Director Laurence Fishburne describes his latest film, “Slingshot,” as a “beautiful surprise.”
The film, now in theaters, sees Fishburne play the leader of a three-man crew to one of Saturn's moons. Fishburne plays Captain Franks. The trio, along with fellow astronauts John (Casey Affleck) and Nash (Tomer Capone), hope to find a new source of renewable energy in an attempt to save a dying Earth. Along the way, they enter sleeping pods and enter a three-month hibernation, but due to the use of drugs to induce hibernation, John begins to feel the side effects, and Nash becomes unstable. Franks is the only one who seems okay, and he sticks to his singular goal: to finish the mission.
The third act of the film adds an unexpected twist to the story, which is what prompted Fishburne to accept the role. Speaking to diverse “I didn’t know where this was going,” he said via Zoom.
He wasn’t worried about doing another sci-fi movie to add to his credits, which include “The Matrix,” “Event Horizon” and “The Signal.” He has more in the pipeline. He has “Transformers: One” and “Megalopolis” next. He loves the genre and declares, “I’m a product of my time.” Between “Star Trek” and “Star Wars,” he says seeing people who look like him in space, in the future, has resonated deeply.
In “Megalopolis,” Fishburne reunites with director Francis Ford Coppola. The two worked together on “Apocalypse Now,” which hit theaters 45 years ago. Here, Fishburne recounts how working on the film as a young teenager changed him, describing the experience as his “training” in the arts.
What attracted you to the script, and in particular, playing Captain Franks?
I started in theater. I like small intimate films, films that require three or two hands—things like that. That was the first thing. Then came the opportunity to star opposite Casey Affleck. As I was reading the movie, I couldn’t imagine how the story would end. I was excited about the way the story ends. It doesn’t spoon-feed you anything. It really requires you to be involved in it.
Speaking of the theatrical backdrop, it feels like a play in this space because it's basically one set. How did you feel walking on this set?
The surroundings were beautifully designed. It was very small – you'd be surprised how small the actual set was. But it was beautifully designed. The set was gorgeous, and Mikael Hafström, the DP, and the DP found clever ways to shoot that set to make it look much bigger than it was and much smaller than it was.
When John goes into hibernation and the side effects start to show, Captain Frank takes over. How did you benefit from this character?
It was all about remembering that there was no single defining characteristic of this man, other than he was the authority figure on this ship. If you think about the three of them, it’s like he was the father and Nash and John were his sons. One son goes along with his father, and the other son can’t do what his father says. There’s the good son, and then there’s the rebellious son. I liken that to the dynamic between the three men on the ship.
You mentioned working with Casey, what was it like playing against him?
I’ve been a fan of Casey’s work since Good Will Hunting. He has a real sharpness and intelligence. We have a great admiration for each other, so it was a pleasure to work with him, especially on such an intimate story. A lot of what Casey has to do in this film as an actor is to reveal the inner life of the character, and he’s brilliant. So it was a pleasure to work with him. And it was a pleasure to work with Tomer because I’m a fan of The Boys and I love Frenchie.
This year, you will be featured in several films, including Megalopolis and Transformers: One. How do you choose your roles and what makes you say “yes”?
There are a lot of different things, and there's not one thing. Obviously, Megalopolis is going to be the one to direct it. I've worked with him since I was a kid. I wouldn't have this career without him. I feel like we're family to each other. I've been hearing about this movie since I was a teenager. So of course, I wanted to be in it. With Transformers, a lot of people my age and younger love Transformers.
Who didn't?
I love Transformers. Slingshot is a sci-fi movie, which is one of my favorite genres. It always has been. Who doesn't want to pretend they're flying a spaceship? I think Clipped is the only movie that feels a little out of my league because I haven't done a lot of sports movies. But what drew me to Clipped was the story itself, the characters, the chaos of it, the humanity of it, the comparison between my character, Doc Rivers, and Ed O'Neill's Donald Sterling. It has so many layers, the intersection of race, sports, gender, money, and privilege.
You mentioned Coppola and Apocalypse Now, weren't you 14 when you filmed it?
I was 14 when I got the role in Apocalypse Now. It was crazy. The movie came out the week I turned 18.
Looking back, what was that experience like?
It's very difficult to describe the whole thing, because you know, I was young. I was 14 or 15, and I was very impressionable. I was still growing up and it was a very influential event in my life. It took two years. But I can say, looking back, that the most important part of Apocalypse Now was actually my training in the arts. That's where I trained to be an artist because I was working with great artists. I was with Marlon Brando, Dennis Hopper, Martin Sheen, Robert Duvall, Francis Ford Coppola. I was influenced by these people and the choices they made. So Apocalypse was really a great training that I was fortunate enough to have.
You'll be watching the movie “Astronaut” soon. Where did your love of science fiction start? Did you want to be an astronaut? Did you want to go to space?
No, it's very simple: I'm a product of my time. I was born in 1961, so where do you think I fell in love with science fiction? I fell in love with science fiction on television. There was a little show called “Star Trek,” and it was the first American television show to have a diverse, multiracial cast, so I was able to turn on “Star Trek” and see people who looked like me in space in the future.
There were a lot of guest stars on the show, like the great William Marshall, who played Dr. Richard Daystrom. He was a brilliant scientist who built this amazing, sentient computer. There were a lot of people there, and that’s where my first love of science fiction began. Then came Star Wars. I loved Planet of the Apes. I loved weird movies like the short David Bowie did called The Man Who Fell to Earth, which was one of my favorites. Soylent Green was great, and so was Omega Man.
Back on stage, earlier this year you did your one-man show, are there any plans to bring it back?
The plan is to bring my solo exhibition to the UK sometime next year.
What about returning to Broadway? Do you have any plans there?
I'm someone who loves theater so much, and I feel like I need to get back to it whenever my schedule allows. I did “American Buffalo” in 2022, and I did a one-man show. And after that, we'll see.
Well, describe “slingshot” in one sentence.
“Slingshot” is an interesting sci-fi, psychological thriller with a very beautiful tone and a truly unexpected ending.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
