How ‘One Night In Miami’ Screenwriter Kemp Powers Used an Iconic Friendship to Explore Competing Ideas of Activism and Masculinity

Kemp Powers has two extraordinary films in awards contention this year — he co-directed and co-wrote Disney/Pixar’s Soul and Amazon’s One Night in Miami, which Powers adapted from his stage play of the same name. At the center of both films are timeless lessons about rising to meet the challenge whenever humanity demands progress.

Directed by Regina King, One Night in Miami, explores an imagined meeting between Malcolm X [Kingsley Ben-Adir], Muhammad Ali [Eli Goree], Jim Brown [Aldis Hodge], and Sam Cooke [Leslie Odom Jr.]. As the men reconnect and fall into old patterns of friendship, they begin to debate how best to use their platforms as four of the most recognized Black men in America to further the Civil Rights Movement. As the night unfolds, a timely and riveting discussion about the many forms of activism deepens, revealing four vulnerable men exposing their untold fears.

“Seeing the vulnerability of these men, seeing them relate to one another, like brothers, like friends, in a way that we don’t often get to see, shows the universality of all of our human experience,” Powers said.

Each line of dialogue in One Night in Miami is deliberate and packed with meaning. Powers expertly brings the audience into this blistering night, allowing them to connect to these cultural icons.

“I’ve always said that one of the things that was a real motivating factor of writing One Night in Miami was that we seem to have forgotten that our icons were young men. These great movements, we can’t forget that they were youth movements,” Powers said. “And it’s really up to young people to not be made to feel that their heroes, their icons, that what they did is unachievable. It should be the opposite. They should feel that any one of them could achieve any of the amazing things that a Sam Cooke, a Malcolm X, a Cassius Clay, or a Jim Brown did. Just in different ways.”

Powers has given audiences, in a year filled with hardship and horror, two stunning films. But through his writing, Powers has also allowed us an opportunity to pause, amid the chaos, and reflect on who we are, and how we interact with the world around us — nothing short of a true gift.

Read our full conversation with One Night in Miami’s Kemp Powers:

Awards Daily: I wanted to begin with One Night in Miami as a play. How did you decide the context and where you wanted to place these characters in terms of their frame of mind on this particular evening?

Kemp Powers: Honestly, I’d done years of research before I wrote the play. I used to be a journalist. When I first discovered that this was a real night that happened, I set about researching the friendship between these guys with the intention of writing a book about it. I initially wanted to write a book about the friendship between Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown, and Sam Cooke over these crucible three years or so where they were interacting with one another regularly. I wanted to use all that I knew about what was really happening in their lives leading up to that moment to influence the subjects of the discussion they were going to have. 1963 to 1964 was really a crucible time in each of their lives. A lot of those events that we point out in the film were things that really occurred. You know, Cassius Clay did almost get knocked out by Henry Cooper. There was a reason why he was such an underdog coming into the [Sonny] Liston fight, despite his obvious talent. Sam Cooke had bombed at the Copacabana, and more importantly, something we don’t even show is that his infant son had drowned in his pool at home. He was struggling with losing his only son and kind of wanting to stay away from home—being estranged in his marriage, which we also allude to. Malcolm X really was getting ready to break from the Nation of Islam. And Jim Brown really was getting ready to leave the NFL. He retired a year after that night. Knowing the things that each of them were struggling with and how some of those things fit so perfectly into this discussion— this conversation that, honestly, we’ve been having in the Black community since way before that night. And we’ve been having it up to this day. They almost felt like the perfect representation of these very different ideas of Black self-determination and Black power.

AD: I was curious about that. Much of the film focuses on activism and raises the question of how best to enact change and how public one should be in voicing those beliefs. Has your perspective on that changed since writing the play?

KP: No, because I’ve always felt that you do have a responsibility as a Black artist, athlete, intellectual, etc. We’ve always had a certain amount of social responsibility to be a part of some kind of activism. And I feel that activism can take many different forms. That’s the central argument between Malcolm and Sam. They want the same thing, but Sam is just trying to work from within the system. Whereas Malcolm is trying to confront and tear down the system. And in terms of which way is the best way to go, I think it’s always been situational. I believe that in order for us to actually have significant progress, you have to have both your Malcolms and your Sams. You have to have people working behind the scene as much as you need to have people on podiums, firing people up.

So, there are different kinds of engagement we can have. And, on a base level, some of the best engagement we can have is just doing the best for ourselves and our community on the very micro level. So, it didn’t really change my perspective because that’s always been my perspective. That was part of the motivation for writing both the play and the film.

AD: One Night in Miami gives the men at the center of your story the space to be vulnerable in ways that we don’t often get to see from men, and especially Black men. Can you tell me more about that?

KP: That was really important to me. I’ll admit, growing up, I was a Black nerd. There are very rigid ideas about Black masculinity. And what I would even call hyper-masculinity so that in order to be seen as a ‘strong’ Black man, it always tends to boil down to physicality. And I think that’s borne out in how we are represented in the arts, how we’re represented in film. It’s funny, back when we did the very first production of the play, a lot of the guys doing the readings were actor friends of mine. And I said out loud during a little Q&A that I was so happy to finally write something where a bunch of Black guys are in it. And no one has to take their shirts off. Because working in theater, it wasn’t very common for them to not have to take their shirts off. And I think that so much of the strength of these four men comes in their humanity, and humanity has to include some vulnerability. The reason why we suffer such brutal treatment is that people often think that we’re superhuman and we don’t have feelings. And we do.

AD: Beautifully said. Your work this year, certainly with One Night in Miami, and Soul deals with legacy— the ways that we as humans interact with the world, with each other, and with ourselves. What’s the message you want audiences to come away with when seeing these films?

KP: For people to understand that we all have an impact on one another, whether we realize it or not.

It’s so interesting because, with Soul, I feel so lucky that we got to tell this universal story through the prism of a Black man. You know, Soul isn’t a Black movie, but it’s absolutely a movie about a Black guy. And to see that story connect with a wide range of humanity, I think that does much for just helping [others to] understand that we’re human beings too. It’s experiential, and in a strange way, I think One Night in Miami has the potential to do the exact same thing. Seeing the vulnerability of these men, seeing them relate to one another, like brothers, like friends, in a way that we don’t often get to see, shows the universality of all of our human experience.

I’ve always said that one of the things that was a real motivating factor of writing One Night in Miami was that we seem to have forgotten that our icons were young men. The day that the play was first produced in 2013, I was older than all these men were on that night. [Laughs]. Think about that? Cassius Clay was 22, Jim was 28, and Sam and Malcolm were in their thirties. These great movements, we can’t forget that they were youth movements. And it’s really up to young people to not be made to feel that their heroes, their icons, that what they did is unachievable. It should be the opposite. They should feel that any one of them could achieve any of the amazing things that a Sam Cooke, a Malcolm X, a Cassius Clay, or a Jim Brown did. Just in different ways. And also, understand that the people who are doing this didn’t always know what they were doing. We’re still kind of flailing about. And that’s another thing that I think One Night in Miami has in common with Soul.

You know, people have questioned, ‘Well, is Soul really a kids’ movie?’ Of course, it’s a kids’ movie because now kids can understand that their parents don’t have it all figured out.

AD: I wanted to ask you about the process of adapting your own words for the film. What nuances did you find within the play that you hadn’t previously considered? What changes did you make?

KP: There were a lot of changes. While the film is thematically similar to the play, the story changed quite a bit. It isn’t just beginning with them entering a room and ending with them leaving. There’s actually so much story to tell. The conflict is different. The situations are different. Some discoveries were made after we began filming. There’s a scene in the film where Malcolm calls his wife and talks to his daughter first. That came from a conversation that Regina had with one of Malcolm X’s daughters. She revealed that, often, when Malcolm was on the road, he would hide letters around the house in books. He would send them on scavenger hunts to find these letters that were just letters of fatherly love. That struck me so powerfully— this real thing that I didn’t even know that Malcolm X did. [I had to] integrate that kind of stuff into the film.

So, in many ways, while I was initially hesitant to adapt the play into a film, once we did it, I felt blessed because it allowed me to show so many more different dimensions of the men than I was even able to do on the stage play.

AD: And tell me about working with Regina King. She’s one of today’s greatest talents. What was that collaboration like?

KP: It was just magical. It couldn’t have been better. I mean, Regina was always so complimentary, so honest, so warm. I don’t think this film would be what it is without her.

I think that what she did was so incredible, but also so subtle that people might not realize how her directing hand just shaped how this story came to be. It really was a dream collaboration for me.

AD: Earlier, we were discussing these ideas of masculinity within the film. How do you think having a female director at the helm helped shape how those ideas were portrayed?

KP: It definitely played into them because as a man, I have my own blind spots, you know? So, having a woman in charge, she’s going to notice things. And she helped, I think, tease things out of the performances that a male director might not pick up on.

That one scene with Malcolm and his daughter is just one of many different examples, both in the story itself and in the performances of each of the men, where she encouraged them to go smaller, go more introspective. As opposed to going larger all the time.

And I think that’s a combination of her being a woman and being an incredible actor with three decades of experience.

AD: And what are you working on now?

KP: I have a couple of projects. They’re secret right now, but let’s just say I’m already deep into another project, and I’m also writing another thing. You know, one can’t rest, And, don’t forget that Soul was something that we finished back in May. So even though it got delayed, it’s been done for a while. Similarly, One Night in Miami has been done since [early 2019], so I’m already on to my next thing.

AD: This being Awards Daily, I must ask you what it’s like to be in this moment— receiving this larger recognition, for not one, but two, incredible films.

KP: Well, it’s nice to have your work appreciated, especially as a writer. You know what I mean? Screenwriting can often be a lonely and thankless job. It’s really encouraging to see the writing of both of these films being pointed by so many people. But even more importantly, just the fact that it’s connecting with people.

I mean, you have to understand that in making both Soul and One Night in Miami, there are days where you go like, ‘Man, is anyone going to enjoy what we’re doing?’ Because it feels different, and doing things that are a little bit different can be scary. As an artist, you’re like,’ Is this the beginning and the end of my career in the same film?’ You know? So, to see it connect, which is all you ever hope for —you hope that this emotion that you poured into this stuff, that it reaches people. And to see it connect— that’s the dream.

So, you know, I just feel humbled and lucky that people are even really acknowledging [these films]. And specific things like the writing.

AD: What does that do for you moving forward? What are you going to carry with you into future projects?

KP: You know, it’s reminded me that the best projects to do are ones that I’m genuinely passionate about. And these were both labors of love. People will often tell you, ‘Yeah, you’ll have a labor of love, but sometimes you got to do stuff just for a check.’

And I don’t believe that. I don’t think I do my best work unless I’m just super-duper passionate about it. And, just seeing the reaction to these films so far, it’s borne out that in order for me to do what I do, I can only come from the extreme passion lane of doing it. And that’s really encouraging.

One Night in Miami is now available on Prime Video. Read more of Awards Daily’s One Night in Miami coverage here.