09 - Clemency
Alfre Woodard joins as the first guest of this episode. She starts off by revealing why she says “yes” to a role (1:09). She talks about the prisons she visited with Chinonye Chukwu in preparation to play the role of Bernadine (2:54). She explains how an actor’s body is their instrument and that they are trained to play the notes of their emotions. (4:14)Hollywood Unscripted Alfre discusses her character’s fractured relationship with her husband (5:55), why her profession put the relationship in that position (7:10) and how Bernadine is emotional in a different way than an artist would be (8:20). She goes further into the actors’ preparation for their roles, reveals the affect it had on her (12:32), describes how the actors were able to show up ready to work together (13:45), and how emotion is not something to be afraid of (14:41). Chinonye Chukwu, writer and director of , then joins (17:46) and describes how the process of writing this film led her to uproot her life in order to deepen her research (18:04). She discusses choosing to write the story from the perspective of the prison warden (20:18) and talks about teaching her college filmmaking curriculum in a women’s prison (20:37).ClemencyHollywood Unscripted She recalls how Alfre came aboard the project (21:51) and then talks about working with the team - cinematographer Eric Branco (23:29); editor Phyllis Housen (24:24); actors Danielle Brooks (24:28), Richard Schiff (26:08), and Wendell Pierce (26:29); and producer Bronwyn Cornelius (27:17).Clemency Chinoye tells how changes to the script were made to focus on Bernadine’s story (27:57). She describes how it feels to have a financially viable film (29:01) and her next steps (30:02). Finally, she discusses how she chose to begin and end (31:26) the film, the ability to bring joy to a heavy set (33:03), and her advice to aspiring filmmakers (34:28). Executive Producer: Stuart Halperin Producer: Jenny Curtis Music By: Celleste a Eric Dick Learn more about and Scott Tallal: https://www.curtco.com/hollywoodunscriptedHollywood Unscripted And Follow Us: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/curtcomedia Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/curtcomedia Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/curtcomedia A CurtCo Media production https://www.curtco.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
