American Fiction: Jeffrey Wright Played Lead Blocker for His First-Time Director
15A personal favorite thing to see in the film and television industry is when a well-known artist uses their platform and power to ensure emerging filmmakers are put in a position to deliver their best work and have a great experience doing so. That’s what Jeffrey Wright strove to do for Cord Jefferson on his feature directorial debut, American Fiction. Wright was Jefferson’s “lead blocker.”
Based on Percival Everett’s novel Erasure, American Fiction stars Wright as Monk, an author who’s had enough of seeing people profit off of “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. In an effort to make his point, Monk uses a pen name to write his own outlandish “Black” book. The trouble is, the opposite winds up happening. The book is a hit.
Jefferson is an Emmy winning writer for his work on Watchmen, but given American Fiction marks his first foray into the feature filmmaking realm, it’s of the utmost importance that he’s surrounded by heavyweights passionate about protecting his craft and vision. Check out this American Fiction interview to hear all about how Wright went about supporting Jefferson on set, why Monk is a character he knows especially intimately, which actor who worked on the film for a single day made a big impression on him, and loads more.
#jeffreywright #interview #oscars
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