tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight, a conversation with not one, but two talented artists, b and antoine fuqua. their latest is "olympus has fallen," which has washington under siege. angelanted artists, bassett and antoine fuqua. joining us now is our director. this is the guy who has been calling the shots. i am honored to be your subject every night, sir. >> thank you, tavis. over the years, it has been wonderful to be part of so many conversations, even ones that challenge my belief system. this is the only position i have

worked on where my i.q. has increased a few points. tavis: do you want to take it away? >> we are glad you could join us for our conversation with angela bassett and antoine fuqua, right now. >> there is a saying that dr. king had that said there is always the right time to do the right thing. i just try to live my life every day by doing the right thing. we know that we are only about halfway to completely eliminate hunger, and we have a lot of work to do. walmart committed $2 billion to fighting hunger in the u.s. as we work together, we can stamp hunger out. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

angela bassett has played some icons, like coretta scott king. tackledfuqua has ."bjects, including "training they have teamed up for a new movie. it is called "olympus has fallen." i have seen it. i loved it. it is about the white house being taken. let us take a look at a clip from "olympus has fallen." thet is confirmed it is president. >> mr. president? identify yourself. it is one of yours? >> designator. 0-9.-

>> where are you? >> and the white house. >> can we trust you? >> he was one of our best agents. is this the same guy that was removed from the president's detail? banning is a ranger battalion. he will move mountains or die trying. >> intelligence coming out of the white house. we have no choice. tavis: i love did this for a number of reasons, not the least is that it has angela bassett. you have got a brother, named morgan freeman, and you have got a brother, antoine fuqua. i want to know how you pulled that off? [laughter] it is amazing, an amazing flick.

i was kidding with antoine. i laughed when i saw the quote of harvey weinstein. he knows a little bit about movie-making, just a little bit, and he said easily, $100 million-plus. how do you feel when harvey weinstein says something like that? >> i love harvey. tavis: i am glad you raised this, because i remember a conversation on this show, angela, with will smith, and methodically picking the movies that he wants to do. he gave out his trade secrets. if you want to have a summer blockbuster, these are the things you need to have. he just broke it down. action, its center, and he said if you give me a decent script with all of those elements in it

-- action, etc. what are the elements that you look for if you want a story that has this kind of action in it to be a story that does well? >> people want to get a lot for their money these days. i think you need some substance these days. you need something that they can hold onto and relate to. in our movie, you have terrorism. terrorism is a part of our life now. if you take a film that has big think you plant it, i can have success. the other way is a cartoon. in the middle is dangerous. when you do not have anything that is grounded, even if you have a great action, if it is not grounded to something people can connect to right now, you will have a dismal failure. if you have a cartoon, you have

a better shot at it because you have more freedom. if you have a drama with no action, you are really walking a line, because you, becausedramas m -- because you cannot get dramas made. plus another $30 million in it, and it is a drama. >> and if you want to make money back, you have to double or triple that. to angela, inside the movie business, how much consideration has to be given to the fact that even though it is action, and we know it is action, how much thought goes into its it is believable? that are a lot of people think the white house is a fortress. you can convince some of is that the new white

house could be taken. is that part of the fun? thing you can convince some of is that the white house could be taken. some navyght in seals, a couple of guys that work in the white house, -- andked in the white house, we planned it out. just last tuesday, a tourist jumped over the fence, so that shows you there is a vulnerability. i think people, their brains are wired now since 9/11, you know -- i talk about this a lot, the commission of 9/11 segui lack imagination. -- 9/11 said we lacked imagination. when you put that into

perspective, a well-oiled machine that are willing to die or die for their cause, with some inside help, they can cause a lot of damage. yous: some characters that have played, i am sure it does not have to be some sort of iconic figure, but from coretta scott king, rosa parks, i could have put her on that list, tina turner, what goes into your decision-making process at this point in your career about what you do want to do and what you do not want to do? a black woman in the secret casting against type. i love that. elements, and some of them weigh more. this was one of the things, the ability to work with this man.

a clear and strong vision, and just a nice guy on top of that, as well, he and it has been years that we have been hoping to work with each other -- as well, and it has been years that we have been hoping to work with each other. you never know when it will, or when the opportunity arises. rolle, asscript, the you said -- the role, as you said, and working as a woman in the secret service. a lot of times, we have life imitating art, what the president may look like these days. freeman, itorgan had never been done, and it is a reality right now. geena davis on the

small screen. i love putting that into the audience consciousness. that is just private, you know? otherwise, this is just a fun movie. a big-action thriller, adrenaline, easy for guys. what is a wonderful in addition to that is that there is such heart and intelligence -- what is so wonderful in addition to such heartt there is and intelligence. my character. the president's son. .> ashley judd tavis: i thought when i saw ashley, with all of the talk

about her pending senate run from the state of kentucky, it was nice to see her in a high- tech thriller. what are you going to say -- and i suspect you are going to be getting some of that, given all of the conversation about gun- control -- what are you going to say about this? it is pretty violent. it is entertaining, but it is pretty graphic. >> you know, the beauty is that sometimes we document life in documentaries, and in fiction, we are allowed to translate. i think they should embrace this because this goes to -- for me, the reason i wanted to make this is that it is a cautionary tale. we are vulnerable. the garbage trucks belong to us. the idea of having tourists in

front of the white house with backpacks, that is part of freedom. to me, begun-control issue can controlt, -- the gun- issue can come out. every weapon they had is american made. that is something to think about and talk about. whether or not how we police it, people in government have to make that decision, but something has to happen, because now we are talking about putting knives back on the plane. it seems we have a short memory. 9/11 was not that long ago, and they did it with box covers. -- box cutters. we go home, but in real life, people die. what can we learn? maybe we should have a little more gun control, because you

have people walking around that look like tourists that could have weapons in their bags, because you can make them online. take on this,your part, not antoine's to give it away, i love how we came in, on this weaponry that the terrorists are using, and you can see on the box is american made. can see on the box they are american made. >> details. weis: that is so much that deal with. we have financed and sold weapons around the world. they may at some point come back to haunt us. layered a lot of

that in the movie. it is true. even the point to one of the characters who is part of the secret service, a human being that is used by a villain to attack us, and i know you were talking earlier between the president and the secret service, just the idea of always keep your guard up and having an awareness. >> that is what the opening is about. keep your guard up. that is part of the world we live in. terrorism is a part of our lives, unfortunately. tavis: you and i box at the same gym. a lot of people do. the movie does start out with a scene where the president is boxing with one of his secret service detail members, which

leads me to ask, what do you take from boxing into york directing? i love how you use that metaphor a moment ago -- how you used that met for a moment ago. when you take from boxing in to -- what you take from sport.into your at the the boxing scene beginning of the movie. >> you train, and is a chess game. it is not just brutality. eye,rope got to keep your as i know, -- you have got to keep your eye, as i know, on

your opponent's eyes. >> you could go to sleep. cormier, boxing, even when i am filming, -- for me, boxing, even when i am filming, i box. the first time i was boxing, i got knocked out. it was a skinny dude. this guy hit me so fast, i did not know it was coming. the idea of putting it in a movie, that is america. we are great warriors, great fighters, but if we drop our guard, which we did before, we saw what happened. character, hes says, "you put your guard down." "keep your guards up."

you see what can happen when you drop your guards. you are going to get hit. terrorists are sitting around waiting for that. that is what they do. any opportunity that is out there, they will take it. one year ago, there was the guy in times square, and a vendor happened to see him. the vendor, he kept his guard up. he kept his eyes alert. we do not want to think about it, but it is a part of our lives. in jordan and elsewhere, they live with it daily. we sit in coffee shops and what are dogs and live a free life -- and walk our dogs. she plays one of them. people doing things behind-the- scenes that we do not see. four secret service and all of

the other organizations in service for us -- for secret service and all of the other organizations in service for us, it is 100% success or 100% failure. kennedy, failure. ronald reagan getting shot? failure. but think about how many times it does not happen because they are out there doing their jobs. this is really a message to us. entertainment, of course, it is a thriller. it is an action thriller, but the idea is this could happen, and this was laid out by people who know. is it is laid out this way, and you are sleeping on the job, and somebody can jump over the fence to get to the white house, that is a problem. tavis: i want to go back to angela and talk about the mountain top plate. the last time i saw you, you were on broadway. antoine is talking, i want

to go to something. this may be a little bit politically incorrect, and if you do not want to talk about it, we do not have to talk about it. when i started reading the commentary about it, seeing none harvey weinstein -- seeing what harvey weinstein and others said about it, thinking it was going to be a blockbuster, in my house, i applaud you. i literally applauded you. applauding you for your work in this film. i was applauding you for doing this bill and doing it at such a high level. for those of us in this town, there was a moment after "training day" when you wear at your apex. denzel washington wins the academy award under your direction for "training day."

i am glad that he got the itpect that he deserves, but gets really ugly in the press. in this down starts blaming you and trashing you, and your name was mud in this down, and you survived that, and you are directing this blockbuster with other stuff on your dog it. -- your docket. how you survived being slimed. do you mind talking about that? >> no, no, no. part of its business. of it is this. getting knocked out and having humility, you grow and learn. in retrospect, i look back. i disagree with how they handled

things and how i was treated, but i accept that in key moving, but i am a fighter. i came from the streets -- but i accept that and keep moving. ultimately, what i look at is the work. when people say negative things or try to distort what i am about, i always step back and doing the work. you cannot argue with the work. so they are always going to say something negative about me somewhere, but the legacy is the work. at the end of the day, when they step back, was he a talented director, and could he do the job, could he make us money? that is it. tavis: thank you for answering that. i did not know if you would want to go there, but thank you. it is instructive. those of us in life have to dig these hits, and you are not going to go to your grave

without it -- those of us in life have to take these hits. our leader who is leading the ship. we are on a journey, trying to reach a destination. phenomenal, one of the best experiences i have ever had. the work, the product, and the man. phenomenal. tavis: speaking of the work, your work, before my time runs out, you were phenomenal. way you playedhe this character and pulled this off was, i mean, you are the best. i take it you enjoyed the experience. >> i did. that is my roots, stage, theater, so to have the opportunity to go there, a film is a director's medium, but the stage, opening night, the director is gone. it is in our hands, and the

audience, it is living, breathing, growing. is exciting. it is thrilling. muche not done nearly as sense. actors are going back and forth. is that what we can expect, you going back and forth? >> i enjoy that it was a new voice in the theater, so we will say. my husband is on the stage doing a play with tom hanks. "you want to go at the exact same time?" you know what? if your heart is there, and your passion is there --

standing ovations every night. directorw is this thing working? do you already know what is on the docket? >> i will not mention it. i want to make sure it happens. tavis: ok. my godmothers says that to me all of the time. mygot mother says -- that to me all of the time. people who do not wish you well, do not tell them nothing. shut your mouth. "tavis,"t i saw you on saying you were going to do so and so." it is a wonderful project.

i think you will enjoy the director, antoine fuqua, and angela bassett, with a wonderful, all-star cast. congratulations. >> thanks. fors: that is our show tonight. thank you for watching, and as always, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. atn me next time as we look historic moment in the fight for civil rights with tyler branch. that is next time. we will see you then. >> there is a saying that dr. king had that said there is always the right time to do the right thing. i just try to live my life every day by doing the right thing. we know that we are only about halfway to completely eliminate hunger, and we have a lot of work to do.

walmart committed $2 billion to fighting hunger in the u.s. as we work together, we can stamp hunger out. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> be more.