Category
đ ïž
LifestyleTranscript
00:00We are so many things. And I think that to see that not only within a show, but within a family, that they are all so different in their own way, yet they're unified by being part of the same family.
00:14I just think that's really symbolic of who we are, not just as black people, as people.
00:19And so to see that through this particular family at that particular time, I think, is what makes the show feel universal, makes it feel global whilst it's also specific.
00:32And at the end of the day, that's how we think of ourselves.
00:41I've seen the show and there are several words that I would describe it as, you know, funny, surreal, quirky.
00:48But the word that comes to the forefront for me is unique.
00:52I wanted to ask you, what was it about the plot line that intrigued you the most?
00:56Well, the plot line is not the first thing that came to me.
01:00What came to me was a short film script, and that was something Paul Hunter had written.
01:07And I found out it was based on his life growing up in the valley in the 60s and 70s.
01:15And the thing that hit me is exactly the thing that hit you and the word that you describe it as, unique.
01:21I just hadn't read anything quite like this before.
01:25I hadn't had the opportunity to play a character quite like this before.
01:29I hadn't seen a black family of this nature on screen before.
01:32But I was able to relate to elements of it.
01:36The quirkiness of the family is something I could definitely relate to.
01:39My family being a father of four and my wife and I having these extraordinary kids that we have.
01:46Being a father who wants the best for his family.
01:50Knowing that I am a very fallible individual.
01:53Knowing that I have my own relationship with God and how that relationship plays out.
01:59So I had my versions of some of the themes that were in this story.
02:04But to see it in this fantastical, surreal, absurdist way.
02:08But also set in the 60s.
02:10A time where we often are steeped in civil rights and racial struggle.
02:15But none of that is part of the equation.
02:17There were just so many things that were both fresh and familiar about it.
02:20But overridingly, as you say, it was just so very unique.
02:24So, Simone, I don't want to say the exact line for the people that may not have seen it.
02:29But in the first episode, Astoria had a callback to the title of the show.
02:35And I thought it was brilliant the way y'all worked that in there, too.
02:38I wanted to ask you, what does the title Government Cheese mean to you?
02:42And what do you hope it'll mean to audiences by the end of the season?
02:45I think that the title is all about innovation.
02:49It's all about making something out of what you are given.
02:54We know that people who received government cheese and who got government subsidies,
03:00they tend to be people in our country who need support, who need a leg up.
03:09And so to watch this family take what they have been given, take the circumstances,
03:18and they are all still striving for more, whether it's Einstein, who wants to become a world-famous
03:26pole vaulter, or it's Astoria, who has aspirations of becoming an interior designer,
03:33or it's Hampton, who comes out of prison, proudly sits in the office at a bank and says that he is
03:41formally incarcerated, but he wants a loan in order to make his invention.
03:47It is the definition of innovation.
03:51It is the definition of aspirational and not accepting what you are given and just taking it.
03:59And so I think that this show will resonate with so many different people,
04:04not only because of its uniqueness and the humor and the quirkiness,
04:09but also just the audacity of these characters.
04:12It's refreshing to see.
04:15So, David, you spoke about it briefly earlier in the conversation about the time period that the show is set on
04:23and that it didn't deal with politics or civil rights like a lot of, you know, our stories deal with in that particular time period.
04:30What was it about this show that made you want to tell a different kind of story from that time period?
04:36Because I think the audience is craving some balance to that narrative.
04:41I certainly know that our community as Black people want that.
04:44It's not to discredit the validity of those narratives, but we are so many things.
04:51And I think that to see that not only within a show, but within a family,
04:55that they are all so different in their own way, yet they're unified by being part of the same family.
05:03I just think that's really symbolic of who we are, not just as Black people, as people.
05:08And so to see that through this particular family at that particular time,
05:13I think is what makes the show feel universal, makes it feel global, whilst it's also specific.
05:21And at the end of the day, that's how we think of ourselves.
05:24We think of ourselves as global storytellers, and we've been given a platform,
05:28the likes of Apple TV Plus, to do that.
05:31And so, you know, the idea is to absolutely take that opportunity and tell an expansive story.
05:36Simone, this next question for you is actually a two-parter as well, too,
05:40because I know that a story is based on Paul Hunter's real-life mother,
05:45who I heard was on set sometimes as well, too.
05:48One, how did you prepare for the role, being as though, you know,
05:52this is an actual person that you were able to see and feel?
05:55And then two, was there any, I guess, pressure to live up to this particular person,
06:00since it was Paul's mile?
06:02Paul is such a giving creator.
06:06He was always telling stories, whether it was about his dad or his uncles, himself,
06:15but especially his mother.
06:17He has such a love for her, and she seemed like such this larger-than-life personality
06:25and woman who raised these two young men to go off and do incredible things.
06:32I mean, Paul is such a genius, even in just the scripts that we read
06:40and the short film that he and David did that I got the chance to see.
06:43You just know that his mind was definitely cultivated by a nurturing mother
06:49who gave him, he had a limitless vision of what was possible.
06:55And so to be able to play a person like that without having the responsibility of, say,
07:01playing a person that, like David, Martin Luther King Jr.,
07:06where everybody has an idea of who that person is,
07:09and you have to mind what happens behind the scenes,
07:12I got to play a version of this incredible woman who you can present to the world
07:19and not have those same kind of requirements of being accurate in that way.
07:26And so it was a blessing to be able to embody his mom,
07:31and he would have these lovely moments where he's like,
07:34you looked like her, she holds her hand like that,
07:37or just all of these things that just felt divinely orchestrated.
07:41I got to meet his mother, and she was just so lovely and wonderful.
07:47And then Astoria is also a version of my mother, and she's a version of my aunt,
07:53two women who were raised in Detroit who are not stereotypically what I have seen presented.
08:00What I've even made up in my mind is what they were.
08:05It gave me the opportunity to talk to my mom and my aunt about their upbringing
08:10and find out that there were so many things that were similar to Astoria,
08:14that were not things that I've seen presented about the 1960s,
08:19about Black people during that time.
08:21And so it was just wonderful to be able to explore a character that is unique.
08:27So David, I know you love both, you know, because you're a star of film and the small screen as well, too.
08:35With this new streaming era, do you feel as though you have more freedom as an actor doing these series
08:42as opposed to doing film?
08:45Well, what streaming has done is it's come along and democratized our business for the audience
08:50in a way that film just refused to do.
08:53It would have been very, very difficult to get the film version of Government Cheese made
08:59because that side of our industry has been steeped in a racist mindset for a long time
09:06around the notion that Black doesn't travel or that the audience isn't there for a narrative the likes of this.
09:13And that mindset was predicated on a very small sample size of people
09:20whose opinions were dictating what films were getting made
09:23and therefore what a global audience was getting to see.
09:26But what streaming has done is that there's hard data of what people want to see
09:31and it has meant that I could get Bass Reeves made
09:35because that was exactly the kind of narrative that, you know,
09:39titans like Morgan Freeman and Sidney Poitier, you know,
09:44they had tried to make narratives of this nature,
09:47but that racist mindset had been the thing that was blocking the path for that.
09:52The data doesn't lie.
09:54And so Government Cheese coming along at this time, in this era of streaming,
10:02I think it's a story that sort of met its moment
10:05and hopefully will soon meet its audience
10:07and the audience will continue to speak
10:10and artists like myself and Simone will continue to get stories told
10:14that I think in a bygone era would have been much more difficult to do.
10:18Simone, David, thank you so much for taking the time
10:21and I can't wait for the world to see this amazing show.
10:23I appreciate you.
10:24Thank you so much.