On October 9, The New York Film Festival hosted the US premiere of “If Beale Street Could Talk” at the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem.
This marked the first time that the festival presented a screening at the theater. The film was written and directed by Barry Jenkins and based on the classic novel by James Baldwin. Baldwin was born at Harlem Hospital on August 2, 1924. He spent much time throughout his childhood at local libraries in the neighborhood. Beale Street is the story of Tish, a newly engaged Harlem woman who races against the clock to prove her lover’s innocence while carrying their first-born child to term. The film was shot almost entirely in New York City in the fall of 2017 with production taking place in various Harlem locations.
Check our exclusive red carpet interviews below:
Emily Rios plays Victoria Rogers.
The Knockturnal: You cut your hair!
Emily Rios: I did it a month ago in Montreal. I cut it three times in three days. I was like, “go shorter.” Then I went back the next day and was like “go shorter.” Then the next day, I went to a barber. I was like “shave it off.”
The Knockturnal: What was the inspiration behind the cut?
Emily Rios: My authentic self. I think this is the first time I’m showing my authentic self. I’m finally stepping into “me” and being as comfortable as I could possibly be, no longer hiding behind a filter, behind some false identity, and this is who I am.
The Knockturnal: Well congratulations, honey.
Emily Rios: Thank you!
The Knockturnal: Talk about working with Barry Jenkins. Everyone wants to work with him!
Emily Rios: We all would love to work with Barry, let me tell you. What is so beautiful about Barry is that he makes it a collaborative effort, and I think the reason why he has a family dynamic on his sets, is because people want to work with him because he lets you bring your creative inspiration and your motivation and he knows that whoever he is working with brings something special to the table, and he wants to collaborate with you, and create with you as opposed to point the finger and nitpick and tell you what to do. He wants to learn from you as well and that’s what’s really important is that he’s a teachable man, regardless of being one of the most incredible directors out there. He’s still like “I want to learn from you” and it’s beautiful.
The Knockturnal: What did you learn from him?
Emily Rios: How to be a good person, first of all, and how to treat your staff and your people around you with compassion and dignity and respect. I learned the incredible work ethic and the creative eye, that it never stops. Always bring it to the table, always share your ideas, and don’t be afraid to speak up and take up your space. I learned so many incredible things as far as the creative role is concerned, and how important it is to meet and build the chemistry before you get onto set.
The Knockturnal: Your character is a victim of rape. Talk about why it’s so important for victims to speak out and speak their truth.
Emily Rios: Especially today, with today’s political climate and everybody being so afraid, I think it’s so important to understand that those who are victims shouldn’t be the ones feeling ashamed and shouldn’t be the ones who are embarrassed … I think you need to treat people like the golden rule and show people the amount of respect that they showed you. It’s the attacker who should feel that embarrassment and that shame. Don’t be afraid to speak out and say that “this is what happened” and understand that you’re the brave one and the courageous one for speaking your truth and saying what really happened. We have to come from a place of compassion and empathy and understand that it takes a lot for somebody to say “I am in pain, I have suffered a great deal, and this is my story.” I think the more that they see people sharing their stories, the more they’ll feel empowered and encouraged to go ahead and tell their truth as well.
Marcia Jean Kurtz plays the Italian Lady.
The Knockturnal: Speak about working with Barry.
Marcia Jean Kurtz: I had never worked with Barry. I didn’t know what to expect, and I found a very kind, insistent man who knew what he could get, ultimately, out of me, out of an actor, and took me on a journey where I think something special happened.
The Knockturnal: The story is so important to society and the culture. What do you think people will take away from watching it?
Marcia Jean Kurtz: I think they’ll be deeply moved by it. It’s, unfortunately, the perfect film for right now, when there’s such cruelty and insensitivity, and people who just deride people who aren’t like them, the racism that’s been celebrated in this time is horrendous. Hopefully, this film will move people’s hearts and make a difference.
Ed Skrein plays Officer Bell.
Ed Skrein: There was a real duality to playing Officer Bell. On one level, it was easy. I had the text from two of the most eloquent and beautiful wordsmiths of the last 100 years: James Baldwin and Barry Jenkins. In one sentence, they can tell you what another writer would tell you in 100 sentences, so I had more to play with before I turned up than I have for almost any other role, which is crazy because it was such a small role. It was unbelievable in that regard. I’ve never had such rich text, so that was easy before I arrived. Then I arrived and I had to play this horrible, ignorant, bigoted, racist. This divisive antagonist that would tear apart families for generations and would spread such hatred. For the time we shot it, it was dark. It wasn’t nice. As soon as we wrapped, I just gave them both a big hug and said “I’m so sorry. I really didn’t mean any of that. It’s all love.” … The beautiful thing is, I’m an actor, so I can create that distance. I can spread hatred and go home. It’s lucky for me. So from my selfish point of view, I’m very lucky! I’m fine. I could go back to my family. In real life racism … it divides families, cultures, sections of our society, countries, and these people don’t go home and it lasts for generations and generations and is so fucked up. So yeah, it was a deep and troubling role to undertake.
The Knockturnal: The story feels so relevant today. Can you reflect on that a little bit?
Ed Skrein: That’s the saddest thing about this. I was sitting there today and I was thinking “how slowly is this wheel gonna turn? When will the goodwill of all the liberals, all of the hard work of all of the political groups that we have” … we have some positive politicians, we have some positive police and such, but how fucking slowly is this gonna turn? How are we here in 2018, and this feels like it was written last year? Feels like it was probably written last month. It’s frustrating. We have to be thankful for the progress that we’ve made since because we have made progress, but it’s … frustrating. We all have a responsibility to do everything that we can and try our best to make any difference that we can. However little it feels at the time, we just got to do anything that we can.
The film hits theaters exclusively in NYC on November 30. It will expand on December 7.