Trust Your Creativity with Mahershala Ali

You got to turn always so you got to turn water in the wine and they don't usually give you a vineyard as a result of turning water in the wine. They just give you another glass of water and so, that's a bar. The Craig Robinson, welcome to the IMO. Thank you, Michelle Robinson Obama. You almost left out the Obama. No, I was going to say Obama Robinson. I was like, in my role. You know, for a second, I thought I tried to keep Michelle Robinson Obama when I was practicing, right? It's a mouthful. It was just too much. It's a mouthful. How you doing? I am doing really, really well. That's good. Really well. Feeling good, looking good. And excited about our guests. We've got. Mahershala Ali. Did you all hear that? And there's been some excitement in the studio. I mean, and needless to say, we don't have to say because he, just the way he carries himself, every interview I've seen and the movies I've seen him in, it's just like he's one of those guys, you like, I wish that was me. You know, I wish that was me. Well, let's do a proper introduction and get this conversation started. So Mahershala is a two-time Academy Award-winning actor best known for his performances in Moonlight and Green Book. He can most recently be seen in Jurassic World Rebirth and in Amazon MGMs, your mother, your mother, your mother in theaters nationwide. And we are going to bring him out. You and I got a sneak peek of this movie. And we're not going to spoil it, but you will love this movie. You will love this movie. So without further ado, Mahershala Ali, come join us. Oh, my man, look and fly. Thanks for being here. Have a seat. Let's take a fashioned moment. Oh, thank you. Jean on Jean on Jean. Yes, my Canadian tux. That tux is from somewhere else. That's a little too fly. I can't believe this is our first time meeting. Yeah, well, it's good to meet you. I've been wanting to meet you for a while. We did it. So thank you. We didn't meet each other. We only leave the world behind. And I wanted to meet you. Yeah, yeah, I hope people, it leave the world behind as a. Another good movie. An apocalyptic movie is what still one of the top viewed movies on Netflix. That was a trip. So we were a co-producer on that, but it was doing COVID. So we didn't get a chance to come to set or anything like that. It was a strange time. Strange movie, strange time. Yeah, and filling a little too close to home. Right, huh? Yeah, yeah. Things going on around the world. It was funny because when folks found out that we were a part of that, one of the big questions, brackets, did you get involved with that movie because you know something? You know, I mean, everyone, it's usually the number one question he gets is, are there, is there life on other planets? And now it's, were you trying to tell us something in that movie? Do you get that? Do people have that reaction? I haven't gotten that. You know, because you know, just my job in general is to deal in fantasy. So, you know, I think I get it passed, you know. So are you a shelter guy or are you or let's just get to higher ground somewhere guy? Boy, you know what? I'm a little bit of a recluse. So, I think I would be more of a shelter guy. You would be. Yeah. Yeah. Are you prepping? You know, I probably should. That's happening with our food all the time. And as I'm going on, I feel like I need to find where all the good stuff is that wrong my own things. And you know, no joke. Yeah, sometimes things feel a little uncomfortable out there. But yeah, well, I'm brighter now. Where is home? Home is in Los Angeles. So, home is Los Angeles, which I love. I'm from the Bay Area originally. And so, California speaks to me in some way. I feel very comfortable with the sort of the quality of life in the space. The people are very familiar to me. LA and the Bay Area are very different in terms of like how the people kind of roll a bit. But there's something in the spirit of California that definitely speaks to me in the West Coast in general. Yeah. We're spending more and more time in LA. Yeah. Every time we're like. We love out there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think we've lost our daughters to California. No, they're in California. Yeah. It's the same thing. I mean, you know, they've spent time in New York, a bitch, Kyle DC. But there's just a real because they like the outdoors. They like the uh, you know, just the active nature of life and, you know, that I think that I think that's it. I think that's their own way. That's what they're like. You can, like you can, if you, if you want to be outside, you want to be in it, it's or just in nature, there's something about California where the sun and the light, the trees and the mountains, it just, it just really resonates. Yeah. You know, yeah. Well, you say, you seem like a peaceful dude anyway. I try to be. There's a, like, I'm just, you know, your voice is taking me to the ocean and to the mountains. Alrighty. You just have that way. So you, you grew up in the Bay, now, how would you describe that, that childhood? What was, what was, what was the Bay life? Oh, man. The Bay was complicated when I was growing up. I grew up right outside of Oakland in a, in a little city called Hayward. So a lot was going on in the 80s when I was coming up in Oakland. A lot was going on in a lot of major cities throughout the country then. And so my mom was very conscious about where she was raising me because she didn't want me dealing with certain elements who's very protective in that way. Um, but I was outside. I was in the streets. I was on my bike. Me and my cousins were, were BMX racers. So we would be for, from when I was 4 to 10 years old, we were on our bikes every single weekend or at a race, competing like an organized BMX sports. Or then after that, I transitioned into playing baseball and basketball. And so it was a lot of like sports, a lot of athletics. It's very healthy, competitive things going on and out, outside. Well, you know, BMX bike to jazz. I had a mini Mongoose to start out with. I don't know what that is. Is then, then I was on the twin team as a young kid for a while. And so you were sponsored. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. We were, we were on teams and competitive and ranked and all that kind of stuff. For people who don't know, BMX bicycle motocross. What is it? What is it? And what is that? So now it's an Olympic sport, but we were dirt tracks. Um, we were doing a lot of it in Fremont, California and Sanol, but these dirt tracks with big jumps, jumps and whoop, the whoop, so growing up. Uh, we were, we were like racing every weekend for about, I was doing that for the first like six years of my, from four to 10. And then around 10 years old, I started playing basketball and focusing on basketball. And which drew you to basketball? Um, I was probably better in football. And, but at a certain point, it was two things. My mom didn't love me playing football and I was also dealing with, I was growing out of asthma at that time. And so there was like, I would deal with it seasonally, okay, a bit. And so, um, so I just started focusing more on basketball. Okay. And it, it just worked out for me. You know, it was, I kind of was a kid who, who could have done anything. I kind of put my focus on the terms of sports. Yeah. But I ended up being more in basketball. Yeah. Yeah. That's a, that's a little bit of a humble brag. I like that. I like that. I like that. You were good at a lot of things. Yeah. So now what, what a you team did you play for? Uh, so I would play for a coach by the name of Donovan Blythe, um, back in the Bay Area. Um, I think our team was, was we were, we were kind of based on San Mateo, which is right over the bridge. Um, but we had a lot of great players on that team, um, who went on to have a lot of success for Jason kid to gentleman by the name of Phil handy. Yeah. Uh, who is also a coach now works with LeBron or I think he might be with that Philly now. Um, and out of the 13 of us on that team, 11 got division one scholarship. So we had a, we had a nice squad. And so you ended up going to St Mary's. I ended up going to St Mary's. Yeah. On scholarship, but I got recruited by a lot of WCC schools. But you didn't start coaching at Oregon state until 2000. Okay. Nine six six eight 2008. So you were gone. Yeah. Yeah. I'm sure I saw you play. I'm sure. Yeah. Was your mother, one of your big fans, was she into your. My mother was very into my spirit. My mother was very into my spiritual wellbeing and growth. Like basketball was very peripheral to her. It was, look, she, the most important thing to her was what is my relationship to God? Like, period, you know, and I say that with the utmost respect and appreciation, especially now, you know, raising a kid, a daughter, and having a nine-year-old. But I, I'm very appreciative of what her focus was. It wasn't necessarily my focus for me at that time, because I just wanted to go play ball, you know, and that was, that's what my priority was, but her focus was always about my spiritual wellbeing. What did that look like and feel like in the house every day? The full on church move on, drive the church on Sunday and being there half the day and coming back, it meant, it helped stop. We got to make prayer before you go off and go to school. Her mom was an ordained minister and my mother's sister is my mother started and has a ministry. And so, and I saw my mother had me young and I think I saw her essentially, I don't want to say revert, but really grow up in her own way and embrace her faith and become a fully conscious adult. And so, my mom was 16, and so when she's in her late 20s, you know, she is, she's reading different and sitting down and present at home in a different way, you know, because there's a period of time there was just me and my mother and I was, she was, I remember her graduating from beauty college and being a cosmetologist and styling hair for years and sort of being on this grind and she was great at what she did. Like she was a wonderful hair stylist, I still did hair from home at a certain point after she got remarried. But then I think that also gave her space to sort of take her eyes a little bit off of a certain type of work and began to dig into what I think she felt her nature was. So yeah, it was interesting to see in my mother experiencing my mother coming to herself. And what that means when you, your parents sort of convert or revert, you do too on some level, you know, because you're impacted by now what the, what those new revealing boundaries are, you know, as they come into their own. Would you bristle against it? 100%. Yeah. 100%. I felt, because I think you begin to go, I think kids get very familiar with what kids are going to naturally push the boundaries, right? Yeah. And I think if you feel like you're allowed to do something for a while, then suddenly you're not. You're not. You feel like you're already not allowed to do certain things as you grow up because now you're coming into a certain type of consciousness. And it's like, okay, you're no longer permitted to do X, Y and Z just because you're too old to be doing that, right? But then on top of that, there's this, there's this other doctrine that is, that is becoming a real part of your home. And so at the same time, you're going through puberty. Yeah. You like, like, the girls that's right out there with your buddies and suddenly, your mom was like, oh, no, that ain't happening at all. What? It's like, when, when, how did we get here? And so I think that that was a bit of a shot to my system. But again, when I, when I look back, I'm very grateful though, because I appreciate where I'm at right now, where I'm at is not perfect, but I appreciate where I'm at and I appreciate my journey to where I'm at. And I think it would be hard to be here if, if I had sort of free reign in the way in which my nature wanted that as a kid. It's funny how you come to that as an adult, but as a kid, you're like, you're not trying to hear it. These things are on my neck, but I think, generationally in some ways, this youth is very different from my youth. You know, the type of trouble was different, you know? And so I have to, you have to give a certain, in my consciousness now, I have to really give a certain type of grace because of, I just think what we were coming out of in that time, just sort of as a generation, but as a people and parents having to navigate a lot of fear. So I, I, I do walk with a lot of gratitude for, for, for many of the things my mother was specifically trying to emphasize for me and keep me mindful of. Did it make you resentful of religion in any way? It didn't make me resentful of religion, but I think if anything, I, I, my nature is the question. And so I just, if anything, it just made me want even more, if, if I'm going to be impacted by this, then I need some answers, because like, let's break it down, right? I need to be able to break it down. And so for me, this is just how it is was not a good enough answer for me. You know what I mean? Bridges that needed to be sort of created so that you go from not knowing to knowing. I really needed help with that bridge. And so I can be hard headed in a way, or persistent in a way that upon leaving home, I still felt naturally and very intuitively and instinctively on my journey for some answers for myself beyond what I was just told, you know? And so, so I think in that way, I feel very comfortable in my skin in relation to sort of the conversation around religion and my mother or anyone just because of, it's just my own journey. And at least right or wrong, it's, it's what I am, what I believe is a result of my own path, opposed to one that has been necessarily carved for me and given to me that I needed certain things answered that allowed the world of the scene and the unseen to make sense to me, you know? This episode is brought to you by Duluth Trading Company. The Duluth Trading Company makes gear for people who work their butts off and hard work looks different for everyone. For me, over these last few months, it's been hauling around furniture in between rooms for these home renovations we've been doing, which honestly has felt like a full workload. Oh, you, you were actually doing stuff, I'm actually doing stuff, you know, what, what are you doing? I'm, I'm building tables. That doesn't count as moving furniture, that's not renovation. I'm doing a lot of demo work. You know what demo means? I do. No, demolition. You have done no, you've done no demo work. You know, when they do demo work, they allow you to come in and swing the hammer and knock some stuff out. That's swing the hammer and knock anything out. That's not the demo work. What? I can't. I'm going to call, we need to call Kelly for this to see what's hard work look like for you these days. Well, these days hard work is, you know, just having a full schedule. I think in the spring, I went from vacation, no, I went from LA to Toronto, back to LA. To Philly, to London back to New York, I mean, Chicago, all in the span of a few weeks. So that's hard work. See, see, that's the thing. Your hard work looks nothing like mine. And I think the hard work you think you're doing is nothing like the hard work you think you're doing. You know, see, I, I've been doing these renovations, I've been doing these little little little. You got your little toe belt. I don't even know you don't even have any tools in your tools. I got my tools here. This isn't even like this is the hammer we had when we were three. You know, look at my screwdriver. I got my screwdriver here. This isn't a people and untouched, unused hammer. I got my these are brand new. I got my Duluth trading tool belt. Oh my god. Take a look at my belt. The belt is clean y'all. It's untouched. Don't mess with it. It doesn't have any demolition dust on it. You know, but did you were you not wearing that belt during demolition? That's why it's so clean. It's it's it's clean because it's it's relatively new. It's unused people. It's relatively new people because he doesn't use it. I you know, I found myself having to hop on a quick video meeting for the podcast in between all your dirt work. Yeah. And I still want to look put together. So that's why I wear my Duluth shirt. Check this one out. This is a nice shirt. And you can wear this when you're doing your renovation work. So this is for your host renovation work because this is clean too. This is new. I have to say this is new. I haven't worn this while I was doing my renovations. Yeah. But you could you could you could have that have that dust it off. And then you'd undust it and you'd look like you were ready for me. I would I would I mean, I would wear this. No, it's good. That's a good one. And it's sort of swaying like it feels like you shouldn't get this dirty. I know, but it's very rugged and can handle it. But all kidding aside, Mish, that's the beauty of the Duluth trading company. I might not be putting in a full day dealing with heavy machinery like dad used to. You certainly are not. But I still want clothes that give me comfort no matter what my day throws at me. What I love the most about Duluth is how much they've put into the tiniest details in their gear. Everything has extra pockets or is moisture wicking or layers really well to regulate your temperature. There's a reason I'm always reaching for their stuff in my closet. They're here for people who work their butts off. Unlike my brother. Just like they do. Duluth trading company shop online or visit one of their 60 plus stores nationwide today. Do you approach spirituality differently with your daughter? Or how do you and your your wife approach? I think in some way forgive the word. But I do think that it is our responsibility. If you feel that you have discovered a truth in the same way that my mother has felt that way, that I think on some level is your job to sort of indoctrinate your children in that same thing. To give them a foundation. With the opening of the reality is though this has to be your choice at a certain point. This is what I know and believe to be true. But at some point you're going to have to make this your own. So I'm doing that with being fully aware of the reality that she may or may not grow up to agree with how I see the world. But that can't be the difference between us being close and not being close. You're modeling a way to be on this journey. Yeah. And at the end of the day I just hope I hope the creator is happy with her and the choices that she makes. Are you close with your mom today? We're much closer now and I'm so grateful for it. We had our moments where because of many of those things and me needing to make my life my own, I think that there was definitely a break there. But I think over time we just have come together closer and closer and closer and I couldn't be more grateful for that. I can get emotional about it because I could just feel she's like a magnet. Can you tell us about your father? Yeah, my father, so my parents were together for three years. Okay. And they met at church and in high school. My father, they couldn't be more different especially as they like the age. My father was in musical theater. And so he ended up getting into New York because he won this National Dance Contest on Soul Train in 1970 October. We were watching. Yeah, I don't know. I might have been outside, but she was watching for sure. So I think it was October 1976. I have his letter from Johnson and Johnson. And so he passed when I was 20 before I really started acting. And at this point in time, sorry to cut you off, but at this point in time, at all, were you thinking about acting or performing or well, I did a play my sophomore year in that first semester. And I told my dad about it. And I was really excited. And I remember him telling all his friends, he got the book. He got the acting book. And that sort of aligned with at that time, I was writing a lot of poetry. And I was I was dealing with insomnia and some stuff. So I'd stay up with the late writing poems. Sort of like that just it felt like the thing to do. And it just it just gave me so much joy that that self-expression like that. And finding the words for what I was experiencing and feeling at that time. And those funny enough were like my first monologues. And I didn't know that at the time. But they ended up I even auditioned for grad school with my poems. And so so my father when I would write at the end of his life when I go visit him, he would have me like perform my poetry for his handful of friends that were coming by visiting. And so as he passed away, it was like that's when I shortly thereafter found myself doing theater not too long after taking an acting class. And then my senior year I did a play called Spunk. That was that was originally done by George C. Wolfe from Broadway. But now we're doing it on our campus. And the first black play that ever done at St. Mary's College and people freaked out. It was like a moment. But we toured down. That play was a huge success. And from that play I got to do California Shakespeare Festival immediately upon graduating. And that's when I ended up grad auditioning for grad school and got in NYU. So it kind of unfolded in a really sort of serendipitous way. Like it just kind of happened. And I think you know I learned a lot. My father did Dreamgirls for instance. And traveled for years. He was with Alvin Ailey. I think he studied at Alvin Ailey for a while. He studied at Dance Theater of Harlem. He did a handful of musicals. Five guys name Mo. I remember like I'm the bus American Dance Machine. Like there's plays and parts I remember from like a young kid. But so I always known him to be working or working on working. And I saw really sort of almost blue collar approach to like people think it's very like glamorous. And when you start going it's very easy. But I always saw my father hustling and doing workshops and picking up extra work and then being in swing and like backing up people in big shows and then having his moment as James Thunder early traveling you know the states in the national tour of Dreamgirls or whatnot. But I always saw him working to really put put put it together. And looking for this like larger moment. And so I had such a respect growing up for that grind that I saw him sort of on. At any point like most basketball players were you thinking about well when I get done with this I'm gonna go overseas and play and or you never thought about that because you had already tasted a little bit of this and thought okay this is the path I want to say. I'm really honest with you. I think I was a I think I was an athlete who had an artist's heart. And so while I was and I think I sort of I played off four years I was on scholarship off four years. But I think part of me gave up early. I didn't feel like I was in a situation where I was necessarily being coached up. And how I am I sort of saw behind the curtain. And I think I got disheartened by the business of college sports. I kind of started seeing the stepping stone element of it that if this coach does well here they're really just trying to take off and go to another school, which is not anyone's fault, cool, but I think if you didn't kind of come ready made, it was, you could kind of get shuffled off in the corner and other kids would be invested in that felt like they were coming ready to play. I'm not saying that was the case for every coach. - Yeah, yeah, no. - But that's fair, that's fair. - I felt like what I was seeing and sort of experiencing and some of the other guys were sort of experiencing that, like, oh, you're not what I thought you were, put you over here, let's get this, let's replace you. - Okay. - And so I was like, oh, no, I'm gonna invest in this thing that's given back to me. This got me where I wanted to go. I'm in college, I gotta show up, I gotta do my job. But the reality is this is gonna be it for me. And so the thing that gave me so much joy, though, were things in the creative space. It was like I was discovering the arts, you know, from, from, it was that poetry slam movement and movement and like an era, you know, where I was seeing these extraordinary poets like Saul Williams and, you know, that were just on television, on deaf jam poetry or whatever who was starting to like do extraordinary things and had really profound thoughts and a view on the world, you know. - Yeah. - And so that type of path, like something in the arts I was doing music a lot then, I was writing rhymes, I was, I was just trying to do, I was just being creative. And so even if it meant I ended up at an advertising firm or in a creative writing program at Berkeley after St. Mary's, like, I was gonna go in a more creative space. And then I was, I did think about law school, though, because of the formative nature and there's something in advocating, you know, and there's something in seeing another side, seeing a point of view and being an advocate for somebody, right? So that's, that I was beginning to like get into that space. And so I could see the finite nature of sports, like it was clear as day to me. And that scared me in a really healthy way, I think. And so I started like really urgently looking for other ways to find fulfillment and therefore working and beginning to sort of draft the future for myself. And so I'm really grateful for that incubator - Yeah, for sure. - Of college. And all the realities around someone, something looking a certain way and learning that like, oh, this is not what it is. Like that's the world. So best education, you can actually get. It breaks people unfortunately. - Yeah, a lot of times it does. - You know, it can break people unfortunately. But if you can survive it and navigate it and be okay come and out of it, it can kind of give you sort of the necessary calluses to be able to handle the weight of the world moving forward. And so I don't think I wouldn't really change anything about that experience, you know, I'm very grateful of getting that really honest. - Yeah. - Reality checks. - This episode is brought to you by Delooth Trading Company. I've realized there are two kinds of clothes in my closet. There are the ones that feel good until you actually have to do something with your hands and the clothes you end up reaching for over and over because they can handle whatever the day throws at you. Delooth Trading Company makes gear that's built to last. Whether it's their durable work pants, moisture wicking shirts, comfortable everyday layers or even their famous underwear. Every detail is thoughtfully engineered for the way people actually work and live because you work your butt off. You deserve a brand that does the same. I'm wearing one of their shirts right now. I always reach for it when I've got to get some yard work done, but I still might need to pop inside every now and again to do some recording like today. They're here for the people who work their butts off just like they do. Delooth Trading Company shop online or visit one of their 60 plus stores nationwide today. This episode is brought to you by progressive insurance who is committed to helping people move forward and live fully. Back when I was a first time home buyer, everybody had advice. Your parents have advice. Your cousin who's never bought a home has advice, but you still might not even know where to begin. Well, progressive is here to help through its Open the House initiative. Since 2024, progressive has committed more than $16 million towards making the dream of home ownership more achievable. It's a long-term commitment to helping more people move from renting to owning by offering practical resources, educational guidance, support through trusted community organizations, and even financial assistance. Instead of treating aspiring home buyers like just another number, progressive is investing in resources that meet people where they are. They understand that buying your first home is one of life's biggest milestones and they're committed to supporting you through it with the care it deserves. Learn more about progressive's commitment to first time home buyers at progressive.com/OpenTheHouse where you can learn more about common housing challenges and access helpful tools and resources. - This episode of IMO is brought to you by our sponsor, Midi Health. I remember it was first term in the White House and they just would come on. And I talked to my doctor about it. It's like, well, you're in, that's what's going on. I wasn't sure, you know, I didn't feel like I needed to start taking hormones. I wanted to feel it out and see what it felt like. But these hot flashes were happening every 15 minutes. And it's this rush of a feeling. I mean, the minute I started replacing hormones, it was like back to my old self. And, you know, you think it's magic, but you're losing hormones and you need them replaced. But there was so much confusion around the pros and cons of hormone replacement therapy. - The important therapy is safe for most women, actually. But I want to be clear, the hormone therapy is not for all women. It's also not the only answer. Like, menopause care is a much bigger thing. It's about supporting women in a multitude of ways. And that's really why I helped found Midi and why we treat all these women at Midi Health. - Midi Health is a telehealth clinic made for women. And we really were founded to really meet a huge care gap for women in impairment and paus and menopause, which means we can help guide women through the hormone conversation. So you can go to our website, which is joinmitty.com. That's joinmide.com. And really, the website helps you navigate. You can book an appointment right there. Do you start your journey there? (upbeat music) - What was the apprenticeship like at the Shakespeare Theater? My former professor and teacher who had directed me and Spunk came to me and said, "Hey, some people saw you from the California Shakespeare Festival." And they want you to come go on our edition. I was like, "I don't know pieces of our edition." - Was it Shakespeare? - Yeah, was it all Shakespeare? - Oh, Shakespeare. - It was all of it? - Yeah, it was Shakespeare. So I remember doing two poems that I had written. And I remember the program was $2,000. And they gave me a scholarship, so I got to go for free. And they gave me a part on the main stage in Henry V. So I got to play a character by the name of Montjoy. And I didn't know what I was doing. 'Cause again, I've been acting all the five minutes. - Great. - But they gave me a lot of love. And I got to be with the sort of in the apprentice group in the day, but then I got to be on the main stage with the professional actors at night. I remember a gentleman by the name. I think his name was Martin Kildare, who had gone to NYU. And between him and a really important professor I had from undergrad by the name of Victoria Trusto, I'd gotten a card from her that told me that I needed to go to grad school for act that she'd saw me in Spongebob. And she said, you need to seek essentially higher education in this. I was like, huh. And so I have that card literally with me to hear. 'Cause it's in my, I have my scripts for this show that I'm working on right now. But so that card is 30 years old. So between Victoria's card and again, I believe the name was Martin Kildare. Martin telling me like, yo, you need to go to grad school. I was like, okay, I did cow shakes through that summer. They'd offer me a part for the next season in the day. professional company. So I was getting a lot of really positive signs for again I'm just coming out of playing basketball so this is new information to me and so I'm getting I'm getting my life signs. Yeah, but my experience there gave me a lot of hope and a lot of confidence and it just it was like a lot like I said life signs and sort of telling me like you're in the right space. How did you feel doing Shakespeare? I mean how did you learn that what and what did you learn from that different from the what you even learned at Tish or what you learned uh you know in college. I had a teacher in high school by the name of Sherry Louise and that was my senior year. I never forget this and we had it was a Shakespeare class actually. This was high school. This is high school okay and we started like so there's this like sort of general belief around Shakespeare that it's all this yeah you know really elevated language and it's very hard to understand and part of her class was just like breaking down what it all meant. Right this is those language they're speaking yeah and that class is even what really got me into writing my own poetry but I'll never forget I've never actually really talked about this but that class excited me so much that impacted how I got I got straight A's that semester and a D and the reason I got the D was there was some like overview of history or something like that we had the part of it was like the states we had to go through all the states and I was so excited I was doing so well that semester I swear to God I was before the class I was in class early and I'm so excited and I'll get back to the poetry thing but I was so excited I'd written down all the states on the desk because I'd have my whole system okay like because it was just a large general exam or something and then next to you know she's passing the test out and I see her get to my island I realize what that look like oh yeah I was like oh god and I started racing them and she sees me and she flumped me for that final and I wasn't cheating but she thought I was cheating so but my larger point was that I was so excited you were you were on top of everything like something opened up in my mind from and really inspired me from taking the Shakespeare class that it ended up impacting all my other classes and then what I was doing to sort of deal with my own stuff was I started writing yeah well it's like with dancers when they learn when they learned the movement the movement it's no longer routine right it they they embody it yes you know you you forget about the steps it's just be it becomes part of your muscle memory exactly in Shakespeare it sounds like that's it absolutely but there's something about you know you as an athlete yeah you know you as a as the son of an entertainer yeah even your your mother as an ordained Baptist minister yeah you know there is performance and movement and all of that you know yes to to give a sermon right and growing up seeing that yes you know I think I'm glad you said that like I hadn't really put that together but there is something to to being in the audience and your attention being on someone who is telling a story yeah like every week over and over again and to the point where you walk in there with an expectation of being told a story that day and going how was it today how did that impact me today did that message resonate with me today what did he or she do to like arc that out and get to this climactic point where people are like stomping and like out of their seats and maybe crying or whatever that might be that there's there is a tie there between Shakespeare and the pulpit you know and that I definitely grew up experiencing that so it felt I felt like I was at home you know I really did I felt like I was at home in a way that you were ironically built for it you know in a different way yeah yeah yeah yeah and and you were converting at this time so I did I converted once I got to was in my third year grad school was at the end of the first semester and I had just gotten to the point where I was just asking myself a lot of tough questions and I was really trying to investigate why I believed what I believed what was causing it was there something grad school grad school especially an acting program yeah they like they their job they feel is to break you down and like make you start over yeah because they're looking for anything that is getting in your way or all these preconceived beliefs and notions about yourself and who you think you are and you could just you can see it you can see it in other people you know the things that are blocking them and so they are like poking and prodding to to help you build yourself back up and to give you your own language to help you learn how you learn and I think in that process I just started asking myself you know why I believed what I believed and I began to go on my own sort of exploration as to what I'm supposed to be doing and how I'm supposed to be moving in the world and relating to what I see and what I don't see and you know that led me to a mosque in Philadelphia and then I was in one in New York and in both experiences I was I go to make prayer and I'm just in the road with everybody else and they start praying I just start crying I'm like I said weird why am I crying like I because I didn't I wasn't sad or really I was actually extraordinarily happy yeah yeah yeah yeah I felt like I was in my purpose in terms of I felt good and in terms of how I was beginning to define myself and my relationship to how I was feeling and what I was beginning to call my work and everything so I was like why this is weird in the next week I woke up just happened to be December 31st 1999 and I was like I woke up I was like I gotta go to the mosque and it was a Friday and I was back in Brooklyn um so I go to the corner store I know those dudes were Muslim and I go I was like hey peace brother peace peace hey I go I'm gonna go to the mosque where's the mosque he looked at me crazy he's like the mosque and I was like yeah he goes Omar is going there's a brother right behind him like you know the New York Bodega there's always like some random dude they read the newspaper or something and he goes Omar is going but I knew it was like close to time so anyway I went back I knew you had to be clean I didn't know how to make what's called Wooloo or your evolution at that time but I just knew you had to be clean so I went showered and um I was like I'll be right back and I brought my roommates car who was at a time at that time and I drove it Omar to the mosque and um off of Atlantic Avenue and we going there and it's packed to the nines because it's holidays everybody's out of school and what not it is packed and I ended up in the back somewhere near the radiator or something and I'm just like squished and they start the prayer again and suddenly immediately I'm like just crying I'm like dang what is going on and I was just thinking I didn't know enough about the faith at that time I knew some real basics um but I remember thinking about how I grew up and they would open the doors to the church and I was like I don't think they do that in Islam and they don't and I remember making a prayer I finished and this guy was probably around my age he turns to me and I'm separated from Omar was so packed we couldn't even stand together like I don't know where Omar is and this brother turns to me and he goes are you Muslim I said no he goes do you want to be and I was like yeah a long story short he stops me he goes up to the mom and he whispers something in his ear and everyone just stops and you know brings me up and um you know ask me was is that true that I was like yeah and he you know all praise to the God and God is the greatest and like you know there's people like you know kind of celebrating the moment and then I took what's called my shahada just my declaration of faith and he's like you Muslim now that's when the work starts but back up and then Omar he was just crying his eyes out he was like oh yes so many chances yes so many chances and so yeah so now I'm here playing a Muslim in a movie What do you think people, we're talking about your mother, your mother, your mother, which Craig and I. We'd started talking about it at the top of the podcast, how it impacted us. Beautiful story. The young actress who plays your daughter, Adia from DC. Talk a bit about it, describe what the movie is. The film is bear with me, but it's about a man who, recently would owed, who is on the urgent search for breast milk for his daughter. And while he's on the search for his breast milk for his daughter, he is being hunted. And my character happens to be a hitman. And so the way that the film moves, the way that he's trying to protect his children, his three children, because he has two, he has a teenage daughter, a young son around 10 or 11 and an infant. But he's trying to protect his children and get his infant daughter what she needs. While he's also essentially under duress and under attack throughout the film and trying to sort of get them all to a place of safety. Yeah, there is nothing like it because the depth of story, the complexity of the situation, you know, the questioning of religion and faith. Of his own faith. Period. Yes. Right. Yes. Is deeper than just an action movie, you know, not as you was no diss to action movies, but, you know, there is depth and story here. I started watching it and I was not prepared for how much. Yeah. How complex it was. I was not ready for that. Or the But will beret. Right. The But will beret was excellent. See, we're just the opposite. I usually do not like But will beret. Yes. I do not like seeing people get hit in the face. Yes. You know, I just don't enjoy it when Craig was like, you're not going to like this, but you win. I told her, you're not going to like it, but you're going to like it. And he was absolutely correct. Is there, is there a reason you chose to do this particular film? I think the breadth of that character and what he is asked to do with that family experiences. I think the heart and point of that story. And to go back to the action element, I've been like really, really, really deeply wanting to do. Some, but I've got to be in a few films that had like the action element to it. Yeah. If we put Jurassic aside, because I almost don't count that it's more of an adventure story. Well, and you would like some old man in that that is not you. It's not like you look like somebody's uncle. There you go. But like with that aside, I'm not, I didn't get to everything I've been in that's had the action element to it. My characters honestly have died before the action started. Or the action. Yeah. Right. Right. Now I'm mocking Jason. Yeah. Or like, you know, one of the old joke. The first black person dies. The black guy that I'm going to read it is almost so. You know, I hadn't got to do it. Yeah. And so being. I guess a former athlete. Yeah. There is this element where I almost assumed at some point that it just that's going to happen. Yeah. That would be part of my journey. Yeah. Yeah. I felt I would probably have to fight against that. Yes. You know, because quickly once you do something in the business. And so often it can be like that what you do. Yeah. Yeah. But I almost assumed that that would naturally be something that I would end up probably doing. And I just have never done it. You know, I have to. I have to ask you about the toughness of black actors finding things like. Your mother, your mother, your mother, that are that this was written for you. Yeah. Aside from this. But how hard is it for you to find stuff to do. Prior to you, hitting it big and now that you've sort of won a couple of Academy Awards. Wow. My sister hates when I ask those pre-subquestions. No, that's a good question. I think it would almost be like. It's very challenging finding being a coach. Finding the systems that support your talent. It's a difficult balance to strike because I also have a family. You know, and I also have a child and I have. Got to eat. Responsibility as you know. And so. Yeah. So I think it's. We're not. We're not the first who they think of. It's just not. We're not centered in the business in that way. I mean, ask an actor like by all the Davis. Come on. There's not a lot of people better than her. You know. And it's taking her a very long time to get certain opportunities. And I still don't know if she gets the opportunities that she's really worthy of. But she. She had to dunk on you from the free throw line in eight minutes and doubt. Yeah. Like a shot. You know, like. You got to turn always so you got to turn water in the wine. And they don't usually give you a vineyard as a result of turning water in the wine. They just give you another glass of water. And so. That's a bar. Yeah. And so I. I'm grateful for knowing what it is though. Yeah. I know what it is now. And I just. I just do the best I can to be patient. One place I would go back to tomorrow is Paris. I loved how you could spend the morning walking around these quiet little side streets. Have an incredible savory crepe for lunch. And then suddenly you're in the middle of this huge bright bustling city at night. And being a big food person when I travel, I want to try whatever that city does best. Find that out of the way neighborhood spot. Maybe order something I've never had before. Paris is the ideal place for that. I could spend a month there and still feel like I barely scratched the surface. Trips like that always make me think about how much of the world I still want to see. Of course, the only problem with having a long travel wish list is eventually somebody has to pay for it. Which got me thinking if you're heading out on your own adventure or a big concert game or festival is bringing travelers to your town, you can list your space on Airbnb while you're away. Instead of letting your place sit empty, you could put it to work, earn some extra income and give someone a home base to explore your city. They can discover the neighborhoods, local spots and experiences that make your community special while you put that extra income toward your next adventure. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb dot com slash host. You know what gets me this time of year? The mornings feels like just last month I was getting up with the sun. Now it's still dark when my alarm goes off. The whole rhythm of my day shifts. One thing I keep consistent through it all is a G one. When your body is adjusting to a seasonal shift like this, you don't want a nutrient gap on top of it. A G one next gen has 75 plus ingredients, vitamins, minerals, pre and probiotics and super foods. And they're backed by four clinical trials that show key nutrient levels improve within three months of sticking with it. This time of year, I want that immune support in my corner. So every morning I have my A G one one scoop cold water and I'm on my way. Even with the sun coming up later, I'm not dragging by the time I'm out the door. Go to drink AG one dot com slash IMO and for a limited time, get a free immune support bundle, including a bottle of omega three fish oil and a bottle of vitamin D three K two. With your first subscription order of AG one next gen or AG one pro that's drink AG one dot com slash IMO. I feel like every year I tell myself I'll get ahead of the holidays. I'm going to have the gifts figured out the decorations up everything handled nice and early and then somehow the holidays still sneak up on me. So this year I'm starting early and it's so so easy to do it with Amazon all year I've been making little notes for myself about what I think each of my friends and family might want. And that's trickier for some than others like I have maybe ten ideas written down for Kelly but only one or two for my sister. I think she'd like a kindle but I might want to do a bit more research before I lock it in meanwhile my kids are the easiest ones I just get them whatever video game accessory nonsense that they're dying for right now. And Amazon makes it simple to get a head start on gifting without spending a fortune even something small can bring joy the way I get excited to find a new ornament each year that represents something special from that year. You can find low prices across everything from fashion and fitness to toys electronics holiday decor groceries advent calendars you name it. Get a head start on holiday gifting with Amazon's low prices. Shop now at amazon.com/holiday. I love this time of year, but hosting during the holidays can be a bit of a challenge. So Kelli and I have collected a few hacks to make it a little bit easier. One of our favorite moves is an extendable dining room table. It's this great walnut color and it's mid-century modern, so it looks awesome in our space. It even has extra storage in the legs. When we don't need the middle panels, we just slide them out and our space is back to how it was before. For all things hosting, Wayfair delivers high quality, customer trusted products for your home so you can host and celebrate without distress. Use filters, customer photos, and more than 20 million verified 5 star reviews to confidently find the right fit for your home. When refreshing your home this holiday season, Wayfair delivers exactly what you need. Head to Wayfair.com to shop all things home. That's w-a-y-f-a-i-r.com. Wayfair every style, every home. What do you think the country, the world, understands about the Muslim religion? Because I think your mother, your mother, your mother also seeks to give people a broader understanding. The movie is a meshing, you know, it points to the commonalities of our faith. I think films like this help, but I just want to know your thoughts on helping people understand what they get wrong about the religion. Your mother, your mother, your mother is essentially, you could say like a Muslim gospel, a deep as saying of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him, where someone had come to him and asked them who we should hold dears to our heart, who should we love the most. And his response was your mother. And then the brother says, "Well, then who?" And he says again, your mother, he says, "Well, then who?" He says, "Your mother." He goes, "Oh, wow." He goes, "And then your father, the love and respect we are to have for women is paramah." So the point where it could be the difference between you going to heaven or not going to heaven, one of the other sayings in Islam is heaven is at the feet of your mother. So you've got to be good to your mother, you have to be good to women, you have to uphold and protect women. And people don't always uphold that, like that would be dishonest if I said that. But what the faith actually teaches, what the Holy Prophet actually teaches, peace be upon him, is the utmost respect for women. How is your partnership a part of your strength and your faith? How do you think about your partnership with the mother of your beautiful daughter? One of the first things that I just remember about her, like I just had a vibe and a sense and a feeling when I saw her, I just developed such a respect for how she moved through the world and what she was about as a person, human being, an artist, her tastes, her likes and dislikes, her boundaries, the things that she loved, the things that she was attracted to, there is all an education to me and I think she deepened me in a certain way, just being in proximity to somebody like that and exposed me to so much that I think allowed me to grow. Well we usually try to make IMO about helping people and this is probably a good time to go to the listener question because that also elicits some more conversations and insights. So if you're ready, we'll take the listener question now. How do I balance a creative life against all the demands of everyday reality? I recently graduated college and I'm struggling with the fact that it's hard for me to find the time for creative outlets in particular, but also just my social life and all the things that make me feel like me. I'm juggling two jobs and an internship and feel like there's no way for me to find time for more fulfilling things. How do you find fulfillment, especially artistically, but really in any way when it feels like you can hardly catch your breath from one day to the next? This is Riley, who's 21 in New Jersey. Thank you for the question, Riley. If I could speak to specifically to finding fulfillment creatively, I would encourage you to allow your relationship, at least for this period of time, to create creativity and maybe even to all things to change a bit, but let me speak specifically to creativity. That I think we all aspirationally are all aspire to be able to, in some ways, do exactly what we want when we want to do it. And I think the realities around life are that it rarely permits that in some way. So a different sort of discipline has to, a muscle has to develop where you have to look at your own life and look at the time allotted to you and the time that you can create for your creativity, speaking specifically to that, to have time to breathe. So say you want an hour, but you're only permitted 10 minutes. So if you were a screenwriter, let's say, and you know you need an hour or two a day to work on your writing. You don't have an hour or two a day, but I bet you got 10 minutes. And in that 10 minutes, you make it about writing a moment in a scene, opposed to finishing an entire scene that day. You might only have time to work a moment or to get another line out. And it becomes like putting pennies in the bank where you're just putting a little bit of time in and a little bit of time in and the most important thing is that you're consistent about that. And over time, over a month, you'll see that, wow, I've written 10 scenes in that 10 minutes a day that I gave myself to work on this script, to work on this story. I was able to write 10 scenes and you'll be able to read those 10 scenes. And then if you keep going, you'll have 20 scenes at a certain point. And if you keep going eventually within a year, you've written a full script by only having 10 minutes a day. And what I would say to Riley is, if you're a creative, be a creative, you're young. You don't have, you don't have to be a pharmaceutical salesperson. You don't have to be any, you have time to do what you want to do now before you have all these responsibilities. We used to call it my friends and I used to call it being on the treadmill. You get on that treadmill. It's hard to get off. Use this time now and spend all your time on being creative. And get your internship somewhere else so you can do this full time. And in five years, you'll be working somewhere in the industry. So hopefully, hopefully that helps Riley. But I can't tell you how much we appreciate you being here. Thank you for having me, great getting to speak with you. No, this is so, so, so good. Big fans and big fans of you as a human being, you know, making me cry. People got to go see your mother, your mother, your mother though. Oh, they, they will. Yeah, absolutely. We agree. It's a joy to work on that. We're amazing. Congratulations. Thank you so much. And on all the things. Let's love, man. Thank you. Thank you for being here, baby. Thank you. [MUSIC PLAYING] This episode is brought to you by Cologuard. I knew that I shouldn't delay screening for colon cancer. And Cologuard has made that process one million times easier for all of us. I just answered a few questions about my age and medical history. And once their license clinician determined I was eligible, they issued the prescription and the Cologuard plus kit was sent right to my home. No doctor's office visit necessary. For me, there was just immediate relief in getting it done. [BLANK_AUDIO] It cost me $0 with my insurance. It took me truly 15 minutes, and now I can rest easier knowing I screen properly. Plus, if you get a negative result, you generally don't need a repeat colicard test for three years. If you're 45 or older and at average risk, it's time to screen for colon cancer. Even if you feel perfectly healthy and colicard plus gives you an option, you can use right at home. If you're a healthcare provider about screening for colon cancer with colicard or request it online today at colicard.com where they have an easy telehealth option, don't wait. Colicard products are intended to screen adults 45 and older at average risk for colorectal cancer. Do not use if you have had a personal history of colorectal cancer or polyps have inflammatory bowel disease, a family history of colorectal cancer, or certain hereditary syndromes, or a positive result from another colon cancer screening method within that test recommended screening interval. colorectal cancer results should be interpreted with caution as false positives and false negatives do occur, available by prescription only.