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A Conversation with Sanaa Lathan and Carl Franklin of "Out of Time"

By George O. Singleton

George to Carl: This film is not marketed as film noir, but it's certainly got that feeling. To what extent are you looking for critical as well as box office acclaim, say, $100 million?

Carl: I tend to not worry about that because you make so many concessions if you try to please every segment of the potential audience. If you do that you are operating in quicksand.

George to Sanaa: How did you get into the frame of mind to change from a romantic role early in the film to a person with a less than gentle third dimension? (Readers, I'm being purposely evasive here to not spoil this part of the film for you)

Sanaa: If you get into your imagination, your body automatically does emotional recall. I just try to immerse myself as completely as I can in the circumstances of the character.

George to Carl: How did you migrate from Richmond, California and from acting to directing in only 14 years?

Carl: Acting kind of came from the blind side. I was a history major in college. I took a literature class because I thought it was an interesting elective and I was selected for a play. That introduced me to acting. The head of the department [at Berkeley] got me into acting in New York.

George to Sanaa: You had a lot of support from your parents. You went to Berkeley and then onto Yale. You've been working with some top flight male actors [Denzel, Omar, Taye]. What will it take for you to get to the level of Angela Bassett or Diane Lane?

Sanaa: I have no idea. Every road is different. Everyone has a rule as to how to get to where you are going. It could be this movie - it could be seven movies from now.

George to Carl: The line on "can you hear me now?" was shown in the TV promos. What's the deal on that?

Carl: Denzel made up the line on Verizon on the spur of the moment, so I don't think they paid us anything for that.

Carl: We tried to keep the action fairly believable. With a good lab and solid "green screen" techniques, it worked out well.

George to Carl and Sanaa: This film has a lot of race neutral casting. How much progress have we made from just repackaging stereotypical images of "Birth of a Nation?"

Carl: I think we've made a lot of progress in that respect. (Sanaa cracks up at this question and offers to take a picture of Carl while we are talking). This started out as a white cast, but what happens when you have someone like Denzel, the ethnicities are not as important. They are mainstream actors. The studio was much more cooperative in allowing us to cast in a way that appeals to a broad base of demographics.

We agree with that description. It's not as evil as "Body Heat" but it's just as much, if not more, fun.