Direct from the Vault

Scanning my hard drive late this evening/early this morning I found this scrumptious little picture of actress Gabrielle Union. She was in Phoenix several years ago promoting The Honeymooners. This was probably taken in early May 2005. I remember only because the San Antonio Spurs were in town playing the Suns in the NBA Playoffs and the Spurs were staying at the Ritz Carlton, the same hotel where my interview took place. There I am, all 65 inches of me, waiting in the lobby as these huge basketball players filter in and out, congregating in the lobby and admiring a Ferrari at the valet stand. I also remember that during the interview Gabrielle mentioned several times that she was excited to be in the same hotel as the Spurs because she might bump into Spurs power forward Tim Duncan. At the time she was married to NFL star Chris Howard, although they would separate (and later divorce) later that year.

As for the interview, it went terrific, and only because I never had to admit to her that I didn't see her stinker of a movie. Usually when I don't see a star's movie, and then I interview them, I'll just lie about seeing it — "Yeah, yeah, yeah, had a great time," I'll lie. Usually I'm provided with detailed notes on the film, so fibbing is fairly easy. On several interviews, stars have asked me questions about the movie ("What did you like the best?") and because the notes I've been given are so detailed I can usually answer in a way that sounds as if I sat through it. (And then there was my interview with The Fountain director Darren Aronofsky, whose movie I did see but I still couldn't speak intelligently about it. At one point he was explaining to me scenes in detail.) With Union, though, I didn't have to lie — she knew already. Apparently the studio, fearing all kinds of bad feedback, never screened The Honeymooners for press doing interviews. Normally I would never agree to such an interview, but apparently it was a slow week.

She was a kind, generous person, very easy to talk to, and very personable and attentive to questions, even difficult ones. We talked at length about how black women were being cast in Hollywood. Several weeks before, critic Roger Ebert had written about the Nicole Kidman movie The Interpreter and wondered curiously in one of his writings why the movie was set in the United Nations, used African languages, concerned African people and countries, and yet starred a white woman as pasty as a Victorian doily. He actually suggests Union as a better replacement. Having read Ebert's note on The Interpreter (and agreeing with it 100 percent) I asked her about it and had a wonderful conversation about the roles she gets versus the roles she could get. "Write'em black," I remember her saying about characters in movies. "And if it doesn't say 'must be white woman' assume the character can be any color."

After a lengthy discussion on her works (she had just signed on for Runnings With Scissors) and the roles she chooses, we had some extra time and I asked her to pose for some pictures. I never intended to take any; I just couldn't leave my camera gear in my car during the interview only because the Arizona sun in May doesn't treat electronics very well. She looked amazing so she kindly looked stood in front of a window in her 7th Floor room that looks northeast over Phoenix and Scottsdale. As with most of my subjects, I told her I was preparing the light and snapped some shots that were never intended to be used. Then when I was ready she did several looking into the camera. Sure enough — it's always the case — the test shots, with her admiring the Phoenix horizon, were the best.

I never intended this explanation to be so long, but now that it's done I realize I have a ton of funny stories to tell about my celebrity interviews. Thomas Jane without his shirt on, Jamie Kennedy with explosive diarrhea, tricking Nia Vardalos (at the urging of John Corbett) out of a story involving puke, Janeane Garofalo sexy and inked, animation director Brad Bird brain dead, two separate interviews with Shia LaBeouf in which I felt like he was either going to punch me in the face or start hitting speedballs ... the list could go on. So consider this Part 1. More to come.