ABOVE PHOTO: Marcus Scribner (Photo courtesy: Marcus Scribner)
By Kharisma McIlwaine
Millions of households welcomed Marcus Scribner into their homes as Junior (Andre Johnson Jr.) on the award-winning sitcom, “Black-ish.” After eight seasons of making people laugh on the successful show,Scribner takes on his first dramatic role as an actor and executive producer of the film “How I Learned To Fly.”
Written and directed by Simon Steuri, and distributed by Film Movement, “How I Learned To Fly” tells the story of two teen brothers Daniel (Scribner) and Eli (“This Is Us”‘ Lonnie Chavis) who are suddenly abandoned by their parents. Forced to try to make ends meet with very little resources, the siblings struggle to survive with very little food, the looming threat of eviction and the uphill battle of healing from the psychological and physical abuse at the hands of their father. Daniel, the oldest, takes on the brunt of the responsibility of caring for Eli and himself while working as a dishwasher.
“How I Learned To Fly” also stars Clifford “Method Man” Smith, Cedric the Entertainer, Michele Selene Ang and Crystal Bush. Scribner spoke with the SUN about his experience of working on the film and the importance of sharing this story of perseverance in the face of adversity.
After reading the script and seeing a short version of “How I Learned To Fly” created by Simon Steuri, Scribner felt an immediate connection to the story.
“I just sort of clicked and resonated with this story,” he said. “The director of our film — his last name is also Steuri (pronounced ‘story’) — so I clicked and resonated with Simon’s story as well. I was able to meet up with him and discuss “How I Learned To Fly,” discuss my character, and it was a hit right away. I resonated with the underdog story, with the rags to riches story and thought it was very beautifully done and written.”
“Simon comes from a background of doing mostly music videos, so I knew that he would keep our visuals on lock, have great ideas for the soundtrack and have some cool editing tricks up his sleeve,” Scribner continued. “I was just excited overall to be a part of the project.”
The role of Daniel in “How I Learned To Fly” is a stark difference between the comedic roles that Scribner has played for the majority of his career. He welcomed the challenge of venturing into the drama genre.
“It was a lot of fun to flex that creative muscle,” Scribner said. “When you’ve been on a sitcom for so many years, you know your character like the back of your hand. To be able to dive in and explore a new character, who’s vastly different than anything I’ve done before, who has lived through life experiences I’ve had the fortune of not having to experience — it was an interesting challenge. It took a lot of focus, creativity and spending time on set working through things to get into the mind of this character.”
Daniel is a great example of what can happen when a person is determined to not give up… no matter what.
“Daniel is a fighter,” Scribner said. “He’s been through the ringer. He’s definitely had a rough go of it. His parents are no longer there, he’s trying to support his brother, he’s homeless, he’s still trying to pursue a higher education and make things right for his family — all while facing insurmountable odds. I kind of look to him for inspiration and strength when doing this. What does it look like to have nothing but at the same time feel like you have everything right in front of you in this single family member that you have left? I couldn’t even imagine that pain and hurt. Trying to bring that to life was definitely a challenge, but I think we laid it all out on the line in “How I Learned To Fly” and I’m very excited for people to get to see it.”
The kinship between Daniel and Eli is beautifully crafted throughout the film, which mirrors the real-life friendship and respect Scribner and Chavis have for one another.
“It was beautiful… I love Lonnie,” Scribner said. “He’s such a talented actor. I was using him as a sounding board for a lot of our scenes. I was feeding off of his energy — we were feeding off of each other. I think that’s what it takes to craft a slice of life for a beautiful scene — to have another actor you really feel you can trust, dive into the material with and immerse yourself. Me and Lonnie hung out a few times before we started filming. He’s just a really intelligent kid that you like to be around. He’s super funny and off the wall with energy. I think just being able to feed off of his creative energy allowed those scenes to flourish and that relationship to bloom. The emotional connection and the kinship came easy.”
Although Scribner enjoyed his experience playing the character Daniel, the heaviness of the material runs deep throughout the film. The abuse his character endured required deliberate efforts by Scribner to maintain his mental health while immersed in the role.
“Obviously it’s important to mentally decompress, especially during some of the heavier filming days,” he said. “There’s one scene I have with meth that was rough to be a part of. The memories, feelings and things you have to dig up to conjure that kind of emotion are things that you don’t have to deal with on a daily basis, and it wears [on] you emotionally. After a day like that, I had to completely wipe my brain clean and be, like, ‘That was not real.’ At first, I was feeding off my own life experiences, which worked to a certain extent, but when I was in the moment, Cliff did such a great job of bringing his character to life that it took me by surprise, and I was feeling Daniel’s pain and anguish in that moment. It was very powerful and it’s kind of hard to let go day to day when you’re in the middle of that filming process. It was a quick shoot, about a month. After that month, I was like I need to tap out for a little bit.”
Although a great deal of “How I Learned To Fly” pulls at the heartstrings, there is an important message Scribner hopes audiences will take away from the film.
“I want to harp on the fact that while “How I Learned To Fly” is very dark, gritty and there’s a lot of hardships that these characters have to face, it truly is a story of hope, and I think we illustrate that very well,” he said. “Their situation, while it may seem hopeless, [demonstrates that] there are good people in this world and there are people reaching out to them, trying to help to uplift and create a community. I think that’s what’s so beautiful.”
To support Marcus Scribner, be sure to follow him across social media platforms @MarcusScribner. “How I Learned To Fly” opens in select theaters in major markets on December 1.
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