Congrats on your series order for Empire. How does it feel?
I'm trying to adjust! I'm just so thankful for Fox. This is really some cutting-edge stuff, it's really out there. They understood my and Danny [Strong]'s vision and they embraced it. They encouraged us to create these incredible characters who are based on real people, family members of mine. I think people will be surprised by the subject matter. They won't know what to make of some of our situations.
But why do TV now after having such a huge hit last year in The Butler?
Every time you think you have it, there's another medium. I want to learn. I want to stretch my muscles as a director and work under different circumstances. When it was pitched to me — Danny pitched it as a movie, like King Lear — I said, "Danny we should be doing TV. We've had a film career; let's switch up the game a little bit." So it's stuck. Who would have thunk it?
Are you prepared for the rigor of doing TV? It's fair to say that you're a pretty emotional guy.
Actually, everybody said I couldn't do a TV show.
Who said that? Why?
I can't say. Someone very famous said it when I was directing her in The Butler. Her name starts with "O." (Laughs.) She said, 'You can't do TV!' It's because she knows me so well. Fox doesn't know me and that's why that gave me a TV show. No, it's really wonderful. I'm a filmmaker. I'm always searching for the truth in everything I do. I demand it from my writing partner and my crew, actors, and so hopefully we're making people think. We're making statements about sexuality, the African-American experience, what happens when you come from extreme poverty and hit it big and you're a billionaire? What is jail really like?
I'm trying to adjust! I'm just so thankful for Fox. This is really some cutting-edge stuff, it's really out there. They understood my and Danny [Strong]'s vision and they embraced it. They encouraged us to create these incredible characters who are based on real people, family members of mine. I think people will be surprised by the subject matter. They won't know what to make of some of our situations.
But why do TV now after having such a huge hit last year in The Butler?
Every time you think you have it, there's another medium. I want to learn. I want to stretch my muscles as a director and work under different circumstances. When it was pitched to me — Danny pitched it as a movie, like King Lear — I said, "Danny we should be doing TV. We've had a film career; let's switch up the game a little bit." So it's stuck. Who would have thunk it?
Are you prepared for the rigor of doing TV? It's fair to say that you're a pretty emotional guy.
Actually, everybody said I couldn't do a TV show.
Who said that? Why?
I can't say. Someone very famous said it when I was directing her in The Butler. Her name starts with "O." (Laughs.) She said, 'You can't do TV!' It's because she knows me so well. Fox doesn't know me and that's why that gave me a TV show. No, it's really wonderful. I'm a filmmaker. I'm always searching for the truth in everything I do. I demand it from my writing partner and my crew, actors, and so hopefully we're making people think. We're making statements about sexuality, the African-American experience, what happens when you come from extreme poverty and hit it big and you're a billionaire? What is jail really like?
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