Acting, directing and producing in a film when you have no budget and only nineteen days makes it extremely, extremely difficult.
Art should offend people because art should challenge people.
But I did on projects that I produced, that I directed, that I acted in because it was important. I want to be a filmmaker. I don't want to be an actor who directs, I want to be a director. I want to be a filmmaker. So that's a big difference.
But I try not to become preoccupied with that because with whatever direction I follow, with whatever advice I've followed or not followed, It's landed me in New York, in a very beautiful hotel, talking to people about something that I love. So I ain't that far off.
But there are stories within the universe, in the world, that need to be told, that need to be populated with more minorities.
Ever since I've left, I've been doing nothing but this film and traveling, promoting and doing festivals. So the good thing is that I'm not sitting around pining over whether I made the right choice in leaving. I'm moving and grooving.
I don't see me doing $100 million films because $100 million films, the very nature of them, you need to offend as few people as possible just to make your money back.
I think American cinema, particularly, has become so disposable. It's not even cinema, It's just moviemaking.
I think that you make the best choice with the information that you have before you at that given time.
If you're doing one scene on film that takes three hours, and on High Def if you can do it in an hour and a half.
It is even interesting when Beach's character calms the young white girl and is able to stick her with a needle. That scene is an interesting combination - a black doctor and a white patient, white woman patient, an attractive white woman patient. I found that to be a very intelligent scene.
It's my company and I believe in the company that's why I started it.
Just trying to get a film made which is always difficult no matter what kind of a budget you have. Not having a budget makes it even more difficult. Having nineteen days and no budget makes it extremely difficult.
Maybe It's not the biggest blockbuster film, but there will be some people that will see it, that will be debating it, that will be questioning their own sense of spirituality. If the film resonates, then I have succeeded in what I set out to do.
Normally, we see characters that have God complexes. How interesting, I thought, it would be to capitalize on that. And say, OK, well fine, you have a God complex, well this person has a Satan complex. And the doctor chooses to treat him scientifically.
Regardless of what people ultimately think about Crazy As Hell, It's not the type of film that, ten minutes after seeing it, you're only focused on what you want to eat.
So It's not like I go from being this disciplined person who has to get up and go to work to now I just lay around all day in my underwear eating Cheerios. I have this structure. I still have to do this and the difference is I'm doing this for me and my company.
So that, to me, is important that audiences are treated with an amount of respect toward their intelligence. Most Hollywood films don't respect their intelligence.
That's what Crazy As Hell represents, because there's no reference to race in this film whatsoever. There's no reference.
That's what Hollywood films do. They tell you this is a tender moment. Now we want you to cry. I refuse to manipulate the audience that way.
The films that have influenced me and the films that have motivated me and inspired me were films that resonated, films that made me think after I saw them.
The Sixth Sense is not a good white film. Insomnia is not a good white film. They're just good films. So why we can't we have good films that happen to have black people, or Asian, or Latino, or any other minority group in them?
Well that's the point: People don't normally take away things from films anymore. You go and see a $100 million film, half an hour later, your biggest concern is what are you going to be eating.
What happens if you're in a situation that you're the last one to recognize that you're in a situation, and people around you realize that you're in a not-great situation? There are clues, and we ignore them, and we don't pick up on them because we're so busy trying to make a deadline.
You can't do psychological thrillers. There's no audience. I've heard this. I've heard this from studios.
I feel that all good art is powerful and simple.
I really believe in melody.
If music leaves any impression at all, it does so without regard to stylistic issues.
These days people wallow in enormous masses of sound.
Eriq shares a birthday with Slash, the guitarist for Guns N' Roses, and professional baseball player Nomar Garciaparra.
Eriq participated in the first of Joseph Papp's Shakespeare productions at the Park theater company.
Eriq studied two years at Juillard.
Eriq is a master in martial arts.
Eriq was born Erik Ki La Salle.
In 2002 Eriq directed Crazy as Hell.
In the spin off TV series A Different World Eriq played Prof. Paul Mann.
Quantum Leap a TV series was another stop for Eriq playing Bobby Lee.
In the made for TV movie Rebound: The Legend of Earl ‘The Goat’ Manigaul Eriq played Diego.
Detective James Van Der Zee was the character Eriq played in the 2002 movie One Hour Photo.
In the movie Biker Boyz Eric played Tariq ‘Slick Will’.
Julius was the character Eric played in the movie Johnny Was in 2005.
Eriq was born in Harford, Connecticut.
Eriq and Paul McCrane both starred on the short-lived CBS drama, Under Suspicion, which was on at the same time that ER had started.
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