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Winston Duke Speaks on New Movie 'Nine Days' with Zazie Beetz | SWAY’S UNIVERSE
Aug 12, 2021
Winston Duke calls into Sway In the Morning to talk about eh significance of his new film Nine Days.
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Winston Duke Speaks on New Movie 'Nine Days' with Zazie Beetz | SWAY’S UNIVERSE
https://youtu.be/n_xPv6tiMcU
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0:00
[Applause]
0:00
wow
0:00
[Applause]
0:01
nine days i got a chance to see this
0:04
project it's an amazing project that
0:06
triggers a lot of thought
0:08
uh that
0:09
that is starring a good friend of the
0:11
show somebody we admire much db you want
0:13
to do the honors
0:15
of course and just like you and heather
0:17
b he's a part of the marvel family
0:19
appearing as umbaku in black panther
0:22
avengers infinity war and avengers end
0:24
game i still cry at the end of that film
0:25
at the end of that movie last time he
0:27
came by the show to promote his role in
0:29
jordan feels horror film us he recently
0:31
started his hawk alongside mark wahlberg
0:33
in the netflix film spencer confidential
0:35
he's back on sway in the morning to
0:37
promote this incredible film nine days
0:39
in theaters right now please welcome him
0:41
back winston duke
0:47
[Applause]
0:53
we still in the game baby cove it ain't
0:55
stopping you right
0:57
i knew it i knew you would keep it real
0:59
i knew we have to keep coming with fire
1:01
so uh we're here we're back man how you
1:04
been i and your voice when i hear your
1:06
voice i hear joy i hear content
1:09
i hear balance
1:11
you know is all that true am i am i
1:13
diagnosing you properly you are
1:15
diagnosing me completely accurately it's
1:18
it's fantastic i've been doing a lot of
1:21
self work this project is one that you
1:23
know deals with mental health you know
1:26
personal self-care is a major thing that
1:29
comes out of it you know things like
1:31
that and i spent quarantine really
1:33
working on myself i'm in therapy twice a
1:36
week happy with it so
1:39
twice a week
1:40
so that's a week twice a week
1:43
yeah if you if you don't mind um i've
1:45
done therapy before but it's never been
1:48
twice a week tell me about twitter
1:52
is it twice the benefit or
1:54
i mean you know
1:56
my problem was i was spending like 50
1:59
minutes talking and then my therapist
2:00
was spending 10 minutes and i was like
2:02
you can't this doesn't feel right i need
2:04
more time
2:05
and uh
2:07
she was like yeah we don't really have
2:08
any more time and that's how it works
2:10
but i was like i need you to help me
2:12
figure this out so i need more time so
2:14
i've booked like another hour in the
2:16
week
2:16
so she can do more talking from when i
2:20
spoke you know the previous session
2:21
because i just i just needed more
2:24
hmm okay i like that
2:27
did it take you a while to embrace it
2:29
winston or was it like no i kind of dove
2:32
dove head first into it
2:34
um i always compared to this i feel like
2:39
my inner
2:40
mental space was like a dark room right
2:42
and i was just stumbling around in this
2:44
dark room
2:45
but this dark room had a lot of
2:46
furniture in it and if i felt around in
2:48
this dark space i could like feel
2:50
there's a couch in here but if i move
2:52
away from the couch i can't find it
2:54
again if i go to the table i know it's
2:57
over there someplace but i can't find it
2:59
and the therapy felt like i switched a
3:02
light on and now i have a full gaze on
3:06
like what's in the room and how to
3:07
really use it so i said oh that's the
3:09
couch was there and not only is a couch
3:12
it's a pullout oh there's a table there
3:14
and there's things on the table that i
3:15
could utilize and man in that corner
3:18
over there there's a rickety old table
3:20
that's a mess and when the lights were
3:22
off i was just bumping into that table
3:24
and breaking stuff and hurting my own
3:26
feelings or if someone else was invited
3:28
into this room
3:30
they would be wandering around in the
3:31
dark with me and they might run into
3:33
that table in the corner and it would
3:35
break down and we would have problems so
3:37
now i could organize my room
3:40
i could clean it up
3:42
i could utilize all the things in my
3:44
room because the lights on i could put
3:46
some caution tape
3:47
around that rickety old table in the
3:49
corner and i could say hey
3:51
thanks for coming into my room
3:54
everything is is open but like that
3:56
corner over there i'm working on it so
3:57
please don't go over in that corner
3:59
until i fix it and we can use that
4:00
little table and have some tea or
4:02
something and it just allows me to have
4:05
so much more clearance and understanding
4:08
of myself
4:09
and that's kind of how i describe it it
4:11
just feels like the lights are on
4:13
finally you know what i mean and it's no
4:14
longer no longer stumbling around in the
4:17
dark
4:18
amen that was well put together and said
4:21
that therapy is working
4:23
[Applause]
4:23
[Laughter]
4:26
amen need it we need it we need it
4:30
when you could put the words to that
4:31
rich not oh rich hung up i'm sorry
4:34
you can put the words to like you did i
4:36
know that the therapy is working i'm so
4:38
happy for you winston i'm very happy for
4:41
you absolutely man and you were part of
4:44
a a really amazing project nine days
4:47
which raises a lot of questions and and
4:50
then when you watch it too what i like
4:52
about it is a lot of questions
4:54
that aren't answered
4:55
you know what i mean
4:57
you kind of got to do the knowledge you
4:59
got to do to work yourself
5:01
um
5:02
yeah let's talk about this movie and
5:04
this this great cast that you guys have
5:07
and in the premise of it is that okay
5:10
of course so the premise of nine days is
5:13
there is a man in the afterlife
5:16
and he is tasked with a job and his job
5:19
is interviewing spirits for the
5:21
opportunity to be born
5:23
and that interview process takes place
5:25
over nine days
5:27
but this nine days is going to be a very
5:30
particular special nine days where no
5:32
one involved is going to be the same
5:34
especially the lead character will that
5:37
i play and that's nine days and it stars
5:40
myself zazie beets bill skarsgard
5:43
and just an overall great cast you know
5:46
benedict wong was also another marvel
5:48
guy he plays
5:49
wong in doctor strange you know zazi
5:52
plays domino and deadpool so it's a
5:56
really great cast but you know you're
5:57
seeing these faces that you're familiar
6:00
with
6:01
and just a new context and it's just
6:04
beautiful work it's a script that really
6:07
respects the audience's intellect so it
6:09
doesn't spoon feed you any answers it
6:12
leaves you with a lot more questions
6:14
than it is answers
6:16
and it's very
6:17
artistic in the sense that it's a
6:20
particular
6:22
director's
6:24
autistic like
6:26
like altruistic like
6:28
view of
6:29
his storytelling so this story was
6:32
inspired by edson oda the director his
6:35
uncle committed suicide at the age of
6:37
50.
6:38
so growing up
6:40
he was told
6:42
don't be like your uncle your uncle was
6:44
weak and that's the only thing the
6:45
family would say about his uncle
6:48
don't be like your uncle your uncle was
6:50
weak
6:51
and as he got older and dealt with
6:53
depression and dealt with a lot of his
6:55
own personal struggles he
6:57
researched his uncle found out his uncle
6:59
was just this beautiful man who was an
7:02
artist that never got to really practice
7:04
his art he was a translator
7:07
he was you know had relationships this
7:10
that and the other and none of this was
7:11
discovered was discussed
7:13
and his life was just reduced to that
7:16
one action that he killed himself so it
7:19
was an opportunity
7:20
for the director to redefine the
7:24
narrative around his uncle's life and
7:26
give him a new one where he's exploring
7:28
some of the things that he didn't really
7:30
get to grapple with in life
7:32
and that's that's the character of will
7:35
so he's this character that is
7:38
you know
7:39
very much pained by
7:41
what life is and tries to hold
7:46
and and suppress his emotions
7:49
and really be something different than a
7:52
human being
7:53
until he is forced to be
7:56
that human being and accept so it's
7:59
actually a movie that sounds a bit dark
8:01
but it's actually really beautiful and
8:02
it's an affirmation of life because it's
8:05
one of those movies that leave you going
8:07
man i already won the lottery just to be
8:09
here yeah i'm a lottery winner just to
8:11
be
8:12
on this plane of existence
8:14
and everything is everything you know
8:16
what i mean all the small moments in
8:18
life are just as
8:19
important and equal to the big big macro
8:23
moments of life and i think that's you
8:25
know after coming out of quarantine
8:28
sentiments like that
8:29
you know i think we're all a little bit
8:32
more
8:33
just ready to kind of accept and start
8:36
having those kind of conversations but
8:38
it doesn't put it in your face it
8:39
doesn't spoon feed you it's not didactic
8:41
it's not you know it doesn't treat you
8:43
like like an infant it's not
8:45
infantilizing at all and
8:48
that's nine days you know it doesn't
8:49
nine days i i liken it to
8:52
a very doable jigsaw puzzle mental
8:55
generation puzzle yeah um
8:58
as es this is first featured film date
9:01
this is feature film debut a lot of
9:02
times established actors like yourself
9:04
may not feel comfortable
9:06
um being with a director in their film
9:08
debut uh what made you comfortable to
9:10
star in this project
9:12
man that's a great question i read the
9:14
script and the script blew my mind when
9:17
i read scripts i always try
9:19
to
9:20
just imagine what it would be like as an
9:22
audience member
9:24
and i like going on journeys i like how
9:27
i put it is i like climbing a mountain i
9:29
like
9:30
for the journey to end some place
9:32
completely different than where it
9:34
started and that's what happens in this
9:35
movie i read that script and i said wow
9:38
i didn't know anything about edson i
9:40
said wow i just went on a trip i don't
9:42
know where i'm at but i'm changed
9:44
and i was like all these things
9:48
would be great for an audience to see
9:50
and
9:51
where
9:52
how movies function these days is movies
9:54
not these days just in general it's it's
9:57
there as a source of you know escapism
10:00
entertainment all these things but it's
10:01
usually very
10:03
easy to comprehend and like
10:06
pretty simple
10:07
but what edson does really beautiful in
10:10
this movie is he gives you all the
10:12
common tropes of filmmaking in a whole
10:16
different way there is violence in this
10:18
movie but it's emotional violence it's
10:20
intellectual violence so you do have an
10:22
extra movie
10:23
but it's not an action movie you do have
10:26
a movie that has a chase scene
10:28
but it's not your chase scene driving
10:31
movie it's a movie of people chasing
10:34
each other running to each other you
10:36
know pulling away it's that kind of push
10:38
and pull it's a movie of suspense but
10:41
it's not like your classic intellectual
10:44
spy thriller like heist movie you know
10:46
there are things happening and it's just
10:49
redefined in a really beautiful way and
10:51
i said man
10:53
this isn't treating anyone as if they
10:56
should understand exactly what this is
10:58
gonna be and it leaves it open for deep
11:00
interpretation and it's everything all
11:02
in one so when i read that i was like
11:04
man this is really cool and the other
11:07
thing i look for
11:09
is
11:10
if if a script is really strong
11:12
i go what would i add to this am i just
11:15
going to fit in or am i going to add
11:17
something completely distinct this movie
11:20
felt really non-gendered like a woman
11:22
could have played the role of will
11:24
it would have been pretty much the same
11:26
setup
11:27
you know um and i said as a black man as
11:30
a big black man as a traditionally
11:33
appearing male figure
11:36
i can add a whole different dimension to
11:38
this script
11:39
than what's on the page the movie is
11:42
about
11:43
psychology and psychiatry and with my
11:46
body becomes about black psychology in a
11:48
way
11:50
with my body it becomes a deep kind of
11:54
conversation about how masculinity can
11:56
appear you know the character isn't in
11:58
any kind of sexual relationship or in
12:01
sexual proximity to any of the other
12:03
characters in this film which is
12:05
something that you don't see on screen
12:06
very often
12:08
you know it's not a movie where a man is
12:10
after a woman or a man is after a man or
12:13
anything like that it's completely
12:16
non-gendered in a way other than he is
12:18
referred to as he you know what i mean
12:21
and i said there's so many opportunities
12:23
here that if you dive into it it's just
12:26
present but it's not spoon fed to you so
12:29
when i met him i said okay cool
12:33
this is your first movie but what you
12:35
wrote here i could see so much potential
12:38
in what you wrote and
12:40
i'm not too far off from this being my
12:42
first movie either so i i get it
12:45
and
12:46
you know you know what i mean i'm not
12:48
too far from that world you hear that db
12:51
he said he's not too far from his first
12:53
movie
12:54
definitely yeah and that's uh that's
12:56
it's funny because my question actually
12:58
revolves around that because as an actor
13:01
if you're lucky enough to get a big
13:03
break choosing the roles after that is
13:05
almost like a chess game and so what's
13:06
your approach which you kind of sort of
13:08
touched on but what's your approach as
13:10
far as picking projects that are both
13:12
fulfilling but also keeps your career
13:13
moving forward
13:15
i try to challenge what the
13:18
what the
13:19
status quo for what i should be doing is
13:23
so after black panther i just kept
13:25
getting a lot of roles that was like
13:28
action things physical things body
13:30
things and i know who i am i'm a guy
13:32
that's always in different conversations
13:35
and i'm super flexible and i said i
13:37
wanted to show different aspects of
13:39
myself and a lot of range not just in my
13:43
acting ability but in my thought
13:44
capacity
13:46
so i choose things that challenge that
13:48
it challenges the notion of like what my
13:51
body is supposed to do and how my body
13:53
is supposed to function inside narrative
13:56
so it doesn't always have to be
13:58
something that's driven by the
13:59
physicality but the physical presence
14:02
could add another layer
14:04
to whatever the story that is there and
14:06
that is already given
14:08
so i try to push things in that way and
14:11
then you know sometimes you just gotta
14:12
put food on the table and still do that
14:14
thing that you're really really good at
14:16
but i try to just keep mixing it up and
14:19
challenge myself
14:20
because i want to build
14:22
you know for my own self i want to build
14:24
a really great film library that i did
14:27
and accomplished
14:28
in the time that i i was given
14:30
to be on screen like it's not going to
14:32
last forever i'm very aware of that
14:36
but i want to be left
14:39
years after now
14:41
saying man look at these different
14:42
things that i did i had a really full
14:44
career and i'm just like living in my
14:47
future in my present in that kind of way
14:49
and i love
14:51
stories that
14:52
create conversation i like when people
14:55
go
14:56
i don't i don't like it but this is why
14:58
and
14:59
this idea came to me or i love it and
15:02
this is why this idea came to me and
15:04
what do you think about this why would
15:06
we do this why would we do that i've
15:08
kind of divorced myself
15:10
from caring too much for the i like or i
15:14
dislike it's what did it do and if it
15:17
didn't do anything to you that's usually
15:19
where i'm more concerned like did this
15:21
story leave you with anything did it do
15:23
anything for you especially movies that
15:25
i go into with this intention this
15:28
intention of like provoking conversation
15:31
nine days is a conversation provoker you
15:33
know
15:34
it's provocative
15:36
it's definitely provocative uh winston
15:38
duke is joining us a star of nine days
15:41
i call him a star because that's what he
15:43
is he's shine bright like a diamond a
15:45
speech
15:46
right like a diamond
15:48
there it is man come on trace you want
15:50
to get him before he got before he has
15:52
to go yeah absolutely i got two
15:54
questions i want to slide in one
15:56
is more yes
15:58
you said please yes
16:01
he's begging you for the question
16:02
basically
16:03
i got you i got you i'm just serving it
16:05
up right now okay so
16:07
i thought of when you were sharing how
16:09
um you received the script and i got
16:11
curious because we have a lot of
16:13
citizens who want to enter the realm of
16:16
acting you know and
16:18
there's so many details that you'll
16:20
never find out about until you're in it
16:22
and so when it comes to scripts
16:24
having an agent is it that i know a part
16:27
of it is when you do a film just like
16:29
you said after black panther people have
16:32
an idea like okay winston can do this
16:34
here are some scripts but then is there
16:35
a time
16:36
where
16:37
like the agent is bringing you a script
16:39
that someone didn't necessarily think of
16:42
you for
16:43
but the agent is like winston i feel
16:45
like you should look at this anyway are
16:46
you also sometimes at like dinners i've
16:49
heard stories where sometimes someone is
16:51
speaking to a director and they hear the
16:53
idea for
16:54
a film and they're like yo yo yo is it
16:56
possible i can read the script and they
16:58
kind of insert themselves what are all
17:00
the different ways that a script lands
17:01
in your lap
17:03
that's a really great question really
17:05
great detail question um
17:07
so nine days was one of those things
17:10
where
17:11
i wasn't being considered for nine days
17:13
but i was really clear and explicit with
17:16
my team and my lead agent and how i want
17:20
to be represented and the things that i
17:21
wanted to do
17:23
so they were represented because agents
17:25
represent production companies they
17:26
represent directors they represent
17:28
different things so they're always in a
17:30
space of connecting people and clarity
17:33
i've seen especially for me has been
17:36
amongst
17:37
the most useful
17:39
things in my tool belt it's just being
17:41
really clear about what i want and how i
17:43
want to be perceived and agents are
17:46
exactly as such they're agents of your
17:48
will
17:49
essentially they they will do what you
17:52
want to do and if you don't really know
17:54
what you want to do a lot of things will
17:56
come and you might end up a little bit
17:58
lost
17:59
um so i try to take as much
18:01
responsibility and accountability for
18:03
like how my career is kind of being
18:06
directed so i communicate that intention
18:10
at all times and you can tell i talk a
18:12
lot
18:17
real talk like i just get into it and i
18:20
just tell them i call them regularly and
18:21
tell them the things i like i'll watch
18:23
something i'll say yeah i really like
18:25
this or i leave it like that and this is
18:27
why and i'm really detail-oriented in
18:30
explaining
18:32
what i want and why i want it nine days
18:34
was being represented by my agent he
18:37
read the script first
18:39
um and he said this is a really
18:41
interesting script i don't know
18:43
if you would like it
18:45
but i just take a read of it i feel like
18:47
it's something that's up your alley
18:48
because it's really it's a bit strange
18:51
but it left me thinking
18:53
i read i read the script and that's one
18:56
particular way which is like you might
18:58
not be considered for it but you're so
19:00
clear in the things that you are open to
19:02
and that you're willing to do that
19:04
someone else brings it to you another
19:06
way is that way of like hey i'm at a
19:08
party and
19:11
what i'm just learning is
19:13
a big part of of your ability to
19:16
get really great work as well is you
19:18
know it all has to do with some of the
19:21
people that you traffic with
19:22
so you're working with really great
19:25
artists you're in conversations with
19:27
other really great artists and you're
19:29
just really clear about what interests
19:30
you so when you're at some of these
19:32
parties you get into real conversations
19:34
because these conversations vary
19:46
conversations vary and then sometimes
19:48
you just end up in a really great
19:51
conversation in the most unexpected
19:54
place with the most unexpected person
19:57
and that travels which is why it's
19:59
always important for me to just remember
20:01
how i'm carrying myself and the kind of
20:03
conversations i'm engaging in and where
20:06
and when so a lot of really great things
20:09
come from casual meetups and casual like
20:13
interactions with really smart
20:16
creative beautiful people
20:19
and that's one way that you can get
20:20
involved in things
20:22
um
20:24
auditions are another one you know what
20:26
i mean because sometimes if
20:28
there's a business side to all of this
20:30
which is if they're putting a lot of
20:32
money behind something they want to have
20:34
less risk
20:35
they're going to want you to audition if
20:37
they're putting in hundreds of millions
20:38
of dollars because they want to see what
20:40
you can do
20:41
sometimes
20:42
before they
20:44
hand those rains over to you so
20:47
auditions is another way um but there's
20:50
a there's a myriad of different ways
20:52
where
20:53
things come to you and i've just
20:55
been learning the
20:57
importance of being open
20:59
staying ready and just being flexible
21:02
just being flexible knowing myself so i
21:04
can have these kind of conversations
21:07
at any time someone comes up to me and
21:09
we just engaged and i just i'm just
21:11
being honest and true and direct and
21:13
clear and through chronic quarantine and
21:15
all that therapy that i told y'all about
21:18
that's why another one of those those
21:20
those skill sets i've been working on
21:22
which is just being really clear
21:24
being really direct being really honest
21:26
in a way that doesn't leave me overly
21:29
vulnerable but still welcomes people in
21:32
conversation where they're like oh yeah
21:34
i really like this guy that guy is
21:35
really genuine and what he's talking
21:38
about that's something i'm really
21:40
interested
21:41
in in interrogating in my work maybe i
21:44
could be in conversation with this guy
21:46
in process because i think with really
21:48
great creative people
21:51
they just want to know that they feel
21:52
safe in process with other really
21:55
creative people guys right acting is not
21:59
a singular person's process you can't
22:01
make them not acting but like filmmaking
22:03
storytelling in that way you can't just
22:05
be in one actor
22:07
and do a whole show
22:09
that's a one-man show on broadway that's
22:11
a whole different context
22:13
you know a director you're in
22:14
conversation with directors you're in
22:16
conversation with producers with
22:18
lighting design people costume people
22:21
writers you're in conversation with a
22:23
studio or a financial person if it's
22:26
independent it's just learning to be in
22:28
conversation with a lot of different
22:30
people
22:31
and still
22:32
having respect for yourself where you
22:34
where you can choose yourself and choose
22:37
you know to respect yourself at all
22:39
times in those situations i hope i
22:41
answered your question
22:44
you gave us a lecture hall today
22:46
we appreciate you brother we covered so
22:48
many topics
22:50
in a 25 minute time span i love your
22:53
dialogue i love your conversation
22:55
i love your transparency
22:58
thank you so much thank you
23:00
i love that you really commit to giving
23:03
people real fruitful bound people
23:06
robust answers to these questions man i
23:08
think anybody tuned in right now if you
23:10
take a note you're going to learn a lot
23:12
from this conversation and uh make sure
23:15
make sure you check them out db you want
23:17
to give out the information again db
23:20
yes sir he is starring in the film nine
23:22
days in theaters right now and of course
23:25
be on the lookout for black panther
23:26
wakanda forever uh recipes chadwick
23:29
bozeman i know you guys are in
23:30
production right now so i know that's
23:32
gonna be a highly anticipated sequel uh
23:34
for both marvel fans and fans uh of of
23:37
black panther in general so we're we'll
23:39
we'll be waiting for that and hopefully
23:40
we can have you back on talk about that
23:42
when it hits theaters
23:44
very much so thank you thank you mr duke
23:47
be great man stay great uh and make sure
23:50
y'all watch the project it's a it's an
23:52
excellent one i got a chance to see it
23:54
in advance because i know people uh but
23:56
winston
23:58
i'm glad you're doing well brother stay
24:00
blessed send my love to your family all
24:02
right yes sir yes sir
24:17
[Music]
#Arts & Entertainment