Here's 3 amazing stories from Spike Lee at Tribeca yesterday
We were in the building for the legendary night
Spike Lee graced Tribeca Film festival with his presence yesterday, in a back and forth conversation between actor and comedian Alec Baldwin. The night featured some serious jewels of wisdom from both parties, as well as some interesting stories and insight. We were lucky enough to attend and here's three stories in particular from Spike Lee that caught our attention.
Spike's grandmother was amazing
While many filmmakers have done appearances and guest lectures at Universities, Spike is one of the few who can actually be considered a tenured professor. With over 15 years of teaching at NYU, Spike traced his lineage back a few generations, explaining his family's origins in education. He spoke proudly of his grandmother, who worked as an art teacher in segregated Atlanta for thirty years. She saved up every social security check she received during this time, for her children's education. With this money, she was able to fund Spike's education at Morehouse as well as NYU, and help fund his short student film and his first feature film, "She's Gotta Have It." Spike also explained how parents can be huge dream killers for children who want to pursue the arts, but with him having an artistic family, he received nothing but encouragement to become who he is today.
Denzel Washington had LASER focus for his Malcolm X role
As many know now, Spike Lee wasn't originally supposed to direct Malcolm X. After getting on board though, him and his leading man Denzel Washington became determined to make history with the film. In preparation for the film, Denzel told his agent that he didn't want anymore work for the year. He spent the entire year obsessing over Malcolm, learning Arabic, cutting pork out of his diet and embodying each and every one of his tendencies.
By the time shooting had begun, Spike's crew was pinching themselves, as it felt like the spirit of Malcolm was present. He detailed one scene in particular where Denzel was delivering one of Malcolm's original speeches. When Spike yelled cut, Denzel continued on with the passionate speech, and went on for a few more minutes until the film on the camera ran out. Spike eventually asked Denzel what happened, who responded almost in a trance like state that he had no idea. The spirit of Malcolm X was present in Denzel that day for sure.
Spike's career in film was completely by chance
It may seem like Spike was born to make films now, but as a sophomore in college, he was a D student with no defined major or direction. After being told he'd need to pick a major before his junior year, he went back to Brooklyn for the summer. He then detailed the story of an extremely smart girl who lived in his neighborhood. "Something in his spirit" made him go to her house one summer day, where he discovered a Super 8 camera lying in a box. She said he could have it, as she was determined to be a doctor and not an artist. She went on to Princeton and Harvard and became a doctor, and Spike, well, the rest is history. He spent the rest of what was an iconic 1977 summer in NYC shooting film, which would later be edited and turned into a documentary. By the time Spike arrived back to school his junior year, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life.