39th Annual Sbiff Montecito Award Honoree Jeffrey Wright, Moderated by Roger Durling  

Text – Press Sbiff. Photos by Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images for SBIFF.

Speaking to Jeffrey Wright’s stature as an actor, moderator and SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling stated, “Jeffrey Wright brings an unparalleled, unassuming commitment to his roles. He exudes such vibrancy and intellect that even the small parts become standouts. He exalts any project by merely being on it.

Talking about his early acting work, Wright said, “Your first big break is when you get on stage or in front of the camera for the first time and nobody throws something at you, and instead, they lean in.”

On Angels in America, Wright shared that “It spoiled me in some ways, because it was a perfect marriage of my interests. Storytelling and politics. And it was so beautiful, so lyrical. Just a masterful piece of writing. When I say it was a perfect experience, there were times that I was doing that play, I remember saying to myself ‘I am where I am to be right now.’”

On playing playing Jean-Michel Basquiat for Basquiat, Wright shared, “I understood spaces that he inhabited. I understood what he was trying to do, in some ways…I also think I draw from similar creative sources or pools. His work speaks so deeply to me.”

Before working with Christopher Walken in Basquiat, Wright watched him perform on stage, an experience he talked a bit about, noting that, “He took Shakespeare, and it was as though he was recreating it out of his mouth with every breath. It was alive.”

Speaking to his work with co-star Al Pacino, Wright shared that, “I realized that he loves the process maybe more than he loves the final thing. For him, the process of working and mining through it, that was it.”

In discussing the difference between a fiction and non-fiction role, Wright explained that “There’s an additional responsibility of yours going to recreate the story of someone’s life. I kind of tend to take that reasonably seriously. And try my best to at least find the essence of who they were. And research as much as possible who they were.”

Wright also shared a bit about his experience on Westworld, saying, “It was a lot, but what it taught me was something that I use to this day on sets. We shot the equivalent of 5-6 movies in 6 months. We shot long hours. We loved it, and it was complex – we were working toward a high goal. But it taught me to work efficiently.”

For his work shooting within a prison for O.G., Wright opened up about his interest in the role: “There was a big conversation happening about prison reform and incarceration. I saw it as an opportunity to work, to challenge myself, and to educate myself.”

Wright also talked a bit about why the other actors, many of them prisoners incarcerated in that very same facility, wanted to take part in the project: “It was an opportunity for them to do something constructive, something creative. And they talked, many of them, about seizing on this opportunity to show, particularly their families and their kids, those of them who had them, that they were better than their worst mistake, or series of mistakes. It was a powerful experience.”

Talking a bit about the complication of shooting The Batman around Covid, Wright explained that, “The length of time that it took us to shoot Batman was so extreme that there’s a scene…when I get up and shoot, that’s March of 2020. When I drop back down, that’s March, 2021. Within a cut.

Diving into his most recent work, Wright talked a bit about why the film was so widely impactful: “It’s a family that’s recognizable, because it’s a family that’s as crazy as everyone’s family is.”

Speaking to his core connection to American Fiction, Wright noted that, “For me, the heart is the family. That’s what drew me in. That’s what plucked all of my emotional and psychological strings.”

John Ortiz, American Fiction co-star and award presenter, shared some kind words about Wright, saying, “One of the many ways he inspired was by raising the bar. By example. That’s what the great ones do.”

In accepting the award, Wright gave one final thought on the role of film: “We tell these stories, we make these movies so that people will see them. So that audiences will find them. Take them in and find something inside of them that moves them.”