November 10, 2012 - November 16, 2012, The Afro-American
B3
ARTS & CULTURE
One on One with…Leon is as much soul as it is reggae.
By Aunni Young Special to the AFRO
Actor Leon, a songwriter and leader of his of the reggae-soul band, Leon & the Peoples, recently added his voice to the chorus of entertainment industry supporters of President Obama. The star of The Five Heartbeats, The Temptations and Cool Runnings, appears in two new films, Ex-Free and Soul Ties. He was voted one of the “30 Sexiest Actors of All Time” by AOL Black Voices. AFRO: When I met you last summer, we talked about your band, Leon & the Peoples. You were very excited talking about your music. Leon: Of course, I love music! I listen to a lot of music. My dad was very big into Nat King Cole and Motown. I would listen to and learn those songs when I was young. AFRO: What is your nationality? Are you West Indian? Leon: I am African American. When I was 12 years old, my good friend Trevor, his brother became a Rasta. They took me in and taught me all about Rasta culture and vegetarian life. I kind of took to it and loved the music…My grandfather on my mother’s side was half-Jamaican but I never knew it. He died when I was 3. AFRO: The impact of reggae is strong with your music? Leon: Oh yeah. But if you listen, our music
Exhale the other day. It was really interesting to watch you in that role! Leon: I like to play a wide variety of roles…You have to take the opportunity to try and do different things. I also do that on stage. That’s one of the beauties of acting. In the theater, I am allowed to play different types of roles.
AFRO: So you are a vegetarian too? Leon: No, I eat vegetarian a lot, but I’m not a vegetarian. AFRO: You’re a father. You have a daughter? Leon: Yes, a beautiful daughter, Noelle. She’s 12…I took her last year to the BET Awards with me. We performed [as] the Five Heartbeats and she loved that. She walked the red carpet with me. She was my date. AFRO: Is there a lady in your life now? Leon: Not now. I lived with a woman for about five years. For the last [few] years or so, I’ve just been concentrating on my career… Now, my girlfriend is my career. AFRO: Are you happy with the progress you’ve made in your career? You’ve taken a break from acting to work with your band. Leon: Yes! I have a lot of respect for people who are professionals at what they do. A lot of my friends are very prominent singers, musicians. They spend their entire lives doing music. I would never want to cheapen what they do and think I could just jump into it, be good and be respected, without putting in the work. AFRO: People respect you for the roles you’ve played. Leon: I think that if you really look at my work, that I have played all types of roles.
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I was in Cliffhanger, an action film, $300 million at the box office. My biggest movie as a lead was Cool Runnings, $210 million at the box office, a family comedy. Of course, I’ve had roles where I am a bad boy. AFRO: I saw your work in Waiting to
AFRO: What are your thoughts on the 2012 presidential campaign? Leon: I am happy with President Obama. You have to realize the country was in an atrocious state before he took office. Anyone who wants to blame the economy on him is not being realistic. That’s the reason he got in office, because things were so bad. The history of the presidency is that no president can accomplish anything in one term. The first term is basically implementing your policies and…revers[ing] the situation we were in. I don’t think you should ever vote for a president unless you plan on voting for him for two terms because he can’t do anything in one term. I think if you voted for Obama and you believed in him the first time around, you have to let him have a second term to even make a difference. What I like most about our president, is that he has been a human being…President Obama has shown that he can change his policies and can change his thinking based upon what’s he seen and experienced as president, so I respect that. AFRO: Very nice to talk to you. Leon: You too. Thanks!
RZA Makes Directorial Debut in ‘The Man With the Iron Fists’ By Chelsea Battle Special to the NNPA from the LA Watts Times What do you get when you mix a former member of the Wu Tang Klan, Kung Fu, and Quentin Tarantino’s production skills? “The Man With the Iron Fists” is what. The new Kung Fu thriller, set for release in theaters Nov. 2, is not only rapper RZA’s directorial debut, but also marks his first time co-writing and starring in a major feature film. Working alongside an all-star cast, including such heavyweights as Russell Crowe and Lucy Lui, RZA plays a humble blacksmith turned lethal martial artist who helps to defend his village against a rising fleet of warriors, assassins, and a rogue war hero. Set in 19th century feudal China, the movie affords him the opportunity to live out his childhood fantasy of playing a martial arts hero. “I’ve fantasized about being a martial artist since I was a kid,” he reveals. Still, the hip hop trailblazer’s ties to a Kung Fu thriller might seem to some an unlikely union. Having gained his fame as a member of the group Rolling Stone once called “the best rap group ever,” RZA’s battles have usually been set to beats. However, the multifaceted artist shares that he has been an avid Kung Fu junkie since the late 70s. In fact, when the Wu Tang Clan formed in 1993, its name was derived from one of RZA’s favorite Kung Fu flicks: “Shaolin and Wu Tang.” Born Robert Diggs, from the time he was 9 years old the Brooklyn native lived and breathed martial arts films, from the Wuxia (movies with Chinese martial arts) to the Jidaigeki genre (Japanese films featuring samurai, craftsmen etc.) and beyond. It was after seeing the Shaw Brothers film, “The 36 Chambers of Shaolin,” that his
passion for martial arts films was significantly heightened. RZA muses that he began to recognize the similarities between the movie and his life. “‘36 Chambers of Shaolin’ is about a guy who is a student and there’s oppression going on,” he explains. “As a student he feels compelled to be a part of the revolution, and eventually he has to flee to Shaolin. On the way his friend flees with him and eventually sacrifices his life for him. So I’m seeing brotherhood. I’m seeing loyalty. I’m seeing the fight against oppression. These types of things I’m feeling in my own life, in my own neighborhood—being together with my crew, being with my brothers, and fighting against the day-to-day struggles of life and what we feel to be oppression in the projects.” In 1993 when the Wu Tang Clan debuted their first album, which they entitled “Enter the Wu Tang (36 Chambers),” it was a way of paying tribute to the movie. Kung Fu movies quickly became an escape for RZA, who would go to theaters and float effortlessly into a different world. Fast forward to the present, the real world where RZA would discover that actually directing a film— his own film—was not an easy process. “The Man With the Iron Fists” is a project 6 years in the making. RZA admits that he was not the best screenwriter at the time the story idea was conceived, so he relied on the tutelage of those close to him in the film industry. Although RZA created the story, the film was actually co-written by his friend Eli Roth, whose credits include directing “Hostel” and acting in “Inglorious Bastards.” The movie was produced under the guidance of award winning film director Quentin Tarantino. “I was advised by Quentin Tarantino to write my ideas down,” says RZA.
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(L-R) Russell Crowe, RZA and Eli Roth “I wrote [‘The Man With the Iron Fists’] into a 90 page script. I wasn’t very good at writing screenplays—I hadn’t studied it; I wrote songs.” In the movie’s infancy, production companies initially shot down the script, suggesting that the characters needed more development. After collaborating with Roth, who expressed an interest in the story early on, the script
was expanded and pitched again. “My buddy Eli Roth heard about the story and thought it would make a great movie and he came on board,” says RZA. “He took it to some people, some producers, and they couldn’t really see the vision so he took the 90 page script and rewrote it into a 130 page screenplay. Then they had the vision and saw what it was.”
Once he had a winning script RZA needed to be certain that his directorial skills were up to par. After studying filmmaking under the well-seasoned eye of Tarantino for 6 years, he looked to his mentor for the green light. “I had to be ready to direct,” RZA stresses. “Tarantino was in there, but he wasn’t going to let me take any job unless I was ready… I asked him after 2 years and he said, ‘Bobby, I don’t think you’re ready.’ I asked him after 4 years; he still didn’t think I was ready. But after the sixth year he said, ‘Bobby, I think you’re ready!’ Eli came to him and told him what we had… and he gave us his blessings and we went for it.” Testimony and evidence have shown how instrumental the Wu Tang Clan and martial arts movies have been in
allowing RZA to express himself. Both have now led him to this moment, the big screen, which in his opinion is the ultimate form of expression. “When I saw ‘Kill Bill’ (Tarantino’s award-winning film), I saw the lane I wanted to go in; I saw something that showed me that music is just one expression of myself,” he reflects. “Clothing and designing is one expression, writing is another. But there is a medium where I can take all those expressions and put into one package, and that’s filmmaking.” RZA has arrived, and all signs point to go. Set to be released in theaters this week, “The Man With the Iron Fists” serves as impressive evidence of what this talented artist can do when he puts his mind to it.