Omar Epps still has juice in his new film Moses the Black. The veteran actor plays Malik, a powerful former drug dealer who returns home from prison with a new sense of purpose that doesn’t include moving packs. Raised by his grandmother, Malik settles into her house, where she introduces him to the story of 4th-century Saint Moses the Black, once a killer who stole from the rich and blessed the poor. Like Moses, Malik’s story is one of redemption.
Epps, who reunited with executive producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, sat down with LEVEL to discuss the film’s central themes — karma and redemption — and to talk about sharing scenes with young rappers again.
LEVEL: Omar, retribution is a big them in this film. When was the last time you wanted vengeance?
OMAR EPPS: Oh wow. That's a great question. I'm inclined to say five minutes of every day [laughs].
You character in in Raising Kanan, Detective Malcolm Howard, has his flaws as a man of the law. The policeman in this film, Jerry, is also a shady character. Which one is more deplorable?
Jerry by a long shot. Jerry, was meant to be over the top not from the perspective of law enforcement, but [from the perspective of an] individual. But yeah, I think he would be the deplorable one out of those two.
There’s an explosive piece of acting by Cliff Chamberlain and yourself in the interrogation room. You’re about to confess to your misdeeds. Did you two talk about that scene prior to being on set?
We actually didn't, which I think made it even better, but we understood the objective of each of the characters and working with Yelena [Popovic], our writer-director, we knew the mission of those beats and we understood that they had a history that we don't see on screen, so we also brought in that subtext. But I felt like speaking from Malik's point of view, [turning himself in] was already done. The moment has already happened. This is just a formality, and I think that energy drove Cliff’s character even crazier because he's trying to [assert] authority and have some semblance of control.
Was there a scene with Wiz or Quavo where you saw some acting excellence?
We didn't have a lot of scenes [together]. There are a lot of the guys that were in the crew who'd never acted before and they're not actors but wanted it to be so grounded. The reason I bring that up is there was just this flow. Cameras just happened to be on, but they were on the block just having this conversation. I think that allowed Quavo and Wiz to flow and blend in and not have to not feel like they were sticking out or the moment was too big.
What can you tell me about Black Moses?
He was a real Robinhood — stole from the rich and gave to the poor. He did some pretty horrible stuff. And he came to an impasse in his life to where he started to question [how he was living]. I think all of us, at a point, have the same questions. He embarked on a different pathway in his life, which led him to being deemed a saint. You can't call yourself a saint; that has to be thrust upon you based on your actions. And so Saint Moses turned his life around and became an abbot. redemption is available to all of us.
Say more.
I think that ultimately [with] redemption, you have to become the change that you're seeking. That's at least how I interpreted Saint. Moses.
The phrase “live by the sword — die by the sword" is ubiquitous in the film. But do things really play out that way in real life?
At the end of the day, energy is real and karma's agnostic, but it happens. There's people who do heinous things that if we would have a microscope on the totality of their life, we're like, oh yeah, they're suffering. They dealing with the other side of their action.
Larenz Tate and Nia Long are reuniting for a new project under the MACRO umbrella. Any chance we get a sequel to Love & Basketball?
No. [Film director] Gina Prince and I have spoken about that and it's like, just leave it alone. It's like one of the great songs “Reasons.” Just play that. It’s perfect as it is, and I say that humbly. You wouldn't be able to fulfill the expectations.