"Skin Deep" [Jarmusch interviews Isaach De Bankolé], Time Out New York (#319, November 8-15, 2001)
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Skin deep
Otomo's Isaach De Bankolé talks about racial politics, on screen and off
By Jim Jarmusch
Editor's note: Best known for his work with Claire Denis (Chocolat) and Jim Jarmusch (Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai), 44-year-old actor Isaach De Bankolé adds another provocative performance to his resumé with Otomo. The film is based on the true story of an African in Germany who, after a racially charged dispute over a subway fare, killed two cops before being slain himself. De Bankolé recently spoke on the phone with his Ghost Dog director to discuss the new film and other hot-button topics.
Isaach De Bankolé is one of my favorite actors. He takes his work very seriously, fully transforming himself for each character he embodies. No matter how outwardly guarded or unreadable that character may be, Isaach somehow allows that emotional core to leak through his amazing features in the most skillful, subtle and honest way, and at the most appropriate moments, with absolutely no apparent calculation.
Jim Jarmusch: Otomo is based on a real incident that happened in Stutgart in 1989. Was it intense recreating that story?
Isaach De Bankolé: Yeah. The last scene of the movie was even filmed in the real location where Otomo was shot. It was very, very deep. Five hours after the last scene, I was still shaking – I thought that I had really killed two people.
JJ: Otomo is about racism that manifests itself in a violent way. You've lived in the Ivory Coast, Paris and New York – how does racism differ from place to place?
IDB: Racism is the same everywhere. Even in the Ivory Coast where I was born. My parents come from Benin and my grandparents from Nigeria, so I was born in the Ivory Coast but I was not from Ivorian parents.
JJ: You're a Yoruba?
IDB: Yeah. In scholl, I experienced the worst shit you can think of: You're not the same as us. Every morning you've got to give your food to older kids – all those things people experience. My parents experienced two riots against Yoruba people in '57 and '76 , where they just put the stores of the Yoruba on fire. That kind of violence is in any human being.
JJ: Darkest skin – they're the street sweepers, even in Rio.
IDB: That's the problem. Even in Africa, light-skinned black people govern the country, or are higher-paid, or the CEOs of the big companies. Even the darker ones want to have light-colored wives. That's fucked up. We talk about the pure race, black is beautiful, – but no one wants to deal with black.
JJ: What we know from DNA is that all people on Earth are from Africa. So what the hell? The purest are the closest to source.
IDB: Everything comes from Africa. How can you say the blues comes from Mississippi? Before Mississippi, where were your great-great-great-great grandparents? But the black Americans want to keep themselves away from Africa. And they can't, because even the whites come from Africa!
JJ: I may be the lightest nigga you've ever seen, but I'm proud to originate from Africa!
IDB: Yeah!
JJ: You recently moved to New York. I know partly it was romantic – your wife, Cassandra Wilson, lives here – but were there other reasons why you wanted to leave Paris for a while?
IDB: Yeah, I wanted to try something else. I had been living in Paris for 22 years.
JJ: When I wrote the character Raymond in Ghost Dog for you, I was afraid even to tell you that he speaks French. But it had nothing to do with your ability to speak English.
IDB: That was a great idea. Raymond wouldn't have been the same strong character in English. To me, it's proof that the character was very well thought up, well brought into the story.
JJ: one reason you're one of my favorite actors is you bring ideas that I wouldn't have on my own, and you always elevate your role above anything I could write.
IDB: If I'm able to bring those ideas to the character, it's also because what is written brings my imagination alive.
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