After a career of ups and downs, Wesley Snipes is excited for his next chapter.
But before Netflixs True Story, hes sharing his own true story.
Wesley Snipesis an angel.
Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes in 1992’s ‘White Men Can’t Jump.'.Everett Collection
No, the charismatic actor hasn’t ascended to another level of beingat least not yet.
“That’s the Khepera,” he says of the Egyptian sun god gracing his virtual background.
“It’s the ascension of consciousness in the soul.
Wesley Snipes in 1998’s ‘Blade.'.Bruce Talamon/New Line
You’re free.”
“It’s an interesting Wesley Snipes journey, I must say,” the actor muses.
“I enjoy me.
Eddie Murphy and Wesley Snipes in 2021’s ‘Coming 2 America.'.Everett Collection
I enjoy the discovery of my potential, my strengths, my weaknesses.
Like, ‘I guess it ain’t so bad, boy!’
It’s been a kaleidoscope of experiences.”
Wesley Snipes and Kevin Hart in Netflix’s ‘True Story.'.ADAM ROSE/NETFLIX
It was hard to believe there was a guy that handsome who was that good an actor."
Soon everyone was paying attention.
That’s no exaggeration.
Julie Newmar(“The LGBTQ community loves Miss Noxeema,” says Snipes).
His resume speaks for itself, but Snipes paints himself as unaware of his work’s impact back then.
I never looked at film as being a movie star.
I wish I would have paid more attention to it."
The pinnacle came in 1998.
(Marvel would followBladewith record-breaking X-Men and Spider-Man movies.)
That drama paled in comparison to the tales fromTrinityactorPatton Oswalt, who, in a2012 A.V.
Club interview, described Snipes’ behavior as"f—ing crazy in a hilarious way."
“(Snipes has flatly denied assaulting Goyer.
“I hear the rumors where they say, ‘Oh, he’s difficult,'” says Snipes.
“Difficult for what?
You could have askedSean Connery, ‘What was it like to work with Wesley Snipes?’
The list goes on.
And they’ll tell you the real deal.
They don’t talk to them.
They talk to Canadian comedians!”
“Because I’m Black,” he says matter-of-factly, letting the response breathe for a moment.
“In America, Black guys are considered a threat.
Dark-skinned Black guys are considered more of a threat.
And you put the dark-skinned Black guy in action, people can’t separate the two.
A producer might say, ‘What happens if Wesley gets upset?
He’s a martial artist, s—, he might snap and kick my ass!’
But chatter about Snipes’ on-set behavior quickly became the least of his problems.
Suddenly,Passenger 57was Inmate 43355-018.
“‘He was a lawyer in prison.’
They even sent me a clown!
The clown was a serial killerbut he used to be a lawyer!
When they discover him, of course he’s locked up.
I said, ‘What do they think, that I’m an expert on this?’
“I’ve been past it,” he says.
“Interviewers find interest in things that happened 10, 20 years ago.
We’re moving forward.
We don’t even think about that stuff anymore.
The best way to change the conversation, then, is to give people something else to talk about.
Enter Eddie Murphylike Snipes, he was looking for a bounce-back after some lean years.
“Wesley is bananas,” Murphy says with a laugh.
And he just cracked it out of the f—ing park.”
“Suddenly I was like, ‘Oh yeah,Mo’ Better Blues.
Oh yeah,White Men Can’t Jump.
Oh yeah,Major League.'”
Snipes once again delivered big laughs, this time as the eccentric African dictator General Izzi.
The steady stream of celebrated work evokes a certain word, which Snipes prefers not to use.
“To me, it’s like the second chapter.”
True Storyis part of that next chapter.
The night goes horribly wrong and could cost both of them everything.
“I thought, ‘Who would be in the Scorsese version of this?'”
saysTrue Story’s Eric Newman, who’d previously attempted to cast Snipes on his addictive Netflix crime dramaNarcos.
“Wesley brought a gravity to everything.
He’s a guy who carries with him a life lived.”
He also arrived with dramatic bona fides that comedy rock star Hart aspires to.
When I come, I come correct.
We’re not coming to pull punches.
So if you want to go for it, then I want to give you my support.”
But as he’s learned, there’s no clear playbook.
“Hell yeah, you better change!
If you don’t change, you’re going to have a problem, a lot of problems.
Everybody else around you has to change too.”
These days, those around Snipes include his wife, his five children, and his clique.
The Daywalker Klique, to be specific.
To hear Snipes tell it, he might be the Most Interesting Man in the World.
“People have never really seen what I can do as a martial artist.
I look forward to demonstrating some of my body mastery with future films.”
Is he putting Marvel on notice?
It seems that way.
“I don’t need a jobI create jobs,” he says.
“I don’t feel any loss in not working with [Marvel].Bladewas white-belt stuff.
We’re black belts now.”
A version of this story appears in the November issue ofEntertainment Weekly, on newsstands now andavailable here.
