Coming out this week in theaters from Vertical Entertainment is the upcoming remake of the 1990 classic Jacob’s Ladder that starred Tim Robbins.
Directed by David M. Rosenthal (The Perfect Guy) from a screenplay written by Jeff Buhler and Sarah Thorp, the new film stars Michael Ealy, Jesse Williams, Nicole Beharie, Karla Souza, Guy Burnet and Joseph Sikora.
Will Packer, through his Will Packer Productions company, produced the film alongside Michael Gaeta, Mickey Liddell, Jennifer Monroe and Alison Rosenzweig. Ealy serves as an executive producer.
After the death of his brother in Afghanistan, Jacob Singer (Ealy) is finally getting his life back together. He has a beautiful wife (Beharie), a new born child and a successful career as surgeon in a VA hospital. When a stranger approaches him and tells him that his brother (Williams) is actually alive and living in an underground shelter with other homeless vets, Jacob’s life starts to unravel. He begins hallucinating, believes he is being followed by violent attackers and becomes paranoid about the truth of what really happened to his brother. When he discovers that his brother is alive and addicted to an experimental drug, he uncovers a secret he never could have been prepared for.
For Ealy, who recently appeared opposite Meagan Good and Dennis Quaid in The Intruder, Jacob’s Ladder gives him another opportunity to not only deal with mental issues as he did with For Colored Girls over a decade ago but he also gets to work behind the camera as well as an executive producer. With a slew of upcoming projects including the ABC series Stumptown, and another thriller called Fatale, Blackfilm.com caught up with Ealy to discuss his experience on Jacob’s Ladder, from him discussing his character, the difference from the original film and working with the cast.
Is this a remake to the original film?
Michael Ealy: I think there’s some homage paid to the older film for sure. But I do feel like, our intent of making our version of it is something that we succeeded at or succeeded in doing rather.
What was the initial attracted to saying yes to this project?
Michael Ealy: For me, I had no recollection of the original. So it was more about the script. And for me, it was like, “Okay, well, this is a chance to play a character I’ve never played before.” I’ve never been in such as like trippy, mindfuck of a movie. So it felt risky and unstable. I think that made me more excited to get involved. And then obviously, after doing ‘For Colored Girls,’ I have a connection regarding war veterans and PTSD. I thought that this would be another opportunity to shed light on some of the traumas that our vets are experiencing and how tough it is to find help. Also the effects that war and PTSD has on family members. That’s commonly known clinically as secondary PTSD.
Having done ‘For Colored Girls’ and this movie, in between that time, did you go back to do research on know how to play your character and then embody personality?
Michael Ealy: Absolutely, absolutely. I had to refresh on the PTSD. The truth is that ‘For Colored Girls,’ there was more there that we did, but because the movie’s called For Colored Girls, and it’s about the women there was no space for me to expand as much as I probably would have liked to. This film gave me that chance. It was important for me to do that. I had to refresh my mind on this one.
Being that this is not the same Tim Robbins movie from the trailer that we’ve seen, what more can you say regarding your character?
Michael Ealy: I play Dr. Jacob Singer and he’s someone who believes in his heart and doing the right thing. He is convinced he’s doing the right thing. As his world begins to fall apart around him, he starts to see an internal struggle like like none other.
Can you talk about working with Nicole, Jesse, Joseph and the rest of the cast?
Michael Ealy: Joseph is unrecognizable. This is our second project together. It was actually our first. We did this before The Intruder. He was great. He was great. Karla Souza great. Nicole great Everybody was great to work with. I think as an EP on the project, it was nice to be able to say who we could get. Nicole Beharie was my first choice, for sure. I was really thrilled to have her come on board. She makes choices that a lot of actresses don’t make. I always find her work fascinating. It was an honor to have her on board. Jesse and I were friends for years before this happened. We talked about how this was meant to be. This had be in the works without us knowing. The idea that we would play brothers at some point in our careers. It would have happened at some point I think. I remember feeling that similar way when I did Takers with Chris Brown and saying we could be brothers.
It’s interesting that with the exception of you because you’ve done a lot of films, the rest of the core cast is mostly known for their work on TV. Joseph’s on Power, Nicole was on Sleepy Hollow, and Karla’s on How To Get Away With Murder.
Michael Ealy: I think those days are over. That observation is sound but the landscape has changed. Karla’s been doing movies. Jesse’s been doing movies, Nicole’s been doing movies. The first time I saw Nicole’s work was in Shame, and I was like, “Oh, my God!” So, you know? Perhaps people’s bread and butter has been TV for the most part, but most of the cast has been in films. I feel like right now, a lot of film actors are going to television whether streaming, HBO or whatever network, they’re all going to TV because that’s where a lot of good writing is right now.
You mentioned you were an EP on the film and that gives you a little bit more responsibility, as far as having a say. Is that the direction you want to go to? You’ve been doing for a long time, so do you feel you want to control the narrative of your work on screen?
Michael Ealy: Well, let me be clear. I’m at the beginning stages of being an executive producer. There will come a time when I will have complete control, as far as the narrative of the film. I have a say is what I would say right now. The goal is to get to that point where you could actually control it. That’s what I respect about others who find their financing and go do it themselves.
It’s a good way to start, obviously, from the beginning and see how things are working out. And to the point where you can say, “Ok, now I’m the producer.”
Michael Ealy: Yeah, and honestly, after doing The Perfect Guy. I think for me, it was an eye opening experience, because instantly, I felt a deeper connection to the project as a whole, right? So oftentimes, as an actor, you get hired, come on set, you do your job, you leave and then you show up to do promo. You’re not living with the film in prep. You’re not living with the film in post. You’re missing out on a lot of things that really helped shape so that you’re doing so, with these two projects, Jacob’s Ladder and The Perfect Guy, it was more like it was a lesson learned and being involved from the beginning all the way to the end.
What’s the sell in seeing this film, if one hasn’t seen the original?
Michael Ealy: I think that’s another reason why it was important to take a shot at this particular movie. It was a cult classic in the 90s. It wasn’t a box office hit, but it was a cult classic in the 90s. I think the movie is important. I thought the movie was important enough back then, to be remade now for a different generation. One of the things that I’ve learned is that PTSD has been with us for centuries. In a lot of the Greek tragedies, PTSD was known as the magnet, and you can see it when you read a lot of the Greek tragedies. So he went mad; but the reality is because we’re still at war, it’s still a timely issue. I would say that you want to see Jacob’s Ladder because if you want to take a good mind trip, this is the movie for that. This is not a shiny thriller. This is a gritty, gut wrenching thriller. We tried to make it as tricky as the original. And I feel like we got there.
With so many projects you have on board, how do you balance doing TV and films?
Michael Ealy: You do one at a time. It’s just a simple matter of scheduling. You finish a movie, and then you set up a TV show or vice-versa. It’s often just about scheduling. I remember when I did The Perfect Guy and then before it came out, I think I went and did The Following on TV. And all I could think of was are these characters similar? On the surface, I can see how you would go there but they’re so different. Creatively they were so different. One is a sociopath. One is a serial killer. And there’s a huge difference. They both can be scary, terrifying, but they have different agendas, and different needs. I think Theo in The Following he had a lust for killing people. That’s something that Carter in The Perfect Guy did not have. He had a lust for just controlling people in deceiving them.
What can you say about Stumptown?
Michael Ealy: It’s witty and gritty. It’s kind of funny, but at the same time it’s got a lot of heart and we’re delving into this world of not necessarily stereotypes of Portland but really what it’s like to to live in Portland and what it’s like to handle crime in Portland. I think there’s a lot of stereotypes about Portland but once you spent time there you realize this is the city like none other. And because it’s Portland it hasn’t been over saturated like Los Angeles and New York, and Chicago. It hasn’t been over saturated with other projects. It will feel fresh. I think for people to see a different city. Grey’s Anatomy is set in Seattle and that’s a character in that show and Portland will be more of a character in this one.
Of the movies you have done, which one would you like to go back and reprise? Barbershop, 2 Fast 2 Furious, or Takers?
Michael Ealy: That’s easy. Probably 2 Fast 2 Furious because I didn’t know it would go nine deep. Both Ludacris and I were introduced into the second one, but his role kept going and mine didn’t. I wish I could do that one over again. With Barbershop and Takers, those movies were perfect in their own way. Barbershop launched my career. I cannot complain. Very, very, very blessed to have been in that franchise.
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