Our sister publication in the US sat down with Grace last month to talk BlacKkKlansman. It’s something that he was excited to partner with Lee on. Grace’s worst fear might’ve been finding sympathy for a man he describes as evil in a sort of “TV movie of the week” biopic. Rather Lee offered him the chance to depict the danger of those like Duke, who might peddle in anger and emotional foolishness, but do so with cunning. Along with the recent birth of his daughter, it was a therapeutic act given the direction of civil discourse and governance in this country. Says Grace, “I just had a daughter. It was a very confusing time in our culture to bring someone into the world, and it was cathartic for me to get a script like this and be a part of Spike saying something like this. They say if you don’t study history you’re condemned to repeat it, that’s why I think films like this are so important.” “No one was considering me for this role,” Grace recalls. “I got the new Spike Lee joint as a script and I’m reading it, and I’m like, ‘I think I have a take on this character.’ There was a lot of head-scratching when I kind of told my people this. They said, ‘You have to go read for Spike,’ which is not something I do a lot of. But I was happy to go do it, because when you’re doing something that’s unlike anything you’ve done before, it’s up to you to show the director what you can. But I went in there and I was so nervous, especially because I kind of said I’m uncomfortable saying a lot of this dialogue.” Luckily for Grace, Lee was able to make the actor more comfortable in playing such a person. He later adds, “I felt comfortable, and that is where you need to be when you’re trying stuff that is tonally not all one thing. Spike knows what he wants, and I would say to any young actor, if you’re worried about something like this, what I’ve learned in my time acting is: ‘Who’s the director?’” Special nationwide screenings + Live Satellite Q&A with Spike Lee on August 20th www.BlackkklansmanScreening.co.uk
