Nick Cannon's Trip to the '60's

In the heartfelt and entertaining dramatic film Bobby, popular music artist/actor/producer Nick Cannon takes on a very serious role as a hopeful young African-American man named Dwayne who works on the Presidential campaign of Robert "Bobby" Kennedy in 1968. Dwayne is devastated when the Presidential candidate is murdered in the pantry of the Ambassador Hotel in L.A. Nick's character is brainy/nerdy and wears the typical 1960's dark suit, white shirt and skinny ties. He also wears a formidable pair of glasses to finish off the "look".

When we sat down with newly-turned 26 Nick in Beverly Hills recently, he was very much 21st century updated in a very sharp suit with yellow shirt and tie. We wanted to know how the artist/actor got involved in this star-studded '60's tribute and love letter to Bobby Kennedy, one of the most inspiring men of the last century. We also asked about Nick's new projects in film and music and his reaction to working with Emilio Estevez, once famous Brat-Packer and director of the film.

TeenHollywood: There are so many actors in this film. How long did you shoot on it?

Nick: I think it was about three weeks. I was doing another film during the same time, so it was bouncing back and forth. It was a week here, another week there, three days here, last two days here, so spread out for me.

TeenHollywood: We understand that Emilio gave his younger actors, who might not have even been alive when Bobby was running for President, some film footage and some books, etc. for research. Did you have that?

Nick: Yes. The care package of Kennedy. He actually gave us a DVD of that day [of Bobby's assassination]. It was the CBS raw news footage, and it was like three hours long. I remember just putting it on one day and just letting it roll. You see people go from excitement to hysteria, and it's really eerie, so that kind of let you know what you were dealing with. There was a packet on Robert Kennedy and his views, and what he stood for and what he did. That just kind of gave me a sense of the man, so with those two things, I didn't need anything else, at least for my character, to kind of understand the time.

TeenHollywood: Did you look up anything about young Black men in politics in that era?

Nick: I did do some research just of the mindset of a young Black man, you know like Stokley Carmichael and listened to a lot of Dr. King's speeches, because I would think that a man of that time would listen to a lot of Dr. King speeches, and receive a lot of his hope from that. Not too much prior to Robert Kennedy's assassination [two months], King was assassinated, so you hear all these great words and have all this hope from this man who is taken from you, then you see this other man that's your last hope, and he's taken from you at the same time.

TeenHollywood: It was a horrible time. Do you have an older relative who talked to you about when this happened, when King died, and when Bobby died?

Nick: My grandfather spoke to be about it. He was like 'I remember the day. I just got my color television. That was one of the first things he saw on color TV. It hit home like that, to hear my grandfather speak of it. Our grandfather's from the south and joined the military and moved to California, so he kind of was a supporter. It's that death of idealism, you know, hitting close to home.

TeenHollywood: A lot of people in this movie were already close to Emilio in some way, and he had them in mind for some roles. Was your role the only one offered to you?

Nick: Well, with the description of Dwayne Clark reading 'young black man, early twenties', you know, I fell in love with that role and what it stood for. The opportunity to play a young political activist in 1968, it's the chance of a lifetime.

TeenHollywood: Did you know anything about Emilio? Did you know him first from his acting roles?

Nick: Emilio Estevez is the dude from Young Guns in my mind. So I was like, 'wow, I get a chance to just even sit with this guy that I've admired and talk about a great script that he wrote'. I think, from our first meeting, we kinda just linked and I saw his passion, his emotion for this project. I told him I'd give him my all if he gave me the opportunity, you know, and from there, a friendship began, but before that, I had never met him.

TeenHollywood: What did you think about the wardrobe from that era, cause you look like super-smart nerd guy?

Nick: Yeah, the outfits, for me, that was doing half of the work. I came on the set in the baggy jeans and the Timbalands, and the hat to the back, but you know, as soon as I put that suit on, and had the afro picked out and [put on] the glasses, I was like, a different person. And I became Dwayne Clark or "Baby Malcolm X". That's what they called me on set.

TeenHollywood: You have a heartbreaking scene where you throw a chair in frustration. Was that in the script or spontaneous on set?

Nick: Emilio told me that he was doing his research, and he was going through photos, and he saw a photo of a young Black man heaving a chair into a water fountain. And he was like, 'I wonder what he was going through that young man's mind to just be so hurt and so angry?' And that's where he started to develop the character of Dwayne. So that moment was actually already pre-meditated. I'd have to make this look natural. I wanted to be searching for something, and then, out of rage, just kinda grab it and throw it. To make it look natural, I feel like it was definitely a challenge.

TeenHollywood: Do you think Barack Obama ( Black U.S. Senator from Illinois) is a Kennedy-like guy for our era?

Nick: Definitely, in the same sense that I feel Bobby was a man of the people, Obama is the same way. In that first speech, everyone was introduced to him in at the Democratic Convention. It was like, wow, who is this? It was a breath of fresh air, and ever since then, he's kinda taken the reins. Everybody's in full support of him, and it's refreshing to see people excited about a politician. You'd see kids jumping at Bobby, and excited. It's the same with Barack. I don't think kids were jumping at Bush.

TeenHollywood: You're doing Day of the Dead, is that connected with the remake of Dawn of the Dead?

Nick: It's not connected to it. But, I was like, 'yo, I'm such a zombie movie fan', and I don't think I'd ever get the opportunity to do one again so I [went for it].

TeenHollywood: So is it the new fast-running zombies, or the old traditional ones that walk so slow that anybody could escape them?

Nick: It's a little of both. There's a lot of the fast speed zombies, but then there's slower ones. Obviously it's another George A. Romero remake. You know, Ving Rhames is in this one as well as a different character.

TeenHollywood: Where do you stand on your music right now?

Nick: My single that's currently out right now is called "It's Your Birthday." And it was a marketing idea that I came up with because October was my birthday month. I was like, I'm gonna drop the song "It's Your Birthday" and I threw twenty-six birthday parties in a month. I went on this campaign like every night, I was throwing a different birthday party, promoting the record, and it was some of the most fun I've ever had. The other night was the last one, and I was like (sigh) I'm exhausted.

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Lynn Barker is a Hollywood-based entertainment journalist and produced screenwriter.