{"id":61350,"date":"2011-09-19T16:38:01","date_gmt":"2011-09-19T16:38:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/0de2709a84.nxcli.net\/0-kjasnb\/2011\/09\/19\/machine-gun-preacher-souleymane-sy-savane-interview\/"},"modified":"2018-12-18T12:56:09","modified_gmt":"2018-12-18T12:56:09","slug":"machine-gun-preacher-souleymane-sy-savane-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/machine-gun-preacher-souleymane-sy-savane-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Machine Gun Preacher: Souleymane Sy Savane"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/2011\/08\/machine-gun-preacher\/\">Machine Gun Preacher<\/a>An Interview with Souleymane Sy Savane<\/strong><br \/>\nBy Fred Topel<\/p>\n<p>September 19, 2011<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Machine-Gun-Preacher-poster1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-expand=\"600\" class=\"lazyload alignleft size-medium wp-image-13443\" title=\"Machine Gun Preacher poster\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 202 300'%2F%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Machine-Gun-Preacher-poster1-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/2011\/09\/machine-gun-preacher-film-clips\/\">Machine Gun Preacher <\/a><\/em>i<\/strong>s the true story of Sam Childers, a reformed ex-convict who becomes a crusader for Sudanese children. The film played at the Toronto International Film Festival and the cast was in the city for a press conference. <strong>Souleymane Sy Savane<\/strong> plays Deng, one of the freedom fighters Childers joins to resist the Lord\u2019s Resistance Army.<\/p>\n<p>After the press conference including stars <strong>Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan<\/strong> and <strong>Madeline Carroll<\/strong>, I hung out in the hall with Savane to learn more about him. He\u2019ll be one to watch for after this movie opens, if you haven\u2019t already seen him on <em>Damages<\/em> or in <em>Goodbye Solo<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What has this movie done for your profile as an actor?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Souleymane Sy Savane<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong> Oh, this is my second movie. To be able to work with Gerard and Michelle and Michael Shannon, it\u2019s just amazing. Definitely I would say it raises my profile as an actor and also has given me as an actor and as a person an opportunity to address issues that are really, really close to me, in terms of Africa and just really what\u2019s going on in the world.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Souleymane-Sy-Savane.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-expand=\"600\" class=\"lazyload alignright size-medium wp-image-13444\" title=\"Souleymane Sy Savane\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 207 300'%2F%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Souleymane-Sy-Savane-207x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"207\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Do you look at the career of Djimon Hounsou, who started out in African-centered roles and also is able to work in Hollywood blockbusters?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>SSS: <\/strong>I love Djimon and his career for me would be a blessing. But really, I\u2019m a big fan of Sidney Poitier because I feel like we went through the same thing. We had to address we\u2019re first time immigrants, we have to address the language barrier, the accent barrier. In his time, he had to address more barriers than I have to address today. His work and the type of work he was able to do, the type of roles, really speaks to me. No disrespect to Djimon but I would think of Sidney Poitier. Even as a person, the things that he changed and the things he believed in.\u00a0 Unbelievable.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Have you ever had a chance to meet Sidney Poitier?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>SSS: <\/strong>No, but I can\u2019t wait. I would love, love, love to meet this man.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/M_320_MGP_231_R.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-expand=\"600\" class=\"lazyload alignleft size-medium wp-image-12897\" title=\"Film Title:  Machine Gun Preacher\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 300 124'%2F%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/M_320_MGP_231_R-300x124.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"124\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Why don\u2019t you reach out to him now that you have a profile?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>SSS:<\/strong> Actually, I was doing a play two years in New   York, a new group called Groundswell and this gentleman came and he told me he was a friend of Sidney Poitier, sent me pictures and stuff. So I actually sent him a letter a couple weeks ago asking if we could do something about me meeting Sidney Poitier. I haven\u2019t gotten a response yet but that was just my first attempt. I will make many more.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Souleymane-Sy-Savane-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-expand=\"600\" class=\"lazyload alignright size-medium wp-image-13445\" title=\"Souleymane Sy Savane 1\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 300 206'%2F%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Souleymane-Sy-Savane-1-300x206.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"206\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Wouldn\u2019t that be a great thing to come from this movie?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>SSS: <\/strong>It would be. Again, like I said, this movie, it\u2019s like you\u2019re running. You\u2019ve probably heard that you run, but you can\u2019t run away from yourself. This is big to me. It made me realize that I was just running. Africa isn\u2019t going anywhere and we have to address it. We have to. It\u2019s a big mess unfortunately. It is a big mess but it\u2019s here. The world is getting smaller. We have to address it and I feel even more responsibility because I was fortunate enough to grow up in an Africa that was peaceful. I grew up in the Ivory Coast when Felix Houphouet-Boigny was president. He wasn\u2019t perfect but we have stuff like ice skating in this country. I grew up ice skating, those kind of things. We had a lot of prosperity only based on cocoa, like chocolate and coffee. Anyway, so there\u2019s a whole generation, if not more generations of African kids, all they know is war. They don\u2019t know peace, they don\u2019t even think it exists so I feel even more responsibility to tell them, \u201cThere\u2019s peace. Peace is possible.\u201d I\u2019m thinking really they\u2019re the platform to really address the peace because it\u2019s really about what\u2019s happening in Africa, 25 years later the same things happening. That\u2019s means we need to address it at a different level as well.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Souleymane-Sy-Savane-with-cast.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-expand=\"600\" class=\"lazyload alignleft size-medium wp-image-13446\" title=\"Souleymane Sy Savane with cast\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 300 206'%2F%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Souleymane-Sy-Savane-with-cast-300x206.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"206\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Every few years there\u2019s a movie addressing this issue, but only a few.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>SSS:<\/strong> I really wish we didn\u2019t even have these kinds of movies, because we didn\u2019t need it. At the same time, I\u2019m grateful for these movies because there seems to be a dark curtain on the continent. The curtain needs to be lifted for people to see what\u2019s going on so that the dictatorship which is the biggest problem we have, all these dictators supported by whatever x or y, they\u2019re just killing people. Those are the people, they take all the money, all the resources for themselves. I\u2019m sure, I\u2019m convinced that as they\u2019re exposed to the rest of the world, they\u2019ll have to go because I\u2019m sure that even you, when you see what\u2019s going on and we tell you, \u201cOh, this is what this guy does,\u201d one way or another, if you can do something you will. I believe that nobody would support that. It\u2019s because people don\u2019t know that it gets going.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/marc-forster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-expand=\"600\" class=\"lazyload alignright size-full wp-image-13447\" title=\"marc-forster\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 197 295'%2F%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/marc-forster.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"295\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>What was it like working with Marc Forster?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>SSS:<\/strong> Oh, he\u2019s a wonderful director, just wonderful. He\u2019s an actor\u2019s director I would say. He really knows how to bring the best out of you as an actor. He\u2019s a wonderful, extraordinary human being. As a director to even take on a subject like that, it\u2019s a very risky subject for a director. For him to still take it shows a lot of courage and integrity.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Is it heavy on the set in between takes?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>SSS: <\/strong>No. You wouldn\u2019t even hear Marc. He\u2019s so soft spoken, so polite. It\u2019s like wow, he\u2019s a director, really? It\u2019s just like pleasure. The subject of the movie was kind of heavy but Gerard is a very gregarious guy. He\u2019s funny. You don\u2019t expect a movie star necessarily to be that funny. It\u2019s like okay, yo, I need to concentrate here, man. He\u2019s so funny.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Souleymane-Sy-Savane-and-Gerard-Butler.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-expand=\"600\" class=\"lazyload alignleft size-medium wp-image-13448\" title=\"Souleymane Sy Savane and Gerard Butler\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 201 300'%2F%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Souleymane-Sy-Savane-and-Gerard-Butler-201x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>What would he do?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>SSS: <\/strong>He would just make jokes or he would drop something and go, \u201cIt\u2019s not me, it\u2019s Souleymane.\u201d Marc was like, \u201cSouleymane, come on.\u201d I\u2019m like, \u201cNo, Marc, it\u2019s him!\u201d He always had a story or joke to tell. Joke after joke after joke, he\u2019s just so funny.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Did you meet the real Sam Childers?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>SSS:<\/strong> Yeah, I actually met him in South   Africa during shooting. I was quite surprised because form the script, bang, bang, bang and you have some idea. But man, here comes the guy with his swagger. He really had his swagger. He had a comb in his hair, combing his hair as he\u2019s walking. I go, \u201cWow, is that the same guy who\u2019s supposed to walk in and shoot people?\u201d It was. He\u2019s very charismatic. He was a lovely, lovely guy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sam dealt with going overboard selling everything to try to save more children. Where is your line between helping the cause and taking care of yourself?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>SSS: <\/strong>Wow, I guess to me, if I have to form this question, there\u2019s a concept that I like. It\u2019s from New York because I spent seven years in New York. It\u2019s like \u201cdie while doing it.\u201d It\u2019s very New York   street. Die while doing it and I think really it\u2019s the best way to go. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s about the limit of me at all but I\u2019m going to do it. Then if I have to go, I will go but I will be doing it. I think that would be my limit. I know it\u2019s easier said than done but people actually do it. Some people actually do it. They go while doing it. I think to me that\u2019s almost like an ideal, that I would die while doing it, but dying shouldn\u2019t stop me from doing it. Or fear in general shouldn\u2019t stop me from doing it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Souleymane-Sy-Savane-with-Gerard-Butler-2.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-expand=\"600\" class=\"lazyload alignright size-medium wp-image-13449\" title=\"Souleymane Sy Savane with Gerard Butler 2\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns%3D'http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg' viewBox%3D'0 0 300 189'%2F%3E\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/Souleymane-Sy-Savane-with-Gerard-Butler-2-300x189.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"189\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Is South Africa, where they shot <em>Machine Gun Preacher<\/em>, very different from where you grew up?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>SSS: <\/strong>Yeah, it\u2019s pretty different. South   Africa is way bigger in the first place. It\u2019s very developed, one of the most developed countries in Africa. The language obviously, the features, the geography, it\u2019s quite different and the history also obviously. They had Apartheid for so long and that really shaped the nation. Even though today they found a way, that can even be an example for Africa and the world, how to come together despite all that went on between people. If South   Africa can come together the way they did, then anything is possible.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is your training as an actor?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>SSS: <\/strong>I trained in New York and for the past three years I\u2019m training in L.A. at the Film Actors\u2019 Studio. I\u2019ve been based in L.A. for a couple years now.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What other roles do you have coming up?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>SSS: <\/strong>I just finished shooting a movie in New   York called <em>Keep the Light On<\/em> with director Ira Sachs who won Sundance a couple years ago. I\u2019m attached to a few projects, but this is Hollywood.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Is your life great now?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>SSS: <\/strong>I mean, it\u2019s a great life in that it gives you a platform. It can give you a platform. What you\u2019re going to do with this platform now I think is what really makes your life great or not. In my case, it\u2019s really about what\u2019s going on in my home town and I feel blessed that whatever platform this gives me hopefully would help me to bring to light the things I need to address.<\/p>\n<p><object id=\"gorillanationPlayer_cs001_playlist_71_cs001_video_342677\" classid=\"clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000\" width=\"580\" height=\"377\" codebase=\"https:\/\/download.macromedia.com\/pub\/shockwave\/cabs\/flash\/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0\"><param name=\"wmode\" value=\"transparent\" \/><param name=\"swliveconnect\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"allowfullscreen\" value=\"true\" \/><param name=\"allowScriptAccess\" value=\"always\" \/><param name=\"flashvars\" value=\"wmode=transparent&amp;e=4bffc0037b3a3a49328d685cccfc7c21cc002973d57a44951a38fddf065f5c696a66be9b89ee2d2f0947d4e15d253124c7d296b9a2a5d695fdd446d15f64f11765e48e3969f68734f6c2de0c0596&amp;width=625&amp;height=377&amp;pid=cs001\" \/><param name=\"src\" value=\"https:\/\/cdn.springboard.gorillanation.com\/storage\/xplayer\/yo033.swf\" \/><param name=\"name\" value=\"gorillanationPlayer_cs001\" \/><embed id=\"gorillanationPlayer_cs001_playlist_71_cs001_video_342677\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"580\" height=\"377\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.springboard.gorillanation.com\/storage\/xplayer\/yo033.swf\" name=\"gorillanationPlayer_cs001\" flashvars=\"wmode=transparent&amp;e=4bffc0037b3a3a49328d685cccfc7c21cc002973d57a44951a38fddf065f5c696a66be9b89ee2d2f0947d4e15d253124c7d296b9a2a5d695fdd446d15f64f11765e48e3969f68734f6c2de0c0596&amp;width=625&amp;height=377&amp;pid=cs001\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" swliveconnect=\"true\" wmode=\"transparent\"><\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Machine Gun PreacherAn Interview with Souleymane Sy Savane By Fred Topel September 19, 2011 Machine Gun Preacher is the true story of Sam Childers, a reformed ex-convict who becomes a crusader for Sudanese children. The film played at the Toronto International Film Festival and the cast was in the city for a press conference. Souleymane [&hellip;] <a class=\"g1-link g1-link-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/machine-gun-preacher-souleymane-sy-savane-interview\/\">More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":61519,"comment_status":"1","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,143],"tags":[2696,5732,5733,5734,5735,4689,801,5736,6144],"reaction":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-61350","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-interviews","8":"category-read","9":"tag-gerard-butler","10":"tag-kathy-baker","11":"tag-machine-gun-preacher","12":"tag-madeline-carroll","13":"tag-marc-forster","14":"tag-michael-shannon","15":"tag-michelle-monaghan","16":"tag-souleymane-sy-savane","17":"tag-souleymane-sy-savane-interview"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v19.7 (Yoast SEO v27.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Machine Gun Preacher: Souleymane Sy Savane - blackfilm.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.blackfilm.com\/read\/machine-gun-preacher-souleymane-sy-savane-interview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Machine Gun Preacher: Souleymane Sy Savane\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Machine Gun PreacherAn Interview with Souleymane Sy Savane By Fred Topel September 19, 2011 Machine Gun Preacher is the true story of Sam Childers, a reformed ex-convict who becomes a crusader for Sudanese children. 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