Jeffrey Wright: ‘I Just Let the Phone Tell Me What Had Happened’

That scene is the beginning of this journey toward the social commentary and satire within our film. But what I was drawn to on an emotional level was the more kind of plainly human side that focuses on a man and his relationship to love and to his family. There were so many overlaps for Cord in reading the book, and likewise, there were overlaps for me, particularly because of experiences that I had had just prior to receiving the script.

Overlaps?

My son saw the film — he’s in his early 20s — and he said, “I identified a lot with the journey of your character.” And then he said, “And it’s also a beautiful homage to Grandma,” and I said to him, “You got it.” His grandmother, my mother, passed away about a little over a year before I got the email from Cord. And so there were resonances for me that were really striking.

Were you and Cord on the same page with Monk?

One of the things that he and I discussed many times was that this not be a kind of classist celebration of the Black bourgeoisie, but that he be flawed and that there be a balance to our story to avoid that. We talked about that at length, that Monk not necessarily be seen as preaching the gospel, but that he be frustrated and somewhat misanthropic, caring and funny, but also a bit frustrating and arrogant at times. We wanted to make sure that his dimensions were human and that there was room within him for criticism, and as a result for transformation and growth.

What I love about the character’s journey is that he’s not the same man at the end of the film that he is in the beginning. I think there’s something in the human condition that wants to repeat the same mistakes over and over again as individuals and generationally. And so the opportunity to show someone who maybe by force goes through a process of self-examination and evolution is a useful one.

So this was a kind of dream role?

It felt, while this was one of the most enjoyable experiences that I’ve had working on a film, there was a growing momentum while we were filming that we were onto something that could have meaning beyond ourselves. It was just one of those kinds of special ones that you experience, if you’re fortunate, from time to time in which everyone is working in a wonderfully harmonious way toward the common end of realizing the vision making a good film. So in that regard, yeah, it was kind of a dream to work on this one.

What does the nomination mean for your career?

There’s such wonderful work out there this year. I know as well that this isn’t necessarily entirely about the work. I know that we’re not in this position without the tremendous amount of support that we’ve received from our producers and the studio. I’ve never experienced the level of support for a project that I’ve been so central to in my career. And the awards obviously have pragmatic value that they put butts in seats potentially, as is said. I try not to focus on these things at all when I’m working on these possibilities. [Laughs] That said, sure — if they’re handing these things out, we’ll take them.