EXCLUSIVE: Viola Davis & Julius Tennon Talk Playing Husband & Wife in ‘AIR’
Amazon Studios’ new film, AIR is now out in theaters and we got the chance to hear from two of the stars of the film, Viola Davis and Julius Tennon.
During the chat, the two talked playing Deloris and James Jordan, their real life relationship, working with Ben Affleck, and so much more. Check out what they had to say below.
Can you talk about landing the role of Deloris and knowing that Michael Jordan wanted you to play the role of his mom?
Davis: “It is flattering, because I do go in with a sense of do I belong, imposter syndrome. So, it’s nice to feel wanted, but then the next thought is, ‘Now I’ve got to step into the role.’ And if you watch videos on Deloris Jordan, she is a study in zen neutrality. The woman is very, very steady and quiet. I mean I would imagine that even when she gets mad, she’s probably very, very, very steady. So, to really just sort of envelope that spirit and everything was a challenge for me, because I’m the woman who always has a chip on her shoulder. I go in bombastic. So, it was both flattering, challenging, and then just a joy to work with Matt [Damon] and Ben [Affleck] and all these terrific actors. Me and Julius [Tennon] still talk about it to this day. One of the greatest experiences.”
What about you Julius? What was it like playing Michael Jordan’s father, James?
Tennon: “Well, what I wanted to do was bring dignity and levity to Mr. Jordan. I mean, obviously I’ve seen video of him. I’ve seen him with his son, father that’s proud of his son, a man that’s protective of his wife. And then that’s when I said that whole thing about Deloris, call me if you need me. It’s kind of let her go do her thing, because I know she could do her thing, but I wanted her to know that I’m there and I’m just going to do what I normally do in the course of the day. He was just a simple man, blue collar guy. And so I just wanted to depict that.”
Davis: “Well, let me tell you something. That is our dynamic in real life. Julius has told me since we got together, he said, ‘Now when you come home and it’s late at night, you make sure you don’t get out of that car until the gate’s close. And if someone’s following you lay on that horn and I’m going to come out with my baseball bat, and I will put that on their ass. And I laid on the horn once by accident, coming home at three o’clock in the morning, and I counted to five, Julius came out with the baseball bat, and I knew, I was like, that’s it. I’m going to marry him. This is my dude.”
What was it like having Ben Affleck as your director?
Davis: “Here’s the thing with Ben and Matt [Damon], but Ben, is you trust him. There’s a lot of times you go on set you don’t trust anyone because, truth be known, there’s a lot of people in our profession who don’t know what they’re doing. I’m not saying that from any kind of place of condescension or giving anyone shade, really. But everyone sees a result of a movie or a career, but they don’t see the journey. And it’s the journey, it’s the process where you see the artistry. The people who actually know what they’re doing, who know how to piece it together, know what they want, know what they’re seeing in the camera that’s not working, knowing how much, how little. And oftentimes, I’ve had a 40-year career where I’ve trusted certain people and they have done me wrong because you don’t always see it. You do need help sometimes. I trusted him. I trust what he saw. I trusted his process. I trusted his choice even in actors, that they were going to deliver. And then you have to ultimately trust that he chose you for a reason, because that’s the one thing that training school beats out of you is any sense of confidence and level of mental health. But yeah, trust is what I’ll say.”
And what about premiering the film at SXSW in Austin? How was that?
Davis: “Awesome. Julius is an Austenite.”
Tennon: “I’m an Austenite.”
Davis: “Born and bred.”
Tennon: “So, it was cool being back at the place. I didn’t see many of my family members, but that’s okay. But the reception was awesome. It was incredible. Electric. Electric.”
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Photo credit: ANA CARBALLOSA © AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC