The second I saw the trailer for The Blackening a few months ago, I pitched Carla (the site editor at 1428 Elm) to write about it. A funny slasher? Yes, please! It had me LOLing —and hopeful the movie would be as good (or better) than its trailer.
I also mental-noted myself to watch for Gofobo advanced screening emails like a hawk come late May/early June. Sometimes I luck out and snag screening tickets that way. The Blackening was one I really wanted to get those tickets for.
Well, as fate would have it, the PR reps for the movie contacted 1428 Elm about doing an interview with the cast. Carla posted on Slack asking if anyone wanted to take it. I jumped at it. They even hooked me up with an even more advanced screening. (I went a couple of weeks ago. I just got the Gofgobo advanced screening email a few days ago.)
Anyway, my review will post on 1428 Elm on or around June 14, so I won’t say much here about the movie itself. Besides the fact I really enjoyed it. (And, no, it didn’t show all the funniest parts!)
Then last week came time for the interview…but something terrible happened. I freaked!
What happened?
As I explained in the interview post, I had an anxiety attack. I’m always a bit nervous before interviews, but it’s always been manageable. This time felt different. I could not calm myself down.
I knew I would be on with at least one other interviewer, but I wasn’t sure how many. It turned out to be only one, Matt from Halloween Daily News.
However, there were also eight people from The Blackening present: Tim Story (the director), Tracy Oliver (one of the writers), and six cast members, including Dewayne Perkins (who co-wrote the script with Oliver), X Mayo, Jermaine Fowler, Sinqua Walls, Antoinette Robertson, and Melvin Gregg.
As I said in my 1428 Elm write-up, “I’d never been on a call with that many beautiful, talented, funny people before. I really enjoyed The Blackening, and once I found myself in a virtual Zoom room with the cast, director and writers, I was helplessly starstruck.”
Like I always do, I had more questions than I needed. I bolded the ones I thought were best. However, I didn’t prioritize them. I figured I’d be able to pick when it was “go time,” which I wasn’t able to do.
I didn’t count on being paralyzed by fangirling. Nor did I account for the fact I’m hopelessly indecisive. Interacting with that many people at once was overwhelming and only flustered me more.
So I hemmed and hawed before I could spit out the first question, which was not any of the “good ones” I’d bolded. (I edited out the “ums” and pauses in what I posted on YouTube.)
It was not my finest interview. I was bummed about it all last weekend.
Lesson Learned
After (mostly) recovering from my mortification, it was time to view it as a learning experience.
What would I do differently next time?
For starters, I’d make sure to have my bolded questions prioritized in the order I wanted to ask them. Which, to be fair to myself, I usually do, and even did to some extent this time. The trouble was, I had broken it up into three sections: the director, the writers, and the cast. I couldn’t decide which section to pull from first. Next time I’d just make one list.
Also, I have to remind myself (which I didn’t during my anxiety attack): actors are just people too. Sure, they’re extremely good-looking, and in the case of Team The Blackening, they’re extraordinarily funny. (Which, thanks to this experience, I realized I’m even more intimidated by a sharp wit than good looks.)
Anyway, lesson learned.
The Questions I Wished I’d Asked
I wish I’d asked almost any of the following rather than what I did. Which, luckily, still produced fun answers, but if there’d been more time, and I’d been better organized, the following are ones I really wish I’d asked.
To Tim Story
You’ve directed a lot of comedies, but what was it like directing one with the horror/suspense aspect thrown in?
Where was it filmed? How much was filmed in an actual house somewhere vs. a soundstage?
To Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins
(To Tracy specifically): I understand The Blackening is based on a skit Dewayne came up with that first aired on Comedy Central in 2018. Did you see it at that time and think, “I want to be involved in turning that into a movie?”
(To Dewayne specifically): Your skit inspired the movie but what exactly inspired the skit? Was it a certain horror movie? The politics at the time? Other?
(To both): What was up with the mind-talk in the movie? Where did that come from?
To the Cast in General
Did you ever think there’d be a horror comedy set during Juneteenth or that you’d be in such a movie?
To All (except Dewayne Perkins, since it was his skit)
Did any of you see the sketch that inspired this movie when it first came out?
To Whoever Wanted to Answer
Was the right person picked first?! Without spoiling it, that is. (This would’ve just been me being cheeky. Those who see the movie will know what I mean.)
Have any of you ever tried to do the mind-talk like the characters do in the movie? Or maybe you actually can…?
The Blackening Interview