On paper, this may seem like an unusual pairing, but in the context of the Sundance favorite CROWN HEIGHTS, it makes perfect sense. The subject of the film is Colin Warner (played by Lakeith Stanfield), a native of Trinidad, who lived in a community in Brooklyn when a drive-by shooting happened for which he was wrongfully convicted and served 21 years in prison without the possibility of parole since he refused to say that he committed the crime. His best friend, Carl King, spent the entire 21 years fighting for his friend’s release, hiring appeal lawyers (some of whom swindled him) and spearheading the investigation into who actually did the shooting, for which there was no evidence that Warner was involved.
Playing King is Nnamdi Asomugha, a former NFL superstar cornerback (primarily for the Oakland Raiders; three-time Pro Bowl pick), who retired at the end of 2013 after years of being considered and ranked one of the top players in the league, certainly in his position. He turned to acting in such films as FIRE WITH FIRE, DOUBLE NEGATIVE, and HELLO, MAY NAME IS DORIS as well as producing (BEASTS OF NO NATION). But with CROWN HEIGHTS, he tackles both jobs more than he has on any other, taking on what amounts to the film’s second lead. And not for nothing, but he’s also married to actress Kerry Washington. I’ll admit, I didn’t know about his NFL history until after I saw his performance in CROWN HEIGHTS, and I never would have guessed he was so new to the acting game.
I had a chance to sit down with Warner and Asomugha in Chicago last week to talk about how the film came together (under the guiding hand of writer-director Matt Ruskin) and what it represents in the bigger picture of today’s America. Please enjoy…
Capone: What’s funny about this film, when I was at Sundance—I didn’t see it there; I saw it more recently—but I was in the same room that you guys were at one point while you were doing your press. I saw Lakeith walking around, and I knew he was in at least three movies at Sundance, so I didn’t know which one he was doing press for until I saw you, Colin, and then I thought, “Oh, ok. Now I know.” I’d remembered the pictures of him with his hair like yours.
[Everybody laughs]
Colin Warner: You’ve seen it now?
Capone: Oh, yes. I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t. At a certain point in the film, I realied that this is not just a story about one man. It’s about this friendship, it’s about this community that has been for a very long time maligned and wronged in a lot of ways. When you get involved in a project like this, do you even consider the bigger-picture ideas like that, or do you have to focus on what you’re doing, playing the character?
Nnamdi Asomugha: I’m a team-oriented type of guy [laughs], in my life, so anytime it’s a story about a team and how people came together for a certain cause, I’m drawn to it. Colin will say all the time, “You can’t tell my story without telling Carl King’s story as well.” So we definitely wanted to highlight that. Even when we first heard the “This American Life” piece [which served as an inspiration to the film] that was done, it starts off with Carl and [the question of] who is this person that would do this for his friend? Then it gets into Colin’s story. So we felt it was important to have both in there. Start with Colin, see this atrocious, terrible thing that happened and find a way to show how he got out, and you can’t do that without talking about Carl.
Capone: I know a lot of people who heard that piece when it originally aired, and I don’t know the history of that of how it came to be, that piece. When did it first air?
NA: It aired in 2005.
Capone: So after you were released, right?
CW: I was released in February of 2001. Anya Bourg did the piece. She followed me around for a year, a year and a half.
NA: That long?
CW: Yeah. She did a great job. It aired on the West Coast, aired on the East Coast twice. You see what’s going on is that people, when they hear my story, it touches them. It touches them because they know it’s going on, but it’s in their face. “So what are you going to do?” My object, my mission, is to have people feel the story, but after feeling, do something. Right? You don’t have to go to prison. You can do whatever to help out there, because I believe we all need help.
I am here because I received help. It took a long while, and the help I received, it was unexpected. The person who was supposed to protect me didn’t give that a thought in the world. It was just hard. I was striving, being let down, trying to get up again. I tell you, I came out of prison just like how I went into prison—[snaps his fingers] just like that. I didn’t know I was going to be in prison until the night before. I found out because I made a phone call. They said, “Listen, I’m coming for you tomorrow.” “What, you coming to visit?” “No. They give up, they surrender.” That was January 30, 2001. I was preparing for my fourth parole board in February. So all of these things, I was expecting.
NA: Oh, you were going to go in front of the parole board in February, and that’s what you’re preparing for.
CW: Right. And I had a court date for this case in March. So my thing is, “Let me go to this parole board hearing first.” I didn’t want to get released at that time from the parole board. I didn’t know what was coming in the future. What I realize now is, I didn’t want to get released by the parol board, because if I did get released, I would be still a murderer. So at my third parole board hearing, I said, “Listen, if getting my freedom means admitting to a crime I did not commit, then you better build a cell and put my name on top because I’m staying in here.”
A lot of people say, “What the hell are you doing?” That was my stand. That was my sentiment telling everybody “Listen, at some point in your life, you have to put down your two feet, and it doesn’t matter if everybody around you don’t agree with your stand, that is your stand in life.” So that was my stand in life, facing my life but knowing there’s something greater to achieve. So that was part of it. I’m here now, people think I’ve still got my head on my shoulders. I think I’m crazy.
[Everybody laughs]
CW: But if you say I’m good, I’ll follow that.
Capone: What do you want people thinking about when they leave the theater? And what can they do? You said you want people to do something after they see this. What can they do?
CW: The disconnect that we have now as a people and most of it is based in the internet with everybody [holds his hands up to his face like he’s looking at a smart phone]. I went on a plane to Atlanta and coming off the train, I thought I was in a movie, because everybody’s like this [same gesture]. Nobody’s looking at the escalator that they’ve got to go up, but everybody’s like a herd. I said, “What movie I’m in?” It looked like a movie.
Listen, anything you do for another human being is positive. Anything you do. Helping them find a place to stay at night, help get them food, because what I realized in life is that nothing stays the same. We don’t stay the same. It’s a constant evolvement. I have seen people regress to the point of being an animal, right? I’m in prison 10 years, and the behavior I’m witnessing is like I’ve never seen this. Where did this come from? I have to deal with all that.
Same thing we deal with situations over here. You can walk on the streets and somebody accosts you. You have to know how to protect yourself. So that was me. Protection, in jail, and also fighting a system that was making me want to believe that I did kill Mario Hamilton, because everybody’s saying “You did this, this is you.” The court system put the stamp, “This is you.” They said I probably had a seizure, killed a man during a seizure, and I can’t remember.
But I have a lot of friends. Carl King, he did 21 years with me. I didn’t do that by myself. People called him a fanatic. That is who Carl King was, and is. He knew my kids better than me, and he is the one that said, “Listen, let’s stop fighting the [original] trial part. Let’s go back. Because if you are innocent, there’s no way in hell all the evidence can show that you are guilty.” So that was the concept that Carl introduced to me that has me here right now. He went to work.
Capone: If nothing else, the movie is a testament to being a good friend.
CW: Not even a friend. Just being a human being, and it’s not difficult.
NA: Yeah, that goes beyond friendship. To do that.
CW: Beyond friendship, man. I mean, if Carl King called me right now, I’m leaving you right here [laughs].
Capone: I’ll give you that one. You had this other career for a decade or so, and you enter the world of filmmaking both as a producer and actor. You’re basically starting at square one again. Is that nerve-racking? You were the best at something, and now you’re like a kid out of acting school.
NA: I think I’m an outlier in that sense, because I love that part of it. I love becoming a student. Even in football, I was known for my research and my preparation and how prepared I was for the opponent. That was everything for me. That was more exciting than games were, doing the investigative work to get to the point where you feel like you’re invincible. That’s the same thing with this transition. Starting from the beginning and having to humble myself and become a student and start all over, I live for that. It teaches you so much about yourself, so much about your character, so much about just life, going through that process. So no, it wasn’t nerve-racking, and that’s the honest truth. I love that part of the life.
Capone: What was the key to playing Carl to you? What was the thing that unlocked him enough to play him?
NA: You have to be open. You have to have an open heart and you can’t go into any moment with judgement, and that’s a very difficult thing. He’s an interesting human being. It’s a very difficult way of thinking even as an actor to think that way and to be so welcoming to everyone. There’s also like naiveté thing about it, which is how he was being taken advantage of by lawyers and by different people all the time because he was so trusting and believing that everyone’s going to be a part of this. “I’m not the only one that’s going to do this. I’m can bring you and you and you,” and people just fall off. So I guess it was just being open, trying to be open and not be judgmental was a way to unlock it, but there were so many things I can’t just pinpoint just one. He’s a difficult person to try to portray.
Capone: How was your relationship with Lakeith? Did you two spend a lot of time together?
CW: Me and Keith, we hung out for about a week. Went to eat, watched movies, came to my house, but he was real interested in me. He did a good job. He did an excellent job on my friend Carl, because he is difficult. Not difficult as bad, but his view of life is something you don’t experience. But if you take the time to listen, you can follow his train of thought. But people don’t give him that time, so they will dismiss him. I tell everybody who says, “I wish I had a friend like Carl King”, “You do, but you dismiss that person. That might be your soulmate or your friend for life, but you’re not taking the time to know each other.” You know why? Because we are full of it. So if you’re full of it, you cannot be true to somebody.
So for the world to heal, we have to be one. That’s what I teach my children. I don’t like liars, and a lie is so dangerous. The words of Chronic, a Reggae artist, “If you are a liar, you are a thief and you are also a murderer.” Because if you break one principle, it’s not heard to break the rules. So lying to me is essential. I try not to tell lies, unless my life depends on that lie. Because if you lie, you’re giving another person power. Why should I give you that power? So I try to maintain my sanity and my honesty, because that’s all we have to give.
Capone: It was great to meet you. Thank you so much for doing this. Best of luck.
