“It actually was the day we were fighting. You know what? She was being such a mom,” explained Ross. “She met everybody and was really just there to be there. She had missed me because I'm usually always with her. I had been away for a while.
She sat in on the set. It was actually during the scene where me and T.I. fight. You know that scene where he's pushing me, hitting me in the head? My mom was like, ‘Come here.’ After I'd come over there she'd be like, ‘He’s hitting you in the ear? Don't let him hit you in the ear.’ I'm like, ‘Mom, it's fine.’ She had this guy Tony who was with me on set. She'd be like, ‘Go [ask] him if he's OK.’ I'm like, ‘Mom, I gotta keep my rep.’"
Ross said there was no way he wanted her on set during his love scene. “No, actually she came to Atlanta at that time. But I was making sure, I was like, ‘Listen, do not come to set.’ My brother was like, ‘Let me come. Let me come. I want to see who the girl is!’”
Does Ross think he’s escaped being compared to his mother because he’s her son? Ross said, “My sister Tracee is in the business and she's got a great TV show, and she's very talented. I don't think so. Both ways I don't think it's an issue. I think sometimes people will say, 'Did you have it easier?' No one is going to put you in a movie because of who your mom is, because they don't know. When they turn on the TV, they're not going to be like, ‘Oh, that's connected to...,’ you know? I feel like if, anything, I feel like who she is is just an inspiration. [She’s] someone who can, being in the business so long, give you advice - and at the same time just be a mom. She's such an incredible mom.”
Evan Ross Explains What Drew Him to Acting: “If there's something I want, I never do just a little. As my mom would say, ‘Don't go into anything not ready. Always be ready.’ It was one of those things that I took a lot of time to make sure that I was prepared to go in there. It was a big deal. I've taken classes. …I've been able to take the time to actually work on my acting skills, you know what I mean? Other than whatever's natural.”
Ross continued. “I feel like I've learned so much more just being on set. I think at the end there's just been a growth so I'm excited about my next film. And working with Mykelti Williamson was such a big influence. He was like a dad for me. We were on set and we would just eat and go talk. I was just soaking in everything he’s got to say. He's just such a great person. He's somebody I really look up to.”
Evan Ross and Antwan Patton on Working Together in “ATL:” Patton said he had a good time working on the scenes in which his character intimidates Ross’. “It was fun. It was a different character from the one I played in ‘Idlewild.’ I was the good guy in ‘Idlewild’ and this one was the bad guy role so I was like having fun with it,” said Patton.
“You know, we'd be on the set. Chris [Robinson, director] would be like…most of the scenes, all of them just about, were freestyle. There were no script lines or anything. He'd be like, ‘OK, this would be like the parameters that you are doing. You do your thing. I want to see something organic come away from it.’ I was like, ‘Okay.’ So we'd be sitting around in the trailer. We'd be talking about, ‘Okay, I'll do this to you. This is how we do it. We're going to react like that…’ And it was fun, man. We had fun. He's like a little brother to me the whole time.”
Ross totally agreed with Patton. “It was funny because a lot of times I wouldn't even know some of the stuff he'd do. Like the milk scene…he really scared me. Sometimes I didn't know the little things he would do.” “For me, I had no idea that he was so good,” said Ross. “I know he's great at probably great at freestyling and doing his own thing. …Before I knew he was playing the role…I had envisioned this character. And when he came to do it, it was like, when we were reading together, he was like the person I thought it would be. I feel like every scene he had was just so spot on.
Antwan Patton on Not Having to Sing and Act: Patton said not having to sing in “ATL” was a nice change of pace. “Yeah, it was fun. Like not having to perform and not have to do certain things. So you're just sitting around and thinking about what you need to do. It's easier, actually. You don't have to worry about, ‘Hey, I'm gonna get on the stage and I'm gonna make up some moves. I'm gonna do this.’ It was like, ‘Okay, I'm just going to learn the script,’ [just] actually learn my character and go with myself in that so when I go onscreen, it'll come across correctly. It's smart. I can see how you can catch the acting bug. It's fun to be somebody that you're not.”
