The Interviews | Danielle Brooks, Colin Kaepernick, Giri Nathan

The Daily Show: Ears Edition

A compilation episode of 'The Daily Show: Ears Edition' featuring interviews with Danielle Brooks, Colin Kaepernick, and Giri Nathan. The gu

Key takeaways

• Acting allows for deep self-reflection and emotional healing, especially when portraying complex maternal figures.
• Authentic storytelling requires grounding in real-life experiences and community collaboration.

Main topics

• Motherhood and identity in film
• Activism and racial justice

Notable quotes

"It's not about what we say, but our actions—our kids soak up everything."

"You don't have to earn activism. It's just doing it."

Conclusion

The episode underscores the transformative power of art and truth in personal

Transcript preview

Speaker 3 (0:00) Standard annual medical visits often leave individuals with vague reactive feedback like everything looks fine without providing a real data-driven game plan for long-term optimization. Superpower completely changes that dynamic by shifting from reactive medicine to proactive health intelligence. The system begins by sending a licensed professional to a member's home or by coordinating a visit to a nearby facility for an extensive lab test. This single comprehensive lab test analyzes over 100 distinct biomarkers, far exceeding standard medical evaluations. The Secure Superpower app compiles this data to unlock a deep understanding of the body, detailing metrics of cardiovascular health, liver function, the thyroid hormones, metabolism, cellular vitamins, and environmental toxins. Instead of guessing about supplemental protocols, sleep architectures, or dietary focuses, members receive an entirely personalized, actionable health plan based on their unique results. Recommended supplements and tailored prescription suggestions, including peptides, can be managed directly through the platform. Superpower also calculates a true biological age that members can track over time. Instead of offering a temporary snapshot, the platform maps out data over a lifetime, allowing users to upload PDF lab results into one single dashboard to visualize long-term health trends. An on-demand care team is continuously available to answer questions asynchronously, providing high-end, concierge-level care without the massive price tag of... Speaker 3 (1:34) You're Speaker 6 (1:35) listening to Comedy Central. Speaker 4 (1:52) My guest tonight is an Oscar-nominated actor and Grammy Award winner who produced and stars in the new film If I Go, Will They Miss Me? Please welcome Danielle Brooks. Oh, Speaker 1 (2:27) it's for you? How are you? I'm wonderful. Speaker 4 (2:29) Thanks for having me. Thank you for joining Speaker 1 (2:31) me. Speaker 4 (2:32) Yeah. I've been very excited to see you. And congratulations on the film. Thank you. Can you, without giving too much away, Speaker 1 (2:39) can you Speaker 4 (2:40) give us a little bit of what the film's about? Yes. Speaker 1 (2:43) And Speaker 4 (2:43) the impetus for creating all of it. Speaker 1 (2:45) Yes. First of all, if you are a cinema lover, you are going to love this film. It is so beautifully done by a guy named Walter Thompson Hernandez. And it is about a son who wants to connect with his father who just came out of prison. And the thing is, he's also obsessed with Greek mythology. And he grew up in Watts. And he sees his father as a god. But his father doesn't see himself that way. And so they're having trouble connecting. And I play the mom, Lozita, who I don't want to give anything away, but has a huge part in what happens later in the movie. Speaker 1 (3:23) Yeah. Speaker 4 (3:23) And so it's also filmed in Watts. Speaker 1 (3:26) Yes, we filmed it in Watts, y'all. Compton. I'm not from Compton. I'm from South Carolina. But anyway, yeah, we shot it there. But it's very rare that you actually get to shoot where it's set. And so we were outside, no trailers. You know, we just had a cooler for our crafty in a cardboard box. Like, we was really out here thugging it, you know? Speaker 1 (3:55) But it was so cool because in the movie, he invited the community to be in the movie. And we had to get a mayor. So when I say that, there's a guy in the neighborhood who's like the mayor. He's the one that, if somebody's playing their music too loud, he's the one to be like, hey, can you turn that down for $20? So yeah, he helped us out tremendously. That's awesome. Speaker 4 (4:20) And do you find that, In playing these roles, you know, because you're a mom now and everything. In playing these roles, does it have any sort of reflection on, like, your parenting when you look at what someone in a completely different situation is dealing with, like one of your characters and everything? Yeah. Does it end up putting that bit of a shade, like, in preparation? Like, you know what you would do. as a mother in these scenarios and then because of a script you may have to do something different than what's your your natural reaction yeah Speaker 1 (4:52) i think that's the beautiful part about what we do it allows us to reflect on our behaviors you know we're all out here trying to do the best that we can and now that i am a mother i've always had maternal instincts and, you know, treat my baby like a baby cub and I hold her close to me. But now I hold her even more close and I make sure that I speak life into her. But not only do I do that, it's all about your actions, too. You know, we are. Our kids soak up everything that we do. And I think sometimes we think about what we say, but we truly have to walk the walk to show them how to be incredible human beings, you know? So I'm very grateful that I got to play Lozita. I think she's a character that I've never done before. Like, she's very quiet in spirit, you know? She says a lot without saying much. But there's just something so special because I feel like there's not really been a character like her that I've seen in neighborhoods like this. So I'm excited to... And she was based on a real person, you know? Yes. Who passed away from breast cancer a few years ago. So I'm excited to honor her in this way. Speaker 4 (6:05) Absolutely. Yeah. And do you find that, you know, obviously you're working so much and as you play these different characters that there's... a little bit of a piece of it that you take with you. You know, I'm so interested in how actors can sort of be anybody. Speaker 1 (6:22) Yeah, it's fun. Yeah. I love it. And Speaker 4 (6:26) then it does seem, though, that the people who are really dedicated to it as craft, like, can shed off of that. Yeah. Speaker 1 (6:35) Of Speaker 4 (6:35) that thing. But sometimes people can't. Don't know how to shake it off. Yeah, they've gone so deep into the thing. Yeah. Has that ever happened to you before? Speaker 1 (6:42) Thank God, no. Thank God. Because it can really be deep for some people. I think because I'm a trained actor and that's something that they taught us how to shed that off, I've been able to do because I have played characters that go really deep, like Sophia in the movie and on Broadway. Spending a year with a character that's been abused, you can start to feel that way. But then also, like, there was a beautiful song that she had, Hell No. And every night I got to say hell no to my fears and things that... that I felt like were holding me back. So I think every character gives you a gift. I think sometimes we don't, like sometimes I don't wanna share what that gift is, but you know, I definitely feel like she's been such a blessing for me, yeah. Yeah, if Speaker 4 (7:27) you are willing, is there something in the gift of playing this character that you've really got out of it? Speaker 1 (7:37) That it's Speaker 4 (7:37) left you with? Speaker 1 (7:40) I think that it's just reminded me that Speaker 1 (7:45) I am a good mom, number one, but, like, it really has. And it's challenged me to be a better one. Yeah, because I love that baby girl with all my heart. You know what I'm saying? And I think the beautiful part of what we do and what this story does, it's a reflection. It reminds us to look at ourselves in the mirror and, like, really come to terms with what is really... that reflection. I think sometimes we see ourselves, but we don't see ourselves. It's dirty. You know, there's water spots on that mirror. Speaker 2 (8:22) But Speaker 1 (8:23) what is it to really wipe it away and really see who you are at the core and what you're putting out into the world? Speaker 6 (8:28) So Speaker 1 (8:29) I think that's part of what I've, every time I watch this film, Josh, there's nothing, another like... Excuse me another layer that comes every time so I'm excited for the world to see I think it's healing work I think it's something that will change you as a person and it's so damn good like The music John Batiste got in there, you know and did a song this bitter earth It was just it's so good Marian Anderson's music is in this piece like it's so Walter Thompson Hernandez. You need to know his name y'all he's that next director, I promise you. And J.L. Fonz is a phenomenal actor. He's in Lanterns and P-Valley, and he's one of the next Denzels, okay? So, get with it. Speaker 4 (9:16) Yeah, and speaking on reflection, because, you know, we're obviously talking about your character, talking about your perspective, working on the movie and everything. There's a lot to be said about fatherhood in the movie as well. And I guess, I don't know. A bunch of my friends are becoming parents and everything. And so I just see a thing where everyone that cares about being a good parent is pretty hard on themselves and constantly question themselves and everything. But I find that outside looking in, especially watching people become mothers, become fathers and everything, that there's just so much external pressure on moms. And with dads, it's sort of like, are you there or not? Do Speaker 1 (10:01) you Speaker 4 (10:01) know what Speaker 1 (10:01) I Speaker 4 (10:01) mean? Like, it has that element. And then within the movie, it's like how to be present as a father. Do you think that the movie is speaking to motherhood or fatherhood one more than the other? Speaker 1 (10:14) No, I think it's equal. You know, just speaking to that. I don't think the point of the narrative is to say that fathers are absent, you know, in certain things. That is a part of this movie. But I think the beauty is that you see this other character, his best friend, played by Miles Bullock, who has his own son. And he speaks life into his son. And he tells, you know, Big Ant, like, bro, you got to get it together. So it was another brother who has... cared and loved on his son, pouring into him and saying, hey man, you got to. And I just thought that was a beautiful transaction because most of the time in these movies, it's the female woman character coming in and saying, hey, you know, you got to do better, you know, or that older, wiser person coming in and say, but the fact that his peer, that another man of color was the one to say, like, you got to do. better and hold him accountable, I think was a beautiful thing. I Speaker 4 (11:16) think that the love and care and intention that you put in the film comes through in the way that you speak about the film. And I think it's going to absolutely come through in everyone seeing your performance. I'm very excited for you all to see it. One more time for Danielle Brooks. Thank you so much. Quarterback, civil rights activist, and best-selling author whose new memoir is called The Perilous Fight. Please welcome Colin Kaepernick. Speaker 4 (12:11) Thank you so much for coming. Oh, thanks for having me. Yeah, you're so tall. I was... Even as I was stepping down, I was like, I shouldn't have stepped down. What I like about us sitting is that it gives us at least the illusion of the same height. Yeah, Speaker 3 (12:25) we're eye to eye now. Yeah, Speaker 4 (12:27) yeah. My chair is very high. We actually, almost in passing, kind of met once. I know you wouldn't remember this, but basically, years ago, This would have been, like, 2019 or something. Okay. We were passing each other in an airport, and we both had afros, and I pointed to mine, and you were very nice about it. You were like, mm-hmm. Speaker 4 (12:54) I didn't know what to say to you, so then I just panicked and I was like, oh! And then you were like, yeah, buddy. What, twins? Yeah, twins! Thank you so much for joining me. Oh,