How did Steve McQueen want you to portray the character?

I don't think he wanted me to do anything different as such. It's just a different character and a different time in history. I just gave it the same attention that I have given to all of the other parts because what we were dealing with was so important and it goes beyond me or anyone else. Solomon North was an extraordinary man and all the slaves that were part of that time in history. There was a reverence that I was bringing to work because of these people and I owed them in telling their stories. That really kept me on the straight and narrow and really kept the discipline in check. I’ve got a good discipline anyway when it comes to work and the fact that we were filming in a real plantation, you could feel the ghosts around you. It was powerful stuff.

Had you read the book prior to starting production?

No. I didn't even know anything about it. I read the script and was amazed on how this was a true story and how this guy was incredible. I read the book and it's so eloquently written. It's not just stating the facts of the time. It's so eloquent and beautifully told. So that was the first I had first heard of it and shame to say.

Although you're playing a role, how did you feel knowing you have to convey this level of evil on screen?

I just felt great privilege to take Epps on and when I got the script, I didn't know what part Steve was going to offer. I remember I just called him up at the end of reading the script and I was so moved by it, I said, "Whatever you can give me in this. If it’s one day of work, I just want to be part of this story." Epps is the part that I wanted and when he offered it to me, I just felt really privileged that I would have an influential character to play in this story and so I welcomed it. Obviously, there are upsetting moments in scenes that we are doing but we all were as close as a family. Lupita and I gave each other a hug at the end of the take and everyone was really respectful and supportive of one another; and at the same time very challenging in scenes and very provocative and always trying to surprise each other and work with one another.






Then, at night time, when it's time to go home, maybe we would have dinner together or maybe not. I would have to do homework for the next day because the way Steve shoots, it's so concentrated. He shot this movie in 35 days, which was incredible. I was there for 2 ? weeks; and each day there was an important scene that needed to be tackled. When one scene was done, it was put to the side, and hopefully everything was left on the floor that day because the next scene was now important. It was making sure that the level is always kept. That's always the way on Steve's films, scene by scene. We try to keep that same level of discovery and focus.

Did you shoot some of the darker scenes early in production and if so, did you think about it so much before the shoot?

Absolutely. With the scene where the whipping takes place, there were a lot of elements there that needed care and tension, and there were a lot of technical aspects to that scene. There are a lot of actors in that scene and characters, and each of them have their own role to play. The cameraman, Sean Bobbitt, is there and we have to keep that same dance rhythm with him. I had to hit a certain mark so that I didn't make contact with Lupita. Those technical things were evident and they actually get you through it, especially when it's in one take like that. Each day I knew what scene was coming up and where the areas are that were difficult and what are the things that I needed to look out for. From the scene of the sermon reading to one where I'm chasing Chiwetel around the pen, things were discovered on the day. When Solomon comes back from Judge Turner's plantation, I arrived on set that day, and Steve says to me, "What do you think about not wearing pants?" We see the abnormality of slavery as the norm in the film. It's the every day occurrence of it and when it comes to the Epps plantation, it's that added bit of madness; the unpredictability of Epps, his wife, and it makes them terrifying at times. With no pants on and just a shirt, I thought he should have something in his hand, and we thought about the wonderful little girl in that scene. I don't remember her name but she is such a sweetheart. It was like Epps was prepping her to be the next Patsy.

Are there any redeeming qualities to Epps? Is he pure evil?

I don't know what that is. I can't use the word when I'm trying to find the character. It stops at that word. Whereas if I'm looking at a character that's in love with one of his own slaves, he doesn't have the equipment or intellect with himself to allow that to happen or express it like Shaw is doing. That’s a very interesting conflict within him. He's not very intelligent. That's another trait characteristic. There's the fact that he adding a lot of alcohol and that his marriage has disintegrated. They don’t have any children. Those are things that I could work with. The fact that Solomon makes him feel inadequate and he feels threatened by him. Solomon is his slave. Why is that? There's the fact that he goes to the slaves' quarters on a Sunday and he draws them into his house because he needs them emotionally. Not only does he need them financially to benefit, there's an emotionally need that he has. Even on the day of, he needs the slaves around him, which I thought was another piece of information. So, hopefully, when the audience is watching and even if it’s a glimpse or seconds, they might recognize something in Epps in themselves. Epps does not become the character that they can keep at a safe distance from themselves. "Look at the evil plantation owner. That's not me." It’s something that draws them closer to him hopefully. It’s more of a profound effect. I also, at times, to make him comical; that you would laugh at him, sort of buffoonish. If you laugh as an audience member, then it allows you to drop your guard and you open up. So when something happens that more violent or horrific in his nature, you haven't closed yourself off and become too numb to him.