Soon afterwards, you’ve got another action film that’s going to be highly looked at because it’s got a couple of big names in there. And that’s ‘Abduction’. How long ago did you shoot that movie?

DW: We shot ‘Abduction’ last year. In fact we shot it late summer of last year. Whereas, in contrast, ‘Warrior’ was shot in 2008, and it’s just now coming out.

With ‘Abduction,’ did you know Taylor before shooting the film?

DW: Yes, I had known Taylor before that movie. Actually, in fact, I had known Taylor just basically through mutual friends. I was in ‘All That’ and he was on ‘Sharkboy and Lavagirl,’ and we would go to these different Nickelodeon events and hang out with the same people. We then started hanging out together. In fact, it was so random. I would see him in weird places like acting classes. We’d pop up and see each other and then we’d see each other at this party. It was like we didn’t live close to each other. But every time we’d see each other it was like, ‘Hey, what’s up my man? How you doing?’ What’s cool about that is that it transcended right down into the roles of ‘Abduction’. As soon as I got in the auditioning room, first thing Taylor comes out and says, ‘Buddy, how are you?’ And it was an interesting friendship. We’ve been warming back up since then and I think that naturally worked onscreen because we already had that chemistry in place.

That’s good. Judging from the trailer I see you play one of his friends, who helps him try to discover who he is?

DW: In the film, I’ve always been his best friend over the years. The back story was that John (Singleton), Taylor and I set up was that we’ve all been best friends since birth almost. Even through the girl he ends up falling in love with which is, of course, Lily Collins’ character. We’ve all been best friends since. You know how friends sort of spilt off in high school? Well, we stuck together. Now that he’s actually starting to find out who his true identity is or that he’s actually started to find out that the identity he’s always known isn’t his real identity, that’s when he comes to me for help because everybody around him he can’t really trust. I’m one of the few people he’s known for years that’s not going to turn on him because I’m his best friend. I’m Gilly.

How was working with John Singleton on this movie?

DW: It was great. John’s a very intense director but he’s also very casual in his methods. He has it all in his head. He has the time schedule. He knows what he wants to get, and he knows when he wants to get it. When the lights hit. He’s very precise but at the same time he allows you the room to do your thing. You sort of step back and he’s like, “Play with the character. See what you think.” Or, “Ad lib this line,” or, “Throw me a line here.” So he’s not ready to let you just become the character. But at the same time he’s like, “Dude, we’ve got to get this shot. Come on, man. The light’s taken. I want the light over here and now it’s moving over here.” Which is very good. So within that precision and then within that sort of flexibility I thought he was a great director to work with.

Read the compete interview HERE

Source: BlackFilm.com