Miami Living Magazine features the best Miami has to offer. Click on any magazine below and enjoy. You can download our free app on iTunes. Ideal for iPad and iPhone users.
Issue link: https://digital.miamilivingmagazine.com/i/1400863
going on, but I don’t know what that was. It could have been the rape charge, but I’m not sure. But the production got interrupted several times because of it. Allison: What was your feeling about it at the time? Leon: For me, I just never wanted to see a young talented brother hurt himself or not succeed. And that’s what I was seeing in Tupac. I liked him, and with me he was one hundred. I thought he was talented and had charisma, and everyone could see that, but his mind was on other things that were going to bring him down, and it was obvious. It hurt me to see that, because I wish he was here with us today. But everyone has their path. Everyone has to live their life the way they want to live it. That’s what I was seeing, just talent being wasted, is what I thought. Allison: Did you get along? What did you think of him as a man? As an artist? Leon: Like I said, he was one hundred with me, but he told me that from the beginning. He told me at the script reading. He said, “Listen, you’re not going to have a problem with me, because you’re in The Five Heartbeats.” That movie was so revered by everybody. You usually get your props right off the jump (laughs). Allison: When you play a real person, as you have when played both David Ruffin and Little Richard, do you feel stuck between not wanting to do an impression, but wanting to capture their essence? Leon: It’s tough. It depends on who you’re playing and what you’re playing. If you are playing a musical performer, you just have to ride that line of when you’re actually being that person, and when that person is going through something, and make it as real as possible. Once people buy into the fact that you are who you are, you can take them anywhere. You can take them into space. They’ll follow you anywhere once they believe you are that person. Allison: What’s been your favorite role, and why? Leon: My favorite role is your favorite role, because I don’t watch my movies. Allison: You’ve never watched them? Are you afraid to see yourself on camera? Leon: Of course, I’m going to see my work, but I don’t re-watch them. I’m not at home re-watching my own movies right now. I don’t do that. When they come out and there’s a screening, I’ll see it. Usually, I’m watching to see what the audience is thinking, because that is who I’m making the movie for. I’m not making it for me. I think that if I watched my work over and over again, I don’t know, maybe it would be good for me to do that, but I’m too critical. I start picking myself apart, wondering, “Why do I hold my face like that? What’s wrong with my lips?” I’m not into doing that. Allison: If you could travel through time and go back in time to alter a famous historical event, where would you go and what you attempt to change? Leon: When you say “event,” it’s tied to so many other things. It’s like, how do you say you don’t want this one thing to happen because it’s tied to so many other things that happened, and you think of all the things it caused that are positive or negative, because that one thing happened. And then you say, “I don’t know if I want that not to happen (laugh). You know what I’m saying? Allison: Yes, you’re saying it’s like pulling one thread and the whole thing comes apart. That’s a good point. Leon: Yes. It’s probably a lot easier with a sporting event, like, “Ah, I wish he had made that shot (laugh). Because then that’s it. Allison: Right (laugh), it’s not going to affect anything serious. Leon: That’s a hard question, and I don’t know if I can give you a proper answer for that. But I applaud you for asking me a question where I can’t do that, because I’m usually asked… Allison: The same old shit (laugh)… Leon: Same old shit or nothing I wouldn’t have an answer for, put it that way. Allison: What is the greatest lesson of your life, so far? Leon: One lesson that made me a better artist is an attorney telling me, years ago, that it’s not important about how much money you make. It’s the work you do that’s important, because when you are on the screen or on the stage, it doesn’t say “$1 million, $4 million, or $5 thousand dollars. All of your memories are your performances and your story lines, so what you want to concentrate on is doing memorable work. If you do memorable work, then it doesn’t matter how much money you made. Allison: Agreed. Leon: That’s always stuck with me, and it’s never been more prevalent than in this interview with you, because what are we talking about right now? We’re talking about work that was done decades ago that people are still fascinated with. I appreciate him telling me that, and it has always stuck with me. Allison: Do you pray? If so, who or what do you pray to? Leon: I pray, but most of my prayers are for other people or with other people, to be honest with you. I pray to a Being that is higher than me. Allison: Do you identify that Being by name, or you don’t want to go there because it’s not something you can define? Leon: I can tell you that my whole life I’ve been a Christian and a Catholic, but as I’ve grown older, I’ve learned more about the world and learned more about my spirituality and about other religions. For me, it’s more about spiritually and being connected to a