Shadowboxer

Directed by Lee Daniels

Shadowboxer is a complex relationship-based thriller with Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding, Jr. playing stepmother and stepson who are also partners in sex and crime.

Lee Daniels says the world of Shadowboxer—in which violence fits like a glove covering humdrum do-the-dishes routines of daily life—is the world he grew up in.

“As a kid in West Philly, I knew people who were killers. My uncle, who I dedicated Shadowboxer to, was a good man trapped in an underworld he couldn’t escape and killing was part of what he did. Around the corner, Ms. Hattie had crosses in her house and gave us candy, but was a for-hire killer,” says Daniels. 

MERIN: The characters are fascinating and very well acted, but they’re so violent one minute, so loving and considerate the next. It’s hard to believe they’re real.

DANIELS: I hope people will understand they’re real, but can’t worry if some don’t. I just have to tell my truth. They’re real to me.

After producing Monster’s Ball and The Woodsman, why did you choose to direct Shadowboxer?

I wanted to learn how to work better with directors. As a producer, I’m hard on everybody—directors, actors, writers. We have so little money. Time’s against us, so, I’m maybe not so nice to work with. I thought experiencing the director’s mindset would make me a better producer.

But why this film?

Well, each of my films is therapeutic for me because I…really? Well, OK. Because I was abused as a kid. There’s child abuse in Shadowboxer. I’ve got two kids [Daniels is openly gay; his kids are adopted.] I’ve never hit them—although they say abuse is cyclical. I try to be good, but sometimes I fail. We all try to be good people, but we fuck up. We all exist in that gray zone. Shadowboxer gives life to people in that gray zone.

Like my sister, who was a drug addict, obese and a lot of white guys liked her. In Shadowboxer, the character of Precious was originally an anorexic white chick. When I cast Mo’Nique, the studios asked “Who’ll buy her opposite Joseph Gordon-Levitt?” I said, “Are you kidding? Visit an AOL chat room or walk the streets of NYC, where I live. Then talk to me.” The studios need to get real.

It was similar with Monster’s Ball: Who’d want to see a movie about a fat kid hit by a car? And The Woodsman: Who’ll watch a movie about a pedophile?

They stop you by making you think you’re crazy. For a long time, I believed them. Then, I realized I want to see these movies. I have to make movies I want to see. It’s a hard road; I should find a studio script so I can live comfortably and put my kids through college.

How’d you find Shadowboxer?

The writer gave it to me while I was trying to get Brokeback Mountain produced, and couldn’t…

Why couldn’t you get Brokeback produced?

Investors are afraid of these types of raw material, but that’s what audiences want to see. Something real. Meaningful. But it’s hard.

At first, Shadowboxer was at Paramount. Angelica Huston was set. There were issues, I walked away but felt Shadowboxer would come back to me. And, the day I wrapped The Woodsman, the writer told me the rights were available again. It was like a sign from God. It was my destiny…

I searched for a director. Working with first time directors is a real high for me; I feel great I’ve discovered two great young directors. I met with directors fresh from film school, but found them so arrogant I didn’t want to work with them. I asked a director friend of mine, Oskar Roehler [Agnes and His Brothers] to direct, but he said, “Lee, you have such passion for Shadowboxer, you should direct.” I said, “What’re you talking about? I don’t know how to direct traffic!” He said, “Lee you’re always directing your directors, so you should direct this. It’ll make you a better producer.” I was so tired of meeting with video directors who thought they were Scorsese. I decided to take it on. It was the most educational experience of my life.

With Monster’s Ball, I felt I’d survived the most traumatic tsunami ever. Then a bigger catastrophe happened—directing. I felt I was being swept into the abyss. By day, I directed. At night, I dialed for dollars.

How’d you get your cast?

I was a casting director—I worked for Prince as a PA, then wiggled my way into casting music videos. Then film—at Warner Bros., as head of Minority Casting. It was pre-Spike Lee, post blaxploitation, so there wasn’t much to minority cast. I got bored and began managing actors. The embryo for filmmaking is knowing talent—I had a knack for actors. 

With Shadowboxer, I’d had two successful films, so it was easier to cast. And, these roles are hard to come by. Like for the amazing Helen Mirren.

What about Cuba Gooding?

At first, I didn’t want him because I thought he’d commercialized himself and sold out to White America. But that’d been true with Halle Berry, too—she’d done The Flintstones and I thought she was a Black Barbie. But I remembered her as the crack addict in Jungle Fever. And I remembered Cuba in Boyz in the Hood. I thought if I could get him to do nothing, it’d work. I said, “You must do nothing—not please America, not please me. You just need to be. His performance is what I’m proudest of in Shadowboxer.

Originally, Cuba was cast as the bad guy—Stephen Dorff’s part—opposite Ryan Phillipe. Then Ryan got scared. It was a good thing—because that would’ve been another film. I gave Cuba Ryan’s role—which adds color to the film…

Man, I’ll say! That’s interesting to know because Shadowboxer is genuinely integrated without being self-consciously, self-righteously intentional. There’s no racial bias… 

I’m so glad you get that. What sign are you? ’Cause you’re the first person who’s said there’s no racial bias. People expect…and it disturbs me to no end that people think this film must have racial issues. It doesn’t because we’re all blood, veins and bone underneath. Anyone who thinks there’s a racial issue, it’s their bias, their problem.