Wesley Snipes
"Back in the Life"
Wesley Snipes rose from supporting roles in Wildcats and Major League to become one of the biggest Hollywood actors of the 1990's. He starred in hit after hit like Mo' Better Blues, New Jack City, Passenger 57, White Men Can't Jump, Demolition Man, Rising Sun, Money Train, U.S. Marshalls and of course the Blade franchise..
By the early 2000's, Snipes's career started to cool and by 2006, was embroiled in a tax fraud controversy that got the actor convicted in 2008 for failing to pay taxes to the U.S. government, a conviction which is currently on appeal and still pending. However, the 47 year-old is ready to reignite his fire back to what first made him a superstar, urban drama, as drug dealer Caz in the film Brooklyn's Finest.
Wesley first discussed what attracted him to the role.
"Well, [director] Antoine [Fuqua] and I had been trying to work together for about ten years and our schedules just didn't sync," Snipes says, "This time, I was available, he had a project and then he told me about [Don Cheadle] being in the movie. And I was like, 'Man, I had been wanting to work with Don for a very, very long time.' Then, he had said Ethan Hawke and Richard Gere was in the movie and all my reservations about playing a drug dealer went out the window. I was back on the block."
However, Snipes said he was initially hesitant to do the film as he had spent much of the early 1990's playing thug roles from Demolition Man's Simon Phoenix to his most famous character of Nino Brown in New Jack City.
"I don't like perpetuating the stereotype of black males being drug dealers and they be criminal," Wesley believes, "It's interesting to watch in New Jack [City] how Nino transcends and becomes this urban folk hero of sorts and guys actually come up to me and said, 'Yo, Snipes! I'm the real Nino! That's me!' It's like that's a badge of honor and I should be patting them on the back, abiding. No, I'm not with that and I didn't want to recreate that kind of a role."
He explained to us though what makes Caz different from Nino.
"He learned," Snipes explains, "Incarceration can change you. He
Wesley Snipes
"Back in the Life"
learned a lot and he had time to reflect on the error of his ways and the futility of that path and how much death he was distributing to his own community, how much he was a contributor to the demise of his own community or the destruction of the community.""So, he gets out and realizes, 'Look, if I don't change my life and I don't go and walk a different path and I don't put God more in my life, it's a wrap,'" he adds, "That to me is a redeeming quality in the character and that's a redeeming character for me as the actor having played Nino."
The film was shot in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan, which was a delight for Snipes, who grew up in the borough of the Bronx.
"Wonderful, beautiful," Wesley exclaims, "Some of the restaurants I still go to by myself. I wasn't afraid at all. [This was in] Brownsville. Bro-Bro-Bro-Bro-Brownsville! Wang Chinese Food!"
We wondered if the experience of doing Brooklyn's Finest had any profound effect on the actor's feelings toward the police.
"I have some in my family," he says, "I don't have an innate animosity towards police officers and I understand the predicament that they're in. Sometimes, they go into it just to pay the bills or because they don't have other choices or sometimes they just go into it to get the gun."
"No, it didn't change my perspective," Snipes continues, "It did educate me to the psychological challenges that they face. That part of their lives is often overlooked unless tended to or cultivated. I didn't know that more police officers die as a result of suicide than in the line of duty. That's amazing to me, but that's the product of living in a war zone, straight up."
The thing Snipes says he is most proud about the film is its level of realism, provided by director Antoine Fuqua, whose films include Training Day, Tears Of The Sun, King Arthur, and Shooter.
"That's a testament to Fuqua as a director and a filmmaker and also to the writers to have that gritty authenticity," Wesley believes, "And I think we, as film fans, we like that. I mean, that's a throwback to the seventies,
Wesley Snipes
"Back in the Life"
sixties, even the fifties, that kind of gritty, realistic filmmaking. That's very nice. That's yummy."Wesley was asked whether he believes civil rights Al Sharpton will see the film, which revolves around corrupt cops in New York City, which Sharpton has championed in several civil rights issues concerning the NYPD.
"He'll see it by buying a ticket," Snipes jokes, "That's the way you're going to see it, with ticket in hand."
The subject of the film's Brooklyn's setting brought up recent news to Snipes that the Brooklyn station used to film the classic, elaborate music video for Michael Jackson's single "Bad" is going to be paid in tribute to the King Of Pop's untimely death last year. Wesley shared with us his thoughts on that and on his participation in the Bad video, one of his earliest roles, as an old friend & gang leader Jackson's character faces in the video's memorable highlight performance.
"Oh, yeah, I heard about that," he gushes, "I heard it through the grapevine. That's cool. That's cool. What a memory! The amazing thing was I was only to be on the film for about three days and it turned out to be about 3 ½ weeks, almost a month of filming. And the thing I took the most from it was watching Michael Jackson perform at performance level in his rehearsals."
"I was like, wow, that's the consummate artist right there," Wesley adds, "That's the pentacle of where as I would want to go and the kind of skills that I want to have as an artist, that I can come in my rehearsals or performances. So I took that from him and that's what I'm trying to be consistent with in my work as well."
Wesley shared some thoughts on the King Of Pop, including rapper & hip-hop mogul Jay-Z's publicly denial of the invitation to be a part of recording the recent 25 For Hait remake of Michael Jackson's landmark all-star charity single "We Are The World".
"Well, I don't have any critical comment for the motivation behind it," Snipes says, "But I don't have a critical comment about it. I'm more critical over how Michael was treated than anything else. I think he was an angel that was sent to us and I
Wesley Snipes
"Back in the Life"
think that we might have to reflect on how well we took care of him. People would like to say, oh, the people around him were bad and they didn't do right by him, but I think it's a collective, too.""Because I can't remember any other artist that attracted that much energy and projected that much power that was that creative and affected so many people, that was a diplomat for America and a champion for the American culture and African American people worldwide," he continues, "People wanted to move to America because of Michael Jackson. The music industry changed because of Michael Jackson, that's a gift to us. I'm concerned maybe that the good Lord may not send another one because we didn't take good care of him. That's just me."
Snipes shared with us what he plans to do next.
"Martial arts family comedy titled Master Daddy," Wesley replies, "And we're working on a cinemographic novel titled Amandi Mc5, which is a Transformers-meets-Star Wars animation, the web series."
Wesley also shared how he feels he will adapt to Hollywood's ever-changing industry, especially in the mist of the current recession in the U.S.
"Well, there are new ways," Snipes believes, "It's a new playing field now and I can say that the benefit of doing films overseas is that it exposed me to that world and exposed our culture and our art form to that world, the broader world. And those people have an appreciation for what we do. And some of those people got money, so there's things in play that people will see. It's not as dry as you think it is."
Snipes finally shared how he felt about more African Americans being nominated for Oscars, particularly this year's African American nominees consisting of Morgan Freeman for Best Actor for his role in Invictus, Gabourey Sidibe for Best Actress, Mo'Nique for Best Supporting Actress, Geoffrey Fletcher for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Lee Daniels for Best Director, all for Precious.
"I'm always happy when they get the nomination," Wesley comments, "I just hope they get the work after it. You can even get those awards and then, you can't get no more work."
