Phenomenal actor, Joe Morton, who won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a drama series, for his role as Eli Pope in “Scandal,” told Caribbean Life in an exclusive interview that he was happy for British-born actor, Idris Elba, who made his directorial début with the film “Yardie,” premiered to a sold-out audience at the Caribbean Film Series — A 5th Anniversary Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), on Thursday, March 14.
“I hope it goes well. I am sure it will,” assured Morton, who opined during a conversation at the opening night reception at MOCADA Museum on Hanson Place, that the festival is obviously a manifestation of years of work and art.
“I think that anytime, any part of the arts finally find its support and begins to grow, it’s a good thing, so I think this is obviously a manifestation of years of work and many years of art, and it’s growing, that’s a good thing.”
Daughter, Hopi Noël Morton, a film consultant, brought along the Harlem-born stage, television, and film thespian, who is heating up CBS Network, in the series “God Friended Me.”
The “Terminator 2,” and “American Gangster” actor, expressed pleasure in working with producer, Shonda Rhimes, and the cast and crew of “Scandal” for five and a half years, and described his run as one of the highlights of his career.
He directed the 16th episode in the last season of “Scandal,” and two episodes of “God Friended Me,” that was picked up for two more seasons.
He praised his daughter, Hopi, saying she has always consulted and helped people grow. “She is doing exactly what she wants to do,” he said.” “The arts, has been a part of our family since my kids were born, so I am not surprised that she has done so well. This is terrific,” he said of Hopi, incoming CEO of the Alacran Group, an outfit that empowers young women in Jamaica through sustained programs.
Hopi Morton worked with Jason Jeffers and Romola Lucas (Third Horizon, a Miami-based collective of Caribbean creatives), through their process of coming together to launch a new enterprise to present films from the Caribbean and the diaspora.
She asserted that it was important to have her dad at the event, because he is a pioneer in the industry, as a person of color, and a black man, and “I think that’s what the important connection is.”
“They are pioneering a new generation of Caribbean filmmakers and arts in the larger picture, not just within our subcultures, but taking maybe, what some of us, do, see, feel, and hear, and brining that to a larger viewership, and I think that is what my father has done as a pioneer, in the larger spectrum of television and film. I think that is an important connection to make.”
Hopi Morton, who viewed “Yardie,” before traveling back to Miami, where she is part of the Third Horizon, of which Romola Lucas is co-executive director, said she cannot wait for this collaboration to be Miami, and the Caribbean where she is helping with public screenings, particularly in Jamaica, where she works with a foundation helping with public screenings, while connecting with local theaters there.
