'The Way Back': Glynn Turman recalls doing scene about dead wife just after ex-wife Aretha Franklin’s death
On March 1, at the premiere of the Ben Affleck starring sports drama film ‘The Way Back’ in Los Angeles, California, veteran American stage, television, and film actor Glynn Turman spoke to MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) about the film and a variety of topics.
The 73-year-old, talking about how ‘The Way Back’ stood out from other films he has worked with, said, “The timing of the movie… You know sometimes, everything kinda coincides -- clicks. The message of this movie couldn’t have been more timely for our times, the country. As a nation. As a people.”
He added about why the film was important, “The notion that we all have to pull together as a team, the notion that we should as a team never give up, the notion that we all have demons that we all have to wrestle with and come to grips with, and that we shouldn’t let those demons stop us -- those are the common themes.”
The actor most famous for his role as Baltimore mayor Clarence Royce on the HBO drama series ‘The Wire’ also spoke about his ex-wife, the celebrated singer, songwriter, and civil rights activist, Aretha Franklin. Turman and Aretha were married from 1978 to 1984. He said, “In a scene, my wife had just recently passed away. My character’s wife had recently passed away. And we were filming this at a time -- and you’re the only one I’ve told this to -- that my ex-wife, Aretha Franklin, had passed away.”
Franklin died on August 16, 2018, at the age of 76 from a pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor.
“We all brought our baggage,” Turman added. He said that in the film, his character is Affleck's friend from a bar. "Our scenes are in the bar. So, gotta be some baggage there, right?"
‘The Way Back’ will be theatrically released in the United States on March 6, 2020.