Variety

Chiwetel Ejiofor on Directing Biopic ‘Rob Peace,’ How Mary J. Blige Helped ‘Galvanize’ the Film Post-Pandemic and Joining the ‘Venom’ and ‘Bridget Jones’ Families

By Alex Ritman,

2 days ago

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A casual glance at Chiwetel Ejiofor’s upcoming lineup of films — spanning a superhero franchise (“Venom: The Last Dance”), a beloved rom-com return (“Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy”), a Stephen King adaptation (Mike Flanagan’s “The Life of Chuck”) and an A-list directorial debut (Scarlett Johansson’s “Eleanor the Great”) — hints at an insanely hectic work schedule for the actor.

But even while being busy in front of the camera, the Brit — best known for roles in films such as “12 Years a Slave,” “Love, Actually” and “Doctor Strange” — has somehow managed to carve out time behind it. Six years on from his well-received directorial debut, “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind,” he returns with sophomore feature “Rob Peace,” released Friday with Paramount’s Republic Pictures.

Adapted by Ejiofor from Jeff Hobb’s 2014 book “The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace,” the film tells the true story of Peace (played by newcomer Jay Will), a scientifically gifted boy who grew up in Orange, N.J. and would go on to major in biochemistry at Yale. Despite such incredible promise, Peace found himself unable to navigate various institutional hurdles linked to race, housing, education and criminal justice. While at Yale, he sold weed to help his father Skeet (played by Ejiofor) overturn a double homicide conviction, and Peace would later be murdered in a drug-related shooting at just 30 years old.

Though Ejiofor hadn’t been actively searching for a sophomore feature to direct, the opportunity to engage in this story — one with “something very rich there to wrestle with,” he says — was not to be missed. Among his first casting decisions was Mary J. Blige as Rob’s mom, Jackie Peace. As it turned out, it was Blige’s commitment to the film that proved “instrumental” in bringing it back to the fore after the project shuttered while in pre-production due to the pandemic.

Speaking to Variety , Ejiofor discusses why he prefers his creative choices to occur organically, finding his lead from the online showcase of a recent Juilliard grad, being inspired early on by the wildly different role choices of Cary Grant and rejoining the Working Title rom-com universe more than 20 years after “Love, Actually.”

How did you first get involved in “Rob Peace”? I heard that it was actually Antoine Fuqua who brought it to you, is that right?

Yeah, that’s right. I had read the book about 10 years ago, not long after it came out, and I was just really moved by it, by what Jeff Hobbs had done. It was a really empathetic, engaged story about his close friend and also this really balanced way of understanding what his friend had gone through. And it sort of pulled together a few of the things that I was thinking about in a slightly more fractured way, in terms of race and the education system, criminal justice, housing… all of these intersections. And somehow in Rob’s story, and the way that Jeff relates the story, all of these things are kind of pulled together, and Rob finds himself in the center of all of this stuff. But after reading the book, I had concluded that the rights were gone. And then a couple of years after that, Antoine Fuqua and [author Jeff Hobb’s wife] Rebecca Hobbs contacted me. They’d seen “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” and I think were engaged with the humanistic approach to that film so wanted to talk to me about adapting the book and directing a film. So obviously, I jumped at it.

Had you been actively looking for another project to direct after “The Boy That Harnessed the Wind”?

Not actively, but I was interested in looking at things. And I was always thinking about stuff in terms of what might make an engaging film, and just trying to work out what I wanted to do in that space. And it’s such a massive investment of time, so you’re always considering how you feel about giving all of that energy and time to a project. But as soon as they approached me about it, I knew that I wanted to engage in it. There was something very rich there to wrestle with.

There’s a lot of universality to the story, but it’s also very American in terms of Rob’s upbringing in New Jersey and the specifics of the issues that he grappled with. How did it feel as an Englishman coming in to write and direct this?

For me, it was about researching the project, about getting to the place and starting to understand the dynamics. And in some contexts, England is not that dissimilar to the United States, and certainly in that area of the United States. But the first thing I did was go and see Rob’s mum Jackie Peace and spend time with her in Rob’s childhood home and where he grew up. And then I went and spent a bit of time with the people at St. Benedicts (the preparatory school Jackie Peace worked long hours to pay for him to attend). We actually ended up shooting there. A lot of the teachers knew Rob. So we got to spend a lot of time there and understanding that world. And then I was up and down to Yale quite a lot to not only understand what his dynamics there would have been then, but also to understand what they are now and how different people interpret what happened to Rob.

How did you find your Rob in Jay Will?

Jay came out of Juilliard in the COVID year, so he didn’t really have a showcase. It was a tough year because everything was online and there was such a muted reaction to it all — nobody could see you actually perform. But somebody sent me one of his online showcases where he did a scene from “American Gangster,” so I thought, “Ah, he’s got good taste.” But it’s one of those things where you just end up watching something over and over again, because it just seems incredibly natural and easy. I’d been very adamant that I didn’t want to make a film about code-switching, because I didn’t think that that’s what the story was about, and I didn’t think that that’s what Rob was about. To me, it had become a slightly loaded term as a shortcut way of talking about Black dynamics, whereas everybody code switches to some degree. And I did a workshop and Jay was the only person who got that in a very real, ground, visceral way. He just understood that Rob was this very authentic person and was always himself. So right from the beginning of the auditioning process he was absolutely locked in to that, and it had the effect of really pulling the film together.

And it’s his first lead role?

Yeah. It’s a real testament to him. It was not easy on him. I think being the lead in a film like this is tough, and I know how tough it is. So I was aware of what he was going through and how grueling it can be. And again, I thought he was amazing.

And you’ve also got the wonderful Mary J. Blige playing Jackie Peace. Tell me how that came to be.

Mary J. Blige was actually incredibly instrumental in the whole process. She came on quite early in pre-production and then the pandemic happened. She was one of the only people who had been fully, properly cast and really responded to the material. It was all guns blazing, but then we were down for two years. And then at the end of that process it was all about trying to piece back together whatever you were talking about two years earlier, and time had moved on and a lot of projects just went away. It needed people like Mary J who were just completely committed to the film, so as soon as we were trying to pull it back together she was right back in the mix, saying she loved the project and was still here for it. And it really helped galvanize all those energies. So I really credit Mary J for sticking with the film all through that period and being brilliant in the film, holding this really passionate center of the story and carrying it with such authenticity.

Similarly to “The Boy That Harnessed the Wind,” you are playing a father, in this case Rob’s father Skeet Douglas. Is that just a coincidence?

When I was starting the process, which was actually a slightly similar dynamic to “The Boy That Harnessed the Wind,” I didn’t start the writing process thinking I’m going to play that part. But actually the first time I went to see Jackie Peace, she opened the door and almost the first thing she said was, “You look just like Skeet!” But then you get to a point where you’re thinking, “Well, here’s this part that, yes, I could ask another actor to play it, but it’s within my sort of oeuvre, whatever that is, and the actor that I asked to play this part would know that I could play this part, and I’m going to be directing this actor in the style of what I would think this part should be done.” And at that point, you realize you can’t really put another actor through that and yes, I should probably play this part. And you kind of come round to that understanding, which I’m sure everybody else knew before I did.

Following you experience making “The Boy That Harnessed the Wind” and the hugely positive reaction to the film, was there kind of an eagerness to get back in the director’s seat as soon as you could? And, if so, how did you juggle that world with also clearly being a very busy actor?

Not really. For me, it’s a pretty organic process. And I think with acting, directing and writing, within these creative forms, I don’t know how much I’ve ever really tried to push into something. For me it’s a bit more intuitive and trying to understand how I’m seeing the world. There are various different things that I’m sort of interested in, but I definitely feel like I need to have this connection to something. Because I just need to feel like there’s a momentum and a connection to a project or a character or a story, and that sort of then drives the rest of it. So it’s not that I finished something like “The Boy That Harnessed the Wind” and think, “Well, what am I doing next?” I think it’s more that I finished it and thought, “Well, let’s see what happens.”

On the acting front, you’ve got an incredible busy slate of films coming out. You’re back in the superhero world with “Venom: The Last Dance” and “The Old Guard” sequel, returning to Working Title rom-coms with “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,” have a Stephen King adaptation in Mike Flanagan’s “The Life of Chuck” and Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut “Eleanor the Great.” It’s a phenomenally eclectic mix! Is that something you enjoy?

Yeah, it’s been busy and it’s been wonderful. It’s really been exciting to work on very, very different projects and being in very different headspaces. I think that was just a run of material that was really special. I’m really excited about “Venom: The Last Dance” and working with Kelly Marcel and Tom Hardy. That whole world is really an exciting thing and it’s fabulous to jump into that with such brilliant actors. And “Bridget Jones” I think is just wonderful. Renée is just amazing in this role. It’s a very different speed for me in way, and that’s something very engaging. And Scarlett’s film is amazing. And Mike’s film is amazing. So, it’s been a very rich time.

I think you’re probably one of just a handful of actors I can think of who audiences wouldn’t be surprised to see in any genre of movie. It must feel great to be in that position.

Even before I thought I wanted to be an actor, I always loved Cary Grant. I remember seeing him in “Holiday” with Katherine Hepburn when I was very young, under 10 years old, and thinking “oh, they’re doing something called acting.” But he was an actor who I always thought could slip into different genres in this very easy way. You’d buy him in comedies and romantic comedies and then intense thrillers. You couldn’t categorize him. So for me, when I started working on stage, the idea of just putting on lots of different hats, sometimes in the same show, was always an integral part of what acting was to me. So, yeah, it’s been great. I’ve been very gratified to find that in my professional life I’ve been able to do something similar to that in different genres and different styles of films, and it’s definitely something that I would hope to take into writing and into directing.

How did it feel joining the “Bridget Jones” family?

Wonderful. In a way, with “Love, Actually,” I feel like that sort of broader Working Title universe is something I’ve always kind of been a part of. It was fun to join it at a slightly different angle. There’s such a warmth to those films. They’re funny and engaging and beautifully acted and so well made. So on that basis, there’s just such an extraordinary framework to move into. They have the sort of warmth of their humanity as well as engaging in the sort of the politics in the world of the modern day, and having something to say about the world we live in. But it’s always with a sense of optimism, hopefulness and sometimes actually just the very best of our possibilities. And I love that.