Kerry Washington & Samuel L. Jackson Get Interracial

Samuel L. Jackson and Kerry Washington, two of Hollywood’s most saught after thespians, star in a harrowing thriller that crosses the racial lines with Lakeview Terrace.The Urban Daily sits down with this pair to discuss their roles in Neil LaBute’s latest flick, question if love truly is color blind and dig to see if there was any sexual tension between these fiery co-stars.

The Urban Daily: Good afternoon, Ms. Washington, you look gorgeous today. Could you describe your character, Lisa, in Lakeview Terrace?

Kerry Washington: Lisa is a very complicated woman. I was really excited about playing her because I’ve never seen this kind of black woman on the screen before.

TUD: What type of woman is that?

KW: You know… a kind of Prius driving, Birkenstock wearing black chick who’s a Berkeley girl. I have a lot of girlfriends like that, so I liked that idea as that being my character. I really loved all of the complexities in the relationship in their marriage and in their neighborhood. I think Lakeview Terrace is a very rich film. There’s a lot going on in it!

TUD: Mr. Jackson, your character, Abel Turner is quite a character himself. Is he comfortable with all the chaos he creates?

Samuel L. Jackson: Yeah, I think that Abel is comfortable with who he is and where he is in his life. He’s trying to figure out how to navigate raising his teenage daughter, because she’s raising questions with him, but like most teenage daughters – the number one thing they say most is, [in a mimicking voice] “That’s so unfair!” His opinion is one that people definitely have to get used to. He’s dealing with bad people, mostly and because of that he pretty much thinks the worst of the majority of people that he encounters. He has a way of thinking and then this young couple moves in and immediately he can see that they’re different. This is an influence that Abel feels like he can’t have around his kids. Not just because they’re married and are interracial and are a couple, but he see this young woman who is at home, working and she’s kind of cute and brassy, so he doesn’t know if he wants his daughter to be influenced by that. So, he definitely has his own opinions.

TUD: What are your respective thoughts on interracial dating?

KW: I think that people should be allowed to love whoever they want to love – regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender and sex. People should just be able to love who they love.

SJ: I’m aware that a lot of people tend to think that, but one can be a racist just because of what one’s attitude is. It’s not just black and white. People look at people and say she’s so tall or he’s so short or make comments about that fat girl in the corner. It’s true with guys especially because ugly guys can get the good looking girls. It’s just one of those things that can’t really be explained, it’s just understood.

KW: I think that there’s a difference between people, no matter what color they are. We have lots of ways that we can identify culturally, you know? There’s a difference from people who grew up in Manhattan versus those who grew up in the Bronx. I fit into the Bronx group. There’s a difference between people who were born in the 80’s and those who were born in the 70’s. I point that out not to separate us as human beings, but to point out the uniqueness between people and all the things that contribute to who we are culturally.

KW: It’s a tapestry that’s woven from a lot of different threads. So, yes, I think that racial identity is a part of that, but I also think you could have two kids, like there is in this movie, who come from two different sides of the coin, yet are more similar and can create a happiness from it.

TUD: Do you think this explosive conclusion to Lakeview Terrace was inevitable? Or do you think there were moments where something else could have happened?

SJ: There was a time where the situation could’ve been diffused as easily as it became explosive. There was a light that my character, Abel, has that affects the couple from sleeping. The end result is simple: buy some curtains [laughs]! They’re the affluent couple next door, her husband (played by Patrick Wilson) is some guy who works at Whole Foods or something and they can afford to buy some curtains. When Abel goes to the house warming party, he’s very open with them and their guest, but they talk down to him – leaving Abel to have to defend himself. Once they cross that line, the line’s crossed and he feels threatened in a very real kind of way, by his career, not able to make a living for his kids and all these other factors affect him and he kind of loses it and unravels.

TUD: What was it about this character that made you want to do it?

SJ: He’s very different from who I am. I’m always looking for specific acting challenges or trying to explore some emotions that I don’t have. I love to be in situations that are foreign to what I’m doing right now. Abel was pretty much as far away from me as I could get, right now, so it was fun to play him.

TUD: Did you have any artistic license to change the script?

SJ: In the original script, Abel is a crazed racist, kind of like a mad dog, his wife is still alive and he’s sort of abusive to her and his kids. There’s all this kind of stuff going on and in the end, it’s too easy to hate. So, when we started the rehearsal period, we were able to craft some other stuff. Got rid of the wife, he’s by himself raising two kids and it leaves the people to try and figure out why he’s this angry with people. When you find out what happened to his wife, that’s a big twist to let the audience be informed on his hatred.

TUD: Would you say that there was some sexual tension between you and Sam’s character in the movie?

KW: That is one of the things that I really like about this movie. A lot of the relationship between Lisa and Abel is non-verbal. I think some people label that as a “sexual tension” because whenever there’s that sub-textural communication, that’s kind of the thought that we first go to. That’s just the assumption that we make. I just think that they have a complicated identity. They’re interesting to me because they come from two completely different worlds. Their moral code, their education, their worldliness, their economic upbringing is all so different. But they feel like they should understand each other because of their race. That’s so interesting to me because they have this struggle and tension with each other. It’s like – they should know each other, but they don’t…

SJ: I guess you can say that… Naturally, you got a guy like Abel, who’s next door and he probably thought, “Why are they together?” I hear my wife’s friends say sometimes question why they’re not with a black man and why he’s with a white woman who may or may not be as attractive as them. A lot of us have those questions and I can see why Abel would have those thoughts. There’s a scene and if it ever ends up on DVD, you’ll see where Kerry’s character comes out and she’s got on this little thing and she kind of temps him to come over, he goes over and that scene happens – where he thinks that she’s trying to seduce him. But actually, she’s trying to get something else going.

TUD: Have you ever had a crazy neighbor?

SJ: When my wife bought the house we ended up in, there were five brownstones on the block we were in and like seven apartment buildings. When spring came, all 3000 people who lived in that neighborhood came out and of those five brownstones, we all had 8 or 9 steps that went up to our front doors. All the kids in the neighborhood sat on those steps, playing their boom-boxes and ate chicken. Crazy kids left the bones and when we tried to come home, they looked at us like we were interrupting them to go up our stairs! We became the neighbors from hell, my wife talked everybody into buying gates and blocked the steps off because we didn’t want them to sit on our steps.

TUD: Ms. Washington with all the work that you have going on – talk about the stuff you’re doing with the Obama campaign…

KW: Honestly, I’ve been having the time of my life. I’ve been to about 9 states for Senator Obama. I’m an official surrogate and I’m co-chair of the voter registration drive and Vote For Change movement. I’ve just been as involved as I possibly can be. I was in Denver for the convention, which was amazing. I was just crying like a baby during Michelle’s speech. This is truly an incredible experience.

Be sure to keep an eye on Samuel L. Jackson and Kerry Washington as they prep for their next roles in Soul Men and Eddie Murphy’s A Thousand Words, respectively.Lakeview Terrace is in theaters now!