Frank Sinatra was once called "Ol' Blue Eyes" -- you can now give that name to Michael Ealy who has racked up nearly 10 years in Hollywood with his acting chops, diverse roles and good looks. He has appeared in films like “Barbershop,” “Their Eyes Are Watching God” and “Seven Pounds,” which is available on Blu-ray and DVD today. “Seven Pounds,” the winner of two 2009 NAACP Image Awards, is the story of Ben (Will Smith), a man who is trying to right the wrongs in his life by doing good deeds for others. Ealy plays Ben’s brother, the only family member he has left.
The Golden Globe nominee is known for his intense acting skills, but also those blue eyes. Even though it’s assumed that he must have a diverse racial background, he stresses, “Both my parents are Black. My grandparents, both sets were Black. My grandparents’ parents, both sets were Black.”
Here, Ealy talks “Seven Pounds,” the critics, Hollywood and even a little Halle Berry.
When you first read the script to "Seven Pounds" what was your reaction?
There is a line where Rosario Dawson's character says, "I used to be hot. And I mean like inaudibly hot." [Laughs] I just smiled so big and thought this writing is absolutely amazing, it just is. That's such a rich line and Rosario, God bless her, she nailed it because you can mess that line up if you don't know what you're doing. [Laughs] She sold it so sweet. I was just blown away. It was one of the best scripts I had read in a long time. I loved the story; I loved the nobility behind it. I just hadn't seen it before.
"Seven Pounds" is about self-examination. In what way did the movie make you examine your life?
I didn’t really take any life lessons from the movie;, this is going to sound probably kind of arrogant, but I tried not to. I try not to take life lessons from movies because then you end up living your life as a movie. What the character gets out of it, and the experience, is where I leave it. Myself, Michael, does not walk away thinking I need to give organs—you know what I mean? [Laughs] I don't walk away with life lessons from movies; I just think that you got to be careful about that.
"Seven Pounds" got critiqued by some critics out there. Do you care what critics say?
No, I don’t read reviews, good or bad. I don’t necessarily believe that critics are critiquing sometimes. I think sometimes they can take things a bit personally. I just try to stay away from it because you work so hard on these projects and to have someone who is not involved to come in and either rip it apart or celebrate it for the wrong reasons—well, it’s just whatever. I don’t think we go and make these things for the critics. Often times the critics don’t dictate what the people are feeling. They might say critically it’s weak, but if the people walk away and say, “Man, I love that movie.” That’s all you need. I don’t know what the critics said. Are you going to read something?
No, I’m not going to read anything. [Laughs] I just wanted to know if you cared and you answered that question well.
They might have applauded it. They might have loved it. I wouldn’t know to be honest with you. I just don’t think it matters.
With “Seven Pounds” it was refreshing to see a dramatic film with a very diverse cast.
I thought it was reflective of society. I think it's one, reflective of society to see a diverse cast and it's also in some situations there are people who don't have a diverse amount of friends so you're not going to see a diverse cast. I think that's okay. Not everybody has a bunch of people in their life who are people of color. In this particular story, this guy had White friends, Black friends, he had Black family members, he helped out Black, White and Latin people. After seeing the movie, I didn't know who else was in some of the other roles, none of that matters because at the end of the day you just care about this guy and girl, what are they going to do and the people he’s helping. I hate to sound neutralist; it seemed just like a human story. I saw no race in this story and I kind of enjoyed that. Everything by Black people doesn’t have to be about race.
Do you see things changing for African Americans in Hollywood?
Yeah, of course. I know that there were some people who were like, “There are no Black people nominated this year for the Oscars.” I was like, that’s not true, there are two women nominated for best supporting actress. The problem was we had two new faces with Taraji and Viola. There was a time where if it wasn’t Wesley Snipes, Laurence Fishburne and Denzel Washington—you didn’t hear about a Black actor. In the last five years, you’ve had Terrance Howard, Jamie Foxx, Don Cheadle and Will Smith. All of these other people have been nominated and some of them have won. That’s great, but I don’t think the Oscars necessarily dictate what’s fair and good in Hollywood. At the end of the day, are there more films about Black people being made? Yes and no. I think in the ‘90s there was a resurgence of Black films, some of them good, some of them bad. I think now there are a lot less Black films, but there is also a lot less movies because of the economy and corporate America that now owns the studios. A lot of studios have cut their production orders down in half. That doesn’t help. Have things gotten better? Yes. We’re getting better opportunities, we’re playing better roles and we’re even winning some awards or getting nominated. Recognition is good. I still think we got more work to do, but we got to do some of it ourselves.
You seem like a very calm person. When is the last time you cursed somebody out?
[Laughs] That’s a good one! I’m terrible with road rage. I curse people out on the daily in my car. Sometimes I roll the window and let m*other—excuse me—and let people know! [Laughs] I wish I was this calm and tranquil on the road, I really do. I have road rage so cursing somebody out—that could’ve been two days ago brother! [Laughs]
A lot of our readers want to know if you are single or seeing someone?
I am single. I was in a relationship last year and I am no longer in that relationship so I am single… again.
Essence Magazine did an interview with Halle Berry and she said that she really tried with Black men, but she happened to fall in love with a White guy. You and Halle dated a while ago. Some men were frustrated by the statement. How did you feel about that comment?
I don’t really know why she would feel like she had to say that. I mean, you love who you love, that’s how it goes in life. I’m not mad at her. I think you fall in love with whoever you fall in love with. I don’t understand why she would say that.
What's next for you?
There’s a couple projects I’m looking at right now so hopefully I’ll be doing something this year. I have a project in the can called “Bone Deep” and that will probably come out the end of this year, top of next year.
To check out more of Michael Ealy pick up “Seven Pounds,” which is available on Blu-ray and DVD today.
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Clay is a blogger for BET.com's What the Flick. You can read more of his work at www.claycane.net.