A love letter to the mentors”: Brian Tyree Henry on his success from “Atlanta” to “The Fire Inside

When I sat down with Brian Tyree Henry to talk about playing in his first biopic, “The Fire Inside,” I couldn’t help but ask him about the breakout role that I remember him most for: Paper Boi from Donald Glover’s award-winning FX comedy-drama series “Atlanta.”

Alfred “Paper Boi” Miles was a gritty, old school, big polo shirt and heavy chain-wearing type of artist making his way in the world full of coked-up, man purse-toting mumble rappers in skinny jeans. He represented hope for an expired generation. He was a rare win for the common man and maybe even the resurgence of the ’90s golden era of rap that will never come back.

I asked Henry if Paper Boi was real (which he kind of is to many of us) what he would be doing right now. “Hopefully, living free on his farm, counting those residual checks, mentoring. You know what I mean?” Henry said.

“I think he’d be gardening, honestly,” Henry continued, “He’s making his own preserves and pickles, but unencumbered by fame and what people think of him. I think simpler living because it’s something I want.”

Henry may dream of living a simple life, but his career is anything but. Since “Atlanta,” he has stared in a collection of films, including “If Beale Street Could Talk,” “Widows,” “Bullet Train,” and the “Spider-Verse” films. He has earned Academy Award, Emmy, Screen Actors Guild, and Tony Award nominations. The Oscar buzz is already building around his newest project, “The Fire Inside,” which follows women’s boxing pioneer and gold medalist Claressa Shields and is in theaters on Christmas.

In the film, Henry plays Coach Jason Crutchfield, a family man living in Flint, Michigan, who spends his free time teaching neighborhood kids the art of boxing. He encounters Shields when she is a little girl, determined to get in the ring. The problem is that Crutchfield had a strict no girl’s policy, and so Shields has to show him that she’s got the power to beat up the boys he has been training. This impress Crutchfield who becomes her coach, and the two go on to make history.

“What I hope this movie does is inspires more people to mentor, inspires more people to listen to that thing. When you see that spark, when you see that thing in somebody to go and nurture it,” Henry said.

Watch my “Salon Talks” episode with Brian Tyree Henry here on YouTube or read a Q&A of our conversation below to hear more about the making of “The Fire Inside, how mentors and teachers played a key role in his success and why he says he had the time of his life making “Atlanta.”

The following interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length.

Congratulations on the new film, man. Were you already a fan of Claressa Shields?

The craziest thing is that when I was approached with this script, I had not heard of this story, and that was a big reason why I knew I needed to take it. When I read it, I was so upset that I did not know about it. And then, I took a step back and realized why I didn’t know about it. You know what I mean? 

I wanted to make sure that no one felt what I felt hearing about it for the first time. I wanted to make sure that it was immortalized and that you couldn’t forget her name. She definitely should be a household name with all the accomplishments that she’s made. But no, I did know about this two-time gold medalist, historical female boxer, no, I didn’t.

It’s what we love about life though, right — the ability to just be surprised. It makes you feel like, “Wow, what else is out in the world that I don’t know about?”

Truly. That’s the interesting thing, especially when it comes to our narratives as Black people, the things that we have exposure to and the things that we don’t know.

But what I love about this story in particular is that it’s such a story of perseverance and hope that learning about it when I did was better than not knowing about it at all. But also, it put a charge in me to make sure to spread it far and wide. I talk to everybody about Claressa, and the fact that she’s still doing what she’s doing to this day. 

The end title card of this movie, we had to change like four times because she was still out there winning one after another after another. And so, to know that this is a still actual living, breathing story that’s going on — history is still being created as we speak — was just the greatest accomplishment for me.

You play Coach Jason Crutchfield. Walk us into his world.

This is my first time ever playing an actual person. This is biopic, and so, not only is this person living and breathing and still doing what they do, this person is a championship boxer themselves. There was a huge responsibility for me to get this right because I did not want to meet this man on the corner, and he’d be like, “I don’t really appreciate the way that you represented me.”

But to know Jason, know that he’s the complete opposite of that. I mean, he is one of the most humble, most meek, most kind. His heart is one of the hugest hearts I’ve ever seen in my life. He is still coaching to this day in Flint, Michigan at his gym. He’s coached over 700 kids at this point. And you can tell that he loves what he does. And not only that, he also is a part of coaching one of the most historical female boxers of all time.

There were a few ways to do it. I didn’t want to be very method and be like, “Let me call this man every five minutes and be like, ‘So when you eat cereal, what time do you eat it? What kind of spoon?'” I didn’t want to be that person. I didn’t want to interfere with his life as it was being lived. I think we spoke maybe once or twice. His gratitude was off the charts because I didn’t want to go in expecting that this man knew who I was or that he had ever seen anything that I did, I just wanted him to know that I was going to honor him every step of the way.

And then, there’s this wonderful documentary called “T-Rex,” which literally follows Jason and Claressa’s journey to the Olympics from when she’s like 16 or so. And so, we were able to use that as a guide. Some of the shots from that documentary we were using shot-for-shot in the movie. So I was able to watch how Jason interacts with Claressa, watch how he interacts in his personal gym with his kids, watch how he interacts with his wife and his family at home.

But for the most part, I just really wanted to honor the legacy that Jason was leaving and that legacy was definitely his mentorship and his coaching of Claressa because I had never seen a story like this before that followed this Black man and this young Black woman, coach and athlete. I had not seen this on screen before. I also had never seen a man like Jason on screen before, and I wanted to make sure to honor that, to make sure to show that he is necessary in this world.

Doing this project was really just like a love letter and a letter of appreciation to Jason because I think about all the mentors that I’ve had in my life who believed in me, who literally would knock me around and be like, “What are you doing? You need to be in theater class. You need to do this. Why aren’t you going?” This movie is also for them. So I hope that the takeaway isn’t just learning about the exceptional feats that Claressa has done in her life, but also, as a love letter to the mentors and the people who have guided us to those heights as well.

So you didn’t have to pull up and just watch him in the gym.

I really wish that I had that time to submerge myself that way, but I didn’t. They had been working on this film two years prior to when I attached. It was going in 2019, and then, the pandemic hit, and put it on hold. And then, it took them a while to get it back together. I was also coming into a lived story, and I wanted to honor what was already there. 

What I love about the film is it shows that our coaches, especially our Black coaches in our neighborhoods, what they mean to us. It’s not just sports instruction. Coaches can be like fathers, big brothers, you got to help with the homework. It’s so much. And I think you did a good job of showing that as well.

Thank you. I, too, sit here as testimony to my mentors and my coaches and my teachers, truly, who were all Black men and women. My education was mostly all Black from preschool all the way to college, until I went to grad school at Yale, that’s when it changed. And not only was it all Black, but it was in the South, North Carolina, and also, Washington D.C.

I’m sitting here as a walking testament to those people who believed in me, to seeing this kid who was sitting in the library reading these crazy books and reenacting different scenes from movies in the street. I am a Boys & Girls Club kid. I truly am a product of all the mentors in my life and all the people who came before me to tell me, “Hey, there’s much more for you to do. You should follow this.”

I always say that about my career is that I never came into this career thinking that I would be all these things that you just mentioned — Emmy-nominated, Tony-nominated. I never thought about it. It felt so unobtainable, actually, to me, because I knew what I saw on television, I knew the examples that I didn’t see on television or in theaters or on stage. 

If it wasn’t for all these people coming up to me being like, “This is what you really should be doing,” my Mr. Thomasons from Morehouse, my Miss McNairs is from high school, if it wasn’t for these people really seeing that in me, I know I wouldn’t be sitting here talking to you. I would not even have pursued it. I would’ve not even thought to audition for some of the plays and things that I went up for if it wasn’t for my mentors telling me that.

What I hope this movie does is inspires more people to mentor, inspires more people to listen to that thing. When you see that spark, when you see that thing in somebody to go and nurture it, because it’s harder now. We live in a digital time. We’re all here. We want fast results. But when you see it, really nurture it, really go for it, really pour into the youth and these young boys and girls that they can be anything that they want to be. And teach them discipline and teach them that the stars are possible, because I’m telling you, I would not be sitting here talking to you if it wasn’t for the ones that did that for me.

It sounds like you had a couple of Crutchfields in your life.

Oh, man, without a doubt. Still do. 

I feel like the timing for this film is perfect, as it pertains to women’s sports.

Yeah. I mean, there is no better time than now to empower Black women. I think we should be empowering Black women all the time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. And when it lines up like this, the way that it’s lining up, also for it to be on Christmas, I’m like, “Well, that’s a gift.”

There’s so many people who could have denied this being made. There’s so many people who could have just been like, “Nah, the world’s not ready for that.” And I think about how often Claressa must have heard that, how often Claressa going into these gyms of all men, all boys, being told that she can’t, being told that she’s not a girl enough, that she’s not feminine enough, that she’s not . . . And here we are telling this story of the greatest female boxer, if not best boxer of all time, and she still got so much more to do.

And also, knowing that the challenges are going to come, and man, you’re going to have to take your licks, you’re going to have to take your licks. Boxing is such an amazing metaphor, it’s such an amazing metaphor. Even getting in the ring to box is hard. To figure out which rope to go through, to strap up, to go in and know that you are going to have to take a hit, you’re going to have to take licks. But it’s truly those hits that make you. It’s truly you showing up in the ring that makes you. 

Claressa’s life and this movie and what this movie is about is such a metaphor, I think, that our hopes reaches far and wide, yes, to all audiences, but definitely, to young Black women and girls, for sure. 

When people ask you where you from, what’d you say?

Well, I have to honor both because I was raised and born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, but my sisters and my mother and my niece and nephews are still in the DMV. And so, I literally am like, “Oh, I’m country mouse and city mouse.” You know what I’m saying? I have to honor both. The women of my life are in D.C. and Maryland, and I grew up in Fayetteville.

I’m from Baltimore.

Hey, hey, so you know. 

We have these situations where we come from these dense Black populations where that one person who has that talent becomes responsible for delivering the community. 

Mm-hmm.

You need that one Claressa . . . so that so many people can eat. Sometimes I sit back and I’m like, “Man, when are we going to reform that?” You know what I’m saying?

What’s crazy is that because when I was growing up in Fayetteville, North Carolina, there was nothing really saying that I could be where I’m at. You know what I mean? Now, look, I was supported. Let me explain something, Fayetteville supported me. I mean, every single corner that I was in, I was a part of some arts or some program. I was definitely in the community, and I love Fayetteville for that, I really do. 

But I always knew when I was in Fayetteville, I was like, “I got to see what else is out there. I want to see what else is out there.” The people of Fayetteville supported that for me. They were like, “Go. Go see. You can aim for all of it. Do all of it. Go for it.”

I was always very much an idealist and was like, “Let’s just try.” I was that kid, I was like, “Let’s see.” And I never really had that kind of, I guess, censorship about what I was allowed and what I was denied. I was like, “I’m just going to try. There’s nothing that’s going to hurt me from trying.” And if it wasn’t for knowing that there was something bigger or trying to aspire for something bigger, I don’t think I’d be sitting where I am. 

If it wasn’t for people who wanted that for me also, my community wanted that for me, I don’t think I would’ve gone as far as I did. So I think about Claressa and Jason a lot because I can only imagine this male boxer who sees this young girl coming to his gym that’s like, “I want to be a boxer.” And knowing that . . . He’s like, “What are you talking about? Are you sure?” Because it made him question himself. It made him question his ideals and his morals. I think it made him a better man and a better human being because he showed up for that challenge. But I also believe he didn’t think it was a challenge that much because he knew he had the greatest boxer. 

I love that story of seeing the potential in somebody and really wanting to raise it to its greatest capabilities. And it takes heart, it takes a care, it takes a courage as well.

The film is set in Flint, Michigan, and I think you show that being good is just the beginning because you also have to survive your family, you have to survive your block, you have to survive a coach who might not feel like you’re ready to participate in this sport. So it’s like being good is just the tip of the iceberg, and I don’t think we talk about that enough.

It’s one thing to be good and Black, that’s one thing, but you got to be great, right? You got to be great. It’s still things that I see in my rise all the time. It’s like, “Oh, well, I thought that I did this. Maybe, am I good enough? I went through this. I put this time in.” But it’s such an interesting challenge because we tend to sometimes be our hardest critics.

Absolutely.

We’re really hard on ourselves. And what I learned from meeting Claressa, I promise on everything that I own, is to truly, truly, truly believe in myself because no one’s going to take this from her, nor can you. It’s on record, she’s the only female who has won two consecutive gold medals in boxing, period. And yes, she’s a Black woman. And she’s also a Black woman from Flint. And yes, she did it before she was 21.

And there are going to be people . . . like when I listened to her and I was like, “There are still people saying that you’re not. There are still people who have the audacity to draw breath and tell you that you don’t deserve and that you don’t . . . And I know that feeling.” I was like, “Yeah, I can’t understand that. I feel that.” But self-belief and self-worth, especially as Black people in this society is something that we can’t look for, we have to really find it within ourselves and believe it within ourselves and nurture it amongst ourselves.

You know what I mean? Because one day you’re feeling like this, and the next day society is like, “Psych, nope, actually, you got to start from the beginning.” And that’s hard.

If it were up to me, I’d be raging every day, I’m like, “Let’s flip this table. I don’t understand. What do you mean?” But there’s something to be said about the tenacity, the determination, the perseverance of who we are.

Sports is an actual physical thing that you watch, that you get to see. Well, look, Simone Biles is the only one that’s ever done what Simone Biles has ever done. She has moves named after her. There are so many different ways that we, especially as Black people, have excelled in sports, have made ways in sports, and that we still have to find even more ways to be seen and noticed.

But what I hope “The Fire Inside” does is just shines a light, truly, a light that I hope blinds you, so that you remember, so you always remember that this story exists, that you always remember that what she did has yet to be outdone and that it exists. It’s a sense of pride. It pours a sense of pride into you that we have this story for our own and that we never forget it, honestly.

The film was written by Barry Jenkins. You worked with him on “If Beale Street Could Talk,” which he adapted and directed. What was it like working with Barry again?

This was different because he wrote this one, so he wasn’t really on set that much, but Barry carries his own essence, and the universes he builds are very lived in, very authentic. And so, because this is a true story and because there were actual moments to pull from, I don’t want to say it was easy, but it was lived in.

And Rachel [Morrison], our director, this being her debut, directorial debut, spent so much time, really cared about this story, really cared about Claressa, really cared about making sure that she showed the authenticity of the story of Claressa and Jason. Certain scenes were in the streets of Flint, making sure to recreate Claressa’s journey and training, and even making sure to show the lows of what it was as well. This isn’t your conventional road to riches and fame; she still had to overcome quite a bit. She gets her first medal and she has to go back to Flint. There’s no money, there’s no endorsements.

And people don’t really see that, people don’t really think about those moments, but with Claressa’s permission, she allowed us to really peel back the layers of that and showcase that because it’s real, it’s really, really real. And I’m so grateful to Claressa for being so transparent about it, for being so open about it. Because when it comes to telling a story about your life, you can sugarcoat as much as you want, it’s your life, you can withhold as much as you want to, it’s your life, but Claressa was very much like, “No, no, no, no, no, this is what it was like. And people need to know that the journey for me as a young Black woman in boxing, this is what it looked like, this is how it was.”

People will leave this movie, hopefully, feeling charged, hopefully, feeling empowered, hopefully, feeling like there is a story that reflects a part of our lives that they have ownership to, be like, “Those wins feel like our wins. When Claressa wins, it feels like our wins.”

As an actor, you have had a hand in some of the most influential work being created by Black artists today. One of those examples is “Atlanta.” Why do you think that show was so different and impactful?

Because that city is, to be honest with you. Atlanta is where I, from 18 to 22 years old, became the man that you see right now. I had the luxury of going to college in Atlanta, the turn of the millennia in 2000, 2004. Atlanta is such, I mean, when you talk about a city that has morphed in so many different ways and has become this amazing melting pot of talent, of culture, of Black talent, of Black culture, because it is the Black Mecca, right?

I think that everybody thinks they know Atlanta, everybody thinks they know the South, everybody thinks they know. And what I liked about what our series, “Atlanta,” did, from the brain of Donald Glover and his brother Stephen, is that it allowed us this kind of play space to create something culturally that belonged to us. 

Like Atlanta, the series and the city, also feel like ownership to us. You either know about it or you don’t. Doesn’t mean we won’t allow you to come and be a part of it, but you either know about it or you don’t. And I think, for me, the best part of being able to be a part of “Atlanta “was that I got to play the Atlanta native, yet another instance where I was like, “If I don’t get this right, you think Atlanta going to let me back in? Please.” 

But I knew him. You know what I mean? I knew this man. I knew him. I wanted to honor him. I knew that many people who tuned in had never even allowed somebody like him in their living room. You know what I mean? There’s some people who would’ve crossed the street, but then, there’s other people like, “Oh, that’s my cousin, man. I know him. The familiarity. I also wanted to show all the different dimensions of who this man is, like he does get scared, he is funny, he is this, he is that. And I wanted it to feel lived in. 

But also, Atlanta’s a crazy city too. It’s so funny, after doing that show, there’s so many instances in my life where I’m like, “Oh, this is an ‘Atlanta’ episode.” It’s true, especially living in this society as a Black person, period. There are just so many instances where I’m like, “Did you see that? What?” The otherworldiness of it. So I’m grateful that we came at a time that shows like that were being made, that you allowed these four actors to come together and showcase all these different ways to be — to exist. And that people loved it. It’s so weird that I was standing in the middle of that and just having the time of my life. I want you to know I had the time of my life.

You made one mistake — you called Atlanta the Black Mecca. The Black Mecca is Baltimore.

Oh, here we go. Lord, here we go . . . And I be hearing your Baltimore come out too, you like, “Burry.” But yes, there are more . . .

What do you think Paper Boi would be doing right now?

Hopefully, living free on his farm, counting those residual checks, mentoring. You know what I mean? I think he’d be gardening, honestly. I think, in these day and times, he’s making his own preserves and pickles, but unencumbered by fame and what people think of him. I think simpler living because it’s something I want. So I think he is me and I am he.

Can we expect any more collaborations between you and Donald Glover?

Well, he’s family. That’s my cousin, my brother. I support him a thousand percent, I know he supports me too, so who knows? I mean, we stay in touch, so who knows?

And you’re working on “Beyond the Spider-Verse,” right?

I can’t tell you that.

OK.

Can’t really share that, but maybe.

What’s next for you?

I have a series coming out on Apple TV next year that I got the opportunity to executive produce with Ridley Scott as well, Ridley Scott directed the first episode, and it’s also written by this amazing Academy Award-nominated writer named Peter Craig, called “Dope Thief.” And it takes place in Philadelphia. It’s a wonderful thriller-drama that I think that people will be very excited by.