Donald Glover (Childish Gambino) Breaks Down His Most Iconic Characters | GQ

I'm sure you've noticed that Lando has feelings for me which makes working together difficult because I do not feel the same way about him I got so much flat for people like was he really them robots cuz I don't think Lando would do that I was like maybe he would like I don't know but also I stand by I'm like there's lots of things to in space Wednesday sorry uh what was the word no uh Community I'm locked out a mild Kingdom you're not you see what I'm saying you're saying I could be a lawyer

I'm saying you're a football player it's in your blood that's racist your soul that's racist your eyes that's gay that's homophobic that's black that's racist damn my whole career has been moments that I didn't realize until afterwards were like special which I think is exactly how you want them to be like you don't want to realize that in community I honed a lot of skills that I didn't know were like valuable we must have changed like a sound Cruise like every I'm not joking like maybe every 6 weeks I don't know why like it just

happened that way so I would have to ADR and I thought you and I would ADR entire episodes and I thought that was normal same thing with the improp thing I thought that was television I thought that's just what you did they would be like yeah and then Donald says something funny I am the truest repair man and I was like okay that's like that's Hollywood so I would just I would I I I I think the first season I was like really nervous about it but once I realized like oh you can do this

again and again and again and it'll be fine it really let me like be loose and also I was like friends with those guys so I didn't feel like nervous about like we we were always trying to make each other laugh but he was like you know Dan's kind of like a a story expert so he really understands story so sometimes we wouldn't get the scripts until like the day of I don't memorize scripts at all anymore I I haven't memorized the script since maybe College like but like now I get the script like even

stuff I write or whatever I will get it and I'll learn it in the like makeup chair and then so I think all of that stuff was just I was just lucky that I thought that's what you had to do we really appreciate you doing this and 3 2 one Troy and I in the morning and we're back look who's here Jeff Winger Jeff how do you stay so fit uh diet exercise genetics we had no clue that like people were watching Community NBC made it very clear like they're like this is a bomb the

show belongs in the garbage like they were like I mean like well it just it wasn't that it was just like you know we weren't like the cool show like everybody was like Parkson wreck has all the cool people we were kind of like oh I guess we're like kind of the Misfits and like you know I had friends on Parkson wreck and I was like oh I guess we're just kind of like you know this silly show like no one kind of cares about I I swear to God it wasn't until I got to

Canada I did like a show in Canada and people were like going crazy like people were walking they like oh everybody wanted me to do the handshake with them it was very int like me and me and Danny went out for dinner at Pine and crane like I guess a week ago was wild like I was like people acted like they like saw Pokemon I didn't realize people cared that much I mean I guess we went to ComiCon once and it was a little crazy like but I was like that's ComiCon that's like that's like

nerd Central so like I I was expecting people to like like to like be into it like that but it is strange now like where I'm like oh yeah people watch the show especially now with like it being on like streaming you know people watch it in a weekend not cool not cool not cool not cool hey buddy hey it's coming back in January six seasons in a movie six seasons in a movie the community movie We're supposed to be there's some progress on it we're supposed to be shooting it soon haven't seen a script

don't know I like true day and fashion we'll probably get it on the first day but yeah I mean like it's supposed to be happening but I know just as much about it as as you do solo Captain Lind Kazi on solo looks like you're uh having a good day I'm like a can I ask you a question Captain Calrissian anything H that's H but that's okay first black man in space bro Lando first black man in space I guess there some does Star Trek have any black people I mean she yeah like I guess

Star Trek does that I guess like star track has like a very Multicultural like crew which I guess was a big deal back then but Lando I guess for some reason like people feel like this is a real black person in space I don't know why you might want to fuckle up baby I remember my dad showing me Star Wars and being like yo this is Lando and he's you know he feels he also feels pulpy the rest of those charact you know the whole Skywalker family you can't really with the cannon you have a

a a pulpy kind of like shitty Lando novel that feels like outside of the Star Wars universe but still in it and I think that's why people like him he's the most elastic of the of the characters because you don't know where he's from or who he is or whatever there's only really those like three little books so yeah like I was man that was it was dope to play him it was really fun the calisan Chronicles chapter 5 continued personally I wasn't all that impressed with the cheru no sense of humor or style nonetheless

their L3 and I were deep in their sacred Temple and that's when we saw it always something I met Billy D right before I played him I remember that day really we met at L Dom's and he was like really you know just a funny guy like he he didn't like we talked about a bunch of other stuff like I wanted to know like what did you be like all that kind of stuff I wanted to really get into cuz I really didn't want to let anybody down and I remember he was talk talking about

like Ka I was like he was oh you been to Kawai man I got married on Kawai yeah I got married to the that was like my second one he was talking about he had all these great stories but I kept being like yes sir but um sir like what do I do to play and he literally goes like just be Charming like he was like just be Charming he's like that's that's pretty much it and he's like looking around he's like that's that's that's that's the secret like I was like okay and I guess

he's right like he's kind of like Lando's like charm incarnate which you know he's kind of a Maverick which I don't think there's a lot of anymore like you know it's hard to be like the smooth talker nowadays you know cuz like where's the line but I think that's also where the danger is it's like how close can you get without stripping over it I mean I would love to I would love to play Lando again it's a it's a fun time to be him it just has to be the right it just needs to

be the right way to do it I'm all about like now it's like you know like time is precious I think everybody like you know the past couple of years this p mic like really had people experience time in a way where they're like well why am I I I should be around oranges like people you know like people kind of realize like their time is valuable you know you only get so much so like I'm not interested in doing anything that's just going to be like a waste of my time or just a paycheck

I'd much rather like you know spend time with people that I like enjoy so it just has to be the right thing which I think it could be I mean like Lando is definitely somebody I like to hang out with so yeah I mean we're talking about it that's as much as I can say you know without Kathleen Kennedy like hunting me down White Lotus I'm laughing cuz you're just like oh you really do have to say it though um Atlanta I know you probably think I'm I'm pretty irresponsible but I'm I'm working on something

that I think could be really big for me and and you you know I guess like you know you just got to be really specific I think at the end of the day like we were really trying to portray like what it felt like to be us specifically like me and step have like a very like we're brothers so we had a very common thread but we also were seeing different parts and like we we but we always sort of felt like we were like the the whole the whole show was supposed to feel like

whatever like a little bit cuz that's how it felt to us anyway growing up where it was like oh that happened like and we got to keep moving whatever like a little bit and I feel like we we we we kind of captured that W wo W hey man chill chill [Applause] congratulations for what I choose you you're my sacrifice my brother has my mother's sense of humor like even more so than me like I feel like I have like maybe 60 my dad 40% my mom but he has like maybe 60 my mom and

40 and it's a very dark sense of humor there's like a a video of like a guy who had all of his teeth taken out by the by the dentist and he's like I'm going to look like a freak now honest to God he starts crying and I was like I was like whoa and I like showed my brother that and my brother must have laughed for a week like like like literally like he'd be like I'd be like what is so funny about this he he was like it's so horrible like I was like

yeah like that's that's us a little bit where we're like yeah this this is horrible so it's kind of funny because all of this is like unnecessary in the end not to get like too sardonic or like you know but I I think that is like our humor is like this didn't have to happen she said kidnapping when she called okay kidnapping serious you know that right will well I must kidnapped that in 1974 cuz she ain't been a kid in 45 years she in there no and don't go in there the alligator is in

there what there were a lot of guest appearances cre I love cre just I just love her and she's kind of like the blueprint for like crunchy black kids so like I I feel like I I I just I just love her Essence and she's just like such a a subtle part of everybody's childhood because she did all those voices Susie from so she I was just I was just happy to hang with her between you and me I still with Tak man look it's good to know that you it's good to know that you

don't hate black people now you know what no no no no can't stand L of here well now I feel that way because you tried to R my career the leam me one was like yo shout out to Jordan Peele for making that happen yo shout out I was like yo I have this idea and you know obviously Liam was like I don't know you know like I just don't you know you know cuz he felt a lot of Shame you know he's like I don't he's like I I he's like I was trying to

do the right thing I was like yeah like and in the writer's room we had talked about we're like is that really the message that we want is like you know when people actually go out on a limb and go like I was wrong to like on them we were like we just thought it was kind of a funny like thing and also I was like cuz the lesson he's going to learn learn from this is like yeah I'm never telling the truth again so we were like that's really funny you think we could get

him to do and what I love about that episode and about him is like that episode doesn't work without him there is nobody else like maybe the may maybe homie from sefel yeah like like maybe him being like that we were like but that's not as relevant and it's not it's not the same it's like Liam like it it's a different feeling so we were like we thought that would work and like shout out to Jordan Peele who actually put us in contact and shout out to Liam's son who allowed that to happen so like

that I felt like that was a super iconic moment Marshall Johnson yes you've been served I'm sorry what is this about my name is Shena Johnson of the St Louis Johnson's your family owned my great great grandmother and father for 12 years you owe me money people are going to hate this that's what we thought but I think at the beginning of season 3 what I we have a big whiteboard in the writer's room and like the beginning of season 3 when we all came back I remember writing down in front of everybody so we

remembered I was like do what others cannot I was like we're the only show that can do this and I was like that's what's going to make us special cuz by that point like you know honestly like I the thing that I remember now that was in the back of my head was like you know remember Rage Against the Machine like I remember their first two albums was I was so into them and then their third one like they kind of like I see what now what it was was like they kind of went back

to like the hip-hop roots of it but I wasn't I was like I'm not feeling this as much as nothing and I remember talking to my dad about it and he was like well everybody else is kind of doing the rap rock thing now so like they have to like be themselves more and that to to different differentiate themselves and I felt like that's what I kind of wanted to do like I was like I just wanted to tell stories at the end of the day like all of this really is about like you know

stories like I'm like who can tell the best story who has the best ideas and I was like yeah like there are some good it's it's not like the show Atlanta that people wanted but it's the point of view of Atlanta and I I stand by I was like man I think that might be even after season 4 which people are like this is like a perfect but I'm like season 3 is I still think my favorite like I love the Black and White episode I love so much about that season cuz it doesn't make

you feel like it's not a warm hug it's like it's the feeling of your friend who's never left Atlanta going to like San Francisco or Paris and being like I like it back in Atlanta like it's like I want to go back home like that is the feeling and I think a lot of people reacted that way they were like where's Atlanta I want to go back home there's a great story of like a chief Keefe going to like Paris recording with Kanye and and the whole time he was like this ain't it he was

like this ain't it and I'm like yeah like that is why you are the way you are cuz you are so tied to your home but when you come back those chicken wings don't taste the same cuz you've experienced something else like my brother always be like Jr Cricket is a and then when he comes back he's like these taste different it's like yeah you've experienced something else so I'm like yeah that's probably why people like season 4 a lot more cuz it's like yeah you're back home but you've kind of outgrown it Childish [Music]

Gambino Alison Bri introduced me to Ludwick Ludwick was doing the music on community I remember very it was weird like you know it was almost like a like love at first sight type moment where I remember he was in the food trailer and she's like Donald you you got to meet Ludwick and he was wearing like purple pants and he was like cutting a green apple and he goes hey how are you oh cool he's like I do the music cool and I was like I'm working on this kind of music thing we should meet

up and it was very I mean it was very organic I don't know why that happened honestly like it just I don't I mean like on most shows you don't usually meet the composer like it just doesn't happen like you're not like on in most movies you're not meeting the composer so like he just happened to be around and I think we were both just interested I was like I love music I was like oh cool like you should take a look at my music it's just a lesson to people where I'm like yeah like

it's not about like chasing opportunity it's like don't be afraid of like yourself I feel like if I was like oh someone no one should listen to this music I was like no you should I was like you should check this out I want to know what you think and that's kind of what happen and then like you know we just have really really me and Ludwig have like amazing chemistry I don't that's the only way I can put it like he's like such a weirdo in the best [Music] sense I wish you guys could

hear the first version of red bone it was so weird like it was such a weird I was actually listening it to it the other day I was like what a weird song this was and then we like cleaned it and we were like oh yeah this is [Music] America just be real like we did you know time is the oven that makes something special but we did a lot of work I had that idea like 3 years before and I told hero the idea he's like man I really he's like I want to do

that he's like I really want to do that and I was like cool and I had the song and I swear swe to God like it it started as a the idea for the song Started as a joke to be completely honest like this is America like that was all we had was like that [Music] line and it started as a drake disc to be honest like I was like as a as like a funny way of like doing it but then I was like this sounds kind of hard though you know so I was

like let me play with it so we just had that for a long time I told hero the the IDE aidea and he was like oh let's let's do it and honestly we studied Thriller for a long time cuz I was like how do you make something how do you make people care about anything anymore there's just so much well you have to have a moment in real time which was like SNL which like fam and Chad wolf and rosin like we're like okay we're we're going to do this SNL thing we we'll drop it

at midnight also like the feeling of like what was happening at the time where I was like oh that's it informed like because you know all the uprisings and riots that were happening like it really informed like my writing and stuff and then I was like oh I really you know I was like having sessions with like you know Thug and all these people and I was like hey would you want to get on that I was like you know like making it like a We are the world like for trap I was like that

just it just became something where I was like yo it it needs to feel like all of it to me culture is just compression of information so I was like all of it just needs to be compressed into this moment so what was happening needed to feel like it could only be happening right now we shot it on film that was deliberate like we were like oh two takes like kind of literally one shot like we were like let's just do it like two CU it's really three shots it's like that first half that second

half and then the running we were like it needed to feel continuous cuz I needed to feel like a moment because moments I feel like the internet kind of robs moments so I that was really the work that we put in I was I feel very it it's interesting that it worked I didn't we were like oh I mean it probably wasn't going to work but we really just studied Thriller a lot we studied how that became iconic and I was like oh well you know you have to do some a lot of things the

first time and I was like but Thriller was like a big important part you know who I did a lot of research on that people don't probably think I did but I I actually watched his moves a lot to make sure I didn't do the exact same thing was like Robbie Williams I actually watched him a lot because like I saw him get a lot of hate and he's not necessarily an actor actor but like you know mul multidisciplinary like people you know I I call it a vent you need a vent you need some

steam to like let something off because people like you know Stevie Wonder amazing genius but people are like but he's blind so that's the vent you know like same thing with Prince he like oh but he's short like it's like oh but like there's something where you know you don't want you want to give people aent to be able to and I knew that wasn't going to be easy but I also was like but also I think that gener there's an older generation I I think a lot of things have changed because uh the you

used it used to be about access so it' be like if you had access to be able to make stuff and then you happened to be good it was different now everyone has access so and it's way easier to make all these things it's way easier to make music you know it's it's we're we're always racing towards very good ideas that's all it matters at the end of the day and I think the idea of like this person not being great at other stuff is an old idea of just like yeah Elvis couldn't be a

great necessarily actor necessarily because he was focusing so much it making music took a lot more but now it's like all that stuff is happening all those things are the same anyway so I feel like like yeah like somebody had to do it and it wasn't like I was like I'm the one to do it I think I honestly just I didn't want to stop doing that other stuff it was like way too much fun and I I had learned like yo if you're like living for other people you're probably going to end up being

sad which is like what's the point