Fruitvale Station stars Octavia Spencer and Michael B. Jordan cover the latest issue of JET Magazine where they talk about their award-winning new film.
The Oscar winning actress and adorable rising star play mother and son in the harrowing Forest Whitaker -produced movie, which depicts the last few days in the life of 22-year-old Oscar Grant , who was shot and killed by a BART police officer in 2009.
Michael B. Jordan as Oscar Grant in ‘Fruitvale Station’
On the set of the JET cover shoot, Octavia and Michael talk about the parallels between the Trayvon Martin case and the Grant case, which like Martin’s, was also opened as a civil rights case by the U.S. Justice Department.
The actress also admits that though she wasn’t thrilled about playing a mother to a grown man, Michael is “so brilliant.”
Octavia:
“I think ‘Fruitvale Station’ sadly is very relevant to the Trayvon Martin case and what we fail to realize is that we’re dealing with human lives, and the loss of young human lives… A life lost is way too much.”
Michael:
“Unfortunately with these cases you see a person’s character gets put on trial. It gets taken into two totally different directions. You see this villain, this monster, so with this project, we really wanted to give him his humanity back. To show a day in the life of what this guy was like on his day-to-day routine. To really understand who this guy was and give him a little bit of his humanity back.
I think it’s very important and very relevant because of Trayvon Martin… and the millions of Trayvon Martins and Oscar Grants around the world that never… their story never gets to see the light of day. So I think it’s very important to tell their story.”
The critically-acclaimed film, which won awards at both Sundance and Cannes film festivals this year, is the first feature-length project from 26-year-old director Ryan Coogler , who was honored by the Sundance Institute this spring.
Though several screenings of Fruitvale Station have rolled out and touched hearts in many U.S. cities this month, the film will be out nationwide on July 26.
Watch behind-the-scenes of the JET shoot and the Fruitvale Station trailer below.
