Preparing to Play Trumpy: “This is something I dove in without reading the script because Andre 3000 was doing it and I was a huge fan of his. I wasn’t really in a position to be choosing characters, like these themes, I couldn’t choose at the time. Bryan Barber had called and I was trying to get my music off at the time. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do the movie,’ thinking I’m going to get an opportunity to do some music. And then I get there and start rehearsals and at rehearsal was literally the first time I saw the script because we finished Hustle & Flow on the 9th of August. On the 10th, I was on a plane. On the 11th, we were starting the rehearsals. I figured I could just fake my way through it and nobody would know the difference.
It was an intensive process for two weeks to find these guys, but Bryan was so hands on that he was the gangster I was emulating. Because everything was a smile, but his eyes, there’s something very deadly about his eyes. I always looked to him for every scene, every motivation. I mean, he’d pull me to the side and because he knew that I wasn’t so well versed in what he was trying to accomplish, I hadn’t seen his videos, he didn’t mind walking me through, hand-holding me. But then he’d let the little kids run around when they wanted to. He’s a really great teacher. A really great teacher.”
The Culture of the 1930s: “Cab Calloway is my great granduncle and he was so beloved inside my family. We’d listen and hear talk, hear stories about things that he did. I grew up with my mom, my grandmother, my great grandmother and my great great grandmother and my great great grandfather. I grew up in a house where the 20s were still present day. So to me, I don't think it was that much of a [stretch]. Without that formal training in everyday informal life, I would not have been able to find those things because a statement I made to Big Boi’s wife inside the movie, I called out to her. Now in tradition I should have called her by her last name. But to show disrespect, I called her by her first name and treated his wife as if she was something common, which wouldn’t work today. If my character called a woman by her first name today it doesn’t mean anything. But back then, it was a way of saying FU.”
Getting Into the Mood - The Costumes of Idlewild: “Well, the ‘30s, you’re talking about truly the heyday of jazz. Jazz was about individuality but then you had that level of conformity that we were coming from the Victorian Age where dress and presentation still meant everything. So you’re looking for some form of expression, creative expression that alone was informative. And the way that they did that, how you approach someone, a man never spoke to a woman improperly even inside of a whorehouse. He never spoke to her in her common name. Everyone had a Miss or something in front of her name. They just demanded respect and respect was given to those who dressed properly. All those things, as a character, help you because you know where you’re dancing at. You know what type of dance is expected inside of a place. You don’t go inside there doing the foxtrot when it’s a waltz that’s required.
You knew where you belonged in those times. As an actor, when you give me all these things, the biggest thing about me is my wardrobe. The thing that’s most expressive and most representative of me is the wardrobe that I’m wearing in that scene. So if you set that properly, it’ll make my walk a lot easier. If I’ve got on stilts, than I know I need to be a little higher than everybody. I need to behave like that.”
On Grounding His Character: “He was grounded. Remember, everything was about principle. Everything was about immediate response to command. He had a way about him. ‘You do not let me build your company for all these years and then fail to acknowledge my contribution by giving me the opportunity to run it. You do not do that.’ His feelings were hurt and when you hurt a child’s feelings, the child responds. And when you hurt a child inside of a hurt man’s feelings, a monster responds. It was born out of the neglect of those around him. That’s how I justify him.”
Page 2: Terrence Howard on Squaring Off with Big Boi and Those Iron Man Rumors
