Interviews With "We Grown Now" Stars Lil Rel Howery, Jurnee Smollett & Director Minhal Baig

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[00:00:28] You are listening to the Next Best Picture Podcast, and these are Dan Baer's interviews

[00:00:33] with the stars from the new film We Grown Now, L'Oreal Houtry, Journey Smollett, and

[00:00:40] the film's writer, director, and producer, Menal Beg.

[00:00:43] In Cabrini green, it don't matter how old you are, how much money you got, how

[00:00:49] big or tall, or small.

[00:00:51] What do you call three trees?

[00:00:54] What?

[00:00:55] A trio.

[00:00:56] Do you ever think about what it would be like outside of here?

[00:01:00] What?

[00:01:01] This is where we from.

[00:01:02] Such a big road out there.

[00:01:03] So much I want to do.

[00:01:04] You're never too little.

[00:01:05] It's how your mind's doing, you can do it.

[00:01:06] I'm putting my mind at some McDonald's right now and I don't see it on my plate.

[00:01:11] Me and Eric, we've done everything together since we were born.

[00:01:19] You got dreams?

[00:01:20] Sometimes.

[00:01:21] Whoever had a dream that felt so real, you thought you was awake.

[00:01:25] Hi L'Oreal Houtry, thank you so much for joining us to talk about We Grown Now.

[00:01:30] Oh yeah, what's up?

[00:01:32] So I know that you grew up on the west side of Chicago and you were actually a

[00:01:38] teenager during the time period that this film takes place in.

[00:01:42] So I'm wondering how similar or dissimilar was the world of this film to what you

[00:01:50] knew growing up, both in your own neighborhood and what you knew of Cabrini

[00:01:55] Green at the time.

[00:01:56] Yeah, like 92 I was honestly, it was like 11, 12 or whatever.

[00:02:02] And I didn't get to the teen part yet but I was there.

[00:02:06] But I do remember that to me being the beginning of starting to see a lot more

[00:02:13] tragedies with like kids being killed innocently from just loose bullets really.

[00:02:19] And I just remember how worried my parents were.

[00:02:23] You know, everything got a lot tighter at that time as far as where you went,

[00:02:27] who you hung out with, how long you stayed out.

[00:02:30] That became a thing or going to the park by yourself.

[00:02:32] You couldn't go to a lot of places.

[00:02:34] Like we used to be able to ride our bikes in certain places.

[00:02:36] We couldn't do that anymore.

[00:02:38] So it was, it just became really strict at that time.

[00:02:40] Some people don't remember that but that's when everything became a lot,

[00:02:45] just a lot stricter.

[00:02:47] Do you remember how like you were growing up versus how these boys are

[00:02:53] growing up in this film?

[00:02:54] It's the same way.

[00:02:55] It was no different.

[00:02:56] Yeah, it's literally no different because once again with Dead Trail

[00:03:01] being the first true innocent bystander shooting like that of a child.

[00:03:09] And I think that's what like most people, if you didn't grow up in an era

[00:03:12] or any of you did, I think you forget like, yo, that was new.

[00:03:15] That wasn't a thing yet.

[00:03:17] And you know, I think now we're used to so many different things.

[00:03:21] We remember like, oh no, that was like crazy to everybody.

[00:03:24] Like what do you mean he was holding his mom's hand

[00:03:27] walking down the street and getting murdered?

[00:03:31] It's shocking. It's still shocking.

[00:03:33] It's still shocking.

[00:03:34] But then, you know, this is so crazy because you have that part of it

[00:03:37] and then you have the relationship between the boys that made me remember

[00:03:41] like, wow, I remember those very innocent, fun, imaginative friendships.

[00:03:48] You know, all we had in our neighborhood was just to use our imagination.

[00:03:51] We might not have had all the resources, but the imagination was there.

[00:03:55] You know what I mean?

[00:03:56] And what that felt like and how much fun that was,

[00:04:00] how much fun it was to take a milk crate and cut a hole in the bottom of it

[00:04:05] and put it on a light pole in the alley and make a full court basket

[00:04:10] like with our imagination, making our own basketball court

[00:04:13] like and pretending as if we're in the NBA with crates

[00:04:17] and a mini basketball.

[00:04:18] You know what I'm saying?

[00:04:19] And that was our thing every single day and was the funnest.

[00:04:22] And you didn't even think about how like, oh,

[00:04:24] that wasn't a big deal, but it was to us.

[00:04:26] So I think that's one of the things I love about this movie too is like,

[00:04:29] thank you for taking me to that beautiful place with my imagination sword.

[00:04:35] Yeah, and it's a really beautiful like testament

[00:04:39] to sort of childhood imagination in a lot of ways.

[00:04:43] You know, the magical realism and how he imagines the train coming

[00:04:47] to take him away and everything.

[00:04:49] Did you ever go mattress jumping when you were growing up

[00:04:52] or was that just a cabrini green thing?

[00:04:54] Mm, 100%. 100%, yeah.

[00:04:57] I mean, I was telling somebody earlier like that's where like

[00:05:00] that was our first introduction to gymnastics.

[00:05:03] Really? OK.

[00:05:04] Yeah. And you know, until like,

[00:05:06] you know, if you're from Chicago,

[00:05:08] one of our politicians had his own tumbling group

[00:05:12] called the Jesse White Tumblers.

[00:05:14] And Jesse White was just he did it every year

[00:05:17] to maybe like four or five years ago.

[00:05:19] He's really old now, but I remember him just walking kind of old

[00:05:21] still trying to do the tumbling.

[00:05:23] But he created but that's where it came from.

[00:05:25] He was watching these kids who were jumping on the mattresses

[00:05:28] and that's how he did.

[00:05:29] And then actually really created a program

[00:05:31] for tumbling in gymnastics.

[00:05:33] But that's where it started from.

[00:05:34] That's where it all starts from, which is crazy.

[00:05:37] That's incredible. I love that.

[00:05:40] The other interesting thing is how you have children

[00:05:43] of your own now.

[00:05:45] And, you know, in this role,

[00:05:48] you're also flashing back to your own childhood,

[00:05:50] but you're having these conversations with Jim Knight,

[00:05:54] Ramirez, who plays your son Eric.

[00:05:57] And what was that like thinking about that kind of having

[00:06:01] trying to act that conversation with Jan and versus

[00:06:06] with having that conversation with your own kids?

[00:06:08] So you had to yet?

[00:06:10] Well, it's different, right?

[00:06:12] Because I had to look at it from my dad's perspective,

[00:06:14] to be quite honest with you.

[00:06:15] And him trying to figure out a way not to take away

[00:06:21] my childhood, but also you need to grow up

[00:06:24] because it's craziness happening.

[00:06:27] And so you have to have more awareness almost

[00:06:29] as an adult, even though you're a kid.

[00:06:32] And so that's I had to channel that

[00:06:34] and what that felt like.

[00:06:35] And to be quite honest with you,

[00:06:36] like I give my mother and father props

[00:06:38] because some of the decisions they had to make

[00:06:40] based on the circumstances, I don't know if I can make,

[00:06:44] I don't know how to,

[00:06:45] I would make those same decisions now.

[00:06:46] I mean, yeah, we still have to,

[00:06:47] we still have things that go on.

[00:06:48] We still have things that go on.

[00:06:49] I have to sit down and give my sons the talk

[00:06:52] and things like that about dealing,

[00:06:54] sometimes dealing with the police

[00:06:55] and different things like that.

[00:06:57] But this is different.

[00:06:58] For them it was so new.

[00:07:00] And I forget that they were in their early 30s,

[00:07:04] late 20s trying to figure out how to keep us safe.

[00:07:08] You know what I mean?

[00:07:10] And for something that's new,

[00:07:12] we talk about like the type of guns

[00:07:15] that was on the street

[00:07:16] then become a regular thing to the 90s.

[00:07:19] Yeah.

[00:07:20] Before that, that wasn't a thing either.

[00:07:22] You know, you had one or two,

[00:07:23] it wasn't like the guns that you see now

[00:07:26] and even depicted in some of the 90s films.

[00:07:30] Those guns were,

[00:07:31] they didn't exist when they were growing up.

[00:07:34] We had to look out for that.

[00:07:35] Drive-by shootings,

[00:07:37] the term that's starting till the 90s.

[00:07:40] I think that we almost,

[00:07:42] we forget like a lot of that stuff was just,

[00:07:45] it was brand new.

[00:07:47] And so I had to channel my parents

[00:07:51] because even though you see it's a scene

[00:07:53] where like Gian is trying to,

[00:07:55] Eric, he's trying to tell me about him

[00:07:57] jumping on the mattresses

[00:07:58] and I'm not even paying him no mind

[00:08:02] because I'm thinking about the bills,

[00:08:03] I'm thinking about all this other stuff

[00:08:05] and I'm blessed to be in a position

[00:08:08] where that's not the same focus I have

[00:08:10] with my children.

[00:08:11] I actually could sit and have

[00:08:12] these conversations with them

[00:08:13] because I'm not in the same,

[00:08:16] I'm not in the same mind frame

[00:08:18] that my parents had to be in at that time.

[00:08:20] You know?

[00:08:21] Yeah, I get that.

[00:08:22] And what was it like to be on the other side

[00:08:26] of this conversation

[00:08:27] like from when you were young

[00:08:29] with your parents?

[00:08:31] It was, it was, it was,

[00:08:35] I want to say it was powerful in a way, man.

[00:08:39] Because like, you know,

[00:08:40] the scene where me and Gian talk one on one

[00:08:44] and I'm basically telling him he's grown

[00:08:46] and to understand, like man,

[00:08:51] I got to tell this kid

[00:08:55] to hey, I mean, I know you're a kid

[00:08:57] but you're grown even though he's not.

[00:09:00] You know we always want it better.

[00:09:03] That's why we came here.

[00:09:05] Now how am I supposed to keep you safe?

[00:09:12] Whatever day has been going on,

[00:09:14] they're moving out.

[00:09:15] Malik didn't tell you?

[00:09:16] Yeah.

[00:09:17] But the beautiful thing about that moment

[00:09:19] is you say like you're grown,

[00:09:20] you know right from wrong.

[00:09:23] Which I think all parents kind of hope

[00:09:25] that they are able to instill in their kids.

[00:09:28] It's the circumstances of right and wrong though,

[00:09:30] right?

[00:09:31] It's not like the regular right and wrong

[00:09:32] of hey, don't do that.

[00:09:33] No, it's like hey, don't go that way.

[00:09:38] Don't go that way.

[00:09:39] Like you can't walk to that block

[00:09:42] because that's where that seven-year-old

[00:09:43] got killed at.

[00:09:45] You know right from wrong.

[00:09:46] You know like the psyche of saying that

[00:09:48] is very interesting.

[00:09:50] Because when you're that young,

[00:09:52] yeah we give the right and wrong speech

[00:09:54] but it's more or less hey,

[00:09:56] don't touch that socket.

[00:09:58] It's about basic safety,

[00:09:59] not being hyper aware of everything

[00:10:03] and knowing your place in the world.

[00:10:05] It's life or death.

[00:10:06] It's not ooh, I can shock myself.

[00:10:09] You know it's a very different conversation.

[00:10:12] Yeah, it is.

[00:10:14] There's another great scene in the film

[00:10:16] where Dolores Drudy Smollett's character

[00:10:19] is in the middle of a fight

[00:10:20] and she's like,

[00:10:21] hey, I'm going to kill you.

[00:10:23] And she's like,

[00:10:24] hey, I'm going to kill you.

[00:10:26] And then there's another scene

[00:10:27] where Dolores Drudy Smollett's character

[00:10:29] is speaking with her mother

[00:10:31] played by the divine Esa Pith-Mercison

[00:10:34] and she tells her that

[00:10:36] if you don't grow,

[00:10:38] then your babies won't.

[00:10:40] How do you think that sentiment

[00:10:42] applies to your character,

[00:10:44] Jason in this moment?

[00:10:46] But see, Jason doesn't understand that

[00:10:48] because unfortunately he doesn't have

[00:10:50] that resource, right?

[00:10:52] You know,

[00:10:54] Dolores has her mom.

[00:10:56] Like even it was a scene where like

[00:10:58] she was kind of complaining to her mom

[00:11:00] about something,

[00:11:01] she's like,

[00:11:02] you know I know, right?

[00:11:03] I went through the same thing.

[00:11:05] I know what you're saying.

[00:11:06] You know that, right?

[00:11:08] But with Jason,

[00:11:09] Jason doesn't even have his wife.

[00:11:12] So he's trying to figure out

[00:11:13] how to be both parents, man.

[00:11:16] Hard.

[00:11:17] It's very hard,

[00:11:18] which is why he's so tough on them,

[00:11:20] on his daughter and his son,

[00:11:21] because it's like,

[00:11:22] look, you know,

[00:11:23] you're supposed to be watching your brother.

[00:11:24] I know you're not his mother,

[00:11:26] but you're supposed to be helping me with this.

[00:11:29] And that's not fair either,

[00:11:30] really, right?

[00:11:31] She's like,

[00:11:32] I just want to be a teenager.

[00:11:33] Yeah.

[00:11:34] Not a teenage mom.

[00:11:36] And focusing on getting into college.

[00:11:39] Yeah.

[00:11:41] So it's interesting

[00:11:42] because he doesn't have the same resource.

[00:11:44] I think that's one of the great things

[00:11:46] about that family's circumstances

[00:11:48] compared to Jason's family.

[00:11:50] You know,

[00:11:51] they can't move.

[00:11:54] Whatever system he's came up with,

[00:11:56] this is what his system can afford

[00:11:57] is where they at now.

[00:11:59] He can't think about going anywhere else.

[00:12:01] He got to make this work.

[00:12:03] That's hard.

[00:12:04] Yeah.

[00:12:05] Well, one of the things I realized

[00:12:08] about halfway through the movie

[00:12:10] was that, you know,

[00:12:11] this is set in 1992

[00:12:13] in Cabrini Green,

[00:12:14] and that's the year

[00:12:16] that the original Candy Band came out.

[00:12:19] Mm-hmm.

[00:12:20] And I know that, obviously,

[00:12:22] the time period was chosen

[00:12:24] because of the murder of Dundrell Davis.

[00:12:26] But when you were working on this

[00:12:29] and like in these,

[00:12:31] not in the actual Cabrini Green apartments,

[00:12:33] but in apartments that are, you know,

[00:12:35] built and designed in a similar way,

[00:12:37] did you ever think about that movie?

[00:12:41] 100%.

[00:12:42] Or the horror that was around

[00:12:45] Cabrini Green at that time?

[00:12:46] Nobody's ever asked a Chicagoan

[00:12:49] how horrifying Candy Man was.

[00:12:53] To this day, you won't catch me

[00:12:55] saying Candy Man three times in a mirror.

[00:12:57] It's because it was,

[00:12:59] you know what's interesting

[00:13:00] when the movie came out?

[00:13:02] I remember it was almost like a hood rumor

[00:13:05] that it was real,

[00:13:07] like that that movie's based off

[00:13:08] a true story in a way, right?

[00:13:10] And so like nobody,

[00:13:12] like it was like a real fear,

[00:13:14] you wouldn't say it three times.

[00:13:16] If you did, we would all run away from you.

[00:13:18] You're crazy.

[00:13:20] And you'll probably go get killed

[00:13:22] in about five minutes.

[00:13:23] But it's interesting that you say that.

[00:13:25] I was watching the newer Candy Man

[00:13:27] when it came out.

[00:13:28] I remember going to the premiere for that

[00:13:30] and realizing how scared I was of the original

[00:13:34] because it felt real.

[00:13:36] Very, and how everything,

[00:13:39] I don't know if they actually shot

[00:13:41] on location for that movie,

[00:13:42] but it feels like they did.

[00:13:44] The original.

[00:13:45] It was so real and tangible.

[00:13:46] The original they did.

[00:13:47] Yeah, the original they did actually.

[00:13:50] Like that became a kind of a part

[00:13:53] of Cabrini Green's mystique in a way,

[00:13:56] his Candy Man.

[00:13:57] Yeah.

[00:13:58] So we're coming up on the end

[00:14:00] of our time together,

[00:14:01] but I wanted to ask like,

[00:14:03] how does it feel for you

[00:14:05] being part of this movie

[00:14:06] that is trying to in some way

[00:14:09] kind of reclaim the image of Cabrini Green

[00:14:12] from that horror

[00:14:14] to this sort of childhood coming of age?

[00:14:18] Well, the timing for this

[00:14:19] couldn't be even better, right?

[00:14:21] You know, most people don't know

[00:14:23] they're doing a Chicago Housing Authority

[00:14:25] museum in Chicago.

[00:14:28] And my family grew up in a Robert Taylor homes

[00:14:30] which is one of their projects

[00:14:32] along with Cabrini Green

[00:14:34] and my family's wanted to feature families

[00:14:36] in that museum or whatever.

[00:14:38] And what I love about

[00:14:39] between the museum and this movie,

[00:14:41] it shows those residents as humans

[00:14:43] you know, I think a lot of times

[00:14:44] we only talk about the experimental version

[00:14:47] of what the projects of America was.

[00:14:50] You know, where it's like

[00:14:51] almost like everybody's lab rats

[00:14:53] we're gonna put them all in this community

[00:14:55] and see how they...

[00:14:56] But it was a bunch of beautiful families

[00:14:58] that came out of that community

[00:15:00] that came out of Cabrini Green.

[00:15:02] And you know,

[00:15:03] Minhal did a great job of interviewing

[00:15:05] getting those perspectives

[00:15:06] from all those different residents

[00:15:08] to make this very beautiful movie

[00:15:10] where like, you know,

[00:15:11] not only...

[00:15:12] It's so interesting when you can see

[00:15:14] when both Blake's character

[00:15:16] and Gianna's characters

[00:15:17] go to their respective apartments

[00:15:19] and they're all eating dinner

[00:15:21] almost at the same time.

[00:15:23] And that was the whole building

[00:15:26] sitting down with their families

[00:15:28] laughing and talking

[00:15:29] and enjoying a meal.

[00:15:31] You know, that is what

[00:15:33] the sense of community is

[00:15:35] that nobody talks about

[00:15:37] is those beautiful families

[00:15:39] that lived in those residences

[00:15:41] that made whatever they had work.

[00:15:43] The children had a great summers there

[00:15:46] more than what people think

[00:15:48] because they,

[00:15:49] we didn't have to go to school

[00:15:50] so we could jump on these mattresses all day.

[00:15:52] They had to be very creative.

[00:15:54] You know, the video games and exists

[00:15:56] and that other stuff

[00:15:57] we had to like figure out our own fun.

[00:15:59] And you did?

[00:16:00] Yeah.

[00:16:01] And that's another beautiful sentiment

[00:16:03] of the place is the people

[00:16:05] and the people especially in this movie

[00:16:07] are really beautiful and resilient

[00:16:08] and it's really lovely to see.

[00:16:10] So, Leroy, thank you so much

[00:16:11] for joining us today.

[00:16:12] Thank you for your work in the film.

[00:16:14] I appreciate that.

[00:16:15] Thank you so much.

[00:16:16] To all of our listeners

[00:16:17] of the Next Best Picture podcast

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[00:17:28] Hi Dan.

[00:17:29] Hi.

[00:17:30] Hi, hello Minhal and Journey.

[00:17:33] I'm so happy to be speaking with you today.

[00:17:35] This movie is really beautiful, first of all.

[00:17:39] And I wanted to ask,

[00:17:41] Minhal, I know that you grew up in Chicago

[00:17:44] and that part of the impetus for this movie

[00:17:47] was when you were deciding what to do

[00:17:50] with your father's house after he passed.

[00:17:53] So I'm wondering what made you want

[00:17:55] to make a film about growing up

[00:17:57] in Cabrini Green

[00:17:59] as opposed to the neighborhood

[00:18:01] that you came from

[00:18:02] or something more directly personal.

[00:18:05] Well, this film is really personal to me.

[00:18:08] It came from that place

[00:18:10] of wanting to explore this relationship

[00:18:12] that I had to home and what it meant,

[00:18:15] especially because I was coming back to Chicago

[00:18:17] after many years of not being there

[00:18:19] and with my father gone,

[00:18:22] our family home just felt really different.

[00:18:25] And I think I was interested

[00:18:27] in exploring that relationship

[00:18:29] with the community.

[00:18:31] You know, Cabrini Green no longer exists

[00:18:33] and it was a community that was dispersed

[00:18:36] because of the demolitions.

[00:18:38] So I was interested in this community's relationship

[00:18:40] to a place that no longer exists.

[00:18:42] And that was what was interesting to me.

[00:18:46] And I was approaching this story

[00:18:48] from a place of curiosity

[00:18:50] of wanting to learn more about the lives of people

[00:18:53] who had lived there and lived in the high rises.

[00:18:56] And their stories were very surprising to me.

[00:18:59] And one interview led to another

[00:19:01] and I just kept asking questions

[00:19:03] and kept listening.

[00:19:04] And there were stories they were sharing with me

[00:19:09] that I'd never seen before on screen.

[00:19:11] And that was what was guiding the process

[00:19:15] was like, I want to make something

[00:19:17] that I haven't seen before

[00:19:19] and that contributes to, you know,

[00:19:22] presents a different story than one

[00:19:25] that doesn't have a dominant cultural narrative

[00:19:27] which is that Cabrini Green was a place

[00:19:29] with drugs, crime and violence

[00:19:31] and there's truth in that

[00:19:33] and there's also the truth

[00:19:35] in all the really personal stories

[00:19:37] of people who lived there

[00:19:39] and that it was a place that they really loved.

[00:19:41] And that was something I hadn't really seen before.

[00:19:44] So I wanted to approach this film

[00:19:46] from the perspective of these kids

[00:19:48] because this was the only place they'd known as home.

[00:19:51] And I wanted the audience to come away

[00:19:53] with that feeling as well.

[00:19:55] So the story was always really personal.

[00:19:57] I was approaching it through a very journalistic lens

[00:20:01] in that I'm not guiding it in any one direction.

[00:20:03] It was those interviews that were leading me there

[00:20:06] and just constantly being open

[00:20:08] and asking questions

[00:20:09] and just really hearing what people had to say

[00:20:12] about what life was like.

[00:20:14] And that was what was guiding me.

[00:20:16] And their stories really resonated with me.

[00:20:19] It felt like those were the stories

[00:20:21] that people want to see in theaters.

[00:20:23] Those are the kind of storytelling

[00:20:26] that really moves you and is universal.

[00:20:30] That was the driving force.

[00:20:32] Can you give us an example

[00:20:34] of one of the things that really surprised you

[00:20:36] from these interviews?

[00:20:38] I mean, I never heard of jumping before.

[00:20:41] I did not know what mattress jumping was.

[00:20:45] And so when they told me that,

[00:20:47] there was a couple people told me

[00:20:49] that they took these really dirty mattresses

[00:20:52] and laid them out on the playground

[00:20:54] and they were doing jumping competitions,

[00:20:56] I was really surprised by that.

[00:20:58] And there's incredible photography

[00:21:00] of kids doing that on the blacktop

[00:21:02] in front of the high rises.

[00:21:05] That was not something I...

[00:21:07] I had no idea what that was

[00:21:09] until they told me about it.

[00:21:11] That's very cool.

[00:21:13] Your journey, I know you grew up in New York City

[00:21:16] in the 1990s during this time period.

[00:21:19] Did you recognize any similarities

[00:21:21] between the Cabrini Green of this film

[00:21:24] and what you saw around you growing up?

[00:21:27] I mean, I think what was familiar to me

[00:21:30] was the home, was my mother's presence,

[00:21:34] the dinner table, the jokes,

[00:21:37] the culture of...

[00:21:41] We don't have a lot,

[00:21:43] but we got each other.

[00:21:45] And my family growing up,

[00:21:47] we were very, very close.

[00:21:49] I think my mother was very imaginative

[00:21:52] and she would build our furniture from scratch

[00:21:55] with the wood she would buy

[00:21:57] from the Home Depot stores

[00:22:00] because we couldn't afford to buy furniture.

[00:22:03] And so I saw just how resourceful that she was.

[00:22:07] And so for me, a lot of the inspiration was

[00:22:10] not just my mom,

[00:22:12] who did raise me as a single black woman,

[00:22:14] but my grandmother, who worked in the South,

[00:22:17] raising four kids as a single black mom.

[00:22:19] And she would not come home until 8 o'clock at night

[00:22:23] after having made food and dinner

[00:22:27] for the family she was working for.

[00:22:30] And so that rhythm of when you walk in the house

[00:22:34] and you're just so burnt and you're so exhausted

[00:22:37] and yet you got to pour into these babies

[00:22:40] and you got to love on them.

[00:22:42] And I think one of the things that excited me

[00:22:45] so much about the story was the opportunity

[00:22:47] to tell the story through the eyes

[00:22:49] of these two little black boys.

[00:22:52] Because I don't see that enough in filmmaking

[00:22:56] and as a mom of a little black son.

[00:22:59] These are the kind of stories I want to see,

[00:23:01] but I want him to also have these sort of stories.

[00:23:05] Yeah, I was going to ask because your son

[00:23:07] is roughly this age that these boys are

[00:23:10] in the film now.

[00:23:11] So what was it like having these conversations

[00:23:15] that you have in the film with Cameron James

[00:23:18] who plays Malik?

[00:23:19] Were you drawing on some experience

[00:23:21] that you had with your own son

[00:23:23] or was it the opposite,

[00:23:25] pulling experience from this

[00:23:27] when you have to have these conversations later?

[00:23:31] You know it's tricky.

[00:23:32] When we shot this, my son was five, he's seven now.

[00:23:35] But I think inevitably you draw from your own son

[00:23:39] and inevitably you draw from your own life.

[00:23:41] Subconsciously and consciously.

[00:23:43] When I'm talking to him,

[00:23:45] the banter I have with him with Blake,

[00:23:48] that's for sure how my relationship is with Hunter.

[00:23:52] Hunter was on set

[00:23:54] and he and Blake actually became really best buds

[00:23:57] talking about basketball

[00:23:59] and running around the set during lunchtime.

[00:24:03] And so for me, I'm very aware of the desire

[00:24:09] to protect my son's joy and his light.

[00:24:14] And I'm also aware of the fact that

[00:24:17] I have to instill in him this awareness

[00:24:21] that he's going to be walking through life

[00:24:24] just a little different than some other people.

[00:24:27] And so yeah, when Dolores has this real visceral

[00:24:32] panic around them going and just having an adventure

[00:24:36] to the Art Institute,

[00:24:38] that is directly rooted in the fact that

[00:24:41] his blackness is not going to be treated the same way

[00:24:45] as some other kids.

[00:24:47] And so how do you raise them up in a way

[00:24:51] where you can preserve their joy

[00:24:53] and preserve their light?

[00:24:55] But also keeping it real,

[00:24:58] letting them know you gotta be safe.

[00:25:01] You gotta walk through the world

[00:25:04] with a level of protection.

[00:25:06] So it's that balance that I struggle with too.

[00:25:10] When Trayvon Martin, years ago,

[00:25:15] that whole situation, I hadn't had a son yet

[00:25:18] but I remember being on social media

[00:25:20] going off about it of like

[00:25:22] how do we raise our kids in an environment?

[00:25:26] He just had some skittles.

[00:25:28] Man, like how do you raise these babies

[00:25:31] to know like, yo, you should be able

[00:25:34] to walk down the street.

[00:25:35] You should be able to go to the store

[00:25:36] and just buy some skittles.

[00:25:38] Like, you know?

[00:25:40] And so that talk that I have to have with my son,

[00:25:43] it's very sobering and unfortunate

[00:25:48] but I also know I sit in a place of privilege

[00:25:50] and so it's an honor to be able

[00:25:52] to bring stories like this to light

[00:25:53] and honor women like Dolores

[00:25:55] who have to live this day in and day out.

[00:25:57] You're just mad because I'm leaving.

[00:25:59] I'm not a baby anymore.

[00:26:00] You're grown now and you know right from wrong.

[00:26:04] This is what I know.

[00:26:06] A place is the people.

[00:26:11] Yay!

[00:26:13] My name is Leigh and my name is George.

[00:26:16] Don't you forget.

[00:26:18] Yeah, it's written with such sensitivity

[00:26:22] to those kinds of conversations

[00:26:25] and to on all sides, I think,

[00:26:28] which is one of the really beautiful things about it.

[00:26:31] I have to ask, you know, like

[00:26:33] I read in the production notes, Minhal,

[00:26:35] that in order to work with these young boys

[00:26:38] that you're working with,

[00:26:39] you did a lot of improvisation with them

[00:26:42] over Zoom prior to shooting

[00:26:45] which is, I think, incredibly clever

[00:26:48] and such a good idea.

[00:26:50] Once they got to set,

[00:26:52] how did you work with them

[00:26:53] and Jertie, and Asapatha, and L'Relle

[00:26:57] to create these family dynamics

[00:26:59] with everybody that feels so real?

[00:27:02] Everyone was so great on this film.

[00:27:05] Everyone just immediately loved each other

[00:27:07] and so that was really special to witness.

[00:27:09] Lucky.

[00:27:10] Yeah, and so that's very much all of them,

[00:27:12] you know, that they brought that themselves.

[00:27:15] I mean, that was naturally there.

[00:27:17] With the kids, you know,

[00:27:19] as part of the audition process,

[00:27:22] we did have these improvised games

[00:27:25] and then when we cast them,

[00:27:28] we were still doing quite a lot of that over Zoom

[00:27:30] and so I would create these scenarios for them

[00:27:32] like what would you do if you're on a bus

[00:27:35] and then somebody drops their wallet

[00:27:38] and then I would describe the scenario

[00:27:40] and they were playing their characters,

[00:27:42] not themselves.

[00:27:44] And so we did a lot of that.

[00:27:47] It was really funny what some of the things

[00:27:50] that they would say and it was surprising.

[00:27:53] That's the element that always excites me

[00:27:56] about children is that they bring a level

[00:27:58] of imaginative play and spontaneity

[00:28:01] that you really can't predict

[00:28:03] and that's equal parts challenging

[00:28:06] but also really rewarding.

[00:28:09] It's rewarding for the film.

[00:28:11] But in terms of the chemistry between everybody,

[00:28:14] that, you know, Journey, Asapatha, L'Relle,

[00:28:16] they were all so generous with their time and energy

[00:28:19] with the kids really making sure

[00:28:21] that they felt supported in their scenes

[00:28:23] and felt like equal partners.

[00:28:25] And I think you did that so beautifully

[00:28:27] because you also understand

[00:28:29] what it's like to be on set as a child actor.

[00:28:32] Yeah.

[00:28:33] It's really beautiful to hear.

[00:28:35] I have to shout out and ask

[00:28:37] because my favorite scene in the whole movie,

[00:28:39] I won't give any spoilers for the people listening

[00:28:42] but Journey, the scene between you and Asapatha

[00:28:46] with the tin is all I'll say.

[00:28:49] Yeah.

[00:28:50] Were there any tri-i's on set when you filmed this

[00:28:53] because I was a puddle?

[00:28:56] Oh, thank you.

[00:28:58] That means a lot.

[00:29:00] We did it.

[00:29:01] We did our job.

[00:29:02] That was a great scene.

[00:29:04] I loved that scene.

[00:29:05] I loved working with her too.

[00:29:07] She is such an incredible actress

[00:29:10] and there was so much we discovered in the relationship

[00:29:14] and the development of the film.

[00:29:17] But even once we got on set,

[00:29:19] there were moments that you just allowed

[00:29:22] for there to be room for a surprise.

[00:29:25] As a filmmaker, I really appreciated that

[00:29:28] and just kind of some of these scenes

[00:29:31] became so intimate and so internal and small.

[00:29:38] And yeah, I loved that scene

[00:29:42] and honestly all I had to do was just listen

[00:29:45] and every time she got me, every time she got me.

[00:29:49] How many takes did you do?

[00:29:52] We didn't do many.

[00:29:53] We didn't do that many.

[00:29:54] But she really, both of you were so amazing together

[00:29:58] and working with you two on that scene

[00:30:01] I remember on the day, you all are so collaborative too.

[00:30:04] I feel like the script is a starting place

[00:30:08] and they were so respectful of the script

[00:30:11] but also at the same time you get there on the day

[00:30:13] and then you both brought so much, you know,

[00:30:15] as the patho changes a little piece, part of the line

[00:30:18] and it's so much better now.

[00:30:20] It's better than what it was when it was written

[00:30:22] and it's in your energies.

[00:30:24] It's just that's something that you can't predict

[00:30:27] when you're writing it.

[00:30:29] And we really wanted to subtly capture

[00:30:34] the different dynamics between this mother and daughter.

[00:30:37] My father is no longer in this physical world.

[00:30:41] I have stepped into that role of provider,

[00:30:44] head of the household

[00:30:46] and that dynamic has changed my relationship

[00:30:48] with my mother and she's not the boss of me, you know?

[00:30:53] I'm saying like we're doing this, we're doing that

[00:30:56] and yet in this moment I truly need to be mothered

[00:31:00] and I need my mother

[00:31:01] and my mother is challenging me

[00:31:04] to not just grow for myself

[00:31:06] but I got to grow for these babies, you know?

[00:31:09] And sometimes that is the motivation that we need,

[00:31:13] you know, that motivation where it's not just for me

[00:31:17] but I love him so fiercely

[00:31:19] that if I don't become my best self

[00:31:21] and if I don't become a whole parent

[00:31:23] how can I raise a whole child?

[00:31:25] And I think that's a message for us

[00:31:27] to take away from the film too, right?

[00:31:30] Is that how can we help these children?

[00:31:33] We have to help these children live a better life

[00:31:35] than what we have

[00:31:37] and I think this film is really beautiful testament

[00:31:41] to how we can do that.

[00:31:42] So thank you both.

[00:31:44] Thank you both for this film

[00:31:45] and thank you both for joining us today.

[00:31:47] Thank you for having us.

[00:31:48] Thank you so much.

[00:31:49] Hey everyone, thank you so much

[00:31:50] for listening to Dan Baer's interviews

[00:31:52] with two of the stars

[00:31:53] from the new film We Grown Now,

[00:31:55] L'Oreal Howrie and Journey Smollett

[00:31:58] plus the film's writer, director and producer,

[00:32:01] Menal Beg, here on The Next Best Picture Podcast.

[00:32:05] We Grown Now is now playing in theaters

[00:32:08] from Sony Pictures Classics.

[00:32:10] You have been listening to The Next Best Picture Podcast.

[00:32:13] We are proud to be part of the Evergreen Podcast Network

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[00:32:34] Thank you all so much for listening as always

[00:32:36] and we will see you all next time.

[00:32:56] I'm Alison Holland, host of the Kennedy Dynasty Podcast.

[00:33:00] I'm a

[00:33:26] Equipped with a microphone and a long-term fascination

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