With director Jeymes Samuel’s The Harder They Fall now streaming on Netflix, I recently spoke to Zazie Beetz about making the revenge-soaked Western. During the interview, she talked about why she loved making her first western, what it was like having a director that would sing and play guitar between takes, how she researched the role, what it was like filming the 3rd act shootout, and more. In addition, she talked about filming Atlanta Season 3 in Europe, and how she’s currently shooting Season 4 in Atlanta right now.
If you haven’t seen the trailers, the all-Black Western follows outlaw Nat Love (Jonathan Majors), who rounds up his old gang to help him seek revenge when he discovers that the man (Idris Elba) who killed his parents two decades ago, is being released from prison. What’s cool and unique about the film is Samuel has gathered real people (like Rufus Buck, Cherokee Bill, Stagecoach Mary, and Jim Beckwourth) who lived in different times in the 19th century and brought them all together to tell his story. In addition, he got Shawn Carter, aka JAY-Z, and James Lassiter to produce the fantastic soundtrack. Trust me, you haven’t seen a Western like this before. The Harder They Fall also stars Delroy Lindo, LaKeith Stanfield, Damon Wayans Jr., and others.
Watch what Zazie Beetz had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.
Zazie Beetz
- Was she interested in westerns before being offered this role?
- How she watched a lot of westerns before filming.
- What she was surprised to learn when researching the role.
- What was it like being part of a big 3rd act shootout?
- Why she enjoyed shooting the movie.
- What was it like having a director who would sing and play guitar between takes?
- How Jeymes Samuel would keep everyone’s morale up.
- What can she say about Atlanta Season 3 and 4?
