Charles Stone III talks CrazySexyCool: The TLC StoryBy Wilson Morales
October 23, 2013
This past Monday, VH1 scored its biggest ratings with the biopic on pop/hip hop/R&B group TLC, titled Crazy, Sexy, Cool: The TLC Story, featuring Keke Palmer as Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas, Drew Sidora as Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Lil’ Mama as the late Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes.
Executive produced by surviving members Chilli and T-Boz, and directed by Charles Stone III (Drumline, Paid in Full, Mr. 3000), the film explored the rise to fame and struggles the trio went through in the 90s.
The film hit a home run, attracting 4.5 million viewers and making it the highest-rated original cable movie of 2013 and VH1’s highest-rated original movie ever. According to SocialGuide, the TV movie was the most-tweeted program on TV Monday night, generating 1.92 million tweets with the hashtag #CrazySexyCool.
For Stone III, it represents another highlight in his background. Prior to his film debut with the blockbuster hit Drumline, which made a film star out of Nick Cannon, Stone III was a music video director for many artists such as The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, After 7 and Nenah Cherry. He was also the creator of the popular Budweiser ad campaign “Whassup?”
Blackfilm.com caught up with Stone III as he talked about his involvement with ‘CrazySexyCool’ and its ratings success.
How did you get attached with this project?
Charles Stone III: I was developing a couple of projects at the time and I was also doing some episodic work on television. After I did ‘Mr. 3000’ with Bernie Mac, I was doing TV work and directing episodes for ‘Friday Night Lights,’ ‘Lincoln Heights’ and others. I also did a pilot that didn’t get picked up, but still shot it. I was doing those sort of work and then Shelby Stone, who runs Queen Latifah’s production company and is also one of the executive producers on ‘Single Ladies’ had recommended me to direct this feature and I said yes. I remember TLC more from when I was directing music videos in the 90s. It was at the same time they were coming into play, from 1990 to at least 2002. I had directed videos from ’89 to ’96. Just from that era, I was fascinated by them and knowing their story, it was really attractive. Just like actors, I had to audition to get the gig. I met with them and it all worked out. We shot it last January and worked on it to the spring.
With Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas involved with the film, did it make less challenging to cover certain topics of their lives?
CS: I came on board once the script was greenlit, so there was no development of the script. We ended up adding stuff like the narration and voice-over, but there certain topics I had that weren’t in the script that had question marks such as T-Boz’s love life. We obviously focused on Chilli’s and dabbled with Lisa’s, but with T-Boz, when I came on board, it was quite light and vague. I spoke to Tionne about that and she gave us a little more to play with in terms of her relationship with Dalvin (Degrate from Jodeci); in particular with how they met and all that. She was very explicit about not talking about her daughter’s father, Mack 10. She didn’t want it in the film and that was fine with me. That subject and the death of Lisa was a landmine we couldn’t get into and nor did I they wanted to, as well as VH1 and Pop Films, in respect to the Lopes family.
We stayed clear of that. If you ever saw that documentary, ‘The Last Days of Left Eye,’ there was still some uncertainty to her death. It was also about her period in her life and what I tried to do was to be as lyrical as possible and really express that Lisa ended up passing away in a place where she found peace. We explored her journey to be heard, from her father to the other members of TLC, with her ideas and that was different from what TLC represented as a whole. It was her journey to be heard, but also to find peace. So, when you saw her in Honduras and having that peaceful moment and staring at the waterfalls, you could perceive it to be the doorway to the afterlife. That was the best way to represent her passing regardless of the details of the SUV flipping over and she being thrown from the car and being the only one who died. That was bizarre because the car was packed like a can of sardines, with her friends in the back seat. Those were the two subjects that were sensitive.
What about the portrayal of Perri “Pebbles” Reid? The responses on Twitter were not kind to her as the film played Monday night. Was there any thought to getting feedback from her so it didn’t appear to be a one-sided view from TLC?
CS: There are two things to that. From the point of view from T-Boz and Chilli, what they told was really just hitting the surface in terms of the stuff that was going on that people would consider to be really funky. What they tell me and what they have to the press is that everything that is expressed in the film is based in truth. They didn’t distort anything that makes her seem worse that she was. What’s in the film is the lighter version of what Pebbles apparently did or apparently said. Part of it is also, and we all agreed upon this to a certain extent; and it my goal to show the humanity in regards to Pebbles.
Regardless of the fact that she “gypped” them out of a lot of money, she even said that the contracts they signed are the contracts they signed. The highway robbery of what she did is sort of standard. It’s not like she went into their homes and stole their money. That’s why you’re supposed to have lawyers and all that. It’s their job to decipher the language that the other lawyers create in order to preserve their client’s best interest. It’s not like it wasn’t there or like they did something that was criminal. The contracts stipulated the things that people gasp at. In the film world, with studios, a first time director will get a three picture deal and that’s just to ensure that if the film blows up, they own you for two more films. If they don’t, they will lose out on the product, which is you. But if the film bombs, they wont lose anything. If it blows up, you’re locked in. If another studio comes in and wants to do a film with you, you are screwed because you have to talk to the studio that you have to do more two more films for. That’s all it is. I didn’t talk to the real Pebbles and agreed to film what was in the script based on my acceptance of what I was being told. Even recently on The Wendy Williams Show, T-Boz said she didn’t say anything that wasn’t true. They weren’t trying to bash her but that’s how things went and this is the lighter version of it. There are rumors that Pebbles wants to sue them and all that stuff, and they are like, “well, bring it on.” That’s the best I can give you for an answer.
In looking at the record breaking ratings, why do you think so many people watched it?
CS: As much as I would love to find a way to toot my own horn, I can’t because it’s TLC. If you look at their history, the vibration that resonated from their albums is tremendous. They stood for something. They stood for the point of view of young women. They weren’t a flash in the pan, even though they had done four albums, three of which did very well, and two of which has a five year gap in between. That’s incredible and it shows how much love and respect people had for the group. That’s the 4.5 million viewers, and also VH1 did a good marketing job. If the film isn’t good, people will tweet you out of the theater or off television. There is something to be said about what Pop Films created. It’s TLC and they are so beloved.
You had three fantastic leads in Keke Palmer, Drew Sidora, and Lil’ Mama, who was amazing in her role as Left Eye. We know what Keke can do and we haven’t seen enough of Drew, but Lil’ Mama had folks praising her performance. How was working the trio?
CS: First of all, I’m smitten beyond reason because there were a lot of folks who were hatin’ on Lil’ Mama. You make an error in judgment in something you do and people like to hold you to it. I didn’t know about the Jay-Z incident and her getting on stage and people were initially ridiculing her for playing Lisa, but she blew it out the park obviously. Early on during casting, she came in and did her thing. The producers knew right off the bat the she was going to play Left Eye and that was an easy call. T-Boz and Chilli also said that she was definitely channeling Lisa. Mama is not classically trained and didn’t go to school for acting, but for her to come in and give in this raw performance and do a stunning job. I told her that if she wants that career as an actor, it’s there for her. The world will be ready for her and I’m very excited about that. The other ladies were just as great. As you mentioned, we don’t see enough of Drew, and I’m hoping this will pave the way. Drew was consistent and T-Boz was pretty much the glue of the group. She was in the middle of what Chilli and Lisa were going through, and Drew was able to play T-Boz in a solid way, which was wonderful. Keke is great. She’s more seasoned than the other two ladies and it shows. In reality, she’s 19 years old, so her career is just beginning. She’s going to be great, and she was the last to come onboard.
While you have continued to work, you haven’t done a film since Mr. 3000? Any reason why?
CS: There were other films. What’s been wonderfully humbling about the business is that I’m doing projects where I’m using other peoples’ money to do projects. When you are doing so, you have to take into consideration their concerns to make a great movie but also make sure they will make their money back. With that being said, there were other film projects that I was on that I either stepped away from because I wasn’t getting along with production; meaning that the producers and I had different visions for the film. Years ago, I was attached to a film and sought out the star for the film, and while she loved the script, she told the studio she didn’t think I was right for the project. The studio was wanted to make the movie so I ended up stepping off. There are a variety of things that a director goes through when you’re trying to make something happen with other people’s money. It’s been humbling and blessing that I was able to do three movies in a row, and then there were about six to seven films that almost happened or I didn’t get as I auditioned for it as a director. While I was going that process in the film world, I wanted to do television. There’s a lot of great writing and production coming out from TV now. It’s not the major networks like ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC, putting out product, but HBO, FX, AMC and others are also in the mix. I’m still trying to develop movies and there’s a bunch of projects that’s looking good in terms of financing. One of them is a psychological thriller with Viola Davis and Jennifer Lopez. It’s like ‘Thelma and Louise meets ‘Fight Club.’ I’ll know in another week if it happens.
