Hulu's 'Wu-Tang: An American Saga' actor Julian Elijah Martinez says inspiring work went behind telling Divine's story
In Episode 5 of Hulu's 'Wu-Tang: An American Saga', the focus was on Mitchell "Divine" Diggs, the RZA's older brother who worked behind the scenes of the Wu-Tang Clan to make them possibly the most iconic hip-hop group in history, Divine and Oliver "Power" Grant (played by Marcus Callender) were on the business side of things when the RZA and the others made the music. When the episode ended, it looked like Divine would go back to selling cocaine again. In this week's episode, to avoid being caught by the police, he dumps the cocaine down a garbage chute. He runs out and sees Haze being put in a chokehold by an NYPD officer and watches him die.
In an exclusive interview with MEA Worldwide (MEAWW), the actor who portrays Divine, Julian Elijah Martinez, spoke about playing Divine and getting to meet the RZA. Meeting the RZA was a dream come true for Martinez as the leader of the Wu-Tang Clan had always featured in his imagination growing up - the kind of artist he was to reach for and try to achieve what he did. "When I got to meet him, he's so personable and humble and that combination made me feel absolutely comfortable when it came to working on (the show)". Martinez felt that working on the show could be intense at times and he praised the hard-working nature of the cast and crew and remarked upon how hungry everybody was to tell the story - and Martinez found this invigorating and inspiring.
To prepare for the role, Martinez read whatever he could find, the RZA's books ('The Wu-Tang Manual' and 'The Tao of Wu') from which the show is inspired, and U-God's (member of the Wu-Tang Clan) book ('Raw: My Journey Into the Wu-Tang'). He also watched the Showtime documentary, 'Of Mics and Men' and a BET documentary from the early 2000s. Martinez also hung out with and talked to the real Divine, whom he finds to be "very quiet." He focused on clips of Divine from the documentaries and worked with dialect coach Beth McGuire ('Black Panther'). He spoke about the process of getting Divine's dialect right, "we broke it down scientifically, we figured out what kind of sounds he makes that are different than my own. What's his rhythm with speaking and then we took all the information and tied it into the character." Martinez had to work really hard to get Divine's squeaky voice right which he found challenging. He also found it challenging to find himself in the place that Divine was in, the danger that was present in his life in Staten Island in the early 90s. Martinez said, "I've been very privileged to have a life that hasn't been dangerous. It took a lot for me to try to figure out and be vulnerable enough to be in that space."
Divine's story has not really been told until now and Martinez learned about the RZA's older brother's discipline, focus, and fierce love for his family. Through preparing for the role, Martinez learns that Divine is singularly focused and on the show, that focus is on what's most important to him - his family, "Divine has placed himself in the position of being the man of the house and that does something to a person when they position themselves that way when they're 14-15 years old. He did it through self-education. He taught himself business, how to run a multinational, multi-million dollar corporation." Martinez says Divine has a great deal of intelligence and extreme discipline and said: "If Divine didn't come from where he came from, we might be thinking of him differently."
Hulu's show was shot in Staten Island, at the actual places the RZA and the rest grew up in and Martinez recalls meeting people while on set who would say they remember the real-life incidents of the scenes they were shooting. He says, "there's an event that was shot in the housing projects where it happened and those who have been living there a long time would say they remember when it happened". He says Staten Island is a small, close-knit community, "everybody knows everybody and they're all family in a lot of ways. But their history hasn't been told and so a lot of these stories stayed within that community. Now, there's the opportunity for these stories to be seen internationally." Martinez thinks of the Wu-Tang Clan as the black Beatles and thinks they are a pillar within black history culturally. "They are extremely both American and international. They're important just from the sheer scale in which they have touched people. (The group) has a profound effect on people and it's an identity. People feel like the Wu-Tang Clan represent them".
Martinez spoke about the cast becoming a kind of family and how there's a lot of love and competition on set. The actors all tried to bring their A-games for every scene and he hopes they will be part of his life for a long time. He said of Zolee Griggs (who plays Divine's younger sister, Shurrie) that she has the maturity, grace, and presence that in reality, make her like his older sister. He spoke of how amazing it was to work with the legendary Erika Alexander (who plays Divine's mother). Martinez is all praise for Ashton Sanders (Bobby "RZA" Diggs on the show) and he feels strongly about their scenes together. He is also grateful he got to work with Siddiq Saunderson and Marcus Callender, who he's known from his time in New York. He learned a lot from Ebony Obsidian (who plays his girlfriend, Nia). 'Wu-Tang' was his first time doing a TV show and Obsidian was "always there, kind of strong, steady. She knew how to talk to the directors and how to ask for what you wanted."
Martinez is a theater actor and equates theater to going to the gym - "you're working, you're investigating, you're exploring" - whereas he finds working in film "feels more like the day of the race." But at the core of it all, he thinks there is no difference, "I have to sit and look at the person in front of me, I have to connect with them and try to tell a story. I focus on that." From the show, Martinez says he learned to trust himself, the story he is telling, the person in front of him, and the person behind the camera, "learning to trust has always has been one of the hardest processes in my life, and (the show) gave me an opportunity to learn to do that."
While there are four more episodes of the show left, you can see Julian Elijah Martinez in an episode of FOX's 'Prodigal Son.' He is also shooting a short film. When he's not filming, Martinex likes to box and work out. He is also a photographer and tries to work on his photography as much as he can.
'Wu-Tang: An American Saga' airs on Hulu on Wednesdays.