'One Night In Miami' Cast Talks About The Film

 

The cast of 'One Night In Miami'

By Darlene Donloe

Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, Jim Brown, and Cassius Clay walk into a motel room and what ensues is pure magic.  

That’s the premise of the much-ballyhooed fictionalized drama, ‘One Night In Miami,’ which takes place February 25, 1964, in Miami Beach, right after Clay wins the heavyweight championship against Sonny Liston.  It’s the same night he decides to officially become a Muslim, join the Nation of Islam and eventually become known as the legendary Muhammad Ali.

Most of the film takes place in a motel room. The story spans what happened before and after Clay’s championship fight.

The audience is like a fly on the wall observing what goes on naturally between four larger than life, extremely famous, black men who are at their core, good friends and just want to get together, celebrate Clay’s win, and have a good time with each other. 

As friends, they laugh and rib each other, but most of all they are fearless when it comes to challenging each other’s views on everything including the present and future of Black America. It’s not always pretty with each man unleashing a sometimes merciless barrage of ‘truths.’

The movie, adapted from a one-room play, is Regina King’s directorial debut and by all accounts, she nailed it. It's full of thought-provoking moments and memorable performances from an exceptional cast.

I recently caught up with the cast, director, and screenwriter who were all eager to talk about the captivating film. 

The film, directed by King and adapted by screenwriter Kemp Powers, stars Aldis Hodge (Jim Brown), Eli Goree (Cassius Clay), Leslie Odom Jr. (Sam Cooke), and Kingsley Ben-Adir (Malcolm X).

Q: This started with a stage play. How did you expand on that world to make this movie version? 

POWERS: I wanted to retain the theme of the stage play. I’m not precious about my own writing.  Everything else was open to being reimagined. We don’t even get to a moment that exists in the play until 45 minutes into the movie.

Q: What did you think of the reimaging, Regina?  What are some of them?

KING: The script was our Bible. It was on the page. It brought us to the table to be a part of it. We all had to audition for the job. I understood Kemp’s intention with the play and screenplay. Through vulnerability you find strength. It was me trying to push that theme even further. Expanding the prayer scene and creating moments with Malcolm where we got to see him as a father. Also, we made some choices to remove some scenes that didn't play through ‘vulnerability you find strength’ theme.  That allowed us to really dig in and capture that. What’s beautiful about the performances is, each actor understood how important the nuance moments were.

Q: Hodge, how did you come to the project? Any reservations about playing the icon Jim Brown? 

HODGE: Regina is right. We all had to audition. I had reservations because when you’re stepping into the shoes of someone who has accomplished great feats that affected your life, you want to be ready to pay homage to the person. Plus, he’s still here. He’s going to see this. Whatever I put down, it had to reflect what he thought was an honest journey.  You gotta find the honest thread of who the person is.  We worked on it daily. I was nervous, but I had help in Regina. Kemp – the words were right there and the work ethic on the fellas eased my fears.

Q: How much research did you do, Eli? When did you know it’s time to step back?

GOREE: When we wrapped. It was a long preparation process. I was going to do a play. When I was preparing that’s when I found out Regina was looking for a Cassius. There was never a time I felt that I got it. It was about being reverent. I was playing the greatest athlete of all time.

Q: Same question to you Leslie Odom.

ODOM JR: The music was a real gift for me. It was the doorway for me. It's a psychological profile on who they are. Once you marry our research with listening to the recordings, you learn more. It starts to make sense. I had to go in and recreate some of the needle drops.  I recorded “You Send Me” and “For Sentimental Reasons”. That process of listening and trying to get as close as I could, that process brought me closer to Sam. That, and watching videos. The music was the most beneficial. 

Q: Was there time to rehearse the chemistry you all had in the film?

BEN-ADIR: I think the chemistry I believe that it came down to the fact that we had Regina directing us. We were allowed to play and figure out. It was a wonderful opportunity to flow together and play together and never feel bombarded with too many technical things. Regina, because she understood what we needed, we benefited from that. We were in a relaxed flow state. We got to shoot a whole movie and stay in a rehearsal state. It was a unique experience for me. We didn't know each other at all.

Q: Was that a product of her being a performer?

BEN-ADIR: One hundred percent. It took an actor to cast me in a leading role. It took an actor to cast me in a leading role. We connected as actors. Her understanding of truth. I’ve never had the pleasure of working with someone so in tune with humanity. It was all vulnerable. It’s about real human behavior. It was like an extended rehearsal.  Staying in that state of play. It's a constant discovery, a bottomless state of ideas. You trust and let go fully. If you cant do that, you don't get this film.  

Q: How was the process - being in a confined space with limited movement and angles?

KING: We made creative choices that weren’t authentic. If we had kept it the actual size, we would have suffocated. I’m one of these people, I have to build a story in my head. If someone asked a question, I would always have an answer. The Hampton house made a suite out of two rooms for important people who came to stay. We would have the depth when I needed it and also be able to be claustrophobic when we needed to.  We had a table read and then a rehearsal the night before all of the men were in the room. I didn’t want to over-rehearse. It came down to everybody being on board. Everyone had to know the script well. This was a band. 

This quartet of musicians understood we only have this much time to make this song sing.   Everyone was game to go that extra mile.