Exclusive: Deon Taylor, Tyrese, & Frankie Smith Talk ‘Black And Blue’ At Urbanworld Film Festival

Black and Blue, which premiered on closing night (September 21) of Urbanworld Film Festival, tells the story of a rookie cop, Alicia West (Naomie Harris), who inadvertently captures a murder scene on her body cam.

Alicia has not even completed a full month on the New Orleans police force before one extra night shift changes her life forever. She must decide if she will risk her life by getting the footage into the right hands—back to the precinct and into the database—or flee.

We caught up with director Deon Taylor, Tyrese Gibson (Mouse), and Frankie Smith (Tez) on the red carpet at Urbanworld Film Festival.

The Knockturnal: How do you feel now that the movie is finally out and ready for the world to see?

Deon Taylor: “I feel great. This movie is important. I’m trying to tell everybody I can why the movie is important. First of all: black cast, black people, black director, and it’s a movie that means something. It’s one thing to get the Training Day vibe, which the movie gives you, and it’s another thing when you can go there and see somebody actually say something about what’s going on. And the reality is, we’re living in a time where the news will show you one thing and say you didn’t see that. And I’m like nah, that ain’t what we doing, I’m not crazy, you know what I mean? And I wanted to make a movie where the lead character says, I’m not crazy, this is not what it’s supposed to be. And she blurs the line. And it’s the first time we’ve had an African American female as a lead cop in a feature film. And that’s something people need to understand and see. And this lady, Naomie Harris, she murders it. She’s incredible, so I can’t wait for people to see it. Dante Spinotti is behind the camera. He was brilliant, and it’s a great movie for the culture right now. And I’m just telling everybody. They know I’m an independent guy. They know I couldn’t pay my light bill. I’m standing here right now because I put everything I have into this film. And I’m really excited for it and I want it to have a message for people.” 

Frankie Smith: “I think the movie is saying be the change that you want to see. There’s no way that one person can change the world but at least if you’re a decent human being, it’s a chain reaction. It may start off small, but if you do things that you know are right, you’re contributing to the good that you want to see in the world.” 

The Knockturnal: Tell us about the character you play and how you connected.

Frankie Smith: “I play the coolest guy in the movie. I play Tez who is the computer geek under Mike Colter’s (Darius) drug gang. So my job is to hack into people’s computers, steal money, things like that. I [personally] just know the basics when it comes to computers: Google, typing, and Instagram, that’s the basis of my technology.”

The Knockturnal: What was it like working with Deon Taylor?

Frankie Smith: “Deon has so much energy. And when you work with someone who is like that…he’s super excited about the project and it’s like every scene he’d say, ‘Man, that’s A1 acting, that’s such good acting.’ And it would just lift up your own spirits. But he really was a champion for all the actors and it’s nice when you have a director who, even when you make a mistake will say, ‘That was nice, but do it like this and it will be so much better.’ And then with Naomie and Tyrese, they are these big stars, but they didn’t come with that attitude.”

Remarks on presenting at Urbanworld Film Festival…

Tyrese Gibson: “I love y’all. I have to go introduce the movie. It means everything to me that y’all are here. God bless you. No one is gonna know about the movie until y’all create the energy and excitement that we need. Naomie Harris is amazing and the police corruption, no more.”

Black and Blue is set to release in theaters on October 25. For more information on the film, click here.

For more details about Urbanworld Film Festival, click here.