Filed under: Interviews, Previews
It's been nearly three years since HBO's acclaimed series, 'The Wire,' ended its fifth season and final run in 2008; and despite the fact that the urban gritty drama never won an Emmy for best drama series, many fans considered it among the best programs ever displayed on television.
With its popularity, several actors (Idris Elba, Lance Reddick, Amy Ryan, Jamie Hector, Michael K. Williams, Tristan Wilds, Wendell Pierce, Gbenga Akinnagbe, and Isiah Whitlock, Jr.) were able to parlay their fame on to other projects, including starring roles on films and other television series, as well as work on Broadway.
You can now add Chad Coleman to the list.
Since 2008, Coleman has had a role in the 'Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles' TV series on Fox, and appeared in the 2009 revival of August Wilson's play 'Joe Turner's Come and Gone' on Broadway.
He's soon to be featured opposite Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Tom Wilkinson, Oscar winner Christoph Waltz, David Harbour, Edward James Olmos, and Jamie Harris in Michel Gondry's film adaptation of 'The Green Hornet.'
Following the death of his father, Britt Reid (played by Rogen), heir to his father's large company, teams up with his late dad's assistant Kato )played by Chou) to become a masked crime fighting team.
Blackvoices.com caught up with Coleman as he spoke about his role in the film, and life after the 'The Wire.'
What's your character's name, what role does he play?
Chad Coleman: My character's name is Chili. Chili's a bad guy who's rolling with Christoph Waltz's character trying to take out the Green Hornet.
How much do you remember about the original series?
CC: Wow, not much. I remember watching as a kid and knowing that Bruce Lee was in it, but I don't remember the original that much at all.
How was working with Christoph?
CC: Christoph is the ultimate professional. He's on point, just a solid guy, and very funny! It was really cool to watch him do his thing, man. He's a consummate actor.
Some of the scenes you were in involved a lot of special effects. How was working around that?
CC: I think a lot of the stuff happened in post. The scene where we came out of the bar and that bar exploded was just an amazing deal. Everyone was hyped that day. Normally you do those things in post or you do it where you use long-angle lens and the actors are far away from the explosion. We did it in-camera and the actors feel the heat. (laughs) It was pretty intense, man. Normally when you have a long-angle lens it looks like you're closer to the explosion than you are, but we were right there. The scene with the bulldozer was amazing. Like, "wow!" They dropped that thing in slow motion. It was like a playground or a roller coaster ride.
After doing numerous appearances on various TV series, you must be excited to be on the big screen?
CC: That's right, absolutely. This is actually my first big studio film, that's part of the reason I wanted to do it. Also, I wanted to work with Michel Gondry, and Seth Rogen was a huge fan of 'The Wire,' so that kinda helped with him being one of the producers as well. That helped get my foot in that door, but again it's a big Hollywood movie so I wanted to have that experience, get some first-hand knowledge of how things work on that level should opportunities arise.
How's life been after 'The Wire?' Have you been getting a lot of work?
CC: Yeah. You know, the one thing about 'The Wire' is inside the industry people are huge fans of the show, so that helps when getting work. I booked a couple of pilots but they didn't go. Seth Rogen is an example of a huge fan of the show who was really excited to have me be a part of it. That's been happening quite a bit because of 'The Wire' and the work I was able to do on that show.
What's your role in the upcoming film, 'Horrible Bosses?'
CC: I'm the owner of this bar (laughs) and Jason Sudeikis, Jason Bateman, and Charlie Day from 'It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia' come into the bar, an all-black bar, and they're just all wrong to the point where I end up threatening them with a baseball bat to get out of my establishment. That sets it up for Jaime Foxx's character 'cause that's the scene where he's introduced in the film. He's checking out the whole thing. He hatches a scheme on them. It's very funny, these guys are insane. (laughs) White dudes come up to you saying, "My man," like they're down with the black cause. It's pretty funny.
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Shirea L. Carroll is a journalist who has written for Essence, VIBE, Washington Post's TheRoot.com, XXL's Juicy, and AOL. Reporting on everything from music and entertainment to celebrity and love, she has interviewed some of today's biggest celebrity names. Find the NJ native on her blog Invite Only, or follow her on Twitter @InviteOnly to find out "who is and isn't invited."
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