There’s a new Shaft in town in the latest film in the Shaft movie franchise which began in 1971 with Richard Roundtree’s portrayal of the character, followed by Samuel L Jackson taking on the character as Roundtree’s successor.
Now in the newest installment we are introduced to John Shaft Jr., simply referred to as JJ who happens to be the son of Jackson’s Shaft, and grandson of Roundtree’s Shaft, steps into his own portrayed by Jessie T. Usher who gained prominence for his prior roles in the Starz series Survivor’s Remorse, and the sequel to the blockbuster Independence Day film Independence Day Resurgence. Jessie T. Usher chatted with The Knockturnal at New York City’s Red Rooster Harlem restaurant about becoming the ‘new’ Shaft.
The Knockturnal: At what moment did you first know you were John Shaft?
Jessie T. Usher: You know what I didn’t feel like John Shaft until I put that heavy ass trench coat on in New York City, like that was the moment. We shot so much where my character was discovering the becoming of John Shaft and we shot a lot of that in Atlanta and I felt removed from that character. And then all of a sudden a few weeks are left in production and we move up to Harlem and here we are with trench coats and turtlenecks and black gloves and gunfights and Samuel is to my right and Richard is to my left. Then I kind of had to just take a deep breath and say ‘like damn I’m John Shaft right now this is crazy’. Just being enveloped in those moments in the whole environment everything.
The Knockturnal: Can you talk about working with Samuel L. Jackson and Richard Roundtree, what was it like?
Jessie T. Usher: I’ve never worked with anyone more professional than Samuel L. Jackson in my life. I never thought that someone who is so legendary as him could still be so engaging and so caring about his projects and his work. Honestly he takes care of the whole crew, it’s something that you don’t see very often in my profession. You don’t see someone come who is selfless as Sam. He cares so much about his performance but not more than taking care of everybody else too. He wants me to do a good job so he gives me what I need to make sure that my performance is good. He wants the cameraman to get the shot so he does what he needs to make sure the cameraman is getting what he needs. It’s so many different dynamics and pieces that go into making a good film and he just understands it all entirely. So when he shows up on set I know we’re making something good. I know if he’s saying ‘ like no we don’t need that’ or ‘yes we need to do this’ I know there’s a reason behind it, even if I haven’t figured it out yet there’s a reason behind it. There’s nothing that’s empty that comes to Sam. When it comes to Richard, Richard’s so mellow he’s so chill he’s so cool he demands so much respect because of who he is and the products he has done it just takes everything up another level. He just re-lit the fire of whatever it is that we were cooking. It was nice to have them both there because Sam does apply pressure on you when you’re working with him and Richard comes in and alleviates that pressure. It just worked out beautifully.
The Knockturnal: What are your earliest memories of the Shaft films?
Jessie T. Usher: Earliest memories are more so like hearing my family reference the character. I knew the song I don’t even know when I learned the song, but I’ve kind of always known it or like if you hear it, immediately I can recognize it, those type of things. I re-watched (I know I had seen it before but I can’t even tell you when) but I re-watched the 2000 Shaft film after I read the script for this one. I wanted to re-familiarize myself with that universe and like the tone of the movie because this one was gonna be so different , I just didn’t want it to seem like we were lost. He could have easily be lame, he could have easily sucked and like ruined.. there’s a portion of this story that says like okay he doesn’t know what it means to be a Shaft but I could have really not known what it meant to be a Shaft and there was no coming back from that and I didn’t want to be that guy. So I had to go back, I re-watched 2000 I watched a ton of material from the 1971 version of Shaft, and you could just look at a poster from 1971 and know exactly what kind of movie you’re gonna get. So that’s what it was about for me.
The Knockturnal: Music has played a big part in the Shaft series especially with the iconic Issac Hayes theme song, can you tell us what music did you listen to to get you into the Shaft mood/vibe?
Jessie T. Usher: Honestly I think just the original theme song. If I needed to get into the Shaft mood I go there. There’s nothing new that can kind of get me to the same place. There’s a way to apply the old music to today’s time that can be adjusted to make the film that we made but there’s nothing that’s been out in the last twenty years that I can say like this makes me feel Shafty. As soon as you cut that song on my walk changes my lean is different when I sit. Those things are embodied in that song.
The Knockturnal: Talk about having Regina Hall play your mother.
Jessie T. Usher: I love Regina, I’ve always loved Regina. So when I heard she was doing it I was like yes. I’ve always wanted to meet her, always wanted to work with her. She was hilarious like all the time, everyday she brought such a light energy such a light mood and at the same time she is naturally someone who can keep up with the Shafts. She’s badass enough she can handle whatever it is a Shaft is bringing out it doesn’t matter what situation we in whether it’s a bunch of action a whole bunch of cussing a bunch of shooting a bunch of b– Regina can hold her own. I was happy to have her bring that element to it because we needed those type of female figures in this movie in order for her to not seem out of place . I never want it to feel like how the hell did she end up with Shaft, what is it about her that makes her work with Shaft. As soon as you see those too together you know you know.
The Knockturnal: You built up chemistry with Alexandra Shipp on screen as well tell us about that.
Jessie T. Usher: I didn’t know what to expect from Alex either. I had never met Alex. I had just seen very little of her work, what I’ve known from Alex is after the movie came out because we shot like two and half years ago. I like who she is as a person and then who she is in this character. Alex naturally the type of person who would tell Shaft about himself anyway, so the fact they incorporated that and let her be so outspoken was so in the pocket for her it was just something I was able to appreciate. I could sit back and watch and enjoy seeing her deal with JJ becoming Shaft, seeing her deal with Shaft jumping back into JJ’s life. She’s just a powerful person, she’s a very strong individual and I think that she brought an incredible element to the movie that no one else could have brought.
The Knockturnal: So my last question to you is in this film JJ receives lots of advice from his father, can you talk about some good advice or not so good advice you have received from your father?
Jessie T. Usher: To be honest with you just having my actual dad just be who he is, is better than any advice I could have gotten from anyone else or from him even. He’s not a very vocal person but he’s powerful in who he is. His demeanor my dad’s aura his energy commands respect .The way he carries himself and as quiet as he is everyone knows not to f- with him And I love that, you don’t have to be boisterous and big to seem masculine. You don’t have to yell and flex your muscles for people to know you are a man and that’s something I’ve learned from my dad just being around him. Although he’s masculine and manly in his own way he’s still very caring and very loving and very nurturing and those are things I always wanted to be growing up. There was nothing that I ever looked at him and said like when I get older I just wanna be not that. A lot of people say my dad was great but.., there was no but in my family or with him specifically.
The film hits theaters this Friday!
