Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
But hes exercising a new acting muscle in the upcomingSteven Soderbergh psycho-thriller,Unsane.
This whole project has been so cloaked in secrecy.
My agent hit me up and she said, Soderbergh has this movie.
Its a cool project, and he wants you to be a part of it.
If you like the script, let me know if you want to do it.
I was like, Hell, yes I want to do a movie with Steven Soderbergh!
You dont say no to Steven Soderbergh!
So you didnt audition?
He had just seen your work and asked for you by name?Hes the greatest guy, literally.
He said to me when we talked on the phone, Ive been a fan of you for years.
He said, Matt Damon kind of showed me some stuff it was my Denzel Washington impression.
I have to work with him somehow.
And youre gonna get a chance to do it in this movie if youre up to it.
I said, Damn right Im up to it, Mr. Soderbergh [laughs]!
Yeah, Im up to it!
I said, Lets go, man!
The next month, in June, we were shooting it.
The experience was fantastic, phenomenal.
Claire Foy is a beast.
Joshua [Leonard], hes dope.
Juno Temple, shes amazing.
Juno Temple is wild.
In this, but also always.Oh my God, yes.
I love her man.
I think her creativity and Soderberghs eye collaborated perfectly.
He let her play.
He let all of us be that way.
If there were some things we wanted to try, he was up to it.
I mean, if he aint like it, he can just delete the video [laughs].
This intense movie, a psychological thriller.
Being able to riff and improvise on camera obviously plays to your professional strengths.
He knows who he saves.
He knows what he does.
Hes a nice guy.
Hell go in a strip club and then all of a sudden hes got 20 roommates.
You know what I mean?
Stuff like that [laughs].
We were really in it there.
Im not going to put too much out there, but we were going to work.
Thats all Im saying.
We were goingto work.
Very much.[Laughs.]
I was too nice, right?
Well, I played that up.
I played up being too nice.
Because you dont know who to trust.
I think that was Soderberghs intention for the movie.
So yeah, I could be crazy!
So Im glad you felt like that.
I go through that in real life sometimes.
Im a nice dude, so people are like, Wait.
Why is he so nice?
He gotta want something.
Im like, no!
I just got good parents!
Thats what it is [laughs].
Im in Hollywood, but Im notHollywood, if that makes sense to you.
Im straight up about my business, you know?
Im there to work.
Im there to build my name.
Im there to get better.
I do not have time to go and party.
I mean, partying is cool sometimes.
I dont give a damn about that.
I dont do coke.
I dont do no drugs.
Wasnt that passed down to you from Charlie Murphy?
Dont do coke?Yeah!
Oh, you did your research!
Yeah, he told me, Jay dont ever mess with that stuff.
Now, if you want to smoke a little bit of ganja every once in a while?
Aint nothing wrong with that.
They gonna legalize it in a minute.
Its gonna happen.
You remind me of my brother so much.
You got too much talent.
Dont do that to yourself.
I was like, Alright!
No one really wants their own Rick JamesChappelles Showepisode in 2018.[Laughs.]
Bitch Im Jay Pharoah!
I dont play around.
Ive seen things, and you know, I just choose to stay away from them.
Its not a hard thing for me, and Im always working and trying to get better.
And has that changed at all, going from New York to L.A,.
So just keep on being yourself.
Like, Okay, Jay wouldnt do that.
They kind of create a barrier of protection to keep me away from certain things or situations.
But when Im by myself, I still have that same mentality.
