Latest / The Breakfast Club / INTERVIEW: Chloe Bailey and Malcolm D. Lee Talks New Movie 'Strung', Love Vs. Control, red Flags, Horror Resurgence + More
Transcript
- 0:01Speaker 1: Every day a week ago.
- 0:04Speaker 2: The Breakfast Club. You don't finish for y'all done.
- 0:08Speaker 1: Morning.
- 0:09Speaker 3: Everybody is d j en Vy, Jess hilarious, Charlamagne, the
- 0:12Speaker 3: gud We are the breakfast Club. Law la Uses here
- 0:15Speaker 3: as well. We got some special guests in the building. Indeed,
- 0:17Speaker 3: we have cousin Chloe Bailey, she's back, and we have
- 0:21Speaker 3: Malcolm Lee.
- 0:22Speaker 2: Welcome.
- 0:23Speaker 3: How y'all feeling excellent?
- 0:25Speaker 2: Excellent?
- 0:25Speaker 1: How are you guys doing?
- 0:26Speaker 2: Bles's black and Holly Favoritechoe? What was you doing with
- 0:28Speaker 2: that lady's ousan in this movie?
- 0:30Speaker 4: Don't you know she was? That's not Clo.
- 0:33Speaker 5: Bringing back movie.
- 0:38Speaker 1: The movie is strong and it comes out right. Let's
- 0:44Speaker 1: go over.
- 0:46Speaker 3: You have a new film called Struck, which comes out
- 0:48Speaker 3: on the twenty six. Would it be would you consider
- 0:50Speaker 3: it a scary movie?
- 0:52Speaker 5: I would consider it a thriller, psychological erotic thriller.
- 0:56Speaker 1: Okay, now what is it now?
- 0:58Speaker 3: I feel like, especially this generation loves thrillers, love these
- 1:02Speaker 3: horror type of movies. What is it about it? It
- 1:05Speaker 3: seems like it's making resurges.
- 1:07Speaker 1: I don't know.
- 1:07Speaker 5: I mean, why do people want to be scared roller
- 1:13Speaker 5: coaster rides? I mean the same thing you know, like, listen,
- 1:16Speaker 5: I don't I'm not a horror person that this is not.
- 1:18Speaker 1: I didn't do this movie because it's a hard movie.
- 1:19Speaker 1: It's a thriller. I love thrillers.
- 1:21Speaker 5: You know Fail Attraction, for instance, one of my favorite
- 1:23Speaker 5: movies of all time. And I was like, okay, you
- 1:26Speaker 5: know that people like these kind of like they want
- 1:28Speaker 5: to be on the edgency that they want to guess
- 1:30Speaker 5: what's going to happen, but they can't guess what happens.
- 1:32Speaker 5: It's particularly in this movie. I think people are going
- 1:34Speaker 5: to be surprised. They're definitely gonna be surprised, like they're
- 1:37Speaker 5: going to be gagged.
- 1:40Speaker 1: I think.
- 1:40Speaker 6: So that's a crazy thing because when you said that,
- 1:42Speaker 6: I'm thinking about Leila and all of this stuff and.
- 1:45Speaker 4: See how it ties into the plot.
- 1:46Speaker 1: Yeah, give too much?
- 1:47Speaker 7: Well, I would think about the part with her on.
- 2:01Speaker 4: Him.
- 2:06Speaker 1: What do you think is the biggest message in the movie.
- 2:09Speaker 8: The biggest message is one wrong move could alter your
- 2:12Speaker 8: entire life, so be careful.
- 2:14Speaker 4: That's what the message of this film to me is.
- 2:16Speaker 1: And all money and good money.
- 2:18Speaker 3: Yes, what's the premise of the movie For people that
- 2:20Speaker 3: don't know. Right now, you've got a movie strung. What
- 2:22Speaker 3: is it abouout giving? Because we seen the movie so.
- 2:26Speaker 5: An inspiring musician played by Chloyd Bailey, uh it gets
- 2:30Speaker 5: the opportunity to tutor a young troubled girl in music
- 2:34Speaker 5: by a very affluent, rich family you know, played led
- 2:38Speaker 5: by lind Woodfield. And you know as she gets into
- 2:41Speaker 5: the house, things start to unravel and secrets gets revealed
- 2:46Speaker 5: and things like that.
- 2:48Speaker 2: You don't have to give lynd wid Field no motivation
- 2:50Speaker 2: to be.
- 2:54Speaker 1: Believe it and always rich.
- 2:58Speaker 4: Word came up.
- 3:00Speaker 1: Y oh yeah in this case, deph like she came up
- 3:02Speaker 1: no doubt.
- 3:03Speaker 5: Yeah, no, listen, Len's a phenomenal actress and I've been
- 3:06Speaker 5: waiting to work with her for a long time. And
- 3:07Speaker 5: to be able to pair up with her on this
- 3:10Speaker 5: and with Chloe was was a dream.
- 3:12Speaker 1: Now, Chloe, did you do your own stunts?
- 3:14Speaker 7: Like?
- 3:14Speaker 1: Could you get hit with a lot of things in
- 3:15Speaker 1: I did?
- 3:16Speaker 4: I did do my own stunts.
- 3:17Speaker 8: Shout out to the incredible stunt doubles for the extra
- 3:20Speaker 8: hard falls.
- 3:21Speaker 4: That I'm gonna do without injuring myself.
- 3:23Speaker 8: But I'm such an adrenaline junkie, I know, Like when
- 3:26Speaker 8: we had the rehearsal week of prep and we had
- 3:29Speaker 8: the stunt. I was extra excited for that, Like that
- 3:31Speaker 8: was my favorite part in Miss Lynn is the exact
- 3:34Speaker 8: same way, Like I was scared to do certain stunts
- 3:36Speaker 8: with her and she was like, oh no, you give
- 3:38Speaker 8: me your full energy.
- 3:39Speaker 4: And we were really tussling on the floor.
- 3:41Speaker 8: Really yes, I had bruise on my thigh from her
- 3:44Speaker 8: sixth ins to letto heel. We were going yes, we
- 3:48Speaker 8: were going yes, And I was.
- 3:52Speaker 4: Like, I really don't want to hurt you.
- 3:54Speaker 8: And I said, please make sure it's extra pat and
- 3:55Speaker 8: she's like, go come on, come on, bring it on,
- 3:57Speaker 8: and we.
- 3:57Speaker 4: Were just laughing in between takes.
- 3:59Speaker 1: It was a time.
- 4:00Speaker 5: I will say that Chloe, like she is in this
- 4:02Speaker 5: movie from beginning to end and everything, and she has
- 4:05Speaker 5: so much to do in this movie, like emotion, stunts,
- 4:10Speaker 5: some of the erotic stuff. You know, it's really and really,
- 4:14Speaker 5: I mean just tremendous, tremendous performance from her. And like
- 4:17Speaker 5: we shot for thirty six days and she did not
- 4:20Speaker 5: have a day off.
- 4:21Speaker 2: I mean, somebody erotic stuff. I had to close my
- 4:23Speaker 2: eyes like what the hell are you doing?
- 4:29Speaker 1: Exactly nothing was shown.
- 4:31Speaker 4: She had a ban do and a full boxer brief on.
- 4:38Speaker 2: I don't want to ask one question that won't give
- 4:39Speaker 2: anything away.
- 4:40Speaker 7: Yes, everybody says they want love, but a lot of
- 4:43Speaker 7: people really want control.
- 4:44Speaker 1: That what's the difference interesting love and control? I don't know, Like,
- 4:51Speaker 1: is that really true?
- 4:53Speaker 4: Yes?
- 4:54Speaker 3: Wow, I know that's right, Chloe, break it down, Chloe,
- 4:56Speaker 3: in my experience, break it down.
- 5:00Speaker 8: As a virgo rising myself to you know, I have
- 5:04Speaker 8: to kind of dial that back as well. And I'm
- 5:07Speaker 8: even now like I'm learning I can't control another human being.
- 5:10Speaker 8: The only thing that I can control is myself. So
- 5:12Speaker 8: I do find that very true, to be honest, what
- 5:15Speaker 8: you said.
- 5:16Speaker 6: So you're learning it now, what was the recent experience
- 5:18Speaker 6: that told you that?
- 5:19Speaker 4: Just learning through life?
- 5:21Speaker 8: Like you can never change people or try to fit
- 5:22Speaker 8: them into the mold that you want them to be in,
- 5:24Speaker 8: Just like I don't want people to do that to me.
- 5:26Speaker 4: So when you said that, I was like, preach it.
- 5:28Speaker 2: You don't feel like this in this movie? Would after control?
- 5:31Speaker 4: Oh?
- 5:32Speaker 1: Yeah, in this movie?
- 5:33Speaker 5: I thought you were talking about random.
- 5:39Speaker 1: Sometimes I'm not sure about you.
- 5:40Speaker 5: Sometimes what I want.
- 5:44Speaker 1: I'm like, okay, these got your questions are what? Yeah? No, no,
- 5:47Speaker 1: I think certainly in this movie.
- 5:49Speaker 5: I don't think anybody's looking for love necessarily, they are
- 5:51Speaker 5: looking completely looking for control.
- 5:53Speaker 1: I think I think I think that Layla is looking
- 5:55Speaker 1: for love.
- 5:56Speaker 5: But and if she finds it in this little girl
- 5:58Speaker 5: and real attach that that, you know, in a bond
- 6:01Speaker 5: with her because she's dealing with a trauma of her
- 6:03Speaker 5: of her own, well last leader.
- 6:05Speaker 3: To control, right, because you think you love something so
- 6:07Speaker 3: much you want to control it so it never goes away.
- 6:10Speaker 5: Wow, I think I don't I can't love in this movie.
- 6:15Speaker 5: Is I don't think much of a thing. Although I
- 6:18Speaker 5: think I think she's looking for connection and she does
- 6:22Speaker 5: find connection, you know, with with Marcus, you know through music.
- 6:26Speaker 5: That's their love language and and and that's his love
- 6:28Speaker 5: language as well. We find out us other things as well.
- 6:30Speaker 4: But you know, is it.
- 6:32Speaker 9: True that you had to learn how to play violin
- 6:33Speaker 9: for this movie? I mean, I know you been knew
- 6:35Speaker 9: how to play with you had to take extensive classes.
- 6:37Speaker 8: Yes, So I played in fifth and sixth grade and
- 6:40Speaker 8: I was like no problem.
- 6:41Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 6:41Speaker 8: So the very first scene we shot was the sequence
- 6:45Speaker 8: at the beginning where Leila's playing the Mendelssohn so shout
- 6:48Speaker 8: out to Stephanie who was my tutor in La who
- 6:50Speaker 8: helped like crash course me for a week and a
- 6:53Speaker 8: half before we went to South Africa to film, and
- 6:55Speaker 8: then shout out to Tony who was also the musical
- 6:57Speaker 8: tutor in South Africa.
- 6:59Speaker 4: And I'm the person.
- 7:00Speaker 8: Who's always watching the movies and I'm like, the lip
- 7:02Speaker 8: syncing's not accurate, the breathing is off, the plane's not right,
- 7:05Speaker 8: wrong cord on the keys. So I was like, Okay,
- 7:07Speaker 8: I really can't mess this up. And I remember I
- 7:09Speaker 8: would text and call Malcolm. Malcolm, I don't think I
- 7:11Speaker 8: could do this in a week, but we pulled it off.
- 7:14Speaker 1: So as we did, she did, she did.
- 7:16Speaker 6: Every time you see you playing, that's like one hundred yeah.
- 7:20Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 7:20Speaker 3: Do you ever read the comments from like when you
- 7:22Speaker 3: dropped the trailer and the first coming is always Chloe.
- 7:25Speaker 3: If I would have walked in the house and they
- 7:26Speaker 3: asked me to train that girl, I would have walked
- 7:28Speaker 3: that out.
- 7:30Speaker 1: Do you feel that way?
- 7:30Speaker 3: Because as soon as I see that girl pop up
- 7:32Speaker 3: out and be like nah, I'm good.
- 7:34Speaker 8: Of course, I'm a I'm a huge scaredy cat, So
- 7:36Speaker 8: I would have turned the other way.
- 7:38Speaker 5: Yeah, But I mean, you know, sometimes you look at
- 7:40Speaker 5: the opulence, and you look at the at the at
- 7:42Speaker 5: the where you could possibly live, and kind of money
- 7:45Speaker 5: they're offering is kind of it's particularly someone in these
- 7:48Speaker 5: days and times trying to get a foothold, you know,
- 7:51Speaker 5: and trying to like teat something that you actually studied.
- 7:54Speaker 5: I mean, you know, like, Okay, maybe it's something's weird
- 7:57Speaker 5: certainly about this girl creepy, but you know, I need
- 8:01Speaker 5: the money. I might need this money at least try
- 8:03Speaker 5: it out and see.
- 8:03Speaker 7: But she's also not the only person in the house
- 8:05Speaker 7: wearing a mask, physically wearing That's exactly what we.
- 8:09Speaker 5: All wear, a mask, Charlottmagne, and certainly in this movie,
- 8:12Speaker 5: that's what the little girl tells the grandmother yours first, what.
- 8:17Speaker 6: About Because there's a lot of ancestor talk, right, like
- 8:20Speaker 6: trust and the ancestors, and then there's like the African
- 8:22Speaker 6: like the mask and the heart talk a bit about
- 8:25Speaker 6: the observation there, like what that is supposed to read
- 8:28Speaker 6: to the audience who's watching it.
- 8:29Speaker 5: You know, I was really taken by the script by
- 8:32Speaker 5: Alan McElroy and a lot of that was embedded in
- 8:34Speaker 5: the storytelling, and you know, I think that that's really true.
- 8:38Speaker 1: I mean I think I think our answers are talking
- 8:39Speaker 1: to us all the time.
- 8:41Speaker 5: You know, and and you know, I love that line
- 8:43Speaker 5: the little girl says, you know that the instincts are
- 8:47Speaker 5: messages from from the ancestors, and so I think that
- 8:50Speaker 5: that's you know, a lore throughout and and that not
- 8:53Speaker 5: only traces back to like there are current answers, but
- 8:56Speaker 5: the ones that are from way way back.
- 8:58Speaker 1: In you know, in the motherland.
- 9:00Speaker 5: Well, so we have a lot of African lore in
- 9:02Speaker 5: this in this uh, in this film.
- 9:04Speaker 6: I thought it was crazy how it's like that that
- 9:06Speaker 6: ancestor talking. That's what protects you guys at a certain
- 9:08Speaker 6: point in the movie. But at the same time, your answer,
- 9:11Speaker 6: not your ancestors, but your generational like lineage just right
- 9:14Speaker 6: there with you is what you're fighting against at the
- 9:16Speaker 6: same time. Like that play I thought was cool, Thank
- 9:19Speaker 6: you very much, you walk. I don't know if that
- 9:20Speaker 6: was purposely done.
- 9:22Speaker 5: I mean, you know, I try to like take exactly
- 9:25Speaker 5: what's in the script and then enhance it and try
- 9:28Speaker 5: to like bring forth a vision that you know, it's
- 9:30Speaker 5: going to be as as full as possible, and representation
- 9:33Speaker 5: as representational as possible, and authentic as possible, even in
- 9:37Speaker 5: like a you know, a genre movie. You know, it's
- 9:38Speaker 5: particularly when you're just you know, dealing with black people.
- 9:41Speaker 5: You just want to make sure that that all the
- 9:43Speaker 5: images and all the all the messages feel like authentic.
- 9:49Speaker 3: But you are scaredy cat, you said, right, yes, what
- 9:51Speaker 3: brought you to this movie?
- 9:53Speaker 8: Well, I have never seen musical instruments being used as weapons.
- 9:59Speaker 8: I'd that was just so fun and it was done
- 10:02Speaker 8: in a non corny way, and of course the script
- 10:06Speaker 8: and I loved it immediately, and I was really drawn
- 10:09Speaker 8: to Layla.
- 10:10Speaker 4: You know.
- 10:10Speaker 8: Layla's like this goodie two shoes who's really focused on music,
- 10:13Speaker 8: and her friends are like, come on, you're a stickler,
- 10:15Speaker 8: like come on, come out, have a one night stand.
- 10:18Speaker 4: She has the wrong one night stand and the rest
- 10:20Speaker 4: is history.
- 10:21Speaker 8: But I really loved this script, and Malcolm was such
- 10:25Speaker 8: a phenomenal director. And then when I heard bee Lynn
- 10:29Speaker 8: Whitfield was attached, I just was like, Okay, this is
- 10:32Speaker 8: even more special than I could have ever imagined.
- 10:35Speaker 4: And then when they told.
- 10:36Speaker 8: Me Coco was my best friend and we're we've been
- 10:39Speaker 8: good friends since I was twelve. Like Callie and I
- 10:41Speaker 8: played the choir girls, behind her and let it shine.
- 10:44Speaker 8: So it's really cool that we all get to come
- 10:47Speaker 8: up together and shout out to Lucian who was just
- 10:49Speaker 8: phenomenal as Marcus and the entire cast Anna So and
- 10:53Speaker 8: Romy like she was just the perfect Zury And I
- 10:56Speaker 8: just loved the innocence that she brought to the film
- 10:59Speaker 8: and the love and I have.
- 11:01Speaker 4: To shout her out as well. She actually learned how
- 11:03Speaker 4: to play piano for this film. She did it before,
- 11:06Speaker 4: so like.
- 11:06Speaker 8: Knowing like the little musician in me. I was just
- 11:09Speaker 8: so enamored by her with that.
- 11:11Speaker 7: What made you cast the Partisan Fontaine's and the Coco
- 11:14Speaker 7: Joneses and Chloe's Like, what made you the musical artist?
- 11:19Speaker 5: Well, Coco, we really wanted to be in the film,
- 11:22Speaker 5: like you know, she's got a great comedic timing and
- 11:25Speaker 5: it would be a good foil you know for Laila.
- 11:28Speaker 5: As far as Partisan, I mean, it was like, you
- 11:30Speaker 5: know a lot of people auditioned for this role. When
- 11:32Speaker 5: I saw him, I was like, oh, that dude. I
- 11:35Speaker 5: didn't know who he was, right, and then I saw
- 11:37Speaker 5: who's he.
- 11:38Speaker 1: Because he seems very authentic. He seems real.
- 11:40Speaker 5: Like a lot of times there's the actors that have
- 11:41Speaker 5: tried to play rappers or rappers who can't really act
- 11:44Speaker 5: or whatever. This guy could. You know, he had he
- 11:46Speaker 5: had a bravado. He had, he had, you know, a
- 11:48Speaker 5: presence that I thought they'll be very strong for the movie.
- 11:51Speaker 5: And particularly because you know, he's kind of like a
- 11:53Speaker 5: hero in the movie, you know, like you know, like
- 11:55Speaker 5: like somebody that like you know, we don't get to
- 11:57Speaker 5: see a whole lot but only in flashback. And I
- 12:00Speaker 5: thought he was, you know, I had a very strong presence,
- 12:02Speaker 5: and I thought, Okay, he he's the he's.
- 12:05Speaker 1: The right, the right fit for this role.
- 12:07Speaker 4: I thought that was dope. You said you were a
- 12:09Speaker 4: scaredy kid.
- 12:09Speaker 1: How did you do the Exorcism?
- 12:11Speaker 4: Because you played let me tell you, I have not
- 12:14Speaker 4: watched that to this day. Then when I had eight R,
- 12:17Speaker 4: so eight R. You guys know what it is.
- 12:19Speaker 8: But for anyone who doesn't, it's like when you go
- 12:20Speaker 8: and overdub the parts.
- 12:22Speaker 4: That the mic didn't catch right.
- 12:23Speaker 8: I had to ask him to turn the TV off
- 12:25Speaker 8: and I'll just follow it with the beeps.
- 12:27Speaker 4: That's how scared I was. Yes, and I don't know
- 12:31Speaker 4: how I did that. We were filming. It was fine,
- 12:33Speaker 4: but you killed I hope I did, because I still haven't.
- 12:37Speaker 1: Why do you accept the role?
- 12:38Speaker 4: I'm sorry wrong, but how why did you accept the
- 12:42Speaker 4: role for exicism? So I thought the script was really dope.
- 12:44Speaker 8: It was, and the Russell Crowe, I mean, like, why
- 12:47Speaker 8: would I not act alongside him? And he was so
- 12:50Speaker 8: kind it was really fun to be honest.
- 12:59Speaker 2: One night thing and the yes.
- 13:00Speaker 7: So it's one red flag that people ignore just because
- 13:03Speaker 7: they're attracted to somebody.
- 13:05Speaker 8: I think the word you said control, I think, not
- 13:08Speaker 8: just in men, but also women. I think we have
- 13:11Speaker 8: to allow ourselves to enjoy the other for who they
- 13:15Speaker 8: are completely.
- 13:15Speaker 4: I think that's one red flag.
- 13:17Speaker 8: I think another red flag is if they're rude to
- 13:19Speaker 8: service people, waiters, you know, anyone cleaning anything like that.
- 13:23Speaker 8: If I see that, it's an instant turn off and
- 13:25Speaker 8: I don't want to talk to you anymore.
- 13:26Speaker 2: So you just stayed for the money in the movie
- 13:28Speaker 2: because they was all treating you.
- 13:29Speaker 6: Terrible that I know, not at first though, Like I
- 13:34Speaker 6: feel like when you meet him at first, even though
- 13:35Speaker 6: y'all don't.
- 13:36Speaker 4: Even I can't give it away, not him else in
- 13:38Speaker 4: the house.
- 13:39Speaker 6: But even when she the first couple, like the first
- 13:41Speaker 6: like a couple of days you got into the house,
- 13:43Speaker 6: it was like the family. Yeah, there was a very
- 13:47Speaker 6: like whimsical feel to him to the family, and then
- 13:50Speaker 6: things just like changed. It's like, how would you have
- 13:52Speaker 6: known that there were flags? Like eventually we started seeing them,
- 13:56Speaker 6: but at first she don't.
- 13:57Speaker 5: But she's also I'm sorry, it's okay, No, she's also
- 14:00Speaker 5: attached to the little girl.
- 14:01Speaker 2: Right.
- 14:02Speaker 5: Obviously there's there's some there's some past trauma that she
- 14:04Speaker 5: hasn't really dealt with, and she's seeing that in this
- 14:07Speaker 5: little girl. And that was, you know, one of the
- 14:10Speaker 5: relationships in the movie that we had to make sure
- 14:12Speaker 5: we underlined and make sure that that felt real and authentic,
- 14:14Speaker 5: that that she had a kinship to this little girl
- 14:17Speaker 5: and she was advocating for her because there was something
- 14:19Speaker 5: that's not just wrong with her, but something that was
- 14:22Speaker 5: causing that that that pain. And we find out later
- 14:25Speaker 5: on that you know, about attachment to her to her
- 14:27Speaker 5: biological father, played bipartisan, that there's something more than meets
- 14:33Speaker 5: the eye.
- 14:34Speaker 8: And I love how art imitates life because that's with everyone,
- 14:37Speaker 8: you know, they don't really show their full selves until
- 14:39Speaker 8: they can't right cover it up anymore.
- 14:42Speaker 4: Like the habit.
- 14:44Speaker 8: It just goes away like this is who I really am.
- 14:46Speaker 8: The facade melts away and you see, oh, this is
- 14:49Speaker 8: who I've really been dealing with. So I think that's
- 14:51Speaker 8: with everyone in this world, to be honest, And I think.
- 14:54Speaker 4: It showed a really great way in the film.
- 14:57Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 14:57Speaker 7: I liked how it showed how happy you were to
- 14:59Speaker 7: get to the jail up right, And then there's a point
- 15:01Speaker 7: in the movie where you like, I knew this was
- 15:02Speaker 7: too good to be true, and it just had me thinking,
- 15:04Speaker 7: like joy shouldn't be a red flag for black Like
- 15:07Speaker 7: when things finally start going right, that shouldn't be a.
- 15:09Speaker 5: Red Like I'm with I'm with Chris Rock on this,
- 15:13Speaker 5: Like I was like, you know, like you know, I
- 15:14Speaker 5: keep a bag by the door, like somebody might take
- 15:17Speaker 5: this away.
- 15:21Speaker 6: Crazy, Like why would you just move in on people
- 15:23Speaker 6: house you don't know? No, this it had to be
- 15:25Speaker 6: too good to be true, Like I just knew, like.
- 15:26Speaker 8: Well, she didn't have a place to live. She was
- 15:28Speaker 8: couch surfing. She was on her best friend's.
- 15:30Speaker 1: Couch, who's a single mom.
- 15:33Speaker 4: Yeah, so she's like, oh, this is God answered prayers.
- 15:37Speaker 1: She's on the come up right, He's on to come up.
- 15:39Speaker 4: How did you How did pivot into this genre.
- 15:42Speaker 9: Right of like thriller, suspense stretch you as a director,
- 15:45Speaker 9: because you know, we know you feel like drama, comedy,
- 15:48Speaker 9: all of that.
- 15:49Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, I never want to be a one
- 15:51Speaker 5: trick pony. I don't want to just you know, do
- 15:54Speaker 5: one thing. Like some of my favorite directors are like
- 15:56Speaker 5: Steven Soderberg and Angley you just you just you know,
- 15:58Speaker 5: you don't know what they're gonna come up with next.
- 16:00Speaker 5: And so when I read the script, I was like, oh,
- 16:02Speaker 5: I want to do this, this is this is un
- 16:04Speaker 5: necessarily necessarily up my alley. But in terms of like
- 16:07Speaker 5: depictures of black people and try and do a different
- 16:10Speaker 5: kind of thing, it wasn't a huge stretch in terms
- 16:13Speaker 5: of like my approach to this, you know, establishing tone first.
- 16:17Speaker 5: I want to do the tone, make sure the characters
- 16:20Speaker 5: are grounded, you know, talk to the actors, you know,
- 16:23Speaker 5: tell my my vision to my my crew, same thing
- 16:26Speaker 5: with the actors, and make sure we have you know,
- 16:28Speaker 5: enough time to discuss all those things. And then you know,
- 16:30Speaker 5: also do a little research, you know, like you know,
- 16:32Speaker 5: look at some Hitchcock movies, look at you know, fail track,
- 16:35Speaker 5: look at some of the Blumhouse pictures and see, okay,
- 16:36Speaker 5: what's the rhythm of those movies? Because a lot, a
- 16:38Speaker 5: lot of times it was nice not to first of all,
- 16:41Speaker 5: not nice not to have to cut to the joke,
- 16:43Speaker 5: you know, because that gets that's very difficult, right, Not
- 16:45Speaker 5: to say that this wasn't a difficult process. It was
- 16:48Speaker 5: a nice challenge actually to like you know, not have
- 16:50Speaker 5: to like cut cut, cut, cut cut, and just like
- 16:53Speaker 5: let things kind of breathe and let actors kind of
- 16:55Speaker 5: like do their thing in the movie.
- 16:56Speaker 1: So and then you know, the the rhythm of.
- 16:59Speaker 5: A scare or a jump scare and a laugh are
- 17:02Speaker 5: very similar, so you just it's it's you just have
- 17:05Speaker 5: to you know, establish the right tone.
- 17:07Speaker 7: And then you said, the laugh and the scare similar.
- 17:10Speaker 1: In terms of like the anticipation.
- 17:12Speaker 5: You gotta set up set up something, you know, whether
- 17:14Speaker 5: you plant something early in a joke, you know, okay,
- 17:17Speaker 5: you you said something up and then like okay, like
- 17:19Speaker 5: for on Girls Trip, like oh I have to pee,
- 17:21Speaker 5: and then like you know, on the Zip blunch gets
- 17:23Speaker 5: out there, Oh my god, what's gonna happen?
- 17:25Speaker 1: Same thing with a scare.
- 17:26Speaker 5: You gotta you gotta like you know, set it up
- 17:28Speaker 5: and then like pay it off later on. So it's
- 17:30Speaker 5: it's it's a similar rhythm and you know, but it's
- 17:34Speaker 5: these aren't It's not a huge amount of jump scares
- 17:36Speaker 5: in this movie, but it does have a lot of
- 17:39Speaker 5: tension and it just you know, it keeps you on
- 17:40Speaker 5: the edge of your seat. So like that, I like
- 17:42Speaker 5: that part especially, you know, and it gets really crazy
- 17:44Speaker 5: towards the end.
- 17:46Speaker 3: Now, Tyler Perry is part of the movie. He's a
- 17:47Speaker 3: director with a producer.
- 17:49Speaker 1: How involved was he doing this? Not very he was.
- 17:52Speaker 5: He was in I know that he was integral in
- 17:55Speaker 5: getting this script out or or you know, development of
- 17:57Speaker 5: the script, and he bought the script.
- 17:59Speaker 1: But you know, between Blumhouse and Tyler.
- 18:03Speaker 5: Perry, like there they just set the playground up and
- 18:06Speaker 5: then it's up to me to like, you know, drive
- 18:08Speaker 5: it all the way home.
- 18:10Speaker 7: What relationships taught you about storytelling relationships?
- 18:13Speaker 1: Huh? I don't know.
- 18:16Speaker 5: I mean, I think everything that's happened in my in
- 18:20Speaker 5: my entire life and entire career, like I let it's
- 18:23Speaker 5: gonna sound a little bit woo woo, but like I
- 18:25Speaker 5: let God kind of like you know, flow through me
- 18:27Speaker 5: and he gives me the answers for a lot of stuff,
- 18:30Speaker 5: and I do a lot.
- 18:30Speaker 1: Of my own research and studying and things like that.
- 18:33Speaker 5: And then you know, you know, God puts certain people
- 18:36Speaker 5: in my life and you know they're they're in your
- 18:39Speaker 5: life for a reason or a season, right, And so
- 18:41Speaker 5: like it's just I think this is really true, And
- 18:43Speaker 5: like I learned something from from relationships from friends, and
- 18:46Speaker 5: I infuse it into everything that I do and.
- 18:48Speaker 7: I think about like from best Man the Girl's Trip
- 18:50Speaker 7: to even you know, Strong, It's like there's always some
- 18:53Speaker 7: type of romantic relationship.
- 18:56Speaker 2: I supposed to be romantic relationship center that senate that.
- 18:59Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, I think that I love romance, you know,
- 19:02Speaker 5: I love love, you know, and particularly you know, I
- 19:04Speaker 5: love when when when black people are in love and
- 19:06Speaker 5: seeing that on screen.
- 19:07Speaker 1: I think that you know, we we we need to
- 19:09Speaker 1: see that, you know.
- 19:12Speaker 5: Amongst you know ourselves and like and and know what's
- 19:14Speaker 5: possible or at least think that there's something possible, that's
- 19:17Speaker 5: something hopeful as possible.
- 19:18Speaker 1: And so I like doing that.
- 19:21Speaker 5: And again it's nothing about what's positive or whatever. I
- 19:23Speaker 5: just want to do something that feels authentic, what makes
- 19:26Speaker 5: your storytelling so amazing.
- 19:27Speaker 3: You know, watching a lot of movies recently, sometimes the
- 19:31Speaker 3: story it doesn't you don't get it. But with your storytelling,
- 19:34Speaker 3: from the Best Man to Girls Trip to.
- 19:35Speaker 1: This like, people get your storytelling. So what makes yours?
- 19:39Speaker 5: I want to make it very I want first of all,
- 19:41Speaker 5: I want to entertain people, right. I want to make
- 19:43Speaker 5: people to to to see themselves. I want them to
- 19:45Speaker 5: see I want them to understand it. Like I remember
- 19:50Speaker 5: in high school, you know, I would see these films
- 19:53Speaker 5: that that the people would make and I'd.
- 19:55Speaker 1: Be like, what what is what do they do? What
- 19:56Speaker 1: does that mean? I don't I don't get it right.
- 19:58Speaker 1: I want films to be ex accessible, right, I want them.
- 20:01Speaker 5: I want you to understand where where the story is
- 20:04Speaker 5: coming from, and that you can you see yourself in
- 20:07Speaker 5: those characters and all these things that we all go through,
- 20:09Speaker 5: writes of passage.
- 20:10Speaker 1: And falling in love or what have you.
- 20:13Speaker 5: You know, I think that those are things that that
- 20:14Speaker 5: I want people to kind of understand and make it plain,
- 20:17Speaker 5: not to make it, not to dumb it down, and
- 20:19Speaker 5: then you know, elevated.
- 20:21Speaker 4: You know, we resonate with it. You know, we can
- 20:24Speaker 4: see ourselves in.
- 20:25Speaker 3: It is it more difficult now because it feels like
- 20:29Speaker 3: the short movies or the short things are happening, right
- 20:32Speaker 3: you see these three movies or you see these uh
- 20:36Speaker 3: kids watching YouTube or two time speed and things like that.
- 20:40Speaker 3: Is that more difficult when it comes to write in
- 20:42Speaker 3: because I miss the movies like usual suspects where it
- 20:45Speaker 3: has to play out. Are people not staying that long
- 20:48Speaker 3: for the end?
- 20:49Speaker 5: Or I think, you know, you got to get people
- 20:52Speaker 5: a reason to go to the movies or to even
- 20:54Speaker 5: you know, sit through something, right, I mean, because there's
- 20:57Speaker 5: so many distractions out there, but you got to get them.
- 20:58Speaker 1: Something that that's gonna hook them in.
- 21:00Speaker 5: And I think that this generation of filmmakers, and you
- 21:03Speaker 5: can see it right now with like you know, obsession
- 21:06Speaker 5: and back rooms. You know, these kids are making and
- 21:10Speaker 5: I'm mean to call them kids, but these young folks
- 21:13Speaker 5: are finding their voice and they're putting it out there,
- 21:16Speaker 5: and I think that's great.
- 21:16Speaker 1: I think that there'll be more of that.
- 21:18Speaker 5: You know that we're going to see you know, the
- 21:21Speaker 5: Breakfast Club, and we're going to see Feris Virualless Day
- 21:24Speaker 5: Off and and movies like that that are going to
- 21:26Speaker 5: come back or come to speak to this generation.
- 21:28Speaker 1: I think we're in a place where where.
- 21:31Speaker 5: It's you know, consumerism or and and or people just
- 21:35Speaker 5: looking at stuff, you know, very very quickly.
- 21:38Speaker 1: Their attention spans are.
- 21:39Speaker 5: Just like like this because they're just you know, they
- 21:43Speaker 5: don't know how to be bored.
- 21:44Speaker 2: Do you believe in the micro dramas?
- 21:47Speaker 1: Believe in them? They're here?
- 21:49Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean is it a fad? Is it something
- 21:51Speaker 2: that I don't know?
- 21:52Speaker 5: I mean, like you know, like I think maybe like
- 21:55Speaker 5: seven eight years ago there was a there was a
- 21:57Speaker 5: company called Quibbi.
- 21:58Speaker 1: Quib but they weren't ready for it.
- 22:01Speaker 5: But now now they're doing quick and like the quip
- 22:03Speaker 5: is happening right now, so I mean people are looking
- 22:05Speaker 5: at them.
- 22:05Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 22:06Speaker 9: I think it's gonna like circle back around to you know,
- 22:09Speaker 9: the long form and.
- 22:10Speaker 4: Like everything repeats.
- 22:12Speaker 9: So I think it's a it's a phase right now
- 22:14Speaker 9: that we're gonna go back to seeing that long form
- 22:17Speaker 9: bodies of work where you can watch you know, Like,
- 22:20Speaker 9: I don't know, I don't think verticals is here to stay.
- 22:22Speaker 1: They might be. I mean that they'll just they'll just
- 22:24Speaker 1: have their place.
- 22:26Speaker 5: And you know, and and and everything will kind of
- 22:28Speaker 5: like you know, I think people are still going to
- 22:29Speaker 5: the movies, and and and and and as long as
- 22:31Speaker 5: it feels like it's an event, I think listen, I
- 22:33Speaker 5: think that COVID, you know, accelerated like watching things at
- 22:38Speaker 5: home and you know, and and then I think some
- 22:41Speaker 5: bad things came out of with with the with the
- 22:42Speaker 5: with the writers strike, Some bad you know, movies were
- 22:45Speaker 5: made and people are like, eh, now, I think it's
- 22:48Speaker 5: kind of bad.
- 22:48Speaker 3: Movies Amade and and and I think that's because people
- 22:51Speaker 3: are staying home so much.
- 22:52Speaker 1: Some of these movies.
- 22:53Speaker 3: It's just it's just too fast, Like you can see
- 22:55Speaker 3: the writing is not there, the shots are not there.
- 22:57Speaker 1: I feel like they're not even editing, but like he
- 22:58Speaker 1: didn't even wear that yes.
- 23:02Speaker 4: To get it out?
- 23:02Speaker 5: Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. But I think I think
- 23:04Speaker 5: the industry is writing itself again. It's it's it's like
- 23:07Speaker 5: like you said, it's it's it's it goes through waves
- 23:10Speaker 5: and ebbs and flows.
- 23:12Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, you know Chloy.
- 23:13Speaker 7: People of course have watched you grow up, right, and
- 23:15Speaker 7: everybody got opinions about who you should be. When you
- 23:17Speaker 7: see a role like this, yes, where you you know,
- 23:20Speaker 7: busting it open for another woman, Jesus, and you've questioned
- 23:23Speaker 7: the role like and how people might receive it.
- 23:26Speaker 4: Layla's doing that, but she.
- 23:32Speaker 8: But she's also a violinist and she's trying to really
- 23:37Speaker 8: make something of herself. Like we talk about that at
- 23:39Speaker 8: the forefront, but we're not talking about how she's busting
- 23:42Speaker 8: her behind and she's sacrificing her well being just to
- 23:45Speaker 8: make ends meet so that she could live out her dreams.
- 23:48Speaker 4: So, yes, she is doing that, but she's also doing this.
- 23:50Speaker 8: And we are all multi layered as not only women
- 23:53Speaker 8: but men as well. And I mean, if we're going
- 23:56Speaker 8: to create art that reflects.
- 23:59Speaker 4: Life, we have to be honest and real about it.
- 24:01Speaker 8: I mean, I think people because people have grown up
- 24:04Speaker 8: with me, which I am so grateful for, and the
- 24:07Speaker 8: fans and it feels like family. I'm happy that they
- 24:11Speaker 8: feel nostalgia when they look at me, and I'm happy
- 24:13Speaker 8: that now they're learning to appreciate who I am as
- 24:16Speaker 8: a twenty eight year old woman in two weeks, so
- 24:19Speaker 8: I'm two years from thirty, and I'm also an actress.
- 24:21Speaker 1: Oh Russia, stay in the twenties.
- 24:24Speaker 4: Yes, it's all right.
- 24:25Speaker 8: I'm grateful I have changed my perspective. I'm grateful for
- 24:27Speaker 8: another year of life and I'm learning so much. So yeah,
- 24:31Speaker 8: Layla did that, but she also doing the other things
- 24:33Speaker 8: as well. She was also playing the mental sin as
- 24:35Speaker 8: a black woman. In the opening sequence, she.
- 24:38Speaker 1: Was also open, but talk about it.
- 24:41Speaker 4: I mean, hello, we saw the blood splatter around.
- 24:44Speaker 1: Let's talk about that.
- 24:46Speaker 2: Your sense of self.
- 24:48Speaker 8: My sense of self, whoo Jesus. Definitely the people that
- 24:53Speaker 8: I surround myself with, prayer, Definitely my godmom, who's my manager,
- 24:58Speaker 8: my family. I love being an auntie.
- 25:01Speaker 4: I love Halo Hallie. Birth the greatest blessing.
- 25:05Speaker 8: I have so many little like to be honest, knowing
- 25:08Speaker 8: that I have little young ones who look up to me,
- 25:11Speaker 8: it has changed my perspective in a way, like coming
- 25:14Speaker 8: to certain things that I wear, or even certain lyrics
- 25:17Speaker 8: like I'm still a woman and I have every right
- 25:19Speaker 8: to talk about my experiences, but there are some there
- 25:22Speaker 8: are more artful ways to say things, or I can
- 25:25Speaker 8: still be sexy and show curve, but you know, it
- 25:28Speaker 8: doesn't have to be all out there. So I don't
- 25:30Speaker 8: regret how I, you know, introduce myself as a young
- 25:34Speaker 8: woman into the world. But now that I'm about to
- 25:37Speaker 8: be twenty eight, I definitely I'm want to find too
- 25:40Speaker 8: and be like okay, boom boom bomb, ma'am.
- 25:42Speaker 6: I feel like with the visuals I was watching from
- 25:44Speaker 6: the things that you put out under your mixtate with
- 25:46Speaker 6: Temple Resurrection, right, Yes, yes, it gives that. I mean
- 25:48Speaker 6: I think that you've always given up, but it gives
- 25:50Speaker 6: that though, like I'm seeing you, it's like storytell around
- 25:53Speaker 6: like the elevated sexy Thank you.
- 25:55Speaker 4: I appreciate that. Yes, that's exactly it. Thank you?
- 25:58Speaker 6: Do you when you put those things out there though?
- 26:00Speaker 6: I saw you have a conversation with people about body insecurity.
- 26:03Speaker 6: It was extra one of the outlets. Yes, when you
- 26:05Speaker 6: put those things out there, people respond to you about
- 26:07Speaker 6: different things like what are you What are you telling
- 26:10Speaker 6: yourself to not respond to those people because I see
- 26:13Speaker 6: you in the comments sometimes too.
- 26:15Speaker 8: Oh yes, so the thing about me cancer emotional. Of
- 26:18Speaker 8: course things are going to get to me sometimes, but
- 26:21Speaker 8: I have changed my perspective to instead. I used to
- 26:24Speaker 8: be like, oh my gosh, they're talking so much crap
- 26:27Speaker 8: about me. No, I'm like, thank you, thank you for
- 26:29Speaker 8: talking about me. I'm happy that you care, like I know,
- 26:32Speaker 8: and of course certain comments will still dig at me,
- 26:35Speaker 8: but you know, I'm just happy that they're talking. To
- 26:38Speaker 8: be honest, that's kind of the place that I'm in
- 26:40Speaker 8: because I need that for the job that I'm in.
- 26:42Speaker 2: But I know the difference.
- 26:44Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, And in the movie, like even when you're
- 26:46Speaker 6: in the fighting scenes and when you're in the brown
- 26:49Speaker 6: at the end of the movie, I was like, Oh,
- 26:50Speaker 6: she looks good. But then you're talking about like you
- 26:53Speaker 6: were talking about like your arms and stuff.
- 26:54Speaker 1: I'm like, girl, what.
- 26:56Speaker 4: You thank you baby?
- 26:57Speaker 8: So the thing is, yes, I want to show the
- 26:59Speaker 8: best version of myself.
- 27:01Speaker 4: Like the nice edited snatch with the corset.
- 27:04Speaker 8: I want to show that I feel great showing that,
- 27:08Speaker 8: but I also want to show yeah I have cellu
- 27:10Speaker 8: light stretch marks, Yeah, I have dimples in my arms,
- 27:13Speaker 8: certain things that I am insecure about. You can have
- 27:16Speaker 8: insecurities but still celebrate your body at the same time,
- 27:19Speaker 8: And I think that's why I'm so vocal about certain things,
- 27:21Speaker 8: because yes, I want to show the best side and
- 27:23Speaker 8: version of myself. But I don't want the generation coming
- 27:28Speaker 8: up to think that that's all there is because it's
- 27:30Speaker 8: a facade. This is my job, like this is me,
- 27:33Speaker 8: but this is me with a glam team. This is
- 27:35Speaker 8: me done up, Like I have two versions. When I'm home,
- 27:38Speaker 8: I have no makeup on, I look almost like.
- 27:40Speaker 4: A boy, and then I have this version.
- 27:42Speaker 8: So I want to be honest about both, Like if
- 27:45Speaker 8: I'm putting this side out, I want to put that
- 27:47Speaker 8: side out as well.
- 27:48Speaker 4: I get it.
- 27:49Speaker 6: The people be tough, though, but I get it.
- 27:51Speaker 5: I think I would have said Chloe is a bundle
- 27:53Speaker 5: of positivity. Seriously, every day on set, she you know,
- 27:58Speaker 5: even though she was tiring, but you know, I'm called
- 28:00Speaker 5: force calls. You're supposed to give your actress, you know,
- 28:03Speaker 5: a certain amount of time that to turn around. We're like, okay,
- 28:05Speaker 5: we need you to come and set. She was always
- 28:07Speaker 5: like okay, hey, good morning everyone. You know, just just
- 28:10Speaker 5: always positive. So like I you know, I'm very proud
- 28:12Speaker 5: of the work she did in this movie. She's fantastic. Really,
- 28:16Speaker 5: like what the the true leading lady had to do? Everything, physical, emotional.
- 28:24Speaker 1: I can cry on a dime. I mean, a phenomenal actress.
- 28:28Speaker 2: I did.
- 28:29Speaker 7: I feel sorry for Layla, just like I felt sorry
- 28:32Speaker 7: for the young lady in Obsession too, because they both
- 28:35Speaker 7: got manipulated, yes by men that caused them to act crazy.
- 28:40Speaker 1: Not just men, well not in this movie.
- 28:44Speaker 2: That's a good that's an interesting point. The title is
- 28:46Speaker 2: strung Is that just about love?
- 28:49Speaker 1: Well, it has a number of meanings, right, like strung along.
- 28:53Speaker 5: Strung out, strong, like the strings violent, exactly, exactly, a.
- 28:59Speaker 6: Little bit from the friend group a little bit too,
- 29:02Speaker 6: not like they like they pressured you into some things
- 29:04Speaker 6: that I think when you're vulnerable and you're trying to
- 29:09Speaker 6: figure out love, that doesn't always mean you're looking for
- 29:10Speaker 6: a man. Like you're dealing with a loss and you're
- 29:12Speaker 6: depending on your girlfriends and they're like, oh, we should
- 29:15Speaker 6: be over here doing it.
- 29:15Speaker 2: But she also told them how good to dig with.
- 29:24Speaker 4: Well intended you know.
- 29:26Speaker 8: I think the friends were like, Okay, this isn't helping,
- 29:28Speaker 8: this isn't helping.
- 29:29Speaker 4: Maybe a man, but the night will help.
- 29:31Speaker 2: You know.
- 29:32Speaker 4: Sometimes you need a good distraction, That's what I think.
- 29:34Speaker 5: And by the way you left the club, Layla left
- 29:38Speaker 5: the club, she was like, I'm trying to go do
- 29:39Speaker 5: my music.
- 29:40Speaker 6: She went to the Commons place ever, and was like,
- 29:42Speaker 6: you know what, we're about to get crazy after this.
- 29:45Speaker 1: Good extraction there they have to go. They have to go.
- 29:54Speaker 1: Ladies definitely check out.
- 29:55Speaker 3: The movie comes out on the twenty six this Friday,
- 29:59Speaker 3: and we appreciate you guys joining us. Thank you so much. Baily,
- 30:02Speaker 3: Malcolm d Lee and it's the Breakfast Club.
- 30:04Speaker 1: Good morning, Thank you guys.
- 30:05Speaker 2: That was fun.
- 30:08Speaker 1: Every day a week ago. Pack your glass up the
- 30:10Speaker 1: Breakfast Club finish for y'all.
- 30:12Speaker 2: Done,