Michael Ealy Talks ‘Unconditional’, Who He’s Voting For & Perfect Timing

September 12, 2012 by thejasminebrand in Latest News with 1 Comment

Recently, we caught up with 39-year-old actor, Michael Ealy. We chatted with the Washington native, who was in town hosting a party at Park at Fourteenth, about politics, the success of ‘Think Like A Man’ (and it’s sequel), love and his latest film, ‘Unconditional’.

The Jasmine Brand: So tell me about your new project.

Michael Ealy: Unconditional is story about second chances, true friendship, redemption and hope. Ultimately I play a guy by the name of Papa Joe Bradford he is someone who has turned his life around and is now day in and day out, he’s doing everything he can to try and help the children in his community, especially the ones without fathers.

TJB: Was it challenging to play this role?

Yes.

TJB: Why?

Because Papa Joe is actually alive…

TJB: Because it’s based on a true story.

Yeah so you’re playing this guy where a lot of people in that community know him and if you don’t get it right, they’re going to hold you accountable to that so there is a little bit of pressure there and having met him and his family and everything that made me feel like I had to do this right.

TJB: Have you seen it already?

Yes, I have.

TJB: Were you with him when he saw it?

I wasn’t with him when he saw it. But he loved it and his whole thing is ‘I just want the move to inspire more people to be Papa Joe’s in their community’. His wife loved it and that was the most important part, when she signed off that’s when I know I did it right.

TJB: I saw a lot of twitter fuss about ‘Common Law. What’s the latest with that?

The latest with ‘Common Law’ is that we still don’t know what’s going on. I promise you as soon as I know I will tell people exactly what’s going on.

TJB: Ok, because I saw a lot of people fussing about that.

I know, I know.

JTB: Which is good right?

It’s good that people are taking about it; that’s always a good sign.

TJB: Moving on, ‘Think Like A Man’ was very successful. What do you think was the secret ingredient to it being a box office hit? Was it the writing, was it the chemistry, was it that the story needed to be told, the cast?

That’s a good question. To my experience in film, it’s all about timing. And I think we just haven’t seen an ensemble film with such strong performances that was aesthetically beautiful to look at and again, I think it starts with a good script. And everybody came in and did their job, it was just a fun movie. But I think the timing, you can release that movie after the Trayvon Martin shooting and it might not have the same effect, so timing is always key. It worked out.

TJB: So there’s a part 2 coming right, a sequel to the movie?

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah yeah.

TJB: You just looked at me kinda crazy!

I’m sorry, it’s next year so I can’t think about it yet.

TJB: Ok, but you will be involved in that?

I hope so; yeah.

TJB: Now, for some random questions. What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learned in the industry?

Be realistic in your expectations.

TJB: Are you a fan of President Obama?

Yes.

TJB: Why should people elect him for another term?

I think the problem with the election is that people don’t read and if you look at the facts, if you look at the actual facts, President Obama has had an incredible 1st term as president and although he may not have solved all of our issues and turned everything around in 4 years, no one should have expected him to. That wasn’t my expectation of him because we were in such a bad spot when he came into office. So I think of a lot of his policies, they aren’t going to take effect for another 4 years, ya know 2 to 4 years so he needs more time.

TJB: How does a man know when he’s in love?