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Albert Hughes Talks John Wick, Tupac, and Making 'The Continental' | SWAY’S UNIVERSE
Oct 5, 2023
The thrilling action franchise of John Wick has taken the world by storm, and the fans can't get enough of the badass assassin. With the upcoming 'The Continental' spinoff series, the stakes are higher as the show explores the origins and story behind the luxurious hotel featured in the John Wick franchise. Recently, Albert Hughes, the director of 'The Continental: From the World of John Wick,' sat down with Sway In The Morning to discuss the show's production, his experiences with Tupac, and more. Let's dive in and find out what Albert Hughes had to say about the much-anticipated spinoff.
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0:00
okay that was a clip from the
0:01
Continental from the world of John Wick
0:03
directed and produced by our good friend
0:08
it's a three-part series is out right
0:10
now
0:11
for many reasons I really cherish this
0:14
man and his work alongside of his
0:17
brother you know that really helped us
0:21
um to bring our stories to the big
0:23
screen and share them with the worlds
0:24
over the decades they were directors and
0:27
producers who didn't shy away from their
0:30
own people from the community and when
0:33
they did story lines that dealt with the
0:35
community they got real people involved
0:37
hence Menace to Society
0:40
um 1995 they came out with their
0:42
presidents they were the first
0:44
um people to really put uh our co-host
0:47
here
0:48
the illustrious had to be on the big
0:50
screen first like the first the first
0:54
um mini movies one of my favorite movies
0:56
The Book of Eli for so many reasons uh
1:01
is something I think that's gonna stay
1:04
on the trophy case yes um if these guys
1:07
never got the accolades that the
1:10
institution or the industry is supposed
1:13
to give them trust every Accolade they
1:15
could receive from the people in the
1:17
community in the audience has been given
1:19
over and over I want to give them his
1:21
flowers and welcome him back to the show
1:23
ladies and gentlemen big round of
1:25
applause for the one and only Albert
1:26
Hughes it's my first time not bad
1:33
[Applause]
1:38
because I'm the introvert of the two and
1:42
a lot of people know that
1:45
let's tell the story Heather okay
1:48
Albert what can I give you guys love
1:50
first oh please because I I live in
1:53
Prague and I keep up with your show
1:54
because I I need to keep you know my
1:56
finger on the post of things and what
1:59
you do with the Beastie Boys I saw that
2:01
last week was amazing but I guess you
2:03
weren't holiday somewhere
2:05
but you held it down
2:08
thank you and DB and torch thank you
2:11
they were there you guys went on camera
2:12
though
2:16
the whip ain't always on camera no okay
2:19
but like wow because uh when I was 18 19
2:22
and we were coming up uh one of their
2:24
wives Mike D's wife was the one that
2:26
helped us and we were around them before
2:29
we ever directed hanging out their house
2:30
with the Beastie Boys or an integral
2:32
part of our history so to see you
2:34
interviewing them and then your show
2:36
overall I'm just you know it's part of
2:38
the culture and Beyond but uh there's
2:40
only three people that have confronted
2:42
the Kanye's situation so well okay and
2:45
that's you that's van Lathan recently
2:47
yeah and Charlemagne and both just I
2:51
just loved it yeah I'm not gonna say
2:53
which side but it was dope it was dope
2:55
man you listen man he used to say this
2:58
that man I swear we're going to get in
3:00
another one of his movies soon all right
3:04
[Laughter]
3:16
but you've never been on my show no I've
3:19
never been in your movies
3:21
now you've been on my show so next
3:29
but I remember that day and I saw my
3:31
brother tell it twice because he gave
3:33
the blow by ball in the obvious
3:34
situation you know with Tupac which was
3:36
a few years ago 2017. okay very accurate
3:40
your brother picked up did you pick up
3:43
he said he picked up Tupac and slammed
3:45
him on the on the front of a car the day
3:47
it happened he told me the story and
3:49
it's never changed that story like I saw
3:51
only a glance you know the so-called
3:53
running we can get into right
3:56
um I look back a couple times and one
3:58
time I couldn't see him there's so many
4:00
guys on but when it ended he had one
4:02
little cut in his nose and he says I
4:03
never went down I never went down it was
4:06
like it was from like Raging Bull you
4:09
know like Robert Robert Nico's character
4:11
with Sugar Ray Robinson beat can I curse
4:13
yeah yeah one Sugar Ray Robinson beat
4:15
the [ __ ] I don't remember that stuff and
4:17
uh Jake LaMotta looks at Sugar rain goes
4:19
I never went down Ray I never went down
4:21
he got rat packed and never went down
4:23
and when a little cut in his nose but
4:26
anyways the point was
4:27
like you were talking about Heather and
4:29
how they told the story of you know yeah
4:32
because he told me twice when he was
4:34
here and I studied my brother because I
4:36
need to know what to be out you know
4:37
with my get my makeup game right if he's
4:39
looking too greasy because sometimes
4:45
TV looking a little greasy yeah like
4:49
blood must not have not have a Glam
4:51
Squad you know I'm gonna bring my own
4:58
like who's the oldest twin
5:07
but he developed everything like a beard
5:11
and mustache and armpit hair and I think
5:14
if we are if we're fraternal he actually
5:16
I came out first but he may be the older
5:18
one and as I always say because I was so
5:21
introverted coming up he also dealt with
5:23
all the bullies like okay he got to a
5:25
point where he'd always you see his fist
5:27
ball up and you'd smile and you know it
5:29
was on yeah like you guys were talking
5:31
about his knuckle game you go you got a
5:32
knuckle game melon he's like no I'm not
5:34
really a fighter but you know when I
5:35
have to it's like that old ad from that
5:38
I forgot it was a beer a Corona the
5:40
world's most interesting man yeah yeah
5:43
um Dos Equis and the narrator said he's
5:46
uh he's a lover not a fighter but don't
5:48
get it twisted he's also a fighter you
5:50
know yeah yeah yeah no my brother's like
5:52
that he was like a bigger brother in
5:54
weights when we grew up oh really so the
5:56
story was true which part the pick clock
5:59
up over his head like no
6:02
embellished if he said over his head no
6:04
I think what happened is he he moved him
6:06
to the hood of a car okay and as he was
6:09
holding him
6:10
the change my brother puts a crowd
6:13
grabbed my brother and he had the chains
6:14
right and the last thing my brother
6:17
heard from Park and I know there's gonna
6:18
be all these Stan haters out there
6:19
saying those [ __ ] but whatever
6:21
um was yo man go get my chains back
6:23
there was no real fight yeah there was a
6:25
sucker punch in the back I had a rat
6:27
pack and a little scruffle yeah scuffle
6:30
it was no straight up fade none of that
6:32
you know okay but now in retrospect it's
6:35
20 23 and I find it really interesting
6:38
how great we are yo you your brother
6:42
um uh John Singleton
6:44
binge that show oh my God yeah snowfall
6:47
oh shocked yeah yeah I was shocked by it
6:50
because I'm like you know sometimes you
6:52
see what they do with black people on TV
6:53
and like I'm not gonna watch that then I
6:56
watch it I'm like this is Unbreaking bad
6:57
level yeah magnificent but at that time
7:01
because Minister Society came out in 93
7:03
yep yep
7:05
um what was the relationship like with
7:07
the Spike Lee's the John Singleton of
7:11
the world back then let's start with
7:13
well we came from where you guys came
7:15
from was hip hop yeah right and we were
7:17
doing hip-hop music videos and Hip-Hop
7:19
people were we were they were our heroes
7:21
okay so it was uh it wasn't like we were
7:24
beefing with anybody but we knew
7:25
consciously to set ourselves aside from
7:27
them we're biracial kids too that's
7:29
another thing so we grew up being
7:32
Outsiders on both communities so we uh
7:35
your mom was white right yeah Armenian
7:37
Armenian okay by proxy you're sitting
7:39
there kind of um studying human behavior
7:42
not knowing you are the good and bad
7:44
from both sides right and so when we we
7:47
consciously knew whenever they wanted a
7:49
photo shoot with so-called black
7:50
filmmakers like we're not doing it with
7:52
Spike we're not doing it with John we're
7:53
never going to be seen in public with
7:54
them and we knew what we were doing it
7:56
was a visual to set ourselves aside it
7:58
wasn't anything racial it was like they
8:01
lumped us all together you never hear
8:02
all the European American filmmakers or
8:05
the Jewish American filmmakers or the
8:06
Italian sometimes you heard that the
8:08
Italian American like Scorsese and
8:09
Coppola right but then there's also it
8:12
gets into this very subtle conversation
8:13
about African-Americans like I gotta get
8:15
rid of that [ __ ] too because how many
8:17
times you go you know my European
8:18
American friend the other day ago like
8:20
you never heard that and we got a big
8:22
ass continent all them people are not
8:24
the same just like it is in Europe so
8:26
why are we I mean and we changed five
8:28
times from you know [ __ ] negro colored
8:31
uh like how many times they're gonna
8:33
change our name so it's part of that too
8:36
because we just want to be taken as
8:38
people yeah and we can make a white
8:40
movie we make a black movie we can make
8:41
it and that's what's great about the
8:42
Continental yeah as you'll see
8:44
you two in particular ways you're going
8:47
to see some women black women Vietnamese
8:50
women Dominican Puerto Rican just
8:51
kicking ass basically right yeah and
8:54
it's made for to have fun
8:57
um and we've done all these movies that
8:59
were dealing with social issues gun
9:00
violence and this is finally there's gun
9:03
violence but it's more
9:05
um Fantastical Fantastical that's the
9:08
word I never used I like that though
9:09
Fantastical then it is uh Dark and
9:13
Dangerous okay I like that so y'all
9:15
never took pictures with Spike in them I
9:18
mean we may have after that after we we
9:20
came on the scene and then we would say
9:22
stupid stuff because we had big mouths
9:24
back then hip hop Mouse like the best
9:27
[ __ ] talker of all time was Tupac and
9:30
hit him up yeah right and he was our boy
9:32
and we saw a lot of that flare
9:36
before he was famous and we're just
9:38
watching and you know we were friends
9:39
with Easy E Dr Dre
9:43
um we even did krs-1 videos back in the
9:45
day which ones did you do we oh my god
9:48
do you remember yes okay there was there
9:50
was two one was called 13 and good okay
9:53
and one was called duck down but 13 are
9:55
good doesn't date so well because it's
9:57
about messing with a 13 year old girl
9:59
it's a violence album from the sex and
10:02
violence but but I got to get back to
10:04
you in a second we're gonna get to that
10:06
cold night what was that
10:08
Bronx in the Bronx this is what you said
10:10
you didn't think he liked you oh because
10:12
that was introverted yeah
10:14
please tell us this is why he's awful
10:18
this one right here he's awful like he's
10:21
an OP he's working against all good
10:24
people in media and he presents himself
10:26
as one of us but it's not true like for
10:30
real like I just need to make the
10:31
statement today in front of witnesses
10:33
that was the worst setup
10:37
what I said was I was like I asked way
10:41
in the team this morning have you ever
10:43
had
10:44
um like friendships relationships with
10:46
twins and they said good morning and
10:49
they was like why do you ask and I said
10:51
for years I felt Albert did not like me
10:55
and so I said but the other day he was
10:58
up at SiriusXM during his rounds and I
11:01
was doing my show I was doing heatherby
11:02
live and he walked by and like we just
11:06
instantly waved at each other
11:09
and that's what I said to sway and I was
11:11
like I felt like this lift after 20
11:14
years off of me because I was like only
11:19
only time we spoke was in the audition
11:21
this is back in like 95 or whatever 95
11:24
94 in the audition and then I got to set
11:27
and it was zero and I have not seen him
11:30
since then since then really this is my
11:34
first time seeing him since 1994 when we
11:36
were in the Bronx in the freezing cold
11:38
yeah freezing because my daughter was a
11:41
baby then he was like 10. oh
11:45
oh my gosh
11:50
Meridian and then I'm gonna get back to
11:52
this thing and there's a famous picture
11:53
in our family of her they left her there
11:55
because my family came I was exhausted
11:58
from Dead Presidents picture of her in
12:00
my lap a year later Tupac cuts his that
12:03
case Yeah Yeah from that same Hotel the
12:06
rape case Okay and then I got biggie
12:08
shot a video there like there's a lot of
12:10
hip-hop history at the park Parker
12:11
anyway let me get back to this because
12:13
let me apologize because I have to
12:15
explain something sorry because there's
12:16
a Jada story I can tell that will make
12:18
you feel a lot better okay um and it
12:20
changed the way me and my brother direct
12:21
is to hear you say that um warms my
12:24
heart and hurts my heart in a good way
12:26
um because I was so introverted and shy
12:29
so and I still am but I've learned to
12:31
play an extrovert that um
12:34
um I just didn't know how to communicate
12:36
with people and I would communicate with
12:38
my crew I was more into the visual
12:40
technical stuff so in Menace there was a
12:42
moment it was the last scene when the
12:44
drive-by happens yeah and Jada was doing
12:47
a rehearsal and I stupidly had a
12:50
watermelon in my mouth I mean how
12:51
stereotypical I just took a bite of
12:53
watermelon
12:54
we all ate watermelon this morning
13:08
she was rehearsing she goes what part
13:10
don't you like I go I don't know I just
13:12
don't I know my eye contact was real
13:14
Shifty probably spectruming rain Manny
13:16
and all kinds of [ __ ] I was counting two
13:17
picks back then right so I just go I
13:20
don't know and she's like she said
13:21
something to us standing on the porch
13:23
that offended me so much that I threw
13:25
something back at her and she ran in the
13:28
house and tears and my brother ran in
13:30
after her and when I came in afterwards
13:32
I I saw her in tears saying he doesn't
13:35
like anything I do
13:37
and for years I never understood it
13:39
until I got into my 30s and I go oh my
13:41
God first of all she's an actress you
13:43
have to compliment them a lot or an
13:45
actor right I never said I never spoke
13:48
to her really
13:49
um and that's also when me and Alan
13:51
started dividing the duties finitely
13:53
like he would talk to the actors and I
13:55
would deal with the crew and prep and
13:56
all that stuff and then in post we come
13:58
together and until my personality
14:00
developed
14:01
um because I need to be socialized like
14:03
a dog from the pound okay that you know
14:06
they leave there too long yeah you gotta
14:09
socialize yeah I gotta socialize I had
14:10
to socialize myself and when I moved to
14:12
Europe I started getting more
14:13
independent and my brother would I was
14:15
so like weird my brother I didn't do
14:17
this on purpose but he would hope my
14:19
plane ticket when we traveled yeah like
14:21
I was really Rain Man
14:23
in a way so to hear you say that I go oh
14:26
that's all makes sense and I'm sorry no
14:28
because I was just I wasn't aware back
14:31
then well it what I said to them the
14:33
sways leaving out and thank you for
14:35
saying that I said I I realized that day
14:37
when you walk by the studio and you
14:39
waved and did like this and I put my
14:41
hand in my heart I was like he's
14:43
introverted she said that live in
14:45
America
14:46
absolutely it's my spirit it was just
14:48
like I got it it was nothing that I did
14:52
it was just I was like that's why I
14:54
asked what the relationship with the
14:55
twins are there different personalities
14:57
and that's why I asked the team and so
14:59
it clicked at that moment and I was so
15:01
glad that you were coming here I've been
15:04
watching you for years wow I think this
15:06
Dynamic is just fantastic because you
15:09
guys helped me when I'm in Prague in my
15:11
my cave
15:14
I have just these internet tabs up
15:20
because I can't come out here and be
15:22
unaware yeah that's right but I do like
15:24
um I do like I mean covid did a number
15:27
on me because for the first 10 months I
15:29
was good I was good and then I was like
15:32
okay enough of this [ __ ]
15:34
um and I like talking about film and
15:37
culture but I don't like I get sometimes
15:40
in the past get overwhelmed by um too
15:42
much stimulation in people yeah right
15:44
yeah and I'm have you been diagnosed at
15:46
all no one friend of mine who's on the
15:48
the Spectrum he wants to pay these two
15:50
Specialists because he's convinced I am
15:52
my daughter and my girlfriend have a
15:54
different opinion I don't I forget what
15:55
it is I don't care
15:57
um he wants to pay them ten thousand
16:00
dollars a piece and donate it to charity
16:01
because I said I'm not taking one
16:03
opinion and he has the opinion that I
16:05
would take it badly I'm like no actually
16:07
it would make a lot of sense
16:08
um but I do have the the eye contact
16:10
yeah yeah you're doing great
16:15
and I do care about people I have a soft
16:18
heart and I'm generous hug them
16:23
twice no it was really it was just a
16:25
blessing you're causing trouble yeah
16:27
that's what he does I told you
16:29
now that you told me this I'm about to
16:31
put it I'm about to take you outside and
16:33
put you on a podium in time
16:35
oh my gosh no it was a great little let
16:38
me make it worse for you
16:44
[Music]
16:47
so Albert Miller man is
16:51
Alter Ego and superhero because they
16:54
have a mural of him in Oakland and we
16:56
just right come on you know yeah oh my
16:59
God my brother didn't even tell you
17:01
about the other video he did up in
17:03
Oakland oh he did the Piano Man with the
17:06
money B with money
17:09
blemeric park or whatever uh Lake
17:13
America yeah and and somebody got shot
17:16
when they rap okay a dice game me and my
17:19
brother weren't drinkers or smokers back
17:21
there really but he decided to down to
17:22
40. and they found him on the shoreline
17:25
in tears like it's my fault because the
17:27
guy who was shooting in the dice game
17:29
they just popped him after they called
17:30
cut
17:31
and it shook my brother I didn't do that
17:34
video with him I wasn't up there but we
17:35
got a long history locally that started
17:37
they started our career you that that's
17:39
what this is why you have to come back
17:40
on the show yeah
17:44
are we going to take the show to you I
17:46
guess can I just ask one question about
17:48
the Continental because I am a huge huge
17:50
huge John Wick fan and uh to make this
17:53
very quick when you develop a franchise
17:55
There are rules that you have to put in
17:57
place that you have to follow in a sense
18:00
um how did you stick to the rules of the
18:02
world of John Wick but still Implement
18:04
some new things and maybe little changes
18:06
see I've been doing a press tour about
18:08
this and you're as official as a referee
18:10
whistle that's a real one
18:14
well we didn't have any hard and fast
18:16
rules they put on us
18:18
um it was more about to me what I loved
18:20
about it because at first I wasn't going
18:21
to do it because
18:23
I don't necessarily like playing in
18:25
another man or woman's sandbox and um
18:28
you can see that by the work we do but I
18:30
love that it was in the 70s and this is
18:32
my only reference is the project we
18:34
worked on together I love that I can do
18:36
needle drops from the 70s that the
18:38
hip-hop crowd when you hear it 46 needle
18:41
drops between all three episodes and
18:43
you'll hear I put purposely put some in
18:46
that the hip-hop parents go okay we know
18:48
that that was sample for this or that
18:49
right but to answer your question more
18:51
accurately I guess
18:53
um we weren't given any mandates by the
18:56
studio or the WIC uh um producers
18:59
um we I mean the showrunner and writer
19:02
Kirk Ward looked at we were fans of the
19:05
film so we took the Easter eggs and
19:07
reverse engineered them and there are
19:09
things I loved about the films I'm like
19:10
okay there's commonalities these Grand
19:12
locations the violence and action and we
19:14
had the same stunt team right
19:16
um idiosyncratic characters cool Vibes
19:20
um and one one big rule don't bore
19:22
people right so just take it back to the
19:24
70s like Dead Presidents was dealing
19:26
with Vietnam vet a bank robbery
19:29
kind of reality right
19:32
John Wick World deals in like it's more
19:34
fantasy right so there was this part of
19:36
me that but here's I'll say
19:39
I haven't said this before on the air
19:41
but it's like I'm just tired of being
19:42
reminded I'm a [ __ ] I'm tired of it and
19:44
in America we're walking around with
19:46
this constant Cloud over our head and
19:48
until you go outside of America where
19:50
they may look at us for our skin color
19:52
they may be jingoistic naturalistic
19:54
racist ignorant all that other stuff as
19:56
soon as you have a beer with them
19:58
it goes they'll still be injuring okay
20:00
but your your friends yeah and there's
20:02
not a constant reminder like whether
20:05
it's media press commercials that we
20:06
grew up on
20:07
um Mass entertainment pop music
20:10
like this this country is is doing a
20:12
number that's doing a number it's doing
20:14
a number on people and it's done a
20:15
number on me and I'm like I just want to
20:18
do something which by the way is very
20:20
diverse and it does deal in some issues
20:22
you'll see it subtly put in there
20:24
but it's not um dependent on those
20:27
issues yeah that's the long answer I'm
20:29
sorry
20:30
that was incredible man give it up for
20:32
our friend Albert Hughes yes and and
20:34
listen man this is amazing that you're
20:37
so on open and transparent about your
20:39
journey a lot of folks going to learn
20:41
from that and you know
20:43
I'm 51 now so time to tell it yeah I got
20:47
my Beijing game going okay
20:57
I love what them Saudis be doing with
20:59
their goatee
21:00
103 years old still Beijing in his go-to
21:03
he's like dude you can't get away with
21:04
it you ain't Jamie Foxx you can't get
21:05
away with it
21:08
you ain't Kevin Hart you can't get away
21:10
[Laughter]
21:17
by him
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