The Black-ish creator talks directing Eddie Murphy and Julia Louis-Dreyfus in his feature directorial debut.
Kenya Barrisis no stranger to starry projects.
Barris co-wrote the script withJonah Hill, who stars as an unhappy finance bro and aspiring podcaster named Ezra.
Eddie Murphy and Jonah Hill in Kenya Barris' Netflix comedy ‘You People’.Parrish Lewis/Netflix
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was the genesis of this film?
I read that it came out of conversations with Jonah Hill.
KENYA BARRIS:You know, we kind of fanboyed out with each other.
I was a huge fan of his for forever.
But we started really talking because I was such a huge admirer ofMid90s.I thought he murdered it.
I called him, and I was like, “Dude, you did something special.
It resonated with me.”
So, we kept in touch.
Let’s just talk and see if there’s something we can come up with.
Let’s spend like 30 or 40 minutes talking."
And then that turned into a three-hour-plus conversation.
We started realizing we’re both L.A. kids.
It’s the people around them.
What were some of the specifics you wanted to highlight in that love letter?
One of them is that L.A. is a really specific place.
For instance, Lauren [London] and I grew up in predominantly Black neighborhoods.
Jonah was from L.A., but he grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood.
That was something that felt really specific to L.A.
L.A. has so many interesting things.
We started saggy pants and khakis and Chucks, NWA.
At the same time, you have skater chic and Odd Future and Tyler, the Creator coming up.
It’s this mixture of everything, where the hood is 10 minutes from Hollywood.
The entire cast is super fun, but I specifically want to ask about Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Eddie Murphy.
What the process of getting them on board?
It was a dream.
I was like, “This is not supposed to happen.”
[Laughs] Them responding to the material was insane.
I was like, “Hold on,what?”
These were our first choices, but we never in a million years would’ve thought that was possible.
It’s like walking on to the Showtime Lakers or the ‘91 Bulls.
That’s a hard situation to walk into for a first-time filmmaker.
Obviously, you’ve had a long career in television, but this is your feature directorial debut.
Did anything surprise you about taking on that role?
When you get actors of that caliber, it’s the cool kids’ table, right?
[Laughs] The talent management portion is something that I never had to really deal with.
Would you say that was the biggest difference, between making TV shows and making this movie?
With a movie, people are going to be in and out.
No one was a dick, but there’s a lot of managing personalities.
That’s something that goes along with being a film director that I was not quite ready for.
I had to sort of learn on the job.
What was your most memorable day on set with this cast?
Early on, we shot the scene where they’re picking the food.
I walked in, and everyone was talking.
[Laughs] I have a sort of soft, semi-nasally voice, and I lost it.
I was like, “Guys, I’m not going to be the substitute teacher.”
I get it."
Is there something you feel you learned making this film?
I think I just learned patience.
A lot of stuff I was lucky to have gotten from show-running.
But I think I learned patience.
But in general, it’s just a much lengthier process.
Television moves at such a different place.
I don’t know that I was completely ready for it.
But I learned, and I’m really happy with what we got to.
What kind of conversations do you hope people have?
In particularly about the Jewish-Black contention, or whatever you want to call it.
The biggest thought I have which I have honestly believed forever is that we’re better together.
I really hope people respond to that.
