Rolling out sat down to talk to noted black actor and author Charles Reese about his work on the life of James Baldwin.
Tell our readers who James Baldwin was?
This year August 2, 2014 marks the 90th birthday celebration of James Arthur Baldwin. James Baldwin was a giant in literature, politics and culture. He was the author of dozens of cumulative classic, highly praised works, including nonfiction books, essays, plays, and stories. He was passion; he was fire. He was black and homosexual at a moment in history when it could be harmful to be either–too loudly.
When did you meet James Baldwin?
I met James Baldwin during my freshman year at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., during the early 1980s. Mr. Baldwin was bearing witness to the Atlanta Child Murders. The encounter was short and sweet; and a memory that means more to me today than ever before. Mr. Baldwin was strolling across the campus of Atlanta University (now Clark-Atlanta) in a black cape with another professor. I looked at him and he looked at me with those big eyes and he simply said, “You have eyes like mine.” I smiled and said thanks. It wasn’t until hours later that I realized who I had just met.
How did that encounter impact your life?
That brief encounter led me to read more of Baldwin’s literary works, and then I got a one-way ticket to Paris, France in search of Mr. Baldwin after my graduation from Morehouse circa 1985. (I was young and fearless). Upon my arrival to Baldwin’s place in St. Paul de Vence in the southern part of France, I was apprised that Mr. Baldwin was not in France in the summer of 1985, he was in the United States.
Fast forward to my current life journey as a Cultural Architect for Public Engagement (C.A.P.E.), whose mission is to keep the fiery spirit of James Baldwin alive in this “new, transmedia ready, global generation”
In what literary and stage work have you been involved?
I am a seasoned performing artist who has played the lead role of James Baldwin in a critically acclaimed off Broadway play; James Baldwin: A Soul On Fire, written by my Morehouse classmate, the late playwright and Emmy Award nominee, Howard B. Simon (1962-2000), where David DeWitt of The New York Times declared, “A Soul On Fire is funny, thrilling and wise,”
You are pressing for a James Baldwin Biopic. Why is this so important?
I often wondered why there hasn’t been a biopic about James Baldwin, his life story, or maybe a certain chapter of his life? It seems perfect for a film or a new narrative documentary for one of the unsung civil rights heroes and one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. To date, [there is] only one film adaptation of his first novel, Go Tell It On The Mountain. This American Playhouse/PBS film featured Alfre Woodard, CCH Pounder, Rosalind Cash, Ruby Dee, Olivia Cole, Ving Rhames, Giancarlo Esposito, and Paul Whitfield. But still no major feature, television or cable film in the 25 years since Baldwin departed the literary and cultural scene on December 1, 1987. On the other hand, there have been two major feature films on the life of writer Truman Capote who was one of Baldwin’s colleagues circa the early 60s.
Why do think that is?
Truman is white and Baldwin is black.
What do you finally want to say about James Baldwin that our readers should take away?
James Baldwin was the artist who inspired me (and still does to this day). He was a teacher. Baldwin, to me, from a distance became “an example of courage and integrity, humility and passion. And absolute integrity.” He deserves to be heard and seen via a film for today’s generation and future generations to come, by any means necessary. I send out a call to action for the following two actors to prepare and consider the role of James Baldwin–Academy Award Nominee, Don Cheadle (Iron Man 3,Hotel Rwanda, Crash) and Golden Globe Award Nominee, Chiwetel Ejiofor (2012, Talk to Me, Amistad).
