AFI Awards: Regina King & the Cast Reflect on ‘One Night in Miami’

“One Night in Miami” is already taking home awards!

The movie, directed by Regina King, is among the American Film Institute Awards’ 2020 honorees.

“Extra” has your first look at Regina accepting the honor, and a conversation between the film’s stars as they reflect on the film.

The movie is a fictionalized account of a 1960s meeting between Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), Muhammad Ali (Eli Goree), Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), and Sam Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr.).

Regina said in her speech, “We made this movie to give voice to conversations that have been taking place long before I was born, and these conversations continue to reverberate to this day. Kemp Powers, our amazing writer, took a real-life meeting that happened on a historical night 50 years ago to imagine those conversations and he provided a snapshot of what it may look like when you have four iconic men share a trusted space.”

She added, “When I read Kemp’s incredible script, the dialogue, it literally punched me in the gut. I was particularly impressed by the way he portrayed these larger-than-life figures as human beings without the titles, who like all men have fears and insecurities.”

Watch her full speech below!

Meanwhile the four stars discussed that trusted space their characters inhabited that night. Goree explained, “I think with us, we’ve never seen a group of Black men just being able to have a conversation about life and the things that are important to them, and to be vulnerable and to be excited and to have fun without wallowing in the tragedy of our history. This film really resonated with people because it didn’t indulge in Black trauma, it celebrated Black victory. It celebrated Black accomplishment. It allowed us to have fun and just enjoy ourselves.”

Watch the video for more with Goree, Ben-Adir, Hodge, and Odom Jr.