White Men Can't Jump director on why new film is 'sampling' not remake
Director Calmatic and stars Teyana Taylor and Laura Harrier talk to RadioTimes.com about working with Jack Harlow and addressing issues through comedy.
The original 1992 White Men Can’t Jump is an acclaimed and much-loved comedy that saw the dynamic duo of Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes take to the court as basketball hustlers.
It's safe to say that Jack Harlow and Sinqua Walls have big boots to fill as they lead the modern interpretation – which arrives on Disney Plus on Friday 19th May 2023.
But when pitching the movie around to various actors, director Chuck Kidd, AKA Calmatic, made it clear that his White Men Can’t Jump wasn’t going to be a remake, but instead a ‘sampling’ of the original. Even though he wanted to make the classic story fresh and new by adapting it to the modern age, he still wanted to capture the essence of what made the original so iconic.
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"When you think of that film you think of the costumes, the beach, the women, and the adventure," he told RadioTimes.com during an exclusive interview. "There’s so many elements that make that original stand out so we definitely had to bring that visual energy into this new film.”
Despite the huge legacy of the original movie, star Teyana Taylor – who plays Imani – said there was no hesitancy in taking this role as the director had such a clear vision for what he wanted to achieve.
“Chuck reached out to everybody personally and talked to us and I think that gave us comfort in what the ultimate goal was in what we were doing," she explained.
“We had the freedom to know that we were going to make it our own and we are going to sample this classic but the majority of it will be us and from our lens of the new school and also being 30 years apart, so where would we be now?”
Making his feature film debut in White Men Can’t Jump is multi-platinum rapper Jack Harlow who plays Jeremy, the equivalent of Woody Harrelson’s character in the original. When the movie was announced and it was revealed that he was cast as the lead, it understandably took a lot of people by surprise. However, Calmatic recalls how quickly Jack took to acting.
Talking about his audition, the director said: “He did a great job, he killed it! I challenged him and told him to go crazy, yell at me! He did that, he took it there. He shed a little tear and everything, he went through the whole rigor of being an actor!”
Jack is following in the footsteps of his co-star Taylor, who similarly made that transition from popular music artist to actor. Taylor, who recently received acclaim as the lead in A Thousand and One earlier this year, said that she was really "proud" to see how dedicated Jack was to the role.
“You could tell that when he knew this role was his, he went straight into work!" she said. "He came to get the job done, I think everybody came to get the job done. It was really dope to see him juggle both music and acting because I come from that world too.
"So I was more proud than anything and I kind of wanted to give him the space to figure it out and I felt like he had all the tools to do just that.”
The movie deals with important issues like race relations, mental health and family relationships – but Calmatic still manages to keep the film light and entertaining.
Talking about the comedic aspect of the movie, Tatiana star Laura Harrier said: “I think comedy is such a good way to approach difficult subjects and to make light of serious things and make it a lot easier to talk about, that’s why comedy exists in a lot of ways.
“I think our film does such a good job of having serious themes but in a way that feels fun to watch and palatable and hopefully will spark interest and conversations with people as well.”
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As previously mentioned, one of these important themes is mental health, which is explored in this movie through the constant pressures on athletes to live up to a certain standard.
Teyana can relate to her character Imani, the supportive girlfriend of Kamal Allen [Sinqua Walls], as she herself is married to ex-NBA star Iman Shumpert and saw this pressure first-hand. She said: “I’ve seen my husband have his ups and downs, as I’ve seen any athlete have their ups and downs. I just had a backstage pass to physically be there and see that.
“As his wife, my job is to make sure I’m there to uplift him and support him in any way but also hold him accountable when things get tough, when it’s up or when it’s down because if you can hear when you’re great, you should be able to hear when you can be better or a better version of yourself.
“And Vice-Versa, me being in music is also like a sport so him holding me accountable and being able to lift me up when I’m feeling down. So to play Imani and be a supporter and be a lover and be a mom and be a wife, that was me all the way!”
White Men Can't Jump arrives on Disney Plus on Friday 19th May 2023 – — sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 a month or £79.90 for a year now.
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