By Gill Pringle
Did you ever have a teacher like the one you play in the film?
A few, there was pretty rough ones, I call them “grab you by the collar” teachers. Didn’t care who they were, slamming a student against a locker, taking no shit. So I know how to play this guy. He’s a fun character, he’s iconic.
They can’t nowadays, though, right?
Students and parents started ganging up on teachers. Made students get bolder because they knew that if the teacher called their house, mom would cuss ‘em up – ‘Not my baby.’
How did you enjoy working with Charlie Day?
I love Charlie. I was a fan of his before I started working with him. For Ride Along 2 we were looking for a third wheel, and I asked if Charlie was available and he wasn’t. I was like ‘Damn! That’s one actor that I knew that if we worked together, we could have a cool chemistry and we’d be able to play off each other and make people laugh’. He’s just great at what he does and he doesn’t look like he’s acting, he’s really natural with this flavour so I’ve been a big fan of his for a while, so for this to come together when that didn’t for me is better, because if that would’ve came together this wouldn’t have, so this great.
What do you like about acting?
I love it because to me it’s a great way to tell a story. In hip hop, it’s cool to rap and rhyme, and riddle or whatever, but I was always attracted to the MCs who would have a story, who can tell a story through rhyme. Storytelling rappers to me are the best, and it’s an art that’s not really done as much since when I first started and got really into it. So to me, this is an extension of that, and instead of storytelling in an audio way, there’s no bigger canvas for an artist to have than a movie. It’s the ultimate way to tell a story, that’s why I really like it and am turned on by acting.
The young man who used to be you was full of anger and protest as an artist. It’s interesting that as an actor you’ve gravitated towards comedy. It’s almost like two different artists in the one body. Who is closer to you?
Both are. You know, back then I was into comedy and having fun. Our records, a lot of them do have a dark sense of humour so laughing has always been a part of my life and I’ve always enjoyed funny people. A lot of my friends are funny, a lot of people around me can make you laugh at any time, so that’s always been a big part of my life. With music, with hip hop, we started talking about the things that were affecting us mentally and physically and emotionally and we had to grow up and make sense of it by putting it into music and examining it in our own way. With movies, at some point people gotta release, at some point, they gotta enjoy themselves even through tough circumstances. You can’t just keep beating the same drum about how bad it is. Reality is that it’s not that bad all the time, sometimes you do laugh, have a good time, have fun, we are human. I’m not trying to be a persona, or an image, or a gimmick, I’m just trying to be an artist who chooses different canvases to tell my stories and this is a part of me that people love and get a chance to see. It’d be funny and strange to think about how they think of me without seeing me in these movies, thinking I was some dude waiting to be pissed off about something [Laughter].
What are you like at home with your kids? Are you strict like Mr. Strickland, your character in Fist Fight?
I’m fun but fair. I respect my kids and I think a lot of people need to take that approach. It’s not a dictatorship at all times, you gotta realise that your kids are their own individual human beings and just because they’re little, they don’t have the same feeling as the adults do. A wise person told me to be good to your kids, because one day you gonna be old and you gonna need them, and they’re gonna have to be good to you! So keep that in mind. We have a great relationship and, to me, it’s a very unique household. We have nice pow wows, and everybody has their own strong opinion, everybody is tough-minded, and that’s what you want. You want tough kids that can handle this world.
How do you see the world that they are going to have to live in?
The world is still as mixed up as it was when I grew up. It’s a true bowl of confusion going on, so they were born into the same thing. Our pursuit of money is so ferocious that everything kind of falls to the wayside in that pursuit. Things are trashed and damaged, polluted and torn because we’re all trying to get our hands on another dollar. That to me is the problem with the world, everybody’s chasing the dollar so nobody cares about what’s going on around them.
Given how much work you put into Straight Outta Compton, how gratifying was it that it turned out to be a massive hit?
All my dreams so far have come true on that movie. It was hard, but we kind of bent that movie to our will, because with a movie like that being done in a big studio sometimes people have their own visions of what the movie should be. They could taint what you’re trying to do with their kind of money vision about how it should be. [They would say]: ‘Why do you have Dr. Dre crying, why can’t you have Dr. Dre on turntables or Dr. Dre on the six-four,’ you know what I mean? Dr Dre cries just like everybody else. We wanted to show that we were real people and that we’re five guys who try to do something cool together and then it all turned out as well as we could imagine. It’s just a dream come true. I’m so happy for my son because this could have turned out a disaster for him. His whole life could have went from being a cool youngster to spending his daddy money, to being an Internet dartboard. People could have told him just stay off the screen, and he could’ve got a whole Internet social barrage of hate if he didn’t do well and do a great job and end up emerging as the best person you could find to do the film. All these things turned out, we landed on our feet, extremely grateful, stars aligned, all that good stuff, and everything else is gravy from here.
As a comedy actor do you ever want to get back to real hard drama like Boyz N the Hood?
Yeah, I’ll do it. It’s coming. Compton has opened Hollywood eyes and let them know what kind of filmmaker I really am, and I believe that they will be more receptive to dramas from me because when I take a drama in, everybody asks ‘Can you do a comedy first?’ People usually want what they know is gonna work as opposed to something that could feel new to an audience. We’re gonna get over there, and I will start swinging this pendulum with a more dramatic balance.
Fist Fight is in cinemas February 23, 2017
Charlie Day Fist Fight interview
