‘Straight Outta Compton’ Newcomer Jason Mitchell On Preparing To Be Eazy-EPosted by Wilson Morales
August 20, 2015
While ‘Straight Outta Compton’ is the number one film in the country and tells the story of a well-known rap group N.W.A (composed of Eazy-E, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, MC Ren, and DJ Yella), what’s rare in Hollywood is having five unknowns (Jason Mitchell, Corey Hawkins, O’Shea Jackson Jr., Aldis Hodge, & Neil Brown Jr.) as your leads. When you look at the guys playing the roles, Aldis Hodge as MC Ren is probably the one most would recognize since he spent five seasons opposite Timothy Hutton on TNT’s Leverage. Then there’s Neil Miller Jr., who plays DJ Yella. He had a role on The Walking Dead in Season 1 as Guillermo, leader of the Vatos.
Those two get singled out first because their roles in the film isn’t expansive as the other three. With Corey Hawkins, he may not look as big as Dr. Dre was back in the late 80s/ early 90s, but his Julliard training helped him get Dre’s blessing. As the son of Ice Cube, O’Shea Jackson Jr. had the second biggest pressure in getting the role. It’s one thing when your father wants you to play him, buy it’s another when you have to convince the powers-that-be that you can act. With 24 years of watching his dad, he got the rap part in and after two years with acting teachers, O’Shea did Ice Cube proud and landed the role.
Now we come to the hardest part to fill, Eazy-E (aka Eric Wright). As a native from New Orleans, Jason Mitchell has been through a lot. He was a teenager when Hurricane Katrina occurred in 2005 and after working in construction and as a oyster chef, he also started working in films when production would take place in New Orleans. Blink and you will miss him in two of Mark Wahlberhg’s films, ‘Contraband,’ and ‘Broken City.’ A few years later and with a tenacity and perseverance to succeed, he landed the biggest role of his career so far.
With Easy-E not alive after dying from AIDS in 1995, Jason had to do his research through the other members as well as Eazy-E’s family.
At a press conference prior to the film’s opening, Mitchell talked about his experience making this film.
How excited were you to be a part of this?
Jason Mitchell: Super excited! I feel like I hit the lottery. Here I am listening to (Ice) Cube and Gary saying this is their best film and their dream come true, and I’m literally living all that right now. The way I feel I can’t really explain it. It’s emotional.
How did you prepare for the role?
JM: As far as him not being here, it’s a great responsibility but I feel like it’s a great blessing. I needed this. I really, really needed this. There was so much that I was going through that I needed this. I had so many guys who wanted me to hit the mark and made sure I had everything I needed. It was easier than it seemed to be able to get comfortable because I realized there were so many people who wanted it to be right and you know somebody is going to speak up if it’s not. You don’t feel like they gave you as much room to fail. Either it’s a hole in one or that’s it. They made sure they did as much as they could to be sure I stayed in that path. It’s a great privilege because there are so many people who have never met him and I get to humanize him. People will forever envision me and say, “Man, you’re Easy-E!” I wouldn’t be Jason Mitchell to some people. That’s incredible. I will live with that forever. It’s a great privilege.
Can you talk about shooting the hospital scene?
JM: It was the grand scheme of Mr. F. Gary Gray because I remember that week. They actually called it “The Eazy Week.” It was the week before the last week of shooting. By that time we had built up a brotherhood that when they saw you they didn’t see Eazy-E in the bed, they saw Jason. They were like, “What are you doing son? You can’t die!” I remember you (looking at F. Gary Gray) just cut it (the scene) with a knife. It was so thick and everybody was so quiet. Even as I tried to talk to people they were like, “No.” It feels good that I can have that creative mind and be able to show what I have. This is going to change my life forever.
As men, we don’t cry very often. We don’t hold each other and put the other’s head on your shoulder and say, “Cry right here.” Gary was asking me if I needed anything. He had me in the trailer and said, “I can’t take your word for this part. You’re going to have to show me something. You’re going to have to crack a year and know where you are going to go with it.” As long as I feel emotionally safe to be able to let go, I can let go. I have so much to cry about. I lost friends while shooting the movie. They called me at 5:30 in the morning and told some news. People getting killed. People going to jail. I’m supposed to be living the dream and then I get this amazing opportunity to just let go. I got so stuff to cry about so don’t trip. In the end, Gary had to come get me.
In speaking with theknockturnal.com, Mitchell told the site how helpful Easy-E’s son Lil Easy-E was in providing info about his dad.
JM: He did two things for me, one, he really just let me know what kind of guy his dad was, you know as far as [taking care of children], because that means so much about a man. It shows what kind of actual heart they have. He let me know how he treated women as far as his approach. I was interested to hear. But he also helped me coordinate, you know, who to talk to and stuff like that.
Clip – Dr. Dre helps Easy-E
Clip – NWA Answers Questions At A Press Conference
Clip – LAPD
Clip – N.W.A. finishes SOC in Studio
