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With STXfilms releasing writer-director Robin Bissell’s true story drama, The Best of Enemies, this weekend in theaters, I recently sat down with Taraji P. Henson & Sam Rockwell to talk about the film. During the interview, they talked about balancing fact and fiction when making a movie based on true-life events, why Henson was willing to surrender her vanity for the role, if they like the pressure of having limited time to make a movie, if they get nervous working with a first time filmmaker, how Rockwell likes to listen to people to learn accents, and more.

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If you haven’t seen the trailer, The Best of Enemies centers on the unlikely relationship between Ann Atwater (Henson), an outspoken civil rights activist, and C.P. Ellis (Rockwell), a local Ku Klux Klan leader who reluctantly co-chaired a community summit, battling over the desegregation of schools in Durham, North Carolina during the racially-charged summer of 1971. The film also stars Babou Ceesay, Anne Heche, Wes Bentley, Nick Searcy, John Gallagher Jr., and Bruce McGill.

Check out what they had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.

Taraji P. Henson & Sam Rockwell:

  • How Sam Rockwell likes to listen to people to learn accents.
  • Henson talks about transforming the way she looks in the film and her costume.
  • Henson talks about surrendering her vanity for the role.
  • Balancing fact and fiction when making a movie based on true life events.
  • Do they like the pressure of having limited time to make the movie?
  • Do they get nervous working with a first time filmmaker?
the-best-of-enemies-sam-rockwell
Image via STXfilms
the-best-of-enemies-taraji-p-henson
Image via STXfilms
the-best-of-enemies-taraji-p-henson-sam-rockwell
Image via STXfilms
the-best-of-enemies-taraji-p-henson-sam-rockwell
Image via STXfilms