>> rose: welcome to the program. we begin this evening with jeffrey tambor, the star of "transparent" on amazon. >> i think i'm a better parent. >> rose: because of maura? yeah, i think i see more aspects of things. i think i see more aspects of me. and, so, i think i'm a different parent. maura becomes a better parent. >> rose: because she is more honest now? >> she found herself. >> rose: we conclude with director spike lee. his new film is called "chi-raq." >> what i want people to take away from this film is we have to do something about guns in this country. it's crazy.

88 americans die every day due to gun violence. so our image is it's only in the hood, it's black, hispanic. no, that's wrong. gun violence affects every american in this country. so you say 88 a day, that's 32,000 a year americans who are no longer here every year due to gun violence. >> rose: jeffrey tambor and spike lee when we continue. >> rose: funding for "charlie rose" has been provided by: captioning sponsored by rose communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose.

>> rose: jeffrey tambor is here. he plays maura pfefferman, a transgender woman on amazon's "transparent." the "new york times" calls his performance a revelation. he's earned numerous awards including golden globe and emmy. season 2 appears on amazon january 11. i am pleased to have him. welcome. having seen you and met you on the morning show, great to have you at our table. >> i'm a huge fan. >> rose: are you surprised by the response to this? >> absolutely. you have to understand. when i was a little kid i went downstairs in the garage and practiced doing autographs, and i would actually do talk shows down there, and i would do -- because this was the day of jack paar and steve alan and i would pretend i was the interviewer

and the interviewee, and i would make the sound of the audience laughing. my poor parents, i'm surprised they didn't arrange an exorcism. so i thought the end-all would be to sign an autograph and then, boom, you're there. but this is amazing. i'm 71 years old, and it's such a time. it's so amazing. you're just wondering, i don't look like 71. i know, i know. >> rose: how did you know? because i can read people. so, no, this is a great, great, great time, and i have been given the role and the responsibility of a lifetime. couldn't be happier. >> rose: yeah, but you've said it was outside of the jeffrey tambor technique. >> yes. >> rose: in other words you didn't have anything in your bag that you could rely on for this character as you saw him or her? >> except i had jeffrey tambor and the heart of jeffrey tambor and the vulnerability of jeffrey tambor. the surprise to me was that i

got to use more of jeffrey tambor than i've ever been able to use in a role. >> rose: what part of you are you using in this? >> well, me, the part that is not gender-specific, that is, i guess -- >> rose: your male side, your female side in. >> it's more spiritual. and it's a surprise to me, because i just thought, the hard part was going to be the external and the wig and the costume and the mani and pedi and that pardon was actually easy and fun. the heart and soul of maura was -- >> rose: was what? there is an adage in acting, you're stuck with the character but the character is also stuck with you. i thought, i have a lot to bring to her. i am, in many ways, her. >> rose: explain that. i actually can't.

there is something intuitional about it. there is work that you do, there is people you talk to, books, but at a certain point, it's you. there is a certain point it comes out and you say, i understand maura pfefferman, i understand this woman. >> rose: can you explain to me what you understand? >> her heart. her yearning to be herself, to be free. to be understood. to not be made other-ized. to be comfortable in her clothes for the first time. to not fake it. to be a woman. >> rose: the country has come a long way on transgender, hasn't it? >> yeah. it's very interesting.

i feel like our show is more like we're an arrow that got shot into this zeitgeist and it just blew up. understand, we have caitlin show and our show. >> rose: caitlin jenner. caitlin jenner. and they all seem to meet. as i'm driving to meet you, i'm on the internet and i'm seeing this stuff and it's very alive and fluid and the world is changing. >> rose: it clearly is change. and there are new challenges and a whole range of other things. >> absolutely. i had a gentleman come up to me in the airplane the other day and he was very watched and very ringed and very haired and very shoed, and he came up to me and was going like that. and i said, oh, i'm going to get it. and he said, thank you, thank you for introducing me to an

area and a subject i had no idea about it. and i said, well, there is the revolution right there. >> rose: you said you were reading something on your iphone on the way over here. >> rosehere. yeah. >> rose: the capacity to access so much of everything is amazing to me. for someone who grew up in a small town in north carolina and sort of dreamed about cities and places around the world, to be able to go anywhere, you know -- >> and to connect. >> rose: and to connect. yeah. very powerful. >> rose: i could go today between now and an hour from now and see so much just through one thing of what you have done professionally and read so many reviews. >> that's rather daunting. >> rose: it's daunting, but it's also -- and the interesting thing, too, because i'm really prepared to do -- getting ready to do two new "60 minutes"

pieces on on science and both ae needing to be managed well and at the same time opening new vistas. extraordinary. >> when i grew up in san francisco, all i wanted to do was go to the library. and i still do love libraries. i'm the parent who cried when my kids got their library cards. but that was the place i went for solace and connection. the west portal library. i go around and i can read a book this size, this size. i can actually read a book. i'm actually a co-owner of a book store. >> rose: where? los angeles, skylight books on the east side. >> rose: what kind of book store is it? >> just a book store. you're inside to come read.

have you written your book? >> rose: no. what's going on? >> rose: i'm busy. well, just make it up. it doesn't have to be true. >> rose: have you written your book? >> no. i'm going to. >> rose: how are you going about it? >> it's interesting, maybe we should have a cup of coffee. i know what the title is. >> rose: what? it's what a guy said to me when i was coming out the stage door and he said to me, are you anybody? and i said, no. and i kind of said, i have to fix -- whatever just happened, i have to fix. so the title of my book, will be, are you anybody. ask me if i've written anything other than that. >> rose: have you written anything other than that? >> no. it's hard to talk about yourself. >> rose: how has this changed your life?

you now say are you anybody? you are, in terms of this perception. people knew your face and character. people know you. >> except the guy in the lobby who said he liked my work on curb your enthusiasm. >> rose: what is the part of your story you think is important to tell in this memoir you are now writing? >> oh, that's interesting. stick the to your guns. stick to your dreams. help people. open your heart and teach. i think there is only two things we have in this world is teaching and learning and that's it. you're either a teacher or a

learner. >> rose: you have to be more of a learn -- i'm more of lerner than a teacher. >> you're a teacher. i watch you. >> rose: you watch in the morning. >> and i watch you on this. my father -- the whole problem with being jeffrey tambor right now -- >> rose: what is the problem? the problem is, with this whatever this is aside from the curb your enthusiasm reference, is my father was always -- he always said, don't celebrate because they'll take it away. in yiddish -- >> rose: i think your father was wrong. i think you should celebrate. i think you should enjoy every moment of it. it is the doing of the thing, the celebration of the thing, the pursuit of excellence in the thing, all of that you should just dive into the deep end of the pool. >> can you do me a favor? >> rose: yes. can you call me every

morning? that would be very helpful. >> rose: give you a message for the day. >> because it actually does. i would say, dad, dad, i'm playing opposite of alan aldo on m.a.s.h. and he would say, shhh... >> rose: and would say, celebrate that and celebrate his company and friendship and acting with him. that's who you are. >> the kids do a wonderful gesture i've disallowed myself. when they win or win the basketball game, they go, yes! and you should do that in life. >> rose: tiger woods does that. he was the best at his game ever. that was his move, you know, after he sank a putt from that far away. can't do it anymore. think about this, to be the best

in the world at what you do. >> yeah. >> rose: a lifetime of learning. >> yeah. >> rose: competing. yeah. >> rose: growing. yeah. >> rose: and then because of a couple of things beyond your expectation, one having to do with behavior, one having to do with injury, you can't do it as well. >> i know. but you to something different. >> rose: but you're still young, too. >> yeah. >> rose: it's not like you're 80 and you say, oh, gee, i can't hit the serve like i used to or i can't drive like i used to. >> i feel like i have more access to myself and my strokes and my keys on the piano, i think they're different. >> rose: yeah. i enjoy them. i enjoy playing maura. i like her sense of humor and i like that. it's interesting. >> rose: but has it opened up -- beyond the idea of celebration and "fame," has it opened up other things for you?

>> i have four kids at home. >> rose: yeah. i think i'm a better parent. >> rose: because of maura? yeah, i think i'm more present in life. i think i'm more aware of things. i think i see more aspects of things. i think i see more aspects of me. and, so, i think i'm a different parent. that's the same thing of maura. maura becomes a better parent. >> rose: because she is more honest now. >> she found herself. >> rose: she found herself. and at 70, she made a break for freedom over and above anybody else in the family. >> rose: here's what's interesting, too -- no one can imagine anyone with else as maura but you. >> oh, that's very kind. >> rose: no, it's true. when they say, could they have thought of anybody else, he is perfect. >> that's interesting. >> rose: what a genius these people are. >> yeah. thank you. >> rose: to have jeffrey be

that. >> people come up to me on the street and sometimes -- they will say three things. the first thing they will say, i saw the show, i didn't know what to expect, which is code for -- i used to think it was code for the transgender movement, but i think it's code for me playing the role of saying are you going to handle this right or am i going to be okay with you, because i'm also the actor who did kingsley and george and oscar booth, and they say, i liked it. and that's important to me. usually, they will stop and talk about their family. not just a transgender conversation -- >> rose: because they think you are a listening, giving, caring human being? >> yeah. and the show goes. jill saloway's stroke is right at the family, very family centric, and she's a wonder. working under her baton is the

safest set i've ever been on. >> rose: meaning you can take more risks because it's protected? >> totally protected. there is no wrong or right. there is just the next take. it's totally intuitive. it's not like wood stock and everyone is going, la-la, la-la. there is the thing that actors do and they will say, let's do it, and they will do the take. then the director will say, this one's for you, just do it. that last take is sort of our starting premise. it's very free and it's very loving and it's very transformative. >> rose: before you got this and it became everything it is and celebrated as it is, you were a happy man. you were a working actor. >> i'm the jewish son of russian hungarian parents, so happy is not on the menu. but, anyway, let's go on. >> rose: are you serious? that's a joke.

>> i've always had trouble with happiness. >> rose: that's not what happiness is. >> who are you? you're mr. happy and i'm mr. glum. i thought it was going to be opposite. i watch you in the morning and you look straight ahead into the next cue, and i study you. >> rose: you can learn a lot doing that. (laughter) >> no, but i am happy. my kids in the morning and my wife. >> rose: you get to live another day. >> i get to live another day. and they are my teachers. they are so happy to be alive! they are so exuberant! they are just, like, 100% there. >> rose: you have said before that the highest compliment you can pay an actor, that you can praise an actor is simply to say, it doesn't look like acting. it looks found. >> found. >> rose: "found" is the word i

didn't understand. >> it just has come together at that particular moment. there is an opening scene of an episode 1 of the second season where our family gets together for our wedding portrait and the man playing the photographer, i think he made a mistake or not, but he called me sir. and right in the middle of the scene, he said, excuse me, sir. and i turned to judith and i said, did he say sir in and she said, yes. i said, okay, we're done. we're done. and we walk off. the whole pfefferman family just walks off. i know a lot of directors who would yell cut at tha that poind let it go. it was the greatest moment.

>> rose: it was you being spontaneous. >> absolutely, and the moment is found. and i think -- in watching jill's work and her wonderful movie afternoon delight, the moment seemed found and not rehearsed and not performed. i have no problem with performing. i went to a broadway show last night and it's performed beautifully. i have no problem with that. there is something about this family that that is our ethic and that is sort of how we -- it's sort of almost like you're watching life. >> rose: has acting been everything you expected? it's given you everything that -- >> yeah, i lived across the street from the theater, san francisco state college. i grew up in san francisco. i used to go across and watch these actors, 90-year-old actors -- they were 17 -- but i

was around 11 years old and i would watch them rehearse and they would let me help them, and i remember thinking, whatever this is -- they would say, you know, mo this rock, and i would move this rock. and there was the light of the foot lights -- that should tell you how long ago it is -- and there was something about how they treated each other as gentlemen and would stop and talk about the scene. i would think, whatever this is, i've got to be part of this because i felt truly connected. the other irony is, during all of this, i had a lisp and talked like gus gus in cinderella. >> rose: and you got rid of it. >> i got rid of it. i think it's because of the lisp upthat i became an actor. i thought, well, this has to change. >> rose: you can't be a -- and you can't have a lisp and be an actor. >> no. i remember in ant any and cleopatra, when they said, who

gives this -- and i had a lisp and i remember saying to myself, this has to change. >> rose: should you have played for shakespeare? >> i played a lot of shakespeare. >> rose: i know you did. in a way, this is my lear. i would love to play lear. it's so interesting. you think a career is this, and it's always this. >> rose: it's like living. it is. >> rose: what was it john lennon said? life is what happens while you're doing something else. i used to watch them walk into the park at 4:00. >> rose: yoko and john? yeah. i lived one block south. i would watch them walk into the park. they would walk into the park hand in hand around 4:00, 4:30. then the other person walking down the other side was kazan in his overcoat, and that was a

wonderful time to be in new york. i thought today, how did i ever live in this? we were down in lower manhattan and i was thinking about my first commercial audition there where i ewalked in and i said, i'm here to play the father, and they said, no, you're here to play the waiter. i said, no, i'm here to play the father. they said, you're here to play the waiter and here's your line. she says, you know what a casting director is? i said, no. she said, i am the casting director and you're playing -- and i think my line was "more ice?" and i delivered it with that gravity. and she said, thank you. and i said, should i leave my picture and resume? and she said, if you must. that was my kickoff. (laughter) >> rose: that could turn you around. i think i'll become a waiter. >> that's right. more ice?

>> rose: more ice? yeah. take a look at this. this is our first video, first clip of the pfefferman family attempting to have a wedding photo. we talked about that. roll tape. >> everybody happy? everybody say cindy lou! >> sinlcindy lou! how about a jewish reference? everybody say, i want a little lime! >> i want a little lime... just take the picture. this could get fun. people are moving. everybody say hanukkah! hanukkah! ? none of these words end in a smile. it's all a weird mouth thing. >> hold on, hold on. wait!

>> wait! oh, my gosh! excuse me. did you want my chin up or down? do you hear me? >> chin up. i can't hear you. what did you say, please? >> i said chin up. you look beautiful. one more. kay, one more. i think we paid for more than one photograph. >> rose: after that, you left? yes, and she said, chin up, sir. and i said, that will be enough, and we left. what's interesting about that is the camera's locked out, it hasn't moved. that's all contained in one shot. that's a gutsy move. >> rose: gutsy acting, too. yeah. >> rose: because it's much easier when they do the other way, the normal way. >> yeah. >> rose: i mean, bird man, did you see bird man? >> yes! >> rose: how did the camera work there?

took those long shots. it was incredible, michael keaton would say -- you would do it perfectly, but somebody along the way would screw it up. >> you have marks here. if you don't hit those marks, that thing is gone. >> rose: do you get joy from the process? >> oh, i love the process. i love the process more. the life between "action" and "cut" is where i think i'm most organized and most myself. the rest, i need the charlie rose phone call in the morning. (laughter) >> rose: i could help you. i know you can. we'll talk. >> rose: i could make your life -- >> wouldn't that be funny if you became sort of like my spiritual healer? >> rose: people today have life coaches. >> i know! >> rose: i met a young woman the other night, she said to me, you know, i have a life coach. and she's, like, 25, an actress.

i said, what i does a life coach do? she said, well, i may be having a problem, she'll call me up and tell me, this is what you have to do. she's, like, 23. she hasn't had a lot of life. so maybe some wisdom might help. >> yeah. >> rose: you've had a lot of life. >> i do. >> rose: the life coach is what you are to your kids, you hope. you're a life coach for them. >> they're actually more of a life coach for me. >> rose: really? well, because to have the comiewb -- because of the exuberance. the first thing to no in life is exuberance. >> rose: i know. but you have it at 71. >> i know. i'm lucky. i think it's very odd that what's happening at this age i thought would happen at 35. it's very surprising and i'm quite humbled by it. >> rose: but quite happy about it, too? >> you keep harping on this happiness thing.

where have i come to? yes, i'm happy! >> rose: you set it up. you said you thought you would come to this at 35 and you've come to it at 71. >> yeah, ium a. >> rose: could this only have happened on something like amazon or something like amazon? >> absolutely. there is no doubt about it. when i first -- it was so interesting, first of all, they're so gutsy and talented. they threw down here. they got jill saloway. they understood her beauty and what she was doing and joe lewis and roy price, they picked it up not just for one year but two years. it's unheard of. you go to television and see chairs, chairs, chairs, people with ideas. we don't have any of that. it's just, like, go, go, go. we trust you, go. >> rose: larry sanders was fun, too. >> it was. changed my life. >> rose: how so?

gary did a show -- gary schanlin dade show called it's the gary schandling show and i said, whatever he's doing is what i think comedy is. it's a little messy, a little unstructured, sometimes you have to lean in, sometimes you have to pass a joke to something else. sometimes it's not funny, and sometimes it's something else. cut, two i'm in his office and auditioning for kingsley because they couldn't find it. >> rose: they couldn't find -- they couldn't find someone they liked. >> rose: yeah. so i auditioned. i remember i left my house at 12:00. i had a 3:00 audition. i kept circling. >> rose: and what were you thinking? >> i was just getting it and getting it.

i walked in and i gave the best audition i've ever given in my life. >> rose: did they come up to you after it was over and say, it's yours? >> there was a moment where hank, who is so nervous, gary read wit with me, our casting director started to leave and for some reason to stop him i took an entire couch and put it in the door to block his way, and i remember gary turning to francine and going like that and then i said, i have this role. then i called him later that afternoon around 3:00, 4:00,, or much later, and he was at the gym and i said, i have to have this role. i've never done this before. he said, hank would. >> rose: did it make you happy? >> yes, charlie, i was happy!

i was very happy! (laughter) >> rose: then came arrested development. >> yeah. >> rose: what is it about you? i don't know. it's like a trifecta. >> rose: it is, exactly! it really is something. i know that. mitch called me and said can you come down and play the father for a couple of days? he wasn't offering me the season. i actually had another series in the works. i played with jason bateman that day. i put on the orange jump suit and w went in and had a great time. the other project fell through. i was in prague doing hell boy. they said, we're doing 13. they said, how many would you like to do of 13? i said, 13. (laughter) >> rose: and were you happy? i was happy. >> rose: i have to close. tell me this -- looking at you today at 71, you seem to me to have been, you know, the personification of a very talented actor who's always

working. >> yeah. >> rose: that was your life. yeah. >> rose: love the profession, love doing the thing, love everything about it. >> yeah. >> rose: had a great life, great family. >> yes. >> rose: and then all of a sudden, there comes a role that elevates you to a different place. >> yeah. >> rose: couldn't have happened to a better guy. >> oh, what a nice thing to say. thank you. i always thought i was going to exist between, you know, 5 and 1. when we grew up, there was this character prototype, fred clark was one, a guy who played mel on the dick van dyke show. there was the bald sort of mean guy who played the principal or the owner, and i thought, that's what i'll do in my life. i'll be that character. i'm bald. i went bald when i was 18. so i'll be that bald guy. i never expected this. i thought i was just going to be the bald guy. >> rose: it fits. the baldness?

no. rose: no, being this. you'r. you're not good. you're fantastic. >> rose: thank you. back in a moment. stay with us. >> rose: spike lee is here. his films have become synonymous with new york city. he turns his familiar ray's -- his camera's focus from brooklyn to the windy city. "chi-raq," called an improbable triumph. hire's the trailer to "chi-raq." >> this is an emergency. this is an emergency. >> homicide in chicago, illinois, have surpassed the death toll of america's special forces in iraq. >> welcome to "chi-raq"!

land of pain, misery and strife! >> everybody here's got a man banging and slinging, fighting for the flag, risking the long zipper in the cay diver bag. all ending with a bang. >> what's up? alyssa, a woman like no other. >> you just try taking away their guns. >> what did you say? going to go boom! all right. but what else do they love? >> repeat after me -- i will deny all rights of acces accessr entrance. >> misses trayda had them all

take a solid oath, stop the murder madness. >> that's right, you get snubbed. >> we're going to make sure these fools put down these guns! (singing) >> baby, "chi-raq." don't call it chicago. i live in "chi-raq"!

>> peace! >> rose: pleased to have spike lee back at this table. welcome. you have been here so many times. >> if this table could talk -- >> rose: yes, we would have a best seller. >> how are you doing, sir? >> rose: doing good. thank for having me. >> rose: what brought you to "chi-raq"? >> my co-worker who is also a professor, he had this idea and we tried to get this script made six years ago. that script is based upon the great play by aristophenes. that was written 411 b.c. and the play is about women using sex to stop the war. >> rose: would give you no sex and you have to stop the war. if you don't stop the war, no sex. >> it's locked up. >> rose: yeah.

so we took that premise and moved it to the south side of chicago today where -- i'm not bragging about it, but chicago is the murder capital -- a part of chicago, not the whole city, but the south and west sides is the murder capital of the united states of america today. >> rose: there is a lot of gun violence in chicago. why is that? >> we have been trying to -- i have been trying to figure this out since i started doing this film. i've asked many people, but it is true, and what i want people to take away from this film, charlie, is that we have to ask americans -- as americans, we have to do something about guns in this country. it's crazy. 88 americans die every day due to gun violence. so our image is that it's only

in the hood, it's black, hispanic, no, that's wrong. gun violence affects every american in this country. so you say 88 a day, that's 32,000 a year americans who are no longer here every year due to gun violence. >> rose: by definition you believe if you take guns away and don't make them so easy to get, if you could eliminate that, you could make a huge dent in gun violence in. >> but what i would like to see because we don't want to infringe on second amendment rights. >> rose: if you grew up where i did, you might become a hunter. >> but hunters don't hunt with ak-47s. it's same thing, charlie. so i think there are many things we can do. father flagger who's in the

film says we should title guns like cars. there are so many things we can do to bring the number down from 88 a day. >> rose: you know the mayor, rahm emanuel, is not happy about the title. >> well, we met in may and at this moment, time and space, i think the title of "chi-raq" is the least of his problems. >> rose: because of what's happened. >> with the fed coming in to look at the police department from top to bottom. and the police commissioner already resigned. so ten to one, the title of this film is at the bottom. >> rose: for problems for this mayor. >> oh, yes. and for whatever reason, they

sat on that tape. that's an horrific tape. >> rose: for a year. yes, for over a year. for me, that's a snuff film. laquan mcdonald film. there is supposed to be a tape that came in yesterday. i saw the tape of the guy in san francisco. >> rose: video has opened our eyes to examples of -- >> yes, and who's to say we don't know what happened before -- i mean, me, the first time something i saw was the rodney king tape, that's the first time for me where a tape became a national thing. >> rose: right. did they make life difficult for you in chicago? >> no. no, we had the police with us. >> rose: so everybody helped you make this film? >> yes. there were some aldermen who gave us a hard time.

one alderman tried to stop us from having a block party which i financed out of my own pocket. another alderman trade to make us be disqualified for the tax rebate because of the title of the film but both things were successful. >> rose: tell me the story that you're telling. >> the story goes back to 411 b.c. >> rose: yeah, i know the story. but here. >> the women who are tired, they live in the south side of chicago, they're tired of the killing, their families being destroyed, and they say we're going to come together and lock it up. but the whole sex strike thing is really, it's a metaphor. in no way, shape or form are we suggesting like the way to stop gun violence in chicago is to have a sex strike, no one is saying that. although, a woman,ly m won a pee

prize using that tactic to stop the civil war in liberia. but for me she rac "chi-raq," pe speaking in verse. so we're not saying this is "reality." >> rose: this is also a new arrangement you have with amazon. >> yes, this is amazon studio's first theater ca theatrical rel. >> rose: how will the release work? >> the film came out december 4 and doing well and eventually will go to amazon prime. but it was in theaters first because there was a lot of confusion. people think amazon, they think automatically it's going straight to their homes. >> rose: but there is a delay. there is a delay to be on amazon prime. >> rose: when you select

samuel jackson -- (laughter) >> the biggest star in the history of cinema, if you just go by the amount of money his films grossed. >> rose: is that right? yes. >> rose: more so than -- nobody's even close. >> rose: -- harrison ford, indiana jones, "star wars," all that? >> sam beats them. my brother works a lot. >> rose: he's doing a lot of ads now, too. >> i direct those commercials, yes. >> rose: as a favor to him or -- i don't k you do things as a favor do, you. >> no, he asked me to do them. so, actually -- >> rose: the advertising agency. >> i direct them. >> rose: right. so we now have worked together since "jungle fever" so the commercials brought us back together, so, thank you, sam,

for getting us back together. >> rose: this film is about a serious subject. >> yes. >> rose: but it also is a satire. >> yes, it is a satire. and, as you know, this is not the first film in the history of cinemay satire has been used to deal with a very serious subject matter. one of my favorite films is called "dr. strange love" which is about the nuclear holocaust -- >> rose: danny cubric. yes. what can be more serious than a film about destruction of the planet, but that film is hilarious. so it's hard to do but i think we're successful. >> rose: if you do it with nuclear weapons you think you can do it with guns. >> yes, you have to find the right balance between crying and laughing, and people do both. >> rose: in terms of doing the satire, john cusack's

character -- >> yes, he's based upon the real life father michael flager. >> rose: who is father michael flager. >> as ecall him, fadder, is a white roman catholic priest. he's been on the south side of chicago 40 years, and his congregation is all black. he's an amazing human being. he's been at the forefront of anti-violence, anti-gun violence, everything, cigarettes, alcohol, he's been at the forefront, and he was a blessing to this film. he gave me -- he was the one when i came to chicago, he showed me who to talk to, who i should meet with, so he has a real stamp on this film. so can yofilm. so cusack's character is based on him. when i cast films, i like to get

the glint of the seasoned with the youth. the formula. >> rose: take a look. estrada played by keyanna paris explaining her plan to the other women in the neighborhood. >> i'm down for the cause but how? >> we force our men to negotiate peace by exercising self control and total abstinence. >> you likely think stuff like that can bring peace? >> you know the power we have over them from withholding just a day. a week? imagine a month. a year! >> they'll go crazy! suppose that the men just dump us. >> if they all hold out, who can they go to?

>> we will enlist them. ant our men alive and our babies to thrive? we're going to have to organize. repeat after me -- i will deny all rights of access or entrance. >> i will deny all rights of access or entrance. >> from every husband, lover or male acquaintance. >> from every husband, lover or male acquaintance. >> who comes to my direction in erection. >> who comes to my direction in erection. > in verse, that's one of the thing we kept from the play, not the whole film, but most of it is in verse. >> rose: in verse. that's hard, isn't it?

>> it's not hard. you know why? because -- >> rose: of course, you've got to write it. >> you've got to write it, but we felt audiences would like it because 30 is a rap also in the spoken word. >> rose: did you get that idea from "hamilton"? >> no, we wrote this before i even saw "hamilton." >> rose: do you love "hamilton"? >> i've seen it six times. we've had a special screening for the company of "hamilton" for "chi-raq." >> rose: a special screening for -- >> the company of "hamilton" for "chi-raq." >> rose: what did they say? they loved it. "hamilton" is a work of genius. i like "into the heights," but that's amazing work. >> rose: what's next for you?

well, i have to continue to teach class. >> rose: you're a tenured professor at n.y.u. school of communications? >> tenured professor at grad film school. i teach third-year students getting ready to do their thesis films. >> rose: they have a great school at southern cal. (laughter) >> they'll kick our as in football, but when it comes to film -- >> rose: n.y.u. is it? numero uno in the world. >> rose: are you living in man h hatton or brooklyn. >> in manhattan the past six years. >> rose: you moved because of the kids? >> no, my wife said we have to move because everybody knew where we lived so it was like

ringing the bell 4:00 in the morning -- eak to spike?ng, we want to >> yeah, my brother's sister's cousin went to school with you in the seventh grade, and we were a landmark. we had to go. >> rose: is there a movie -- but my office is four acres in brooklyn. >> rose: you go there every day? >> every day. that's where we do our work. >> rose: and how many movies have you made? >> i don't know a number. >> rose: 25. more. >> rose: 35? have you made the movie that you think -- >> started since '86. it began in '86. >'86.>> rose: jungle came along after '86. is there a movie you want to make that -- >> that's a funny question.

>> rose: it's a suggestion that somehow there is something you have been working on in your mind. >> a project, you mean? >> rose: you wanted to make malcolm x. >> i was not the director on that. >> rose: right. there was two films i wanted to make that i worked on but i couldn't do it, for whatever reason, it didn't work out. >> rose: what? one about jackie robinson and another film was about james brown. >> rose: they both got made. not by me, though. >> rose: yeah. (laughter) >> tough business! n you get financing now? >> well, i think so. i'm very grateful to amazon said they wanted to do this. >> rose: they eve got a contract with you and woody. >> that's tv, though. >> rose: oh rierkts.

so i'm grateful to amazon because it was rough sledding till they said, okay. >> rose: you're perfect for them. i mean, they are building a huge empire over there. they won an emmy with "transparent." >> i like that show very much, so i would love to do some tv for them. >> rose: amazon prime, for example. >> yes. >> rose: that can be worked out. congratulations on this. >> thank you very much. >> rose: great to see you. no next question? >> rose: i'm excited about this year. 7-foot 1, 23 years old -- >> just turned 20. >> rose: he can shoot a 3? he's got a game. >> rose: he's building up. he put a little more weight on. lewinsky was, too. >> rose: guess who scored the

most points when they played together, although lewinsky's team won? >> yes, but i was not one of those people that was crying like that little kid. >> rose: you were there? you knew he was going to be good. >> i didn't say that. i just wasn't crying like the kid. >> rose: have you become a huge carmelo fan? >> i've always been a carmelo fan since he was at syracuse. usually lakers come -- teams only with commone time. usually it's later but they came early this year. there was a feeling around the garden this must be carmelo's last time. >> rose: the garden? e world's most famous arena, madison square garden. >> rose: the world's most famous arena. >> yes. and sorry if you won't see me in the garden again.

>> rose: best team in the n.b.a. is? >> you know the answer to that question! what question is undefeated?! >> rose: the warriors, baby. i love the way they play. i love curry. i mean -- and the coach -- >> rose: he's under contract to underarmor, you know that. >> i'm putting that aside. he can play. >> rose: lebron just signed a lifetime contract. how much do you think that's worth? 500 million at best? >> what did the "wall street journal" say? >> rose: 800? what did they say? >> more than i got. more than me and you both! (laughter) >> rose: it's great to have you. >> thank you. >> rose: thank you for joining us. see you next time. for more about this program and earlier episodes, visit us online at pbs.org and charlierose.com.

captioning sponsored by rose communications captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> rose: on the next charlie rose, a conversation with the star of the new film "joy" jennifer lawrence, for the hour.

>> this is my first time growing with the character over -- i mean, i've grown with the "hunger games" but each movie is different each year. i was older. so this was the first time. it's four generations playing the same woman. so that was a different stretch for me. >> rose: but you could understand "joy." >> i understood my joy, and when i met the real joy mangano, i was so fascinated by her life because when david pitched me the movie, we weren't planning on doing a biopic. we didn't want to put those kind of restrictions on us. he wanted to breathe and have creative freedom and explore dreams and nightmares in her childhood and i wanted creative freedom, too. i would listen to her on tv and david would have these long conversations with her and i would listen the them or they would be transcribed and i would read them and her life is so

fascinating. when i met her, she has such a unique energy and personality because she's very sweet. she doesn't have any airs. she's very friendly and fun and funny, but she's also very quietly powerful. she has such a deep, deep patience, and that was really inspiring for me.

this is "nightly businesesi report" with tyler mathisen and sue herera. >> full speed ahead -- for now. stocks rally for a second day in a row as investors and the world await tomorrow's big decision from the federal reserve. blue chip warning. shares of 3m tumble after the manufacturing behemoth lowers its earnings forecast blame being the slowing global economy. a dangerous epidemic -- the new problem that's plaguing the american workplace. all that and more tonight on "nightly business report" for tuesday, december 15th. good evening, everyone. i'm sharon epperson in tonight for sue herera. >> welcome. i'm tyler mathison. the two-day federal reserve