4B
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/The Charlotte Post
Thursday, January 25, 1996
LISA COLLINS
Behind
the Scenes
an earlier preacher he por
trayed, Rev. Vernon Johns, in a
made-for-TV movie, “The
Vernon Johns Story.” Johns, he
One on one with
James Earl Jones:
The first motion pic
ture to be made in
the newly democratic South
Africa, “Cry The Beloved
Country” - starring James
Earl Jones and Richard Harris
- is the powerful and moving
Jones
tale of two fathers, one black
and one white, bound by the
loss of their sons.
In the tragic twist of fate, one
man’s son has murdered the
other’s son. In a nation shat
tered by racial hatred, two
men struggle to come to terms
with their grief, the reality of a
divided country, and each
other. Jones’ character. Rev.
Kumalo, is a quietly ordered
priest. Jones, in fact, has a
kind of affinity for preachers,
noting “the first actor in my
family was my father’s dad.
He was what we call a jackleg
preacher, which meant boot
leg. He wasn’t ordained. He
just got his Bible and his mes
sage and that was it.” An inter
view with James Earl Jones is
much more conversation than
questions. An astute conversa
tionalist, he handles his mind
like a finely-tuned, analytical
machine. “I couldn’t sit and
talk to you unless I sized you
up and figured out who you
are,” he later tells me. “It took
me about five seconds but I
sensed where your soul is at.
Your spirit. We all have that
ability. Most of us lose it as
children, but it’s something
actors relearn.” In talking, one
gets the impression however
that the role, for which he is
winning critical acclaim, is not
one of his favorites. And that
while he has compassion for
and a clear understanding of
his character, it is far removed
from him. Instead he turns to
Emery-Kerr Productions, Inc.
In Association With
■ The Black Professional Coalition of Charlotte
- Black Women’s Caucus ■
■ Mecklenburg County Women’s Commission
Presents
Written & Directed by: Crystal Emery-Kerr
A Powerful drama of Gospel, Song, Poetry and
Dance, highlighting the accomplishments of
women who have made “A Way Out Of No Way.”
Celebrating the triumphs of the human spirit.
Also performed in sign language.
Based on the music of
SWEET HONEY IN THE ROCK.
Friday, February-2nd 8:00pm
Saturday February 3rd - 3:00pm & 8:00pm
Tickets - $22.50
Blumenthal Performing Arts Center -
Booth Playhouse
BOX OFFICE - 372-1000
For additional TICKETS call
335-0999 or 336-3210
From his latest film, Jones
hopes people learn “the value
of reconciliation. “Five years
ago”, he maintains, “this
movie wouldn’t have caught
King
declares, “was a preacher that
I unequivocally would like to
count myself of his flock. He
was a boat rocker but he was
also a great intellect...great
scholar. He beheved in educa
tion and we have nothing
without that. We haven’t built
up the kind of economic power
base where you pass on your
good monies to your children
and they have it easy and they
add to that money so we lack a
certain kind of power and we
can’t get any power without
education.” But Jones is hard
ly the activist, stating “if kids
ask me how to be an actor, I
tell them to get an education
first, though it might never be
used. It’s the conditioning you
put your mind through that is
going to help you.”
Jones never met Johns, who
was fired from Dexter Avenue
Baptist Church in
Montgomery, Ala. for his some
what militant civil rights
activism and subsequently
replaced by Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. King is another
favorite topic for Jones, who is
more than honest in sa3dng, “I
didn’t like the style of the early
Martin Luther King. I thought
the speech should be a little
more direct. There was too
much ‘amen’ and ‘right on
brother’. At least I thought
that. I wanted to hear what he
was really saying. It wasn’t
until J. Edgar Hoover started
portrajdng him as something
other that what we thought he
was that I got curious. If King
was a philanderer...well. I’m
curious now,” Jones smiles.
“Maybe he was human. 'Then I
started listening to his ser
mons. I got the point of his
style. And I mainly got his
message and it was beautiful.”
anybody right, but today, it
catches both societies right -
South Africa as it’s coming
together and (the U.S.) as we
seem to be coming apart. It
speaks of a resolution to peo
ple in conflict — be it religious,
the races or age, the sexes. If
we don’t learn to resolve, we’re
all going to die as a humanity.”
Jones doesn’t discuss own
religious views. He will say
he’s Catholic, though he does
n’t attend Mass. Fact is, life is
getting to be pretty simple for
the 64-year-old, Tony and
Emmy award winning actor
who is also an Oscar nominee.
Raised on a farm, he and his
wife now have a place in the
woods where he spends a great
deal of time - when he’s not
working - and is getting to be
a pretty good shot. So good in
fact that he’s having a special
rifle crafted for shooting tar
gets.
“My life,” he reports, “is so
simple and so ordinary that
there’s nothing I could say that
would be surprising to any
body.” (Yeah right!)
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