The People Vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story
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Dr. Narcisse
Veteran
What did you want to bring to the courtroom scene between Darden and Cochran?
I wanted the scene to have an ebb and flow where you didn’t know what was going to happen, you just knew there was a tension that you couldn’t cut in the room. That scene takes off really before they even get in the courtroom because Johnnie and Darden have an interaction outside the courtroom where Darden is coming to it from the standpoint of, “Hey, we’re peers and I hope we can have a mutual respect while we’re engaging with each other in battle.” But Johnnie was like, “Hey I’m not your friend. I’m going to beat you and I’m here to win.” I wanted to do that in a way in which you saw that one guy is losing before he even comes up to the plate. Darden is looking at Johnnie as a peer and Johnnie is looking at him like, “I’m going to destroy you.” Did Johnnie Cochran really say that to Chris Darden right after he shot him down in court? Yes, he did. They’re not making it up, this is all heavily researched, this is all there.
Were there actual tears when you and Cuba Gooding, Jr. reunited?
Cuba and I hadn’t worked together since Boyz n the Hood. The second scene we did together was when he was in jail and he had this emotional scene where O.J. explains why he decided to cross over in the way he did, in his attempt to transcend where he was from. Explaining why he considered himself not black and he’s O.J. -- Cuba’s doing this scene and he’s holding back the tears in character, and I’m right there behind the camera and I started crying. He comes off the set and then he starts crying and we just went into the corner and it was like, “Man, we started this journey together.” Literally. We are the same age. We started on Boyz n the Hood 25 years ago. His birthday is only a few days before mine. It was very much an emotional journey for me because it was a fun, seat-of-your-pants kind of thing. I got the chance to really get down and work with some really cool people.
Were there any particular scenes you felt pressure to get right?
I don’t know if I felt pressure as much as I felt like I wanted to elevate what they had already done in a very stellar way. I look at television as the closest thing you can do as a director to the old studio system where there is an established look and feel for whatever show. When you come onto a show, the look is already established. So I had to look and see what Ryan had done in the first two episodes and what [director] Anthony Hemingway had carried on, and asked, “How can I, within this framework, bring some type of my own thing to it?” That’s what was fun for me. I was able to do something that was in line with what they established look-wise but I was able to tweak it a little bit. They had no problem with that. Ryan just said to make sure it was interesting and to stick with the story. He was teaching me television, I was learning television from Ryan Murphy. He’s my television mentor now.
What was O.J. Simpson like years ago when you met him?
He was on this HBO show called 1st and 10, which was one of my first jobs when I was in college. He was in Santa Monica leaving the set and I got a chance to meet and talk with him. He was really a larger-than-life figure. He seemed more of a politician than he did a football player or even a person. You meet a politician and they have these glazed eyes… they’re engaging but they’re so used to engaging people all the time. He lived a life that few people could live. He was Mr. Santa Monica; he really was the Mayor of Brentwood.
What are your personal memories of the time of the trial?
I remember being intrigued by how black O.J. became after he was accused of murdering his wife. Black people had written him off. They knew O.J. Simpson wasn’t thinking about them and they weren’t thinking about O.J. Simpson. But then this thing came about and all of a sudden he became someone that I guess the community felt they needed to defend, even though he had had kind of left the community a long time ago. He became somebody that was a brother regardless of where the journey had taken him. It was interesting how he transitioned into blackness within the trial.
‘The People v. O.J. Simpson’ Director John Singleton Reveals Scene That Made Him Cry
I wanted the scene to have an ebb and flow where you didn’t know what was going to happen, you just knew there was a tension that you couldn’t cut in the room. That scene takes off really before they even get in the courtroom because Johnnie and Darden have an interaction outside the courtroom where Darden is coming to it from the standpoint of, “Hey, we’re peers and I hope we can have a mutual respect while we’re engaging with each other in battle.” But Johnnie was like, “Hey I’m not your friend. I’m going to beat you and I’m here to win.” I wanted to do that in a way in which you saw that one guy is losing before he even comes up to the plate. Darden is looking at Johnnie as a peer and Johnnie is looking at him like, “I’m going to destroy you.” Did Johnnie Cochran really say that to Chris Darden right after he shot him down in court? Yes, he did. They’re not making it up, this is all heavily researched, this is all there.
Were there actual tears when you and Cuba Gooding, Jr. reunited?
Cuba and I hadn’t worked together since Boyz n the Hood. The second scene we did together was when he was in jail and he had this emotional scene where O.J. explains why he decided to cross over in the way he did, in his attempt to transcend where he was from. Explaining why he considered himself not black and he’s O.J. -- Cuba’s doing this scene and he’s holding back the tears in character, and I’m right there behind the camera and I started crying. He comes off the set and then he starts crying and we just went into the corner and it was like, “Man, we started this journey together.” Literally. We are the same age. We started on Boyz n the Hood 25 years ago. His birthday is only a few days before mine. It was very much an emotional journey for me because it was a fun, seat-of-your-pants kind of thing. I got the chance to really get down and work with some really cool people.
Were there any particular scenes you felt pressure to get right?
I don’t know if I felt pressure as much as I felt like I wanted to elevate what they had already done in a very stellar way. I look at television as the closest thing you can do as a director to the old studio system where there is an established look and feel for whatever show. When you come onto a show, the look is already established. So I had to look and see what Ryan had done in the first two episodes and what [director] Anthony Hemingway had carried on, and asked, “How can I, within this framework, bring some type of my own thing to it?” That’s what was fun for me. I was able to do something that was in line with what they established look-wise but I was able to tweak it a little bit. They had no problem with that. Ryan just said to make sure it was interesting and to stick with the story. He was teaching me television, I was learning television from Ryan Murphy. He’s my television mentor now.
What was O.J. Simpson like years ago when you met him?
He was on this HBO show called 1st and 10, which was one of my first jobs when I was in college. He was in Santa Monica leaving the set and I got a chance to meet and talk with him. He was really a larger-than-life figure. He seemed more of a politician than he did a football player or even a person. You meet a politician and they have these glazed eyes… they’re engaging but they’re so used to engaging people all the time. He lived a life that few people could live. He was Mr. Santa Monica; he really was the Mayor of Brentwood.
What are your personal memories of the time of the trial?
I remember being intrigued by how black O.J. became after he was accused of murdering his wife. Black people had written him off. They knew O.J. Simpson wasn’t thinking about them and they weren’t thinking about O.J. Simpson. But then this thing came about and all of a sudden he became someone that I guess the community felt they needed to defend, even though he had had kind of left the community a long time ago. He became somebody that was a brother regardless of where the journey had taken him. It was interesting how he transitioned into blackness within the trial.
‘The People v. O.J. Simpson’ Director John Singleton Reveals Scene That Made Him Cry
AVS fukked up the release last week by being out of sync and now Killers did the same thing this week 
Why is this so hard to keep in sync? fukking repacks again this week
Why is this so hard to keep in sync? fukking repacks again this week
Eastside Get The Money
Veteran
nikkas used to call me Johnnie Cochran all through elementary/middle school because of the surname. I hated it. Now, a young player would take it in stride, dude outchea like the black Bobby Fischer on these folks
Why did johnny tell Darden that?
The rock
dora_da_destroyer
Master Baker
Brother, I'm not trying be respectful, I'm trying to win 
nikka please
Courtney b Cochran killing this shyt
I knew there was some tension with darden being on the prosecution as kid, but watching this now
sterling is doing a good job too
nikka please
Courtney b Cochran killing this shyt
I knew there was some tension with darden being on the prosecution as kid, but watching this now
sterling is doing a good job too
This thread/show is getting slept on
redecorating 'why would you do that'? His incredulous tone was too much.....This whole shyt was a travesty. I don't know much about lawyers codes of ethics, in fine terms, but how is that shyt legal to stage his house like that?And great scene with the upscale, uppercrest dinner party, and those who were serving it, how they stopped talking OJ as soon as they were near....
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DamonDashsRocAFellaChain
How could a man say he has a boss and be proud?
Homie playing Johnny needs to win every award he can get. He is single handedly carrying this show on his back and climbing up that fukking mountain.
Uncle Kendrick
I'm just bout that action
I hope yall paying attention the plight of an african american man is being broken down to a science. The scene when cochran was being pulled over by that suspected white supremacist cop was heavy. Or the scene where OJ is discussing his success and people looking for a handout.
I did not read that OJ scene like that, that seemed delusional, and as out of touch as he was considered...Sure, traces of truth, but overall, the thoughts and feelings of a deeply insensitive, self centered, egomaniac, who could give less of a fukk about the rest of the world, and his (former) community.
Eastside Get The Money
Veteran
Brehs can we analyze all of the social factors of this story?
You have:
Race - Black guy with a white girl, emotions always run high
[Self hatred*] - OJ hadn't been seen as black in 20 years, and didn't identify himself as black either; yet it was the one thing he had to accept to walk free
Celebrity - He was still Juice, even if he had two bodies
Domestic Violence - Another example that until recently, domestic violence was never taken "seriously" until it was a little too late
Wealth - This case really proved that you could buy your way out of jail
Police mistreatment/brutality - Right on the heels of the riots, stars were aligned for OJ to be the beacon to combat the LAPD
Court of Public opinion - The public knew EVERYTHING, from tabloits to cameras in the courthouse, what the people thought was almost more important than what played out in court
The Justice System - For many, this was the first time that people saw that the legal system was basically what you could prove by which lawyer could give the best performance
This is honestly the greatest Hollywood story of all time
You have:
Race - Black guy with a white girl, emotions always run high
[Self hatred*] - OJ hadn't been seen as black in 20 years, and didn't identify himself as black either; yet it was the one thing he had to accept to walk free
Celebrity - He was still Juice, even if he had two bodies
Domestic Violence - Another example that until recently, domestic violence was never taken "seriously" until it was a little too late
Wealth - This case really proved that you could buy your way out of jail
Police mistreatment/brutality - Right on the heels of the riots, stars were aligned for OJ to be the beacon to combat the LAPD
Court of Public opinion - The public knew EVERYTHING, from tabloits to cameras in the courthouse, what the people thought was almost more important than what played out in court
The Justice System - For many, this was the first time that people saw that the legal system was basically what you could prove by which lawyer could give the best performance
This is honestly the greatest Hollywood story of all time