My next guest is a six time.
Emmy Award winning actor known for memory of roles in the films like What's Love Got to Do With It? The Matrix, remember ABC's Blackish. The man's been here before. He's one of the greatest actors in American history as far as I'm concerned, and it is an honor and a privilege to have him back to one and only. Lawrence Fishburne is on the show right now.
What's going on? Big time?
How are you manage everything?
I'm listening. I can't wait to talk to you. I can't wait to talk to you about sneaks in a second. But I mean, I'm just looking at you. You've been doing a lot of work.
Man.
You're supposed to be.
Climbing up then, and you're supposed to be you're supposed to be itching towards retirement. I mean, you're working more than most people, Lawrence. I mean, what's going on, man? What's up?
Hey? Somebody got to pay for the retirement. Baby.
You got bills to pay, right, you got the bills to pay. That's right. I definitely get you. I understand that loud and clear. Let's get to your new project, all right, you know the Sneaks. It's an animated sports comedy you are producing.
What's it all about? Talk to me about it.
Sneak is an animated thing that we did with a lot of really talented people, Martin Lawrence, Anthony Mackie, and it's about a pair of sneakers and the sneakers come alive and talk. It's the journey of a pair of sneakers, a twenty fours that are brother and sister and they get separated. They've been raffled off at a gala at the Guggenheim in New York and a young kid wins them and the sneakers get separated and a lot of
chaos ensues. But it's a really funny buddy movie about these two sneakers, an old head, an old school sneaker and a brand new sneaker who's like the hotness that everybody wants, and an odist of them trying to get back to each other throughout New York City. It's great.
Well, listen, let me remind somebody and names you. You just gave a couple of Mont Lawrence, you know, Anthony Mackie, Macy Gray's in there, Chloe Bailey's there Ella May is there, Quavo, Rico rodri even the one and only see c P three ce P three Chris Paul question, no doubt, but what was this your idea?
Was this your idea or did? Somebody knows?
But I'm one of the producers. I was I was brought on board, uh my partner and I Helen Suglan at Cinema Gypsy. She brought the piece to me and and she really believed it it and I was like, yeah, this is really kind of interesting. We haven't seen this before. Like we've seen talking airplanes and talking cars, but we ain't seen talking sneaks.
I've heard a lot of things about I've heard a lot about you throughout the years, but the one thing I've never heard is that you were a big sports fan. So I'm wondering, what was it about this particular idea that appeal to you so much? Because I know that you're forward thinking and you're a visionary. What was it about this idea that appealed to you so much?
Although I'm not a sports fan, I grew up in New York, you know, in the sixties and the seventies, and I'm not even a sneaker head. But I get it like I get sneaker culture, even as somebody who doesn't really participate in it in that way. I used to have friends who would see me and they when they would see me wearing sneakers, they'd be surprised because for a long time I just didn't wear them, and
that wasn't like a conscious choice. But there is something about sneaker culture that I do understand and that I do connect with. I'm always I've always been a big animation fan, So anything animated always has my interest.
And why have you been a big animated fan? Animation fan?
I am one too, But I'd like to know what is it about it that appeals to you. Somebody is star studied as you are, as accomplished as you are. What is it about animation that does it for you?
The thing about animation is growing up listening to There's one actor in particular who's probably one of the greatest voice actors of all time, and that was the late great Mel Blank. You know. Mel Blank voiced bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck and fog Horn Leghorn and Porky Pig and Martin the Marshan and I can keep going. So just as an actor, he had a kind of skill
and versatility that I always aspired to. But also, you know, just as a as as an actor, being able to create characters with your voice and work with you know, illustrations, to work with artists renderings of characters, that's just that's just fun for me, Lars.
As you reflect on your career, any illustrious career that you've had, if you had to really really sit down and think about anything that you wish you would have done, something that might be on your bucket list, something that you missed out on. I can't imagine that you haven't done, because it seems like you've done every damn thing. But is there something that you haven't done in your career that you wish you had done?
Project anything like that.
There's more than one thing on my career that I wish that I have done that I haven't done. But I try not to dwell on things that I haven't done. You know, I don't think that's a smart thing to do. I think it's much healthier to look forward and try to, you know, get to do some of those things, or do a version of those things. You know, perhaps you missed.
That's where I'm going.
I'm sorry I asked the question wrong because I'm thinking something that you haven't done, that you still in line to do, like it ain't finished, Like you just haven't done it yet, but you really don't want to do it.
There's a lot of stuff I haven't done that I you know, that I would like to do that I will get to do. Uh and and I think it's it's also very important for me two, you know, do the work that I need to do before I start talking about it, you know. So I'm going to manifest something. I got to get into the visualization of it, you know, And this isn't the platform for that, This isn't the space for that.
Got you you know, totally understand, totally understand.
I want to get into something else.
Too, because it's involved things that I want to do that I hope to do that I envision myself doing and I'm working towards doing.
Yes, totally understand.
I want to get into a new project, you know, one of your new projects.
Actually it's not a new project.
I wanted to discuss your recent appearance on the PBS Show because I was I was I was reading something about that Finding your Roots hosted by Lewis and Lewis Games, And I understand it was very, very revealing as it pertained to you. You like talking about that for a second, tell me sure about for you what that experience was like for you?
Please?
Yeah, what was that?
About?
What happened?
It was a huge gift. I mean I basically was you know, I got enough information visa the DNA to actually find out who my biological father was. As it turns out, mister Fishburne was not my biological father, although he was my dad, and he was wonderful dad. You know, he showed up for me in ways that were important, and he gave me a great name, mister fishburn And
I'm grateful to him and his memory. But at the same time, I just discovered that my biological father was a gentleman named William Siegelbaumannon who was born and raised in the city of Chicago, and he passed away sadly in twenty seventeen before I was able to get to meet him. But yeah, it was a huge gift because I have a whole new family. I have siblings I did not know I had, and other people in my lineage that I did not know about.
And what's that? And what's that like?
When you know, you walk up to people and they come up to you and suddenly their family you know, yeah, well you know, I mean, I mean, what what what.
Is that like?
Listen, Stephen? The reality of it in terms of, you know, our culture and our history as people of color in this country. This is not new stuff. This is not new. You know, the history of our families and our family histories is complicated as this country. It's not new. It's
something that happened to me. And I'm not the first, won't be the last, and I'm just grateful that I got a chance, you know, even at this you know moment in my life, you know, shall we call it the third act of my life or whatever it is? To meet people who are related to me and and who love and embrace me. Just based on that alone, it's beautiful, I feel you.
I just I just think about it.
I think about how beautiful that is in the way that you describe, and it almost like gives you a new lease on life. That's how I would take it anyway, in a very very positive way, of course, That's how I look at it.
And no question about it. So I'm happy for you about it.
Let me get back to the business of you from from the standpoint of this spot thriller. It's already out called The Amateur, starring alongside Roby Mallock. Talk about the The Amateur. Talk about that film for a second and what your role in that is.
Yeah, So it's me and Rommy Malik. Rummy Mallick plays a CIA analyst whose wife gets killed in a hostage type situation. He wants to seek vengeance. He goes to the people at the CIA and says, you got to train me be in the field operative. So they have me as a colonel who comes in to train him and I immediately instruct by how inept I think he will be at field operations. A little movie that I
did with Romney, who I adore. He's so talented, he's so interesting and so smart, and he's one of the producers. And we think the movies, you know, we think the movie is great, and a lot of people seem to think the same thing.
So I got you, well, listen, I gotta let you go. I gotta run myself. I can't thank you enough for giving me some time to talk to always wonderful to talk to you. You know, I'm a I'm a huge fan, as I have been for decades with your wonderful work. Man, it's a lot of the privilege to talk to you.
Really, I'm coming to New York student to do something and I want you to come and see me. I'll let you know about it.
Please let me know about it, absolutely, brother, you take it easier, right, Lawrence, my man, God bless God bless take you my best, my thanks to the great Lawrence fishburn Snakes is in theaters nationwide April eighteenth, and the Amateur is out now, as you just heard us say, so be sure to check out both of them.
Please, As Lawrence fishburn why wouldn't you, Why wouldn't you?
I ain't even bring up miss in the Possible Three cause that brother was good in that movie, great in that movie.
You know, I've always watched Lawrence Fishburne movies. I'm just letting y'all know I ain't faking the funk. That brother's real. He's something special.