Tishuan Scott (INTERVIEW)
Tishuan Scott
“The Retrieval” Interview
with Kam Williams
Great Scott!
Tishuan Scott was born on October
27, 1979 in Shreveport, Louisiana. He attended Morehouse
College in Atlanta, Georgia
as an Oprah Scholar, where he matriculated towards earning his Bachelor of Arts
in Drama and Psychology in 2002. He then attended the University of California at
Los Angeles’ School of Theater, Film & Television as a Lloyd Bridges
MGM/Outer Limits Fellow, where he received his Master of Fine Arts in Acting in
2006.
Tishuan was recently seen as
“Kenieloe,” a Ghanian guru, in Andrew Bujalski's 2013 Alfred P. Sloan Sundance
Award-winning film ”Computer Chess” and as “Moses Washington” in the Lifetime
Network TV movie “Deliverance Creek.” Here, he talks playing “Nate,” a freedman
gravedigger for the Federal Union Army, in “The Retrieval.” He landed the South
by Southwest Festival (SXSW) 2013 Special Jury Prize for Acting Breakthrough
Performance in that Civil War Era adventure.
Kam Williams: Hi Tishuan, thanks for the
interview.
Tishuan Scott: It’s my pleasure.
Thank You, Kam, for the interview.
KW: Congratulations on winning the
Breakthrough Performance at the South by Southwest Festival.
TS: Thank You! I love SXSW! I love
Austin!
KW: What interested you in The
Retrieval?
TS: The story, writing, characters,
and relationships. It’s history.
KW: It explores the themes of trust
and betrayal during slavery, just as 12 Years a Slave. How would you compare
the two pictures?
TS: The films’ singular comparison
is that Solomon Northup is a free man who is enslaved for profit through the
brutal trade and oppression of the system of slavery, and my character, Nate, a
freedman, is sought after to make a profit, a bounty, by the patty-rollers who
seek to re-enslave him. Both films share an insight to the great capitalization
of the African-American male life, to be debased as worthless, yet so
extraordinarily invaluable. There are also grander contrasts between the two
films, however: 12 Years: 1841; The Retrieval: 1864. 12 Years: Pre-Emancipation
Proclamation; The Retrieval: Post-Emancipation Proclamation. 12 Years: Brutality;
The Retrieval: Humanity.
KW: 2013 was a banner year film for
black film: 12 Years a Slave, 42, Fruitvale Station, The Butler, etcetera. What
effect do you think that will have on Hollywood
in terms of opportunities for AfricanAmericans in front of and behind the
camera?
TS: I believe it transcends Hollywood. It’s bigger
than that! Our film has played in Toronto-Ontario, Calgary, Montreal-Quebec,
Brazil, Australia, France-Deauville, Serbia, Greece, Germany, London,
Istanbul-Turkey, Belgium-Ghent, Egypt-Luxor, and all over the U.S. in a myriad
of film festivals, clearly displaying that there is an international and
national interest and demand to see dark chocolate-skinned folks on the silver
screen to observe and immerse an audience in the forgotten histories of who we
are as a people and what we were as a nation. This canon of films will inspire
many indie filmmakers and, hopefully, Hollywood
to realize that our wealth is in our history, that we have so very many stories
yet to be told. All five films have African-American male leads. You left out
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – that makes six! That is exemplary and
thrilling, but there are also stories with African-American women that must be
told. We need African-American female lead actresses in films, in tandem with
African-American male leading actors.
KW: How do you pick a role?
TS: I don’t believe I pick them. I
think the universe sends me what’s for me. What attracts me specifically to roles
is the heart of the character. How does the story move me? What is the
character’s journey or driving force? Where is the character headed? Why is the
character headed there? There absolutely and unequivocally has to be depth.
KW: You got both a bachelor’s and
master’s degree in theater before starting your career. Do you recommend that
route to aspiring actors?
TS: Yes. I met Samuel Jackson at
our 2001 Morehouse
College Gala: Candle in
the Dark. I tell people what he told me. “Take your time. Get your education.”
KW: Are you also interested in writing
and directing?
TS: Yes.
KW: The Harriet PakulaTeweles
question: With so many classic films being redone, is there a remake you'd like
to star in?
TS: I don’t care for remakes.
There’s soooo much undiscovered material out there; old and new. I want to be
original. August Wilson’s “Fences,” Gloria Naylor’s “The Men of Brewster
Place,” Richard Wright’s “The Outsider,” “Black Theater USA – Plays from
1847-1938” has a myriad of material yearning to be on the stage and screen! Those are classics to me.
KW: Is there any question no one ever
asks you, that you wish someone would?
TS: Would you like a free home
renovation and free lawn landscaping?
KW: Would you mind saying something
controversial that would get this interview tweeted?
TS: Legalize marijuana President Obama!
Think of how many African-American males who would have to be freed from prison
and how many it will save from ever being incarcerated!
KW: Have you ever had a neardeath
experience?
TS: Yes. I’m thankful for 9 Lives!
KW: Have you ever accidentally
uncovered a deep secret?
TS: Yes. The United States of America:
18631963.
KW: The Teri Emerson question: When
was the last time you had a good laugh?
TS: Today. It’s the kind of laugh
where you throw your head back and laugh to the sky.
KW: What is your guiltiest pleasure?
TS: Jolly Ranchers, watermelon and
apple-flavored.
KW: The bookworm Troy Johnson
question: What was the last book you read?
TS: Essays actually. W.E.B. DuBois’
“Criteria for Negro Art,” “The Guiding Hundredth,” “On the Wings of Atlanta,” and “On Our
Spiritual Strivings.” Nietzsche’s “On the Pale Criminal” and “On the Three
Metamorphoses.” Solomon Northup’s 12 YEARS A SLAVE was the last novel that I
read. But it was in August before I reread the aforementioned essays.
KW: What is your favorite dish to
cook?
TS: Italian.
KW: The Sanaa Lathan question: What
excites you?
TS: A hummingbird. Monarch
butterflies. Seeing my garden growing. Good food and family dinners.
KW: When you look in the mirror, what
do you see?
TS: My reflection. And I love it!
KW: If you could have one wish
instantly granted, what would that be for?
TS: I wish for recycling to become
a major industrial agriculture.
KW: The Jamie Foxx question: If you
only had 24 hours to live, how would you spend the time?
TS: Surrounded by my family and
the best of my friends on a tropical island with exotic palms, our skins
glistening in the sun, feet promenading through the hot sand, eating mangos and
strawberries and dark chocolate and sushi, drinking mango and rum, listening to
music inspired by drums, and dancing and laughing.
KW: The Kerry Washington question: If
you were an animal, what animal would you be?
TS: A peacock!
KW: The LingJu Yen question: What is
your earliest childhood memory?
TS: Playing with my Superman and
performing sermons for my mother, granny and auntie with my Little Golden Book,
a small glass of orange juice and a napkin to wipe the sweat from my unwrinkled
brow. My most memorable lines they say were, “Just like Jeremiah said, ‘It was
like fire, shot up in his bones’!” and “Lawd, thank you for the washing
powder!”
KW: The Melissa HarrisPerry question:
How did your first big heartbreak impact who you are as a person?
TS: I discovered that the heart is
a breakable thing, but also discovered my capacity to love another person.
KW: The Anthony Anderson question: If
you could have a superpower, which one would you choose?
TS: Flying.
KW: The Judyth Piazza question: What
key quality do you believe all successful people share?
TS: A passion for what they do, an undying zeal and fervor to never give
up and accept and embrace failures as the building blocks to the pyramids of
success.
KW: What advice do you have for anyone
who wants to follow in your footsteps? TS: Join SAG-AFTRA! And keep your head to the sky, for it is the
stars, the ancient and everlasting stars that will guide you.
KW: The Tavis Smiley question: How do
you want to be remembered?
TS: Zarathustra, Ubermensch and
Herald of the Lightning!
KW: Thanks again for the time,
Tishuan, and best of luck with The Retrieval.
TS: I think I heard someone before
say, “Luck is for the godless.” Wish me Godspeed! Amen Ra.
KW: Godspeed it is then, bro!
TS: Thanks, Kam.
To see a trailer for The
Retrieval, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8HmcHTtOKg