In the performing arts space, sometimes you get to choose your collaborators and other times they are already selected. Many actors have dream roles that they would love to play, but very few get to actually achieve this dream. For Leslie Odom Jr. and Nicolette Robinson, the dream came true and the married couple got to play opposite each other in One Night in Miami. According to Odom Jr. the project was missing something and the casting of his wife filled that void.
“We were in a bind,” the actor who plays Sam Cooke in the film asserts during PEOPLE, EW, and TNT’s 2021 SAG Awards pre-show. “An actress was cast pre-COVID, and we were supposed to shoot these scenes between Sam and Barbara [Cooke] in L.A. after we wrapped in Louisiana at the beginning of March last year. And you guys know, everything shut down, and so the film, we didn’t get to get these scenes until June.”
“We were still not out of the woods with COVID yet,” the actor explains. “They were looking for a fabulous actress, I told [director] Regina King, ‘Well, you know, I just happen to live with one of the greatest actresses you will find,’ and so it worked out.” Odom jokes that he even stated, “We’ve been quarantining together, if you want to throw in a kiss, we’re good.”
After the casting decision had been made, the actors were able to take the film in a new direction that felt good for the director and producers of the film. The husband-and-wife team had a chemistry onscreen that was developed through hours of rehearsal between themselves offstage. It can be a director’s dream to work with actors that complement each other so well that it shows on camera and onscreen.
While they were creating parts of the film pre-Covid 19, the production staff knew that they would have to put the project on hold for a while until it was safe enough to begin filming again. It’s always good to strike while the iron is hot, but for this production and so many other films there were being developed around the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, most producers would hope that even though their projects needed to be put on hold, that they wouldn’t lose steam and miss their opportunity to debut in movie theaters, and more realistically through video streaming services.
During this pandemic, it is difficult to find stories that bring sunshine to people’s lives. The collaboration in the film is one of those stories that touches the heart and stimulates the mind. Offscreen, the couple recently had their second child. At the Screen Actors Guild Awards 2021, they were nominated together for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture which included other cast members as well. Odom was also nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role.
One Night in Miami is an adaptation of a stage play with the same name by Kemp Powers. The film is Regina King’s directorial debut. It can be streamed on Amazon Prime.