‘We can all be heroes of our own lives’: Ava DuVernay on telling Colin Kaepernick’s story
Ava DuVernay has some advice for teenagers.
The filmmaker, who made history when she became the first black female director to make a movie nominated for the best picture Oscar with the historical drama Selma, has recently spent plenty of time with young people on sets.
In the last few years, DuVernay has made the big-budget Disney adaptation Wrinkle In Time, as well as When They See Us – a Netflix show based on the real Central Park jogger case which saw a group of young, black men falsely convicted of raping a white woman in New York.
Sports star and activist Colin Kaepernick’s story is being told in Colin In Black And White. All pics: Netflix
Now, she’s turned her attention to the formative years of sports star and activist Colin Kaepernick, who inspired a movement when he refused to stand for the national anthem at an American Football game in 2016 – instead choosing to take the knee, in protest against police brutality and racial injustice.
DuVernay says that making Colin In Black And White has given her a fresh perspective on her own youth.
San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick (right) and Eric Reid (left) take the knee during the US National Anthem at an NFL football game in 2016
“Making [the show] got me thinking about my own teenage years and how the things that I went through really shaped who I am now,” she told Sky News’ Backstage podcast. “You just wish you could tell kids, what you’re going through right now matters, it’s important, pay attention, don’t let go.
“So often they’re told that they’re not important, but those moments when you’re a teenager are the most important, they are so important. They are building who you become and how you respond to challenges and triumphs later in life.”
Director and co-creator Ava DuVernay and Jaden Michael (also below), who plays the young Kaepernick in the series. Pic: Arturo Holmes/ Netflix
DuVernay admits she didn’t set out to make a show about Kaepernick’s younger years; it was in fact the former NFL player who brought the idea to her.
“So for me it was an opportunity to say, okay, we can do this if we can use it as a springboard to talk about much more. And so that’s why in the piece you’ll see I’ve directed him in kind of the gallery of his mind, where we go out, we see memories, we see bits of history, we see bits of cultural context on all of these stories of his childhood, so it’s this beautiful pastiche of forms within the show, which was really exciting as a filmmaker.”
The show is not easy to define, as the dramatised version of Kaepernick’s life story is mixed in with him as a narrator in vision making astute points about race and culture.
DuVernay says it’s far more than the tale of one child.
“It allowed us to take the childhood and expand it and to make sure that it had more context and contrast than this just telling a story of a kid – it’s the kid on his way to being the hero, right? And it basically says that we can all be the heroes of our own lives as long as we really pay attention to each step, because every step matters.”
In order to tell Kaepernick’s story, DuVernay set her sights on casting the perfect people to play his adoptive white parents.
Mary-Louise Parker and Nick Offerman play Kaepernick’s adoptive parents Teresa and Rick
She hired Parks And Recreation actor Nick Offerman and Weeds star Mary-Louise Parker, an actress who could relate to Kaepernick’s mother on a personal level as she too has an adopted black child.
“They were the exact people that I wanted, I’ve been such a huge fan of both of them,” DuVernay said. “Nick Offerman, I think, is just a brilliant thinker, and it was really interesting because in the United States he has a very particular audience of people who feel connected to him, but don’t necessarily know his politics – he’s a very liberal man, he’s very radical in his view of equity and justice, and so I wanted to really speak to folks who are fans of his that need to hear something new.
“And then Mary-Louise is just really close to the subject matter… There was a beautiful connection there for her personally – the mother in the story handles things very differently than Mary-Louise did, but I think it was illuminating for her, and it was beautiful to have an actor who was that close to the subject matter.”
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While DuVernay directed the show, she says it really is Kaepernick’s baby – and that he was involved throughout every step.
“Colin was a part of the whole process, really kind of over my shoulder for most of it and [was] able to say, ‘Oh, that wasn’t quite like that and I would have done this this way’, which we welcomed all the way up to the end.
“So this is truly a collaboration – his story told in a way that is pleasing to me as an artist to be able to put my name on it, but really tells a story that he wanted to tell.”
Colin In Black And White is out on Netflix now. Hear our review in the latest episode of Backstage, the film and TV podcast from Sky News
Will Smith has made his first major award ceremony appearance since facing widespread criticism for slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards.
The 55-year-old Hollywood star performed his new song – You Can Make It – at the 2024 BET Awards in Los Angeles on Sunday.
It was a rare live appearance from the Men In Black actor, who was banned from attending the Academy Awards for 10 years following the televised slap, which occurred moments before he won his first Oscar.
For his performance, Smith stood in a circle of fire on an apocalyptic landscape, with a large sun rising behind him.
Smith opened the song by saying to the audience: “I don’t know who needs to hear this right now, but whatever’s going on in your life, I’m here to tell you, you can make it.”
Lyrics to the song include: “The darker the hell you gotta endure, the brighter the heaven you get to enjoy.
“The harder the fall, the higher you soar, God opens a window when the devil closes the door.
“Believe me, they tried to bleed Will Smith, in the rearview, I see adversity was the gift.”
Smith was joined by singer and songwriter Fridayy and the gospel choir Sunday Service, who encircled him above from a high platform.
Smith’s collaborator on the song, Kirk Franklin, also came onto the stage and rapped during the song, telling the audience that no one “is on a bad chapter forever”.
Smith closed the song with the lyrics: “We are not being punished we are forged. Dance in your darkest moments.”
Fresh Prince’s big comeback
Smith teased his upcoming album, Dance In Your Darkest Moments, last month. It comes nearly 20 years after his last studio album, Lost And Found, which he released in 2005.
Many see this as part of a well-orchestrated comeback, a feat almost as tough as his 26,000-mile trek from the South Pole to the North Pole for the Disney and National Geographic nature show he fronted, Welcome To Earth, in December.
Ahead of his song’s release on Friday, Smith shared a video of him playing the piano, with the message: “Through some of my darkest moments, music has always been there for me – to lift me and help me grow.
“It’s my humble wish that it can do the same for you and bring you all the joy and light you deserve.”
Pic: Columbia Pictures
Smith first shot to international fame in the 1990s sitcom The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air, a role he won after becoming the first rapper to win a Grammy award, in 1989 for his song alongside DJ Jazzy Jeff, Parents Just Don’t Understand.
The pair went on to record five hip-hop albums together, with hit songs including Summertime and Boom! Shake The Room.
As a solo artist, he released four albums, with number-one tracks including Getting’ Jiggy Wit It and Wild Wild West, and winning four Grammys.
Big win, and big mistake
Smith went on to conquer Hollywood, starring in blockbuster movies including Bad Boys, Men In Black and Independence Day, along with his critically acclaimed performance as Muhammad Ali in the 2001 film Ali, which earned him the first of three Oscar nominations.
But he did not receive Academy recognition until 2022, taking home best actor for his role in the sports drama King Richard, in which he played Richard Williams, the father and coach of tennis players Venus and Serena Williams.
However, his biggest career achievement to date was overshadowed by his on-stage actions.
Now, two years after the event, this rare stage appearance follows the success of his latest movie, Bad Boys: Ride Or Die, which has stormed the box office, and taken over $330m (£260m) globally.
Sir Ian McKellen has pulled out of a national tour after falling from a stage in the West End while performing in a play.
The 85-year-old actor was performing in Player Kings earlier this month at the Noel Coward theatre when he fell into the audience.
Pic: PA
The production had been due to go on tour until 27 July but Sir Ian, 85, has announced his withdrawal with the “greatest reluctance” to “protect my recovery”.
A statement from the production said: “Following Ian McKellen’s injury during the West End run of Player Kings, his doctors’ advice is to take time off from work in order to fully recover.
“As such, he will not be returning to play Sir John Falstaff in the national tour of Players Kings (3-27 July 2024).
“Ian continues to recuperate very well, but he needs the time to rest and ensure a complete recovery. We continue to send him our best wishes.
“As it was for the final West End performances, the role of Falstaff will now be performed by David Semark, Ian’s brilliant understudy, for all tour dates of Player Kings.”
Sir Ian had been playing Sir John Falstaff – one of Shakespeare’s most famous creations – in the modern reworking of Henry IV, parts one and two.
The Olivier Award-winning star said in a statement: “Two weeks after my accident onstage, my injuries improve day by day.
“It’s with the greatest reluctance that I have accepted the medical advice to protect my full recovery by not working in the meantime.
“I had been so looking forward to bringing Player Kings to theatre-goers in Bristol, Birmingham, Norwich and Newcastle.
“But I can assure them that, with David Semark now playing Falstaff, Robert Icke’s production and his acting company remain as dazzling as ever. Go see for yourself!”
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Sir Ian had lost his footing during a fight scene in the play involving the Prince of Wales and Henry Percy.
The Lord Of The Rings star was heard crying out in pain as staff rushed to help, and the theatre was quickly evacuated.
Sir Ian said he spent three days in hospital following the fall before undergoing “physiotherapy, light exercise and a lot of essential rest at home”.
He also thanked well-wishers for their messages of support, as well as the NHS experts who had diagnosed and treated him.
Following its West End run, the play begins a national tour, starting at the Bristol Hippodrome on Wednesday 3 July, before stops in Birmingham, Norwich, and Newcastle.
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A migrant boat artwork by Banksy which appeared at Glastonbury Festival has been labelled “vile” and “not funny” by the home secretary, James Cleverly.
Speaking to Matt Barbet on Sky News Breakfast, Mr Cleverly said: “There are a bunch of people that are joking and celebrating about criminal actions which cost lives.
Pic: AP/Celebrity Photos UK/Cover Images
“People die in the Mediterranean, they die on the Channel. This is not funny. It is vile. This is a celebration of the loss of life in the Channel.”
The art installation featured an inflatable lifeboat filled with migrant dummies in orange life jackets and was hoisted above the crowd and passed around by festival-goers during several performances at the Worthy Farm festival.
When challenged by Barbet as to whether the stunt could be seen as a commentary on the Conservative Party’s failure to solve the issue of small boat crossings, Mr Cleverly blamed the Labour Party, which he claimed had “hampered” his government’s attempts “at every stage”.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak made “stopping the boats” one of the party’s five priorities.
Mr Cleverly went on: “Something like that, I think is deeply distasteful. I mean children die in the Channel because of the actions of these vile criminals and joking about it and celebrating, I think it is completely unacceptable.
“To joke about it to celebrate it, at a pop festival, when there have been children dying in the Channel is completely unacceptable.”
The small boat first appeared during Idles’ set on Friday, while the Bristol-based band were performing Danny Nedelko, a 2018 release which begins with the lyrics: “My blood brother is an immigrant, a beautiful immigrant.”
Idles perform on the Other Stage at Glastonbury. Pic: Reuters
The band were reportedly not aware it had happened until after the set had finished.
Read more:
All Glastonbury 2024’s best bits
The politics of Glastonbury
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Glastonbury masterclass from Dua Lipa
The small boat appeared again during rapper Little Simz’s set as she performed on the Pyramid Stage on Saturday.
It was later confirmed to be the work of artist Banksy.
Little Simz on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury. Pic: AP
The installation also drew criticism from Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, who told Times Radio: “I was really saddened by it, actually.
“If you look at what happens with men, women, children being shoved on to those dinghies – the criminal gangs only fill them half with petrol, so they run out halfway across the English Channel and start to sink, endangering people’s lives.
“I don’t think this is a sort of thing to joke around with at Glastonbury.”
Artist Banksy, whose identity has been the subject of speculation since they first gained attention in the 1990s, often uses their distinctive graffiti and stencil-style street art to make subversive social and political comments.
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