Will Smith returned to awards season festivities Wednesday evening, taking the stage to accept the Beacon Award at the African American Film Critics Association Awards. The speech marked Smith’s first in-person speech at an awards ceremony since his controversy at the 2022 Oscars, in which the actor slapped Chris Rock onstage.
Smith’s “Emancipation” costar Charmaine Bingwa and Aafca cofounder Gil L. Robertson introduced Smith and Antoine Fuqua, the historical drama’s director, early in the evening’s ceremony. After Fuqua’s minute-long thanks to Aafca, Apple TV+ and the film’s cast and crew, Smith took the microphone to recount the production of the film.
“‘Emancipation’ was the individual most difficult film of my entire career. It was all outdoors, that is true,” Smith joked, earning laughs from the crowd.
“It was the second day of shooting and 110 degrees… I was in a scene with one of the white actors.
Smith’s “Emancipation” costar Charmaine Bingwa and Aafca cofounder Gil L. Robertson introduced Smith and Antoine Fuqua, the historical drama’s director, early in the evening’s ceremony. After Fuqua’s minute-long thanks to Aafca, Apple TV+ and the film’s cast and crew, Smith took the microphone to recount the production of the film.
“‘Emancipation’ was the individual most difficult film of my entire career. It was all outdoors, that is true,” Smith joked, earning laughs from the crowd.
“It was the second day of shooting and 110 degrees… I was in a scene with one of the white actors.
- 3/2/2023
- by J. Kim Murphy and Julia MacCary
- Variety Film + TV
Apple TV+’s movie Emancipation tells the story of Peter (Will Smith), a runaway slave trying to make it to Baton Rouge after Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Charmaine Bingwa plays Dodienne, Peter’s enslaved wife and mother to his children.
In an exclusive interview with uInterview, Bingwa revealed the toughest scenes to film.
“You know I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but I won’t lie that all of the scenes were tough to play, certainly from Dodienne,” she said. “She never has a minute to rest or of reprieve in this film and not many people do and unfortunately that was just the nature of the times but, you know, it’s really important to revisit history as a warning. There’s a lot going on in the world and just to remind us of where hatred can lead us to.”
Bingwa also talked about her...
In an exclusive interview with uInterview, Bingwa revealed the toughest scenes to film.
“You know I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but I won’t lie that all of the scenes were tough to play, certainly from Dodienne,” she said. “She never has a minute to rest or of reprieve in this film and not many people do and unfortunately that was just the nature of the times but, you know, it’s really important to revisit history as a warning. There’s a lot going on in the world and just to remind us of where hatred can lead us to.”
Bingwa also talked about her...
- 2/14/2023
- by Hailey Schipper
- Uinterview
Charmaine Bingwa had just finished a monologue on the set of Emancipation when she had a request for director Antoine Fuqua. Could she do the speech she had just done in English, but this time in Haitian Creole? He said yes. “If my characters speak in another language, but I don’t know it, I feel like a fraud,” Bingwa says. “So I just kind of took it upon myself [to learn the language].” That take, without subtitles, is the one that ended up in the drama starring Will Smith.
In Emancipation, Smith plays Peter, a character based on a man in a photograph commonly called “Whipped Peter” because of his scarred back. The movie traces Peter’s escape from slavery to find Union forces after learning that Abraham Lincoln has declared enslaved people free. Bingwa plays Peter’s wife, Dodienne. As he is pursued in Louisiana swamps, her faith tells her that her husband will return.
In Emancipation, Smith plays Peter, a character based on a man in a photograph commonly called “Whipped Peter” because of his scarred back. The movie traces Peter’s escape from slavery to find Union forces after learning that Abraham Lincoln has declared enslaved people free. Bingwa plays Peter’s wife, Dodienne. As he is pursued in Louisiana swamps, her faith tells her that her husband will return.
- 1/14/2023
- by Esther Zuckerman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“I thought she was remarkable, how she was almost like this little oasis in this storm of harrowing things that were going on,” declares Charmaine Bingwa about portraying enslaved woman Dodienne, a fiercely loyal wife and dedicated mother in the historical action drama “Emancipation.” For our recent webchat she adds, “She really felt like the heartbeat of the film for me and was absolutely this magnet drawing him home. I had so much admiration for her bravery and her courage under fire. You know, once Peter is taken from her, she has to do everything to protect her family and she does.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.
See Exclusive Video Interview: Ben Foster (‘Emancipation’)
“Emancipation” is directed by Antoine Fuqua from a screenplay by William N. Collage, based on the real-life story of former enslaved man Gordon (named “Peter” in the film) who posed for photographs of his bare back,...
See Exclusive Video Interview: Ben Foster (‘Emancipation’)
“Emancipation” is directed by Antoine Fuqua from a screenplay by William N. Collage, based on the real-life story of former enslaved man Gordon (named “Peter” in the film) who posed for photographs of his bare back,...
- 12/22/2022
- by Rob Licuria
- Gold Derby
Hollywood star Will Smith was stunned when one of his ‘Emancipation’ co-stars spat in his face. The incident happened during an improvised scene for the slavery drama after Will’s infamous Oscar ceremony slap to comedian Chris Rock.
The 54-year-old made the admission in a preview clip for a new episode of his family’s Facebook Watch series ‘Red Table Talk’ released on Tuesday, December 13, which marks first time he has taken over the show from his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, 51, reports aceshowbiz.com.
The Oscar-winner told his children Trey, 30, Jaden Smith, 24, and Willow Smith, 22, who appear with him on the show about the unnamed actor on the ‘Emancipation’ set: “As the years have gone on I’ve gotten more and more locked into these characters for longer periods of time. And it’s just the weight of this story, the weight of these experiences – the quality of these actors.
The 54-year-old made the admission in a preview clip for a new episode of his family’s Facebook Watch series ‘Red Table Talk’ released on Tuesday, December 13, which marks first time he has taken over the show from his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, 51, reports aceshowbiz.com.
The Oscar-winner told his children Trey, 30, Jaden Smith, 24, and Willow Smith, 22, who appear with him on the show about the unnamed actor on the ‘Emancipation’ set: “As the years have gone on I’ve gotten more and more locked into these characters for longer periods of time. And it’s just the weight of this story, the weight of these experiences – the quality of these actors.
- 12/15/2022
- by Glamsham Bureau
- GlamSham
Updated with panel video: If not for The Slap that marred Will Smith’s Best Actor Oscar victory for King Richard last March, Emancipation would surely be at the forefront of the awards conversation.
Bought for a record sum by Apple in heavy competition, Emancipation tells the story of Peter, an enslaved man who escapes from a brutal camp and tries to find Lincoln’s advancing army so he can join up and save his family. Separating him from freedom are miles of imposing Louisiana swamps, and a hateful slave hunter and his attack dogs. It comes from a photo taken of Peter when he joined Lincoln’s army, which showed the scars on his back from a near-fatal beating. The photo circulated around the world, and made it irrefutable that slavery was a barbaric practice that needed to end. One could say there is a direct link to other images,...
Bought for a record sum by Apple in heavy competition, Emancipation tells the story of Peter, an enslaved man who escapes from a brutal camp and tries to find Lincoln’s advancing army so he can join up and save his family. Separating him from freedom are miles of imposing Louisiana swamps, and a hateful slave hunter and his attack dogs. It comes from a photo taken of Peter when he joined Lincoln’s army, which showed the scars on his back from a near-fatal beating. The photo circulated around the world, and made it irrefutable that slavery was a barbaric practice that needed to end. One could say there is a direct link to other images,...
- 12/14/2022
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Imani Pullum and Charmaine Bingwa in “Emancipation,” premiering December 9, 2022 on Apple TV+. The long-awaited film Emancipation is based on the true story of a slave who tries to find his way to freedom against the backdrop of an America that’s in the midst of a civil war. The Good Fight’s Charmaine Bingwa stars alongside Will Smith in the film. And even though it’s certainly not the most glamorous of roles, Bingwa told us she was incredibly excited to make this movie. (Click on the media bar below to hear Charmaine Bingwa) https://www.hollywoodoutbreak.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Charmaine_-Bingwa_Emancipation_.mp3 Emancipation premieres this Friday on Apple TV+.
The post Charmaine Bingwa Was ‘Insane’ For ‘Emancipation’ appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.
The post Charmaine Bingwa Was ‘Insane’ For ‘Emancipation’ appeared first on Hollywood Outbreak.
- 12/6/2022
- by Hollywood Outbreak
- HollywoodOutbreak.com
Click here to read the full article.
The review embargo for Antoine Fuqua’s much-talked about escaped slave drama Emancipation lifted Wednesday evening and early critics reaction to the Apple Original Films feature is decidedly mixed.
Critics praised Emancipation‘s cast, with Will Smith, the film’s controversy-stricken star, receiving plaudits along with co-stars Ben Foster and Charmaine Bingwa. There was also praise for the survival thriller setup of the film, with an appreciation for the different approach to the subject. But some critics took issue with the unrelenting brutality as well as the look of the film, with questions about Robert Richardson’s stylized cinematography as well as the sparse script.
The Hollywood Reporter‘s Lovia Gyarkye writes that Emancipation treats Peter’s escape and journey well, but the film is “hampered by a spare and spiritless screenplay.” Gyarkye feels that the current reality of a growing refusal to...
The review embargo for Antoine Fuqua’s much-talked about escaped slave drama Emancipation lifted Wednesday evening and early critics reaction to the Apple Original Films feature is decidedly mixed.
Critics praised Emancipation‘s cast, with Will Smith, the film’s controversy-stricken star, receiving plaudits along with co-stars Ben Foster and Charmaine Bingwa. There was also praise for the survival thriller setup of the film, with an appreciation for the different approach to the subject. But some critics took issue with the unrelenting brutality as well as the look of the film, with questions about Robert Richardson’s stylized cinematography as well as the sparse script.
The Hollywood Reporter‘s Lovia Gyarkye writes that Emancipation treats Peter’s escape and journey well, but the film is “hampered by a spare and spiritless screenplay.” Gyarkye feels that the current reality of a growing refusal to...
- 12/1/2022
- by Abid Rahman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
More than 150 years since the end of the Civil War, slavery remains the scar that just won’t heal in the United States. Recognizing that, Antoine Fuqua’s “Emancipation” is a bracing and still-necessary attempt to face this painful legacy head-on, inspired by perhaps the single most powerful image we have of a once-enslaved person: the 1863 portrait of “Whipped Peter,” whose lacerated back served as shocking proof of unconscionable mistreatment by his white “masters.” That photograph, widely circulated during the Civil War, forced the world to confront the cruelty of this system — much as Fuqua himself does with this unflinching account of a free man’s escape … and the society that conspired to keep him in chains.
Anchored by an ultra-focused and unusually low-key Will Smith as Peter, “Emancipation” can be an intense and at times almost unbearable thing to watch, presented in meticulously composed, nearly black-and-white frames, desaturated to...
Anchored by an ultra-focused and unusually low-key Will Smith as Peter, “Emancipation” can be an intense and at times almost unbearable thing to watch, presented in meticulously composed, nearly black-and-white frames, desaturated to...
- 12/1/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Will Smith’s Emancipation press tour rolled through Los Angeles on Wednesday as the Oscar-winning actor turned up to support the Apple Original Films’ release in a showing that marked Smith’s first major red carpet appearance since March’s controversial Oscar telecast.
Smith hit the carpet outside Westwood’s Regency Village Theatre just after 7 p.m., joined by wife Jada Pinkett Smith and children Trey, Jaden and Willow. He received cheers from the crush of photographers as he stepped on the carpet, responding with a hearty, “What’s the deal? What’s the deal?” Smith then spent a good chunk of time posing for photos with the cast and top Apple executives Jamie Erlicht, Eddy Cue and Zack Van Amburg before making his way down the line by generously giving time to each outlet.
Will Smith is here, arriving for the Emancipation...
Will Smith’s Emancipation press tour rolled through Los Angeles on Wednesday as the Oscar-winning actor turned up to support the Apple Original Films’ release in a showing that marked Smith’s first major red carpet appearance since March’s controversial Oscar telecast.
Smith hit the carpet outside Westwood’s Regency Village Theatre just after 7 p.m., joined by wife Jada Pinkett Smith and children Trey, Jaden and Willow. He received cheers from the crush of photographers as he stepped on the carpet, responding with a hearty, “What’s the deal? What’s the deal?” Smith then spent a good chunk of time posing for photos with the cast and top Apple executives Jamie Erlicht, Eddy Cue and Zack Van Amburg before making his way down the line by generously giving time to each outlet.
Will Smith is here, arriving for the Emancipation...
- 12/1/2022
- by Chris Gardner and Evan Nicole Brown
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Antoine Fuqua's "Emancipation" began with a single image. You're probably familiar with the photograph already: not only just because it's spent decades printed into history books, but because it's the kind of image that embeds itself into your mind. It's "The Scourged Back." It depicts an escaped slave best known as 'Whipped Peter' who is forever memorialized by that single photo of his back, ravaged by lashings that left keloid scars. It's the atrocities of slavery, captured on a single human body in a single image. It's become one of the most widely circulated photographs of slavery for good reason: when first taken, it played a pivotal role in the growing opposition to slavery. And now, it has inspired a film that's due to hit theaters 159 years after it was taken.
"Emancipation" promises an unflinching look at one man's story. After being whipped nearly to death, Peter (played by...
"Emancipation" promises an unflinching look at one man's story. After being whipped nearly to death, Peter (played by...
- 11/29/2022
- by Shania Russell
- Slash Film
Charmaine Bingwa (The Good Fight) & Nkeki Obi-Melekwe (Tina -The Tina Turner Musical) are set as series regulars opposite Charles Babalola in Showtime’s King Shaka, (fka Shaka: King of the Zulu Nation), executive produced by Antoine Fuqua. Tony Kgoroge (Invictus), Sindi Dlatu (The River) and Bahle Hadebe (Bone of My Bones) also have been cast in recurring roles in the series from writers Olu Odebunmi and Tolu Awosika, Propagate, Fuqua Films and CBS Studios.
Rooted in actual events, King Shaka tells the story of the Zulu Empire founder Shaka (Babalola) and his unlikely rise to power, uniting multiple tribes across vast stretches of southern Africa in the early 19th century to transform his power into legend, on par with history’s most seminal figures. The outcast son of a Zulu Chief, Shaka is a visionary who is prophesied to become a king like none before him. In ferocious battles that test the body and soul,...
Rooted in actual events, King Shaka tells the story of the Zulu Empire founder Shaka (Babalola) and his unlikely rise to power, uniting multiple tribes across vast stretches of southern Africa in the early 19th century to transform his power into legend, on par with history’s most seminal figures. The outcast son of a Zulu Chief, Shaka is a visionary who is prophesied to become a king like none before him. In ferocious battles that test the body and soul,...
- 9/30/2022
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Charmaine Bingwa (“The Good Fight”) and Nkeki Obi-Melekwe (“Tina -The Tina Turner Musical”) have been added to Showtime’s “King Shaka” cast as series regulars, the network announced on Thursday. Tony Kgoroge (“Invictus”), Sindi Dlatu (“The River”) and Bahle Hadebe (“Bone of My Bones”) will guest star in recurring roles.
According to their character descriptions, Bingwa will portray Isisa, a strong and very capable warrior whose loyalty is challenged after receiving a fateful encounter. Obi-Melekwe will play the Locust Queen, a mysterious leader of a migrant tribe of outcasts who gives herself an advantage by tapping into her deep knowledge of the spiritual world.
Kgoroge will guest star as Chief Senzangakhona, the proud leader of the Zulu people who denies Shaka’s birthright; Dlathu as Inyoni, a council leader and midwife; and Hadebe as young Shaka.
The group joins previously announced cast members Charles Babalola as King Shaka; Thapelo Mokoenaas as Gendeyana,...
According to their character descriptions, Bingwa will portray Isisa, a strong and very capable warrior whose loyalty is challenged after receiving a fateful encounter. Obi-Melekwe will play the Locust Queen, a mysterious leader of a migrant tribe of outcasts who gives herself an advantage by tapping into her deep knowledge of the spiritual world.
Kgoroge will guest star as Chief Senzangakhona, the proud leader of the Zulu people who denies Shaka’s birthright; Dlathu as Inyoni, a council leader and midwife; and Hadebe as young Shaka.
The group joins previously announced cast members Charles Babalola as King Shaka; Thapelo Mokoenaas as Gendeyana,...
- 9/29/2022
- by BreAnna Bell
- Variety Film + TV
A trio of TV vets are moving to Texas: Neal McDonough (the Arrowverse, Suits), D.B. Woodside (Lucifer, Suits) and Amanda Schull (Suits, 12 Monkeys) are set to recur during Season 4 of 9-1-1: Lone Star, our sister site Deadline reports.
McDonough will reprise his earlier role of Sgt. Ty O’Brien, who butted heads with Rob Lowe’s Owen in a Season 3 episode of the Fox drama.
More from TVLineTVLine Items: Rachel Nichols Moves to Showtime, Holly's Gh Return and MoreDragon's Best Recast? Was #Upstead a Bit Off? Supernatural Nod on Big Sky? Is Daily Show Dunzo? And More TV Qs!
McDonough will reprise his earlier role of Sgt. Ty O’Brien, who butted heads with Rob Lowe’s Owen in a Season 3 episode of the Fox drama.
More from TVLineTVLine Items: Rachel Nichols Moves to Showtime, Holly's Gh Return and MoreDragon's Best Recast? Was #Upstead a Bit Off? Supernatural Nod on Big Sky? Is Daily Show Dunzo? And More TV Qs!
- 9/29/2022
- by Vlada Gelman
- TVLine.com
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