21 minute read
Hawthorne James
A Straight out of the windy city of Chicago, IL, Hawthorne James, born James Hawthorne, had an affinity early in life that he was destined to be an actor. Hawthorne would soon attend the same Catholic school as his older and popular siblings did before him. However, by the time he arrived, the nuns were rightfully tired and knew the family very well. Hawthorne eventually would “grace” their stage around the age of five or six in the kindergarten school plays. At first, all he did was run around in circles playing ‘It’, until he realized that somebody was finally paying attention to him. Someone was looking at him! Then, he knew!
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Scene from the short Abandoned Act (2018)
He knew that he could run around better than the other children who were running in circles. “I said to myself, I know how to do this. I CAN do this! So, I think it all started there. Then throughout the years, I did another play or two in grade school and later in high school, there was a priest who had done a play and every other year it would be either ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ or ‘Hamlet’. The year I became eligible, which was my tenth-grade year, the play was ‘Hamlet’. I knew I should have been playing Hamlet, but a senior usually gets that role. I also knew during rehearsal I should be playing Hamlet, and I would say to myself, “No, that’s not okay what the actor is doing!”
But I played the guard in the opening of the play and my mother was amazed because apparently, I mumbled, and no one understood me as a child. Anyway, my mother and grandmother came to see the play and when I opened my mouth, my mother leaned over to my grandmother and said to her, “Is that James Herbert?”, because they understood clearly everything I was saying. So, whenever I got on stage, it was a whole new world for me. There was no shyness and apparently none of the stuff that hindered me as a child.” During his high school years, the priest would take these plays on the road. They traveled to Minnesota, Wisconsin, and throughout the state of Illinois performing plays. It would be then, that Hawthorne saw a side of life outside of his own. “When we traveled with the plays, we would stay at White people’s houses. Now, as a kid from the Southside of Chicago, I never saw White people unless it was the nuns, the priests, the Jewish guy that owned the store next door, or the insurance man that came around once a month. Then, there were those seen on the occasional trips with my grandparents downtown. Other than that, we never saw White people. But, all of a sudden here I am, staying in White people’s houses where they had meat at every meal, the kids had their own rooms, the house was big and beautiful and they had grass outside and stuff! At sixteen years of age, I looked at it and I said to myself, “I want 26 some of this!” So, I would say, theater opened my eyes to an entirely different world.”
Hawthorne completed high school and later attended junior college where he would eventually transfer after receiving a scholarship to Notre Dame. He received his bachelor’s degree in Theatre and went on to the University of Michigan where he obtained his Masters. With scholarship offers to attend Yale and Cornell, Hawthorne decided not to continue with school. Instead, he taught for two years at Illinois State University before moving to LA where he won a scholarship from an acting competition given by Ted Lange (Ted played the bartender, Isaac Washington on Love Boat). The scholarship allowed Hawthorne to study in London at the London Shakespeare Academy. “I’ve taken acting serious all of my life and I’ve done a lot of training. Even if I hadn’t gone to college, or not knowing if I could make a living at it, acting, it’s something that I totally enjoy! It doesn’t matter if I’m doing it for $5, no dollars, $10,000, $20,000, $50,000. Every time I step on a set, every time I walk on the stage, it’s the same feeling. ‘I never want to shortchange the audience.’ So, the money means nothing to me. It’s my pride in my work that really matters. When you come out to see me on stage or see me in a film, I never want you to say, “Oh, I saw him in that and he did the same thing ten years ago in another movie, and he played the same character.” No, like I said, I take pride in the fact that every character is different. They become a real human being so that you never ever see the same performance at any time, because as an actor, it is my job to take that script and make that character different in my mind. That’s the pride I show in my performances.”
We have all either read or seen a Shakespearean play. Some of us have even played or memorized a role or quote while in school. However, Hawthorne has studied at the London Shakespeare Academy, right in the heart of true Shakespeare territory, and as lovers of the arts we were curious regarding his experience there. “It was a great experience! Like I said, I had my first experience with Shakespeare in high school. Then of course, in college, we did Shakespeare and the “classical theater”. But, when I actually went to London, there was a whole different mindset! When
Shakespeare talks about the French people, you know, it’s theoretically. In classes and so forth, when Shakespeare said French, the people would boo, because the French and English were enemies all of the time. They just don’t like each other, but when you go there, you actually see the difference between people, you understand? I mean, I’ve always thought that white people all looked alike until I went to school in England. White people don’t all look alike the same way you can tell the difference between the Japanese, Korean, Chinese or Thai people. There’s a difference between the French and the English, a very distinct difference. That is when you start to understand Shakespeare, and it was a fascinating thing. I also learned in England, the differences and the subtlety in writers’ works whether it be, Shakespeare or Ossie Davis or Ron Milner or whether it be an African playwright, there are subtleties that you have to dig, find, and understand what those are. And that's the fun of what I do. The fun of digging and researching and getting into that character. Because I know when I work as a writer, it takes time for me to understand each individual character, and I hope that the actors who are performing those characters, would understand the subtleties that I have written in them.
We were able to grab a bowl of popcorn and review a few of Hawthorne’s character roles, like Sam, the injured bus driver in Speed, we replayed The Five Heartbeats where we loved to hate and respect Big Red’s office hours, we enjoyed him as the patriarch, Uncle Bo, in The Stick Up Kids (which he also directed) and as the night watchman, George in Seven. All, Hawthorne James and all different characters true to his promise of individuality. With such a distinctive physical appearance, instead of individual characters, each as unique as the actor who portrays them, we wondered how Hawthorne was able to keep from being pigeon-holed into a stereotypical character. “They tend to do that because most Hollywood people are lazy. It’s all about the money and not about the art for most of them. It’s very rare that you get a combination of art and money and I’ve been very fortunate that I haven’t been pigeonholed in that way. I mean, I don’t do a lot of Hollywood major stuff. They’ll want you to do the same thing over and over again and I refuse to do that. For that reason, most of my work since the late nineties has been independent work, you know, if I’m not enjoying myself, then I don’t need to do it.
Since we were on the subject, we wondered if Hawthorne had ever turned down work, or accepted work because someone else wanted him even if it went against his morals or standards or maybe just for the money? “Look, I’ve got a script that I’ve written about two Black women who were sisters and Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox offered me almost a million dollars to purchase it. More like $999,000! Well the script is a story about two middle-classed sisters who grew up with ambitious women, etc., etc. etc. and it came back to me asking, “Oh, by the way, can these women be White?” I said give me my script back and y’all can shove your money up your…. So, there can’t be middle-class Blacks moving upwards? We can’t be ambitious? They can’t have complex stories because Hollywood doesn’t look at us like that…we are not complex human beings; we are human beings! Every individual is different and you’re the complexities of everyday life, but they don’t see us as that. They see us as those who feel victimized and who will accept our lot in life now. Hell, to the no!! That’s not the way it is. So, yeah, I’ve turned down money, because I HAVE to turn down money. You see there are two things in my life that I don’t do. I won’t use the ‘N’ word. I stopped using it in my personal life during my twenties. So, I won’t say it on screen or television. It’s not enough money for me to say it. So, I don’t use it. And I won’t put on a dress! So those two things alone as a Black man, I will not do. If you do that, you’ll do anything. That’s the litmus test! You have to remember, my last nine to five job I was one of the highest paid Black executives in Hollywood, so I sat in on those meetings. I was the spook that sat by the door and the White people would talk as if I weren’t there. I saw how writers would write Black roles in movies, and when they produced them the Black roles were gone and replaced by White peo- 27
ple. This is not theoretically; I saw these things happen in front of my own eye! I was in post-production and everything that Tristar Pictures did came across my desk, all of the salaries, all of the scripts before they were greenlighted, all of it. So, I am not only an actor, but I’m a writer, producer, director and an executive and have seen this business from every angle. In answer to your question, yes, I will and have walked away from money to remain loyal to my standards.”
With a new project, Necessary Sacrifices, Two Great Leaders in A Time of Crisis, a filmed stage play which not only is streaming on North Coast Repertory Theatre at https://northcoastrep.org/production/necessary-sacrifices/ but has now been extended due to popular demand. This film play is based on the real life experiences, and the autobiographies of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglas. “They actually met in the White House several times and this play is based on those meetings, what they wrote about, their struggles with the war, politics, peace, morals and here we are 160 years later, we are still saying the exact same words Douglas said then, “My God! We have lived by your side for two centuries, and you are still as ignorant of who we really are as ever!” Now, if these don’t sound like the words of today,160 years ago, then I don’t know what in the world does!!!! With such a strong personality to represent, I wanted people to have 28 this knowledge. I want them to un-
Scene from the film "Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders" (2017) - CBS, All Rights Reserved
derstand what this world is. The real world! I know my parents and grandparents who are the most devout religious and faithful people in this world died without having seen change. But, these words, 160 years later!! Go to the website and find out how to stream this play. It’s one of the top ten plays I’ve ever done in my life and I want everyone to see it! It’s fascinating and it’s written by Richard Hellesen and the work, I’m really proud of the work that has been done!”
Hawthorne also has another project on the horizon which is expected to be released within the next month or so. “…I'm extremely proud of this project as well. I have another film I did in North Carolina about six months ago, called, ‘Polished Soul’. It's about a Black man who was convicted of murder when he was seventeen. He was sentenced to life and after seventeen years he was paroled. He wrote a book and then filmed his life story. It’s an amazing story, but those are the types of things that I want to be involved in. I have to admit to you that I am extremely protective of a Black man’s cause. I am so sick of seeing the way that Black men are portrayed in the media, film, television and print media. It bothers me because my daddy and my grandfathers were the greatest men I ever met, and I never get to see those men on screen. So, I fight very hard to have positive images of Black men, because that’s who we are.
As Black people, that is our problem. When Malcolm and Dr. King were killed, there was no one else groomed. We should be like the Hydra, you cut off one head and there are five more to take its place. That’s my concern. You see, I AM ONE OF US, and I absolutely believe that I won’t be free until you are free, and it’s a proven fact.
There are images portrayed around them. The world views film and television which are the most powerful and impactful things there are in the world. It's like propaganda. We all know how powerful propaganda is. If they can repeat the same thing over and over again, people start to believe it. So, we must control our own narrative. It's like the script of the two sisters, I turned that money down, and this was back in the mid-nineties. People told me I was crazy! They said they wouldn’t have turned down a million dollars. Well, I looked at them and I said, if you sell out your soul once, how easy it is to sell out the second, third and fourth time, and you have to live with that, you HAVE to live with that. There is already a depiction of us worldwide. That's why the Koreans, Chinese and Arabs come over here, buy a business in your neighborhood, and treat you like dirt because of the images they see of us on television or movies. That's how they think you are to be treated. No, that has to stop and I'm not standing for that! You can't treat me like that, and they can’t treat YOU like that! They’ve got the wrong partner. It costs me money and sometimes it has cost me jobs, but I don’t care, because at the end of the day, what matters is my integrity. That means more to me than all the money ever printed.”
As he spoke about the portrayals of Black men on screen and how their images are perceived around the world, we also thought about our conversation with him throughout this interview, and we decided to bring the subject closer to home. With the young people protesting social and systemic injustices we wondered what Hawthorne thought, considering that he is using his platform as an artist to fight for the same equality on the stage and screens. “I think it's wonderful. Because the only thing the RULERS of this world understand is violence because that is who they are. They are the ones who have always brought violence to this world. So, I don't want to hear all this kumbaya crap, no, bring it on! I absolutely applaud the young people for stepping up and fighting this fight, but I want them to be strategic about it and leaders will emerge from this in their own time. But my concern with that is, how many presidents of the United States have been assassinated? Yet, the United States never folded because there was always someone groomed behind them, ready to take their place. As Black people, that is our problem. When Malcolm and Dr. King were killed, there was no one else groomed. We should be like the Hydra, you cut off one head and there are five more to take its place. That’s my concern. You see, I AM ONE OF US, and I absolutely believe that I won't be free until you are free, and it’s a proven fact. I’ve been stopped by the police innumerable times since I was eleven years old. And twice in the last two years within a six 29
month period. It doesn’t matter how much money you make, or how famous you are. As long as our skin is the same color as Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Eric Gardner,…..we are them! So, I've never put myself above my people. I have brothers and sisters who are concierges, worked for the post office, and you know, who are factory workers, right? Am I better than them? Oh, hell no!” Anyway, before I forget, I want to say that I try to do this in every interview that I give, well, about 90% of them. But I get so busy and sometimes I forget, but I owe my success to black people because, I mean, literally, and this is not figuratively. A number of times I was standing at a gas station, counting my nickels and my pennies, trying to figure out how much gas I can put in my gas tank. I had some notoriety and I'm thinking to myself, why am I doing this? I was accepted into law school and I could have become an attorney and make money, so WHY AM I DOING THIS? At that moment, some brother walked up to me and said, “Yo, man, I really like your work! Keep it up! You represent!” And they walked away having no understanding of how important that was for me to hear at that particular moment, because I was ready to throw in the towel, but it made my day knowing that I’ve touched them. So, I sucked it up and said, okay, I’ve got another day in me.”
Since Hawthorne has sucked it up and given us another day, we all know that his infamous office hours are…9 to 5! Known more as “Big Red” Davis than his actual name, even after being in the industry of film for a couple of ‘decades’ and hundreds of plays worldwide we wondered how he received that. “I had been doing film for about ten years before that. My first film was with Rudy Ray Moore in a film called, “Disco Godfather” where I played the bad guy. Then my first union movie was in the Color Purple. I played in Cheers and stuff like that where sometimes they would recognize you. Anyway, I got that role because I was on the road. I had been doing play after play, after play. I’ve done over three hundred plays in my lifetime, but I had just come off the road and I was burnt out and needed a break! Determined not to do anything, Dominic Hoffman called me up and said he was getting ready to do Shakespeare’s Macbeth in a small ninety-nine seat theatre in Hollywood and wanted me to audition and I declined. I’m taking a break right now, but he called me for over a week to just come in. Finally, I agreed to come in and auditioned. Afterwards, he told me that he loved me and really wanted me to do Macbeth but had promised the role to someone else. I told him that I didn’t want to do anything right now and definitely
Scene from the film "The Five Heartbeats" (1991) - 20th Century Fox, All Rights Reserved
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not the second lead and I told him no. He called me for about another week asking to just do it for him. Then he threw in the fact that my girlfriend at the time, a great actress, would be in the play. So, I gave in! Well, Robert Townsend had a friend in the play as well, and one night he came to see it and after the show he came backstage and told me that he was getting ready to do this movie and asked if I wanted to be in it. So, that’s how I got that role in The Five Heartbeats by not sitting on my butt waiting for the phone to ring and actually putting in the work! You know, I have five and six-year-old kids come up to me knowing that film because their aunts, uncles and their grandparents watch it all the time and they make them watch it. So, The Heartbeats is just, it's just incredible! It is because of this film, I’m talking to you right now because if I hadn’t done the role, we may not be having this conversation. So, I am fine when I am recognized as Big Red!
Recently, all were honored for the documentary, “Making the Five Heartbeats” which was produced by Robert Townsend. After showing in several hundred theaters across the country, they attended a star-studded after party produced by Publicist – Cynthia Busby of Busby Promotions. The entire cast (with the exception of Harry Lennox, Jr. and Leon Robinson), who were away in NY working) were there and they were all honored by receiving plaques and a declaration from Los Angeles’ City Council. With the pandemic of COVID-19 we wanted to see how or if it has affected his career or just his daily way of life as we have all begun to adjust to this new normal. “You know, it’s funny, because I guess I sometimes look at Black folks and I say, it’s like another day at the office. A lot of Black folks don’t have jobs anyway, and if we get a job, it’s temporary. So, for instance, me, I work every once in a while. However, my girlfriend, Doris works for UNLV School of Dental Medicine, she works all of the time, so it hasn’t affected her income at all. But it has affected her in other ways. But thank God, I’m with this woman now who I really love being around. You know, she’s a great woman, and if we’re stuck in the house together, I like being stuck in here with her! I mean, yes, we have to be careful and I wear my mask all of the time. Even if you want to believe that this is a hoax, I say, it’s better safe than sorry. So what, wear the frigging mask, you know!
Well, it’s been great sharing space with you, Mr. Hawthorne James, and at this point, we are going to leave the remainder of your “layers” for you to enjoy as we believe we have peeled enough for our readers to get a glimpse inside of the interesting and intriguing cool brother that you are. Always rewarding, as you never quite know a person until you sit down with them, Hawthorne, we say to you that you have many more days left in you, keep going and do what you do. You are definitely full of surprises and I am hoping that somewhere down the line those that are considering coming into the industry look to the ‘Old Gs’ for the knowledge that they’ll need to navigate through the glitz and glamour of the Hollywood lights. “Oh, cool. Well, I appreciate that, and I appreciate you taking your time to hang out with me. This has been a joy for me as well. I thank you. But, see that's, the whole thing for me. I don't need people, the general public, to see everything I've gone through. That's a fact. I want them to see the end product on the screen or on the stage, whatever it may be. It's important that these young kids who want to do what I do understand, how I got there. That's why, I went through the fact of saying, you know, what it was like, you would be just discovered and all of a sudden now you’re on screen and you deal with what you're doing. You work your rear off behind the scenes. You get the absolute. You know, with all the knowledge that's in my head, all the experience that I have gained, I don't want it to go six feet under with me.”
With that being said, continue on, my friend and we will continue to look for you on the screen and stage.
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