Cinequest 2009
March 3 Screening: The Least Among You
Lou Gossett Jr. was on hand at the screening of the film, “The Least Among You” and to receive the Cinequest Maverick Spirit Award. I had but a few minutes with the multi-award winning actor. He very graciously consented to answer a few questions.
You’ve played a wide variety of characters – how do you choose different characters?
Well, there’s a new crop of people casting movies now, so they don’t really know me. They are rediscovering me now so we’ll see what they have top say…It’s nice to be fresh – a fresh face after 55 years, right?! But all the people calling the shots are brand new, they weren’t even born when I got there. It feels nice to be exposed to the new kids.
With three films in release and two in post production, how do you keep up with the pace?
Well, it looks like it was on purpose, but those films didn’t take long for me to do – I wish the big guys would call me. I’m doing films that I’m offered. What I do most of the time is work with my foundation, which is the ERACISM foundation. I travel with that. I will see Bishop Tutu tomorrow about coupling my foundation with his.
What was the inspiration for tonight’s screening of “The Least Among You?”
My association with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America was the inspiration for the movie (The Least Among You); It fits right into my life.
Going through the 50s and 60s – did you see racism then?
If you want to call it racism – it was abscentsia, “It” didn’t exist. You had to play the game, do the best you can. Now it’s a different story. And we have a lot of catching up to do. We’re going in that direction, but we really have to do it. I wish I had been able to play those parts when I was younger, but that’s okay.
Are there any parts you’d still like to play?
Jomo Kenyetta, Greatest cowboy in the west, Bass Reeves – he was more successful than Wyatt Earp. There are so many people…Frederick Douglas, there are so many to do….
Are there stories you’d like to tell?
There are a lot of stories, a lot of stories that our children need to know, how important they are, where they come from. They don’t realize where they come from. So they create a subculture – some of it good and some of it bad – but if they really knew. Which is what my foundation is about. Where they come from and how to behave, like we did in the old days. We could have some responsible Americans, which is what is needed. So there’s a lot of work to do, a good work, but a lot of work.