his own life. Cord further described that as he began to write the script, again, based on Percival Everett’s novel Erasure, he started hearing the character of Monk, the lead, in my voice. He had my voice in his head, for which I later apologized to him because I understand what that’s like (laughs). He said, “I hope you are as struck by this material as I was because I have no Plan B.”
Cord says that it took me a while to get back to him after he sent that email, and this is true, but it was true because I was living a very Monk-like existence at the time. My mom passed away, about a year or so before I got that script. I had the good fortune of being raised by two women, my mother and her eldest sister, my aunt, who is now 94 and is still doing very well. She came to live with us in New York right after my mom passed. It was during Covid, and I found myself in the middle of a pretty tricky and unexpected time with my kids.
Jeffrey Wright in ‘American Fiction’ courtesy of Amazon MGM
When we’re younger, we think that when we get older, life will get easier. But life says, “No, that’s incorrect.” Monk, in the story, is at that place in his life, where he’s asked to be the adult inside the room with his family and I was in that position as well in real life. So, I felt a lot of empathy and a deep understanding of the pressures that come along with that, and the sacrifices that you might be asked to make, relative to your professional and personal life. I was drawn in on an emotional level, especially that aspect of the film being balanced so wonderfully with the satirical side, the two almost enjoying a kind of symbiotic relationship with one another.
As I started to finally read the book, I realized that Cord had reshaped it in his image. Many of the catalyzing moments within the book had been reshaped because he perceived them to be more cinematic or more palatable in a different way. There is some wonderful stuff in the book though. What I particularly appreciated were these meditative moments for Monk in which he drifts off and considers his personal interests, like fly fishing and the intricacies of outwitting a fish or woodworking and the smell of the cut wood, or a story idea would drift into his head and he’ll meditate on that for a few lines. They serve as nice windows into his intellectual life and his desires. Those things were informative to me, but the script alone was really tonal and provided all the information that I needed going into filming.
On the note of family, sometimes siblinghood can be oversimplified and even brushed over in films. However, in American Fiction, Monk’s brother Cliff and sister Lisa are integral to his character. Did you do any preparation with Tracy Ellis Ross or Sterling K. Brown before you began shooting?
Jeffrey Wright: A bit, but not much. We didn’t have much time, we shot this film in 25 days. I think we got an additional day to make 26, but that was after a couple of cuts of the film. So, we didn’t have a lot of rehearsal time. Tracy and I got together a couple of days before we filmed and right away, we just fell into it. We were on the same page. We wanted to be there with equal passion. She’s so open, generous, funny, and unpredictable. If I had a sister, Tracy would be a prototype. I’m an only child. I do have cousins and god-brothers and sisters. But I think Monk wants to be an only child, there’s a bit of an isolationist in him who does things in his own way. However, the family and sibling dynamic came pretty organically.
Sterling and I met the morning that he showed up to film, and again, we were on the same page. He wasn’t going to be working at that time, but he read the script and said, “I want to do this, please let me do this.” We were equally enthusiastic about being there and equally appreciative of the story and the characters. We just went after it together and he was an ideal younger brother, full of menace towards his older brother, who was a wonderful foil for me to play opposite of. There are lots of layers and lots of movement in the relationships throughout the film, rich stuff that we all loved diving into.
Sterling K. Brown in ‘American Fiction’ courtesy of Amazon MGM
When I spoke with you last summer about Asteroid City, you told me about some fond memories you had from riding your bike through the Spanish villages while you were filming. Did you have any notable memories from shooting on location in Massachusetts for this movie?
Jeffrey Wright: Oh yeah, I rode my bike all around Boston and in Scituate, which was the fishing town 45 minutes south of Boston where we filmed the beach scenes. Yeah, oh man, Boston. I went to college in Western Massachusetts and knew a lot of people from Boston, some of whom are DNS to this day, some of whom are not. I worked in Boston early on in my career at the theater and had some weird experiences there, I was basically not a fan of Boston and was not looking forward to going back. But working on American Fiction was such a wonderful experience that it kind of made me love Boston, which is a personal miracle.
Riding around the place, the history is everywhere. I had not appreciated how the universities there shape the community in such an exciting way, particularly for a young person. I was like, “Oh my god, there is Crispus Attucks’ grave site. He’s buried with the other victims of the Boston Massacre, and oh, Paul Revere is buried over there along with Benjamin Franklin’s parents at the Old Granary cemetery.” Then I would ride down by the harbor, “That’s an interesting replica of a boat — wait no, that’s the USS Constitution that was commissioned by George Washington” and it’s just sitting in the harbor there! It’s like a living history book, that town, which I hadn’t fully appreciated.
I even tried to ride Paul Revere’s route, because his name is everywhere there, and then discovered this story about a man named Mark Chapman. Long story, I won’t go into too much detail, but if you Google “Paul Revere’s Midnight Ride, **Mark Hung in Chains**” it will blow your mind. Every day was pretty cool. I like to learn about cities by riding my bike around, as I probably described to you before, so I ride to set too and that keeps me feeling alive!
What struck me the most about Cord’s script was how it narrowly tows the lines between satire and the harsh truths of reality. Do you have a favorite line or scene from the script?
Jeffrey Wright: I’ve seen American Fiction once with an audience, here in Brooklyn a few weeks ago, and it was at that point that I fully understood what the movie is. On stage in a theater, you have a relationship with the audience, so it’s intimate and you’re playing off one another. With film, you’re more detached, it’s a little disorienting. The crew is there, you get a sense from them, but it’s not until it’s delivered to an audience in a cinema that you completely resolve the process. So, I watched it with an audience and there were so many moments that struck them, which was really gratifying. But there was also so much laughter that some lines were missed!
One of the best lines in the movie is in response to something that I say, which is in the trailer, “The dumber I behave, the richer I get.” I say that to Arthur, who is played by John Ortiz. I’m going to paraphrase but he goes, “Yeah, why do you think my father moved my family here from Puerto Rico?” It’s so wonderfully absurd and cynical in the best way. I love that line, that’s one of my top five from the film. There are a lot of great lines but audiences often don’t hear that because they’re already laughing. I guess those are champagne problems! (Laughs)
American Fiction has resonated strongly with audiences. The love for this film can be easily found both online and in person**. Is there something specific that you hope audiences will be able to take away from it?**
Jeffrey Wright: I’ve found this to be true in speaking with people, but I hope that audiences find something of themselves inside this story, no matter what their background is. Whether it be in Monk’s struggles with misperception, that doesn’t necessarily only apply to a black man, it can apply to many people who feel the pressure or frustration of misperception. I think the family dynamic also provides an open door for audiences to see themselves.
‘American Fiction’ courtesy of Amazon MGM
Certainly, the caretaker aspect of Monk’s journey has resonated with a lot of people who have had a parent with Alzheimer’s or even a parent who was ailing in another way. What that allows is a sense of familiarity for audiences, a sense of perhaps relief and comfort inside the film. That then affords an even greater accessibility to the social commentary being made through satire and with a good deal of humor. It seems to me that it’s a good space in which to consider the questions and issues that we raise which are so timely now, and central to a lot of conversations.
This national dialogue that we’re having around race, history, representation, and diversity is happening in all corners of our country and other corners of the world, but it’s not happening well. It’s not necessarily a conversation that people are entering willingly, or that people are fluent in and can have productively. I think that at least within the couple of hours that our film runs, that space is provided and people are enjoying it as well as finding commonality with one another in a pretty healthy way, particularly at this time when different groups seem to be at each other’s throats, wanting only to fight and not problem solve. We’re just a movie, but maybe we are one brick in a house that is a little more harmonious.
To wrap things up, I wanted to quickly ask about the sequel to The Batman. You recently said that you haven’t heard anything yet script-wise, but I was wondering if there’s anything you’re hoping to see from Commissioner Gordon in the sequel?
Jeffrey Wright: Well, it’s probably not a good idea to get too far ahead of Matt [Reeves]. One of the things that I’ve spoken about with him a little bit is, in playing the role, I wondered about his private life and I wonder about people who have the level of responsibility that he has, having that public face of rectitude and goodness. I wonder what lies underneath Commissioner Gordon because the Batman wears his cowl but, in some ways, Gordon wears a mask too.
Gordon represents justice in a way through his type of righteousness, not sanctimony, and I wonder what might lie behind that mask with the sacrifices that he may have to consider because he gives so much to this public persona and his civic duty. What’s the bearing of all that on him, underneath his mask? Those are questions that might be interesting to pursue, but we’ll see. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to read and dive back into it, but I know as much as you know about it at the moment. We’ll get there!
Release Date: December 15, 2023.
Directed by Cord Jefferson.
Written by Cord Jefferson.
Based on Erasure by Percival Everett.
Produced by Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson, & Jermaine Johnson.
Main Cast: Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, John Ortiz, Erika Alexander, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, Issa Rae, & Sterling K. Brown.
Cinematographer: Cristina Dunlap.
Composer: Laura Karpman.
Production Companies: MRC, T-Street, Almost Infinite, & 3 Arts Entertainment.
Distributor: Orion Pictures & Amazon MGM Studios.
Runtime: 117 minutes.
Rated: R.