Trevante, before you started acting, did you have a sports career, did that help you step into Mike Tyson’s shoes?
Trevante Rhodes: I never thought that one day I would become an actor, let alone play Mike Tyson. This happened to me by accident. He should have helped me, but unknowingly. I studied Mike mostly by watching his videos. And I talked a lot with our producers and our showrunner. It was a real challenge. Getting inside Tyson’s head was quite a spiritual process. It was necessary to go beyond the script and revive the spirit of Tyson in me. The main thing was to understand his way of boxing and observe his movements in the ring. I trained for hours with a fantastic coach. I also had a language coach to express myself like Tyson. I hope I have honored you with my performance.
Russell, how do you play the legendary Don King, who was Mike Tyson’s manager for a long time?
Russell Hornsby: First I had to learn about the man and his background – where he came from and how he was supposed to fight in this cutthroat world of boxing. Find out what was going on in his head and how he made such and such a decision about Tyson’s career. You can’t imagine how difficult his journey has been, someone who is black and who doesn’t come to the ring. He has a great career.
Steven Rogers (Producer): Cousy was Mike’s first manager, like a kind of spiritual father. Don King’s style is the complete opposite of Cus D’Amato. Everything is glamorous and Bling Bling. He was a phenomenon, this Don King.
Apparently, Mike Tyson is not a fan of this streak. did you tell him about it?
Steven Rogers: In fact, we could not, because the right to his life had already been sold to someone else. We didn’t tell him about it. I hope he likes our approach. Anyway, we had some concrete sources, I think our show is very close to the reality of who Mike Tyson really is.
Karin Gist (showrunner): We have done a lot of research to have the most truthful facts possible. We cover a lot of topics and I hope this will be a starting point for many conversations.
Why do you think Mike Tyson’s life may interest the public? Is this a story of redemption for you?
Steven Rogers: It is a fascinating and extraordinary story, a kind of warning about the limits of the “American dream”. But this is also a global story, because Mike Tyson is famous everywhere on this planet. We tried not only to tell the historical facts, but also to show what was happening in his intimate relationship. I remember one of the first Tyson videos I watched during my research was one where he talks about his face tattoo. He explained that he didn’t want to recognize himself when he looked in the mirror. It really pissed me off. I wanted to show that most of his actions had a purpose. I think Tyson’s story illustrates these steps Black lives matter and MetToo, without forgetting the problems of crime, incarceration, mental illness and severe addictions. All of these topics are at the center of Tyson’s life, and that’s what makes him more relevant than ever.
Trevante Rhodes (Moonlight) is Mike Tyson in the Mike series.
Steven Rogers: Our goal was not to say whether he is a hero or a villain. We just wanted to show you the facts and what happened. Each episode is structured like a boxing round. There are kicks, adrenaline, action. It doesn’t give you time to breathe until the end of the series. That’s why each episode lasts only 30 minutes, like 3 minutes of a boxing round. Let’s see if you won’t be knocked out!
Except Tyson, all around him are women. What was your approach?
Karin Gist: That was my first concern. I wanted to include all the women in his life, starting with his mother. I wanted to avoid clichés and show how they affected him. For example, I didn’t want Lorna Mae to come off as an abusive mother. She was a very modest black woman, living alone with her three children in a hostile environment. Imagine the hardships and stress he went through. Like Robin, we wanted to show how these two young people fell in love and suddenly found themselves in the spotlight. Same with Desiree Washington who accused Tyson of rape. One might wonder why he was in his hotel. In any case, we wanted to know what really happened, without any judgment and with as much honesty as possible. That’s really the point: have fun revealing any superstitions about Mike Tyson.
Source: allocine
Camila Luna is a writer at Gossipify, where she covers the latest movies and television series. With a passion for all things entertainment, Camila brings her unique perspective to her writing and offers readers an inside look at the industry. Camila is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a degree in English and is also a avid movie watcher.
