Sheldon Candis talks LUVPosted by Wilson Morales
January 18, 2013
Coming out this week is the coming-of-age film, LUV, which was directed by Sheldon Candis and stars Common, Michael Rainey Jr., Dennis Haysbert, Danny Glover, Charles S. Dutton, Michael Kenneth Williams, Tracey Heggins, and Meagan Good.
The film centers on an An 11-year-old boy named Woody (Michael Rainey Jr.) who gets a crash course in what it means to be a man when he spends a day with his Uncle Vincent (Common), an ex-convict he idolizes.
For Candis, the feature film, aka Learning Uncle Vincent, is a long time coming. The Baltimore native started this as a short film and finished the script with fellow USC School of Cinematic Arts grad Justin Wilson.
In speaking with Blackfilm.com, Candis talks about putting this film together, and casting Common and Michael Rainey Jr.
When did you know you wanted to make this film?
Sheldon Candis: Its been with me since I was a child growing up in Baltimore, in terms of the world and the characters, and moreso me being this young kid and looking up to an uncle of mine. I had an idea, even at the age of nine, that he was an individual that was involved in illegal activity, but not really having any specificity of what he did. Moreso it was about loving my uncle, the person who was my mentor and gave me all these life lessons and helped shape and mold me as an adult now, all the good sides of him. It wasn’t until years later that I found out from the creators of “The Wire,” David Simon and Ed Burns, allegedly what my uncle had done in his previous life. From that I created a fictional story inspired by the heart and emotion of a true relationship. A boy’s rite of passage all in one day. What happens when this kid finds out his uncle isn’t who he thought it was.
This started as a short film, correct?
Sheldon Candis: I was really thankful and fortunate to go into the Film Independent Director’s Lab with the script, and that organization was really championing independent voices, voices of diversity, and minorities. They really took me under their wing and helped push the film along into reality. At the Director’s Lab I was able to work with my mentor, Keith Gordon, and some actors to workshop the script before setting out to make the film.
Of all the actors you could think of, how did Common come into play to be the guy you wanted for this role?
Sheldon Candis: Common was always tops on my list because I felt that he was an individual who had a great ability, but the roles he were doing were very simple to me. I thought this was a great opportunity for him to show his complexity as a character, and really dive into a performance. What’s most interesting about this character is I don’t question that he loves his nephew, but he doesn’t have the tools to be the proper father figure. Common had all the attributes that reflected my real-life uncle: he was suave, he was good looking, he had street sense, he had intelligence, and a real edge to him. When you think about where we are in film in terms of black actors in that range, there aren’t that many people. I’m really excited for people to see Common break through as a leading man in a film.
Then there’s Michael, who I thought did an extraordinary job, although I hadn’t seen his work before. The guy carried the film, so how long was the process to find him?
Sheldon Candis: It was a very long, tough process. We worked with a reputable company in Mary Vernieu and Lindsay Graham, who cast “Sin City” and “Black Swan” and “Crazy Heart,” so Mary had the task of finding this boy. We had done a really wonderful job of putting all the actors together, but at the end of the day you can’t make a special movie without a special kid. Myself I have a very special spot in my heart for great child performances in movies, like Natalie Portman in “The Professional” or Freddie Highmore in “Finding Neverland.” The list goes on. How can we find a special kid? If we can’t find the kid the movie is not going to work. To make a long story short, we were getting hundreds of video submissions from kids, then we went to New York to look and one of the co-producers knew a photographer who found a kid in Staten Island. The moment I met Michael I knew it was him, and I asked him a very simple question: What type of music do you listen to? “Well, I’m really not a new school hip hop kid, I’m more an old school hip hop.” He quoted Slick Rick’s “La Di Da Di.” That sent a tingle down my spine because in 1987 I was in Baltimore Maryland breakdancing to that very song. Michael did an Italian film first, at 9-years-old, and learned fluent Italian. Kids like Michael only come around every so often, he truly is a special one.
You could have just made this with Common and Michael, but you have a recognizable cast, from Dennis Haysbert to Meagan Goode. Was it easier to get them once you got Common?
Sheldon Candis: The first actor to agree to do the film was Charles Dutton. He’s from Baltimore, and I’ve always looked up to Charles as someone who’s from where I’m from. Charles came and sat down in a coffee shop and I told him I was from Baltimore and this story was inspired by my real-life uncle Vernon. Charles went white in the face and said, “What did you just say? What did you say his name was?” “Vernon Collins.” He said, “Oh my God, me and your uncle went to reform school together as young boys, and served time in prison as adults. I can’t believe you’re actually his nephew, I just helped your uncle last year in his continued case to get released from prison!” In between I showed Charles my short film I’d made, and he said, “You’re a director, you know how to tell a story, where to put the camera. Whatever you need from me we’ll make it work.” We shook hands, he was the first to sign on, then he got Danny Glover involved. There was no money in the film, we made it for $2 dollars and a turkey sandwich, but I tell Michael Kenneth Williams, “I’ll be thanking you as long as we know each other until you say ‘stop thanking me,'” because it was truly actors passionate and completely emotionally moved by the story. When it came to paying them SAG minimum scale everyone was thankful to be involved. People would come in, they would only be a day or two, but they were really passionate.
