Audiences may be surprised to see Bernie Mac take on a dramatic role in Pride, but it’s all part of the same craft to Mac. We may have just met him in the funny roles, but he’s been working a lot longer than that.
Mac Talks Pride
“Dramatic was easy,” said Mac. “A lot of people don't know I started dramatic. Comedy is something you all know I can do. I've introduced myself with comedy and once you've introduced yourself as something that's where people keep you. That’s where people like to hold you. But Miss Hunter in 4th grade started me in drama. That's where I first started doing plays. I took a page out of my Big Mama and my mother's notebook. ‘Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.’ So that works in my favor. When you all see me in that light or an individual in that light, I love to hear you all say, ‘Wow, I didn't know he could do that.’”
In Pride, Mac plays the founder and caretaker of a rec center about to be closed down when Jim Ellis starts the kids swimming in the pool. Based on the true story of Ellis, Mac’s character was a little less biographical.
Pride
Pride
“I came up in the community center. I used to be physical director of the South Central Community Center in Chicago on 83rd. It's still there. I grew up in the gym. I was a gym rat and I had Mr. Hill, Mr. Butler, Mr. Stevens those were the guys that were in my head besides my mother and my grandmother. Those were the individuals that were in my head pushing. They were my councilor, my guidance teachers, my lawyers. They defended me, they sat and talked to my parents and told them how and what I was doing, how I was improving. So having experience as a physical director dealing with the black kids, dealing with the single home mostly female parents, tying to get sponsors to help sponsor the kids, the kids don't like swimming, the black kids don't like swimming.”
There are still some good lines in the film, and that’s because Bernie Mac is always allowed to be himself. “I only ad lib when Sunu told me to Bernie Mac it. I'm very disciplined and I'm a fan of respect. Sunu, a first time director, I didn't want to go all off the page and everything. But when Sunu instructed me he said, ‘Bernie, I need something right there. Give me Bernie Mac.’ That’s when I did. We took a take the way Sunu wanted it and Sunu if he had a note for me I did it what Sunu's note described to me and then when Bernie Mac, I put the Mac Man on it.”
Pride opens to theatres on March 23, 2007.
For the trailer, posters and more movie info, go to the Pride Movie Page.
Stay tuned for updates.
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