LOS ANGELES β To prepare for βClipped,β a look at Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling and the racist remarks that brought down his kingdom, Ed OβNeill didnβt have to look far.
βI saw one video of him speaking and everything else was in the script,β says the former βModern Familyβ star.
For Cleopatra Coleman, who plays Sterlingβs assistant V. Stiviano, there were countless videos to peruse. βThis was only 10 years ago,β she says of the scandal, but Executive Producer Gina Welch did such intense research βshe was really instrumental in filling in a lot of the gaps.β
Based on the ESPN 30 for 30 podcast, βThe Sterling Affairs,β βClippedβ tracks the fallout that occurred after Sterling made racist remarks to Stiviano. The released tapes rocked the NBA and resulted in Sterlingβs expulsion but werenβt necessarily the change that was needed.
βThis is what itβs like to be Black in a white space,β says Rembert Browne, one of the seriesβ producers and writers. βFor a league that is majority Black, itβs an important story to relive.β
Because Sterling wielded a lot of clout in Los Angeles (he also owned a lot of property in the city), itβs a look at βwhat it feels like for anybody whoβs ever worked for an unjust, prejudiced, mercurial boss who has all the power in the world over you and what it does to you as a person to be in a workplace that is so infected from the top,β says Executive Producer Nina Jacobson.
The series, Coleman says, is βwildly entertaining,β but itβs also a βpoignant commentary on racism and misogyny and the power structures that our society is built on. Itβs very sensitive to thatβ¦and sophisticated.β
What prompted the fallout? A conversation between Stiviano and Sterling. It came after she posted a photograph on Instagram of her with NBA legend Magic Johnson.
βIt bothers me a lot that you want to broadcast that youβre associating with Black people,β Sterling said in the taped conversation. βDo you have to?β The tape, which went on for nearly an hour, was leaked to the media and revealed plenty about the coupleβs relationship and his method of managing. Coupled with sexual assault allegations and other racism lawsuits, it was the evidence needed to get Sterling banned from the NBA.
Sterlingβs wife, Shelly, βis ultimately the winner here,β says Jacki Weaver, who plays the role. βShe outsmarts and outwits all those guys in that bastion of male supremacy, menβs sports, with her superior business acumen and her negotiating skills. Her story strikes a nerve for women.β
OβNeill says he was particularly struck by the scenes in the locker room and how the players were affected by Sterlingβs words. βIt was an important story to be told,β he says. βIβm not so much into that aspect of showbiz. Iβm usually like, βIt should delight people and entertain them,β right? But maybe (viewers) will take away something from this.β
Coleman, who shot many scenes with OβNeill, got a chance to see him as the kind, loving actor he is, not the tyrant he plays. βHeβs got great stories,β she says.
βClipped,β she adds, gave her a chance to βpeel back the layers and find out how (Stiviano) became that way.β Part opportunist, part whistleblower, she was a βcomplicated character, which is very satisfying as an actor to play.β
OβNeill found Sterlingβs layers, too. βItβs fun to play the bad guy β there are a lot of sides to them, so you get to do a lot of different things.β
While success has given him the luxury of selecting what roles he plays, OβNeill says there was something about βClippedβ that attracted him. βI guess I still want to do things,β he says with a smile.
"Clipped" premieres June 4 on Hulu.Β
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