Real-Life Superhero Bryan Stevenson Talks Just Mercy and His Incredible True Story
30Real-Life Superhero Bryan Stevenson Talks Just Mercy and His Incredible True Story
With director Destin Daniel Cretton’s adaptation of Bryan Stevenson’s memoir Just Mercy opening in limited release Christmas Day, I recently sat down with Stevenson to talk about being a real-life superhero. If you’re not familiar with Stevenson’s incredible story, he studied law at Harvard University and after graduating moved to Alabama to defend people who had been convicted without proper representation. One of his first cases was Walter McMillian (played by Jamie Foxx), who was an innocent man condemned to death for the killing of an 18-year-old girl. Just Mercy also stars Brie Larson, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Rafe Spall, Rob Morgan, Karan Kendrick and Tim Blake Nelson.
During the interview, Stevenson talked about what it was like seeing the film for the first time, why it’s been such a challenge to represent the people he champions, how we have a criminal justice system that treats you better if you are rich and guilty than poor and innocent, what deleted scene he wishes ended up in the finished film, and a lot more.
Finally, if you’d like to help support the Equal Justice Initiative that Stevenson founded in 1989, click here for the website. The organization is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment in the U.S., challenging racial and economic injustice, and protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society.
I know you have a lot of choices at the movie theater, but Just Mercy is one of those special films that I can’t recommend enough.
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