Robert Townsend still has the animated delivery of a character actor, even when describing the nuance of world-building on-set. Mimicking Marlon Brando as Don Corleone, (“Santino, Santino”), Townsend still managed to emphasize understatement. “He’s not going, ‘I’ll kill you, man!’ When he looked, everybody got quiet because he’s the boss. That’s directing.”
Starting in the mid-1970s, Townsend spent a decade acting in sometimes uncredited roles, before releasing 1987’s “Hollywood Shuffle,” a satire about a Black actor navigating the industry that he co-wrote, produced, directed and starred in. It launched his five-decade career as a multihyphenate filmmaker, over which he has delivered memorable features including “The Five Heartbeats,” “The Meteor Man,” “Eddie Murphy Raw” and a short documentary about the pioneering director Charles Burnett.
More recently, the Chicago native has found a home in television, helming episodes of “Power Book lV: Force” and “The Chi,” and in a recurring role on FX’s drama “The Bear,” where he portrays the father of the chef Sydney Adamu (Ayo Edebiri). Townsend, 69, reprised the role for the series’s fifth and final season, releasing Thursday. During a video call earlier this month, he discussed working with young Black actors reared on his work, their intergenerational exchanges and how the themes of “Hollywood Shuffle” remain relevant.
You’ve been directing more television lately. What do you like most about that medium?
Television allows you to go into so many different worlds. It’s like being on a high wire, because you’ve got to do it in a little bit of time, and you’ve got to try and get all your beats. I love the pace of it.
Where do you see the lessons of “Hollywood Shuffle” in present-day Hollywood?
We’re at a different place in history, because we do have a lot of Black executives and creatives that are of color. I think a lot of the shows feel similar to me. So even though we’re in a different time, a lot of the gangster shows feel the same. I loved that “Force” always tried to add humanity. I had so much fun because it’s gangsters, but it’s almost like “The Godfather” in its own way. I love that. So there’s a lot of Black shows, but not a lot of them are sticky: “I gotta go back and watch it again!”
It’s a good time right now, but we still need more. I love Mara Brock Akil’s “Forever”; I think it’s so well-written. I’m not mad at the hood shows, I just want them to be well done.
Do you see directing as a way to endure?
I love directing because you create the world. Sometimes, the scene could be off because of the hair or wardrobe. The devil is in the details. When I was a young actor, I was working on this educational show for PBS in Kentucky. I was in my 20s, but I was playing a 17-year-old kid that didn’t know his history and there was this older gentleman who was teaching me. We had a kitchen scene and when I got there, I saw this production design person turning the chairs over and throwing clothes on the floor. Then he took a piece of bread, ripped it apart and then did this [does a sprinkling motion] over the table. I asked what was going on and he said, “I’m making the ghetto.”
All the production people were white. All the other actors took their seats at the table and I just knew it wasn’t right. I went to the director and said, “I’m sorry, but I’m from the ghetto. We’re not nasty, we’re proud. How do I explain these crumbs to my mother, because she’s going to be watching this?” The director saw how passionate I was and told them to clean everything up. I was shaking, but I thanked him. Afterwards, the other cast members were like, “That was good, man, because I felt the same way.” At first I was like, “Well why didn’t you help me?” But in that moment, I started to find my voice.
What’s it like working with showrunners who have likely been influenced by your work?
It’s a beautiful feeling when you come on set and people respect what you do, and want you to bring your magic. I worked with [the writer and director] Malcolm Lee on “The Best Man: The Final Chapters” and we have a running joke. He asked me to add something — and from storyboarding and movement patterns, I lay out a world like nobody’s business. He does this thing where he plays air guitar and says, “Oh, you got all the chords.”
For the final season of “The Chi,” they put together a yearbook as a gift to the crew. Each season represented a year and one category in the superlatives touched my heart: “Most Prepared Director: Robert Townsend.” That’s what I live for. I’ve worked with a lot of great showrunners like Lena [Waithe], Malcolm, and Eric Garcia of “Kaleidoscope.”
What, if anything, have you been able to learn from the people who grew up on your work?
Sometimes I’m in awe, because someone can love what you do and take it to the next level. They’re like my cinematic sons and daughters. I can watch and go, “Yeah, they’re doing it right.” Keenen [Ivory Wayans, the co-writer of “Hollywood Shuffle”] and I really started a revolution, because we were two boys who never went to film school and made our first movie together. I directed “Poppa’s House” on CBS for Damon [Wayans]. He was the executive producer and star; his sons were writing; the nieces and nephews were P.A.s. I was sitting there like the Godfather. So when I’m on set with these other creatives, it makes my heart smile.
You reached out to Ayo Edebiri and Lionel Boyce before you joined “The Bear.” What impresses you the most about them and is there anything they’ve taught you?
Ayo has a work ethic like none other. Sometimes she’d have seven pages to do that day. She’d tear through it, effortlessly. When we finished the last season, she was on her way to work with Don Cheadle on “Proof.” She’s a fearless spirit, so I recognize that energy when I see these young creatives. Same thing with Lionel; I first saw him on “Loiter Squad,” my son turned me on to that. I call it rocket fuel, because I’m always looking for sources of inspiration. When I see these youngsters doing it on the highest level, it’s very inspiring.
Ayo also directed an episode of “The Bear” [in Season 3]. Did you offer any advice?
I can’t help it, because I’m daddy for real. We’d finished shooting, and when she told me she was going to direct one of the episodes, I was like, Are you prepared? Have you gone through your shot list? Have you started thinking about characters? Then I asked her to have lunch. We went to this restaurant by her condo in Chicago, and we went into this little backroom because it wasn’t as busy. I started talking about blocking, giving her suggestions, and she’s looking at me while making all these notes. I didn’t want to overwhelm her, but I’m like the proud papa.
It turned into a whole session and I apologized, but I couldn’t help it, because I’m also a tenured professor at U.S.C. I teach directing. We were in that restaurant for about an hour and I felt bad, because I’d turned it into a work session. I’m so proud, and when she got her DGA nomination, she shouted out her “dad,” so it’s all love.
What brought you back to acting?
I was a fan of “The Bear” before they even reached out to me. I was telling people, “Have you seen ‘The Bear’? This is a great show.” When they reached out, I was like: “Hell yeah!” I’m very picky. I don’t do just anything, so the material has to really speak to me. Certain people aren’t proud of their body of work — “Oh, I did that for the money” — but I take my name on a silver or television screen very seriously. And it wasn’t so much that I stepped away, I just really love directing.
“The Bear” has become very ambitious in its approach to storytelling. What, if anything, are you the most proud of there, having helped bring that world to life?
[The co-showrunner] Chris Storer — who I call the young Orson Welles, which he hates [laughs] — is a visionary. Not many people can see a world, create its energy, and make the world come alive. That’s a gift. He’s a real artist, and they challenge themselves. They don’t get comfortable. I remember one season, he said: “I’m gonna do this whole scene as a one-er,” a whole seven-page scene. We had to rehearse for like, two or three hours. I had lunch with him about six months ago and he said, “I was nervous watching you watch me direct,” and I was like, “What?” It’s what television should be. You should take chances. You should try things. You should be fearless. That’s what he’s done and that’s what I love about being in that world.
