Another scene is on the bus. When we shot it, you see us get on the bus and off the bus but you never see us ON the bus. So I kept asking, ‘where am I on the bus?’ When we get off the bus, I’m not going to be as excited as Lucy who gets off the bus. Her reaction is like ‘Wow’ and this is likely my first experience with overt racism. It’s been a collaborative experience of what works and what doesn’t work. But there are times when we actually smile and flourish because our whole history doesn’t suck. We also don’t want it to seem like the first happy black person was in 1990.
BSO: Is your mental preparation for each episode a challenge? With all the time hops its almost like you have to play a different character for each time period.
MB: No it’s a little more grounded than that because there are constants. Me, Lucy and Wyatt. No matter how many plaes we go, we’re the same. What changes is our experiences. I think what grounds me is having a better an understanding of who I am when the show starts. Once I know this is a kid that grew up like this on the Westside, had this amount of life, this amout of bullying, this amount a jobs and this amount of concerns everything else sort of feeds into that.
BSO: Lastly, this show is coming online during a very tumultuous time in society. Some people want to confront race matters head on while others would rather bury their heads in the sand. How does Rufus fit in today’s climate?
MB: Some people will find my character really relevant, some will be offended that we are talking about race, some will think it’s super political and we are only doing it because of Black Lives Matter and some will think THANK GOD we are finally talking dealing this. Thank God we are finally having a person of color go through this.
I love reading the detractors. I love reading the detractors because I love seeing people’s ignorance. We’ve come to a place in history artistically where inclusion is seen as political and exclusion is seen as the norm. It’s political to bring in a black person or to make a woman as a ghostbuster but its normal to make sure everyone is white and that Matt Damon saves China like that’s normal. But it’s political for it to be someone black or a woman.
To be part of a show that goes, here’s the reality of it, that’s a beautiful thing. It also highlights how ignorant people are when they try and detract from something that is really just based on the creativity of history and what adversities we had to go through.
BSO: Your outlook is so refreshing and I’m looking forward to see your realness on the screen. Thanks again for your time, I wish I could talk to you more
MB: [Laughs] My pleasure.