Actress Joy Bryant arrives at The Pan African Film & Arts Festival Premiere of Screen Gems’ ‘About Last Night’ at ArcLight Cinemas Cinerama Dome on February 11, 2014 in Hollywood, California
The Source Magazine sat down with “About Last Night” Star Joy Bryant. The Screen Gems film comes out in theaters nationwide on Valentine’s Day.
Check out what Bryant told reporters at our roundtable:
We got a chance to see the film and we loved it. It’s so great to see you back on the Silver Screen, you’ve been doing a lot of TV lately. Tell us what it was like working with Will Packer for this film?
It was my first time working with Will and it was kind of a no brainer when I got the offer. The original is such an beloved film and to get a chance to do it with this spin on it, how could I turn it down? And what can I say about Will Packer other than I can’t wait to work with him again because he’s a fabulous, caring, loving producer and he’s killing it.
What did you do to prepare for this role?
Well, I come in prepared with who I think the person is and I also leave myself open to what the director sees and if something doesn’t feel right, after they explain it to me I can go in that direction where it makes more sense. It’s a mix of both, bringing what you’ve come up with and taking direction. You have to come prepared and ready to play, but then be able to improvise.
The chemistry on film between all four characters is really terrific was that natural or did you know the other actors prior to this movie?
It came very naturally. I’ve know all three of them, not very well, but socially for years. Michael and I have a lot of mutual friends. Kevin and I have the same attorney and Regina and I have a lot of mutual friends. You know Regina and I would see each other out and exchange numbers, but we just never had a chance to get together. You’d think that it would be easy, but it’s actually hard to get that together; so when I got the film and we ran into each other again it was like yes, we’re finally going to be friends! I was so excited. So that chemistry was already there and it’s really great when you don’t have to really work for it. Like I said earlier with Kevin I’ve known him forever and Mike, well he’s hot so it’s not that hard to make that chemistry happen. Luckily, we didn’t have to work to hard on that and I think we were lucky that it just clicked they way that it did because that doesn’t happen all the time.
How did you approach your work in this film opposed to on television? What was the biggest difference for you?
On TV with “Parenthood” we work really fast. It’s a well oiled machine. Everyone knows what to do, their positioning and how to get it done without sacrificing the quality or anything like that. In movies things take a lot longer. You’re sitting around waiting for the shot to be set up and then you think oh yeah ok, it’s a movie, there are some differences to get adjusted to again. Also, we shot a lot of nights and I don’t shoot any nights on “Parenthood.” The other day on set my call time was 7:45am and I was done by 10am, so it was getting myself adjusted to shooting movies again like ok right, we’re shooting some nights, so getting adjusted to new sleeping patterns was a change up, but other than that, it wasn’t a difficult transition. If anything working on “Parenthood” made it so much easier for me to relax because being on the show you have to always be on your toes. We have great writing, but everyone is also doing their thing, so it’s just helped me to exercise my muscle more. Sometimes when you’re just doing TV and then a movie comes along, once your last film is over, you don’t know when the next film is coming and then insecurities start to creep in, it’s like learning to ride a bike all over again and things get rusty, you know, but because I’m always working on TV it’s helped to build my confidence and I’m able to just step into it verses having to build myself up again. So it wasn’t that bad.
You seem very selective about that projects that you do. Can you tell us your process in being cast for this film and why you chose it?
Clint Culpepper the head of Screen Gems called me. I was working on the set of “Parenthood” and he calls me and starts telling me “About Last Night” and I’m like well what is it and who’s in it and he’s like, Michael Ealy and Kevin Hart and Regina Hall and I’m like ok, fine, great I’m in, I’m in, done. That doesn’t usually happen, but it is great when it does because I hate auditioning. Auditioning is so hard, it’s still hard. So I got lucky that day when he and Will or whoever was making that decision thought of me and just called. Thank you, I mean I’m not sure if I would have gotten the part if I had to audition. Maybe, maybe not it’s always 50/50.
What kind of roles would you say that you’re looking forward to taking on and the types of projects you’re gravitating towards moving forward?
I would like to do more comedies and this may sound weird but I’m just trying to do more stories that get me excited and I’m not speaking about in an action kind of way, but I mean pieces that I respond to. It could be a horror film, it could be comedy I mean whatever it just has to be good material that I can see myself in.
You’ve been involved in a few documentaries and producing more recently, can you speak about where that’s going for you and your plans for producing in the future?
That’s one of those things where I look at where I am right now in the business and I’m very happy with my success, but I’ve started looking at other things and thinking about using my career almost as a stepping stone to do other things as well. I love acting but I also write and produce and one of these days one of those things that I was always working on over here, one of these days it will drop, you know, it’ll hit so yeah.
Do you have any desire to do any Independent pieces?
One of my dreams is to do a piece based in Paris in the 20’s. About African American’s in Paris, I love the 20‘s and 30‘s especially Paris around that time. I would like to do something that focuses on the creative life of African Americans whether it be in The States or over in Paris during that time and however it gets made, is however it get’s made. Also I’ve been working on something with Kasi Lemmons, Mike Jackson and John Legend on a piece on the Harlem Renaissance. I’m in it for the long haul, so we’ll see, I’m open.
Do you still train, do you have an acting coach or are you currently working with someone?
From time to time yes. For right now Dax Shepard is my acting coach. Dax from the show “Parenthood.” He actually coached me on an audition. I didn’t actually get the part, but I did really well in the audition. And he definitely helped me out. I tell him not only are you a writer, director, producer and star in the show as my baby daddy, but you’re also my acting coach, so now you guys know. I’m telling everybody, so yeah.
What kind of advice does Dax give you as a coach?
I think the best coaching he’s given me is to relax, because you can’t do what you want to do if you’re tense or if you’re freaked out or hyperventilating you can’t do anything, so once you’re relaxed you can do the work. I won’t even speak to much about knowing your lines and knowing the history of that character, you have to create that; but being relaxed and being yourself which is very hard to be. Also, being yourself within the context of this other person, If that makes sense. So yeah that’s it mostly, just being relaxed.
What was it like shooting scenes with Kevin Hart being that he’s so funny, was it hard to play opposite him on set?
It’s very difficult doing scenes with him because he is so funny. If you’re playing the straight guy in a scene with him, that’s a skill within itself. With Kevin and also with Regina, because she is no joke, she kills it in this film. Seriously sign her up for every movie right now because she’s been totally underrated. And when the two of them are together it was so hard because I 1) wanted to crack up the entire time and 2), I had to fight to stay in it because I would just want to sit back and watch them and enjoy it. I haven’t done many comedies, but when I shot “Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins” and I was around all those great comedians I think that prepared me for the Kevin and Regina show.
You’re characters are typically very likable. How close would you say this character Debbie is compared to who you really are as a person?
She’s a bit different because she’s someone who gave up on the idea of love and relationships. Like well if it’s not going to work why bother, she’d rather just masturbate or something. I’m definitely not like that. Relationships are hard work. Being a married woman, I understand what that means now. When I was single and someone would say it, I didn’t get it, but now I understand that we’re crazy, all of us and if you put two crazy people together what do you get? Craziness, so yeah it takes a lot of hard work and you have to be committed to it or it’s not going to work and even if you are committed and you think that you’re doing everything right, it can still fail. The chances of it not working out are actually greater than the chances that it will. But you do it anyway, right. I forgot who said this, but there’s quote that goes something like, “it’s better to have loved and lost, than to not have loved at all” and I think that’s one of the main themes of this movie. I was always the complete opposite, ready for love, like you love me, great I love you, it’s love. But I totally dig it, in order to be loved you have to be vulnerable and it’s hard to be vulnerable, but in order to have a chance at something, you have to be or else you’re not going to have chance.
What do you think the appeal to woman is in this film, what lessons will woman walk away with?
Debbie is that woman who’s career driven, career obsessed or whatever you want to say and yet she’s given up on even the possibility of love. You don’t need a man to make you whole necessarily, but we don’t need to be completely closed off to the possibility of love either and the movie shows that you have to still be open to something. It shows that you can be focused on your career, you can also be focused on your goals, but we all need love, and you can’t forget about that. It’s showing women that you don’t need a man to become the woman you want to be, but it’s also showing women that it’s really nice to have a partner in life. You want someone who’s not a step ahead or a step behind, but someone who’s right there with you. It shows that you have to put in the time for something to happen and that it’s not just going to happen. So I think that might be a lesson for the ladies.
How do you feel about the landscape of African American Actresses in film and television right now, there was a time when reality TV was taking over but now with Actresses like yourself and Gabrielle Union, Kerry Washington and Tika Sumpter there seems to be a shift, can you share your thoughts on what’s happening right now in Hollywood?
I think it’s a very promising time. I think that overall change takes time. It’s going to take some time for that to not even be a question or an issue and it’s slowly happening and it’s great that there are black women being nominated for Oscars, and being given the opportunity to be in these great films and TV shows. At the same time, while that is promising and hopeful and I’m excited for any of us whether it be in woman, any people of color in general, whenever any one of us gets to have these wonderful opportunities I’m so excited. I would love to flash forward to five years from now. Hopefully, this is not just this year, hopefully it’s sustainable and we can build on this and also that there’s more diversity behind the cameras from the executives, to the writers to the producers to the directors we need all of that, it’s not just a TV show or a movie, it has to be an completely integrated movement. I’m hopeful that it will happen eventually, we’ll get there, we have some ways to go, but we’ll get there!
-Chasity Saunders (@itsmychasity)
