Donnell - Chazz rules everything around me.

Episode Date: January 21, 2022

In this episode, Donnell sits down with Chazz Palminteri.  They discuss Wap, Movies, and what drives him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

I, I, I... The Donnell Rawlins Show, live in your face! Fuck out, bitch-ass nigga, you'll never take my place, nigga! so This is Donnell and I got a legend near me. He may make you frightened and he's kind of scary. He's been doing shit from a long time ago. Back in the day, he used to like black chicks when they was hoes. This is off the top and off of the dome.

I don't know, he's probably going to say I'm getting the fuck out your room. That shit didn't rhyme, but I said it anyway. I did a show with him, and he didn't know that little Nas was gay It doesn't really matter and I'm gonna work on my diction. Is this real or is it fiction? Sometimes I come with a lot of commentary Shout out to the legend who scared black people Chaz commentary lot of commentary shout out to the legend who scared black people chas commentary what's up what's up that was a 16 i know that's like an interesting way that's an interesting way to start a show i know i'm a whack rapper but i'm excited i've been doing this podcast for probably

two years and when i first started doing the podcast i had an issue i was like i don't ever want to have guests on my show because i don't want to ask anybody to be on my show. But it's, and recently I started having people with names come to my show. Yeah. And I'm so excited for you to be on my podcast today. I appreciate that, Don. I enjoy being here, man. Thank you.

And the reason why, because by the time my podcast air, I would have already been on your podcast. Yes. And a little fun fact that people don't know is how disrespectful you are to the guest on your show. I wasn't disrespectful, man. You was. Okay. Just as a recap, right?

Okay, go ahead. We were talking about being on your show. You was like, Donnell, I'm a professional. I don't even know who gave you. You said, Donnell, I'm a professional. I don't even know who gave you a... You said, Donnell, I'm a professional. I don't even know who gave you a fucking podcast. Anybody can get a podcast. That's what you said to me.

You said, anybody can get a podcast. And I said, you said, you're going to be on my show, but I need to let everybody know everything about you because this is what you said. You said, because none of my fucking fans are going to know who the fuck you are man you are you let me tell you something you are fucking exaggerating i got more respect for you right now than anything right now for exaggeration exaggeration well i can tell a story italians

tell stories too right but and i was like and then i said well nobody's gonna know you on my show. To which you said, there is no fucking way any of your punk ass fans are going to not know who the fuck I am. And you said, I'm a fucking street legend. I'm a Bronx legend. I'm a Brownsville legend.

And they're going to know me. To which I said, you're absolutely right. Right. You made me feel really bad. I do. And that's hard because you're a tough guy. And it's so hard for me to say anything that could make you feel bad.

No, you were very sweet. I mean, come on. Look, it's an honor to be on your show. You're a funny guy, man. You know you're making me nervous right now, right? You're a funny guy. You're not playing ping pong. You mean I'm funny.

No. Funny. No. Funny how? Funny how? What amuse you? That's a funny guy. You're not a playboy. You mean I'm funny. No. Funny. No. Funny how? Funny how? That's a true story, though. What? That funny how?

That was a true story. Okay, explain. Joe Pesci told me that. It was a true story? Yeah, it wasn't in the script. What happened was when they were doing the movie, Pesci thought about it

and he said, hey, Marty, this thing happened to me. And Marty just said, so he went over to Joe Pesci and he told him, oh, shit, man. How much disrespect did you have for my show?

How much disrespect? No, go ahead. All right, we shut that off. Okay. What happened was he said, he told Joe Pesci, he said, don't even tell the cast what's going on. Don't even tell Ray Liotta what's going on. Just do it. Do it. leota what's going on just do it do it and if you watch that scene you can see uh ray leota was like he didn't know what to do and if you watch everybody else they didn't know what to do right

that was between marty and joe pesci and that's what and that's why he did it funny how and so ray leota just what what do you mean funny how I amuse you? That's exactly what happened to Joe Pesci when he was waiting at a table. So how did they not, like, so he said, just do it, right? Just do it. Don't even tell everybody else. But goddamn, that's commitment when you could not break character. Break character. Not know what the fuck is going on.

Right. And still wait. So the moment that they knew is when he said, I got you. Was that when exactly exactly because it was i got you was like i got the old laugh that was absolutely all spontaneous man i'm just looking at you man you are a fucking legend man well thanks no i'm saying that with all my heart and i'm just saying it's hard for a black person to say a white person is a legend we just don't give props like that right but i'm saying you're one of those people,

and especially because I know all of my friends are already going to know you, right? But it's just like you, the characters you played, your history, why do you think that it resonates with black culture so much? You know what? I've been asked that question, Darnell. I don't know what it is, but I think my Bronx Tale,

my movie that I wrote, it's about my life. That movie has been in, and I'm not exaggerating, I would say anywhere between 30 to 40 videos. All black. All black. 100%. All black. All black. 100%. All black. They called me up

to ask me permission to use it in their videos. I said, absolutely. Go right ahead. You know, about Sonny, the wasted talent. It's been copied.

And I'm happy about that. You know what it is? People can smell a white man that fucked a lot of black chicks. It's just like, yo, I'm looking at, and not knowing the background. Yes, I've been with all the black women. No, no, no, smell.

Is that what it is? It's all over you. Like, you give the presence like he could get it. You know? Yeah. Is that why when I go to a place, a restaurant, if I'm with a couple of my friends, all of a sudden I'll sit around and I'll see, all of a sudden one black girl shows up and then another one comes up near me, then another one, then another.

They know. Yes, they're coming to give it to you. They're coming to get it. They want to give you the WAP. You do know it. This is a question I had. I know this. Because earlier you told me you was notorious.

And let me say, he's not putting himself out there, happily married man. But we all have a past. We all have a past. And I don't ever want to forget mine, right? Right. Do you think, now, do you know what WAP is? A WAP?

WAP. Well, WAP was a derogatory term for Italian. A WAP. No, that was WASP, wasn't it? No, WAP. Well, WAP was a derogatory term for Italian. A WAP. No, that was WASP, wasn't it? No, WAP. Was it? Yeah, it was W-O-P. That used to mean without passport.

Okay, do you know what a new WAP is? No. Wet-ass pussy. I didn't know that. Well, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion, they have this song, right? WAP. And they talk about how wet their vagina gets. It's a whole song.

Let me tell you something, Chaz. The pussy gets so wet. In the song, she says, grab a mop and a bucket for this wet-ass pussy, right? Wow. In your experiences, have you ever had a relationship with a woman where you felt in the moment you might need a mop and a bucket? Maybe a couple of times. Yeah?

A couple of times. Well, you get some women to squirters, you know? Oh. But now I think you have to have a certain level of penis to get them to squirt, don't you? Yeah. Well, I'm cool with that. Okay. I love to get them to squirt. Don't you? Yeah. Well, I'm cool with that. Okay.

I love the way you're doing it. I'm cool with that. All right. Yeah, I'm good with that. I know. Is there any difference between being with a black woman or a white woman? Yeah. being with a black woman or a white woman yeah um it's the

it's I don't know pheromones what pheromones pheromones I think I think you hit it right on the head it's the pheromones

yeah somebody did I know this is crazy I was wondering one time I was with this with this woman years ago years ago right

and I was on her right and I was going crazy right years ago, right? And I was on her, right? And I was going crazy. Right. Like animal. Not in the performance, but just my senses or whatever. And I was like, what the fuck is going on?

Yeah. Right? And I saw some shit. She had this book. And it was talking about how to turn a man on. Yeah. And it was this process they do where they take their fingers, right? Yeah. Insert it in their vagina.

And the juices from that, they put it in their body like cologne. Really? You know why I can buy that? Any chicken and waffles spot or Wingstop. They're selling the wing stop right they're selling barbecue spots wing stop chinese restaurants baby and i was like now that makes sense because i was on her and i was just like i was just like a like a tiger with that right yeah yeah you know it's the contrast too that's my thing that contrast i don't care what y'all say

get mad at me sisters i love y'all fight the power i want to fight black lives matters marches i'm still with y'all but that goddamn color contrast in the dark with a candle lord i got a question and not to say that um our careers are parallel but you were the and i know you get this all the time Bronx Tale right I was on Chappelle show and I had a character that just popped right and wherever I go people call me they're gonna call me Ashley like for the rest of my life how do you take it when you see somebody and the first thing they say is Sonny yeah well you know I take it. I used to.

It bothered me in the beginning, but I never let anybody know. But now I take it as a real compliment only because I've done almost 70 movies. And this movie resonates so much. I mean, don't forget, I wrote the one man show, which I still do. Right. I wrote. You play 60 characters. No, 18. 80? I still do. Right. I wrote- You play 60 characters. No, 18.

80? 18. 18, okay, good. I play 18. I do the whole movie on stage by myself. That's what Robert De Niro saw. Right. And if people want to come and see it,

they go to my podcast. Oh, I definitely want to come see it. Go to my podcast. You're my guest. Anytime you want to come. No, I mean, I want to, for some of Kenya's story, but I'm going to tell you why I want to see it.

Yeah, chaspalmaterry.net. I start my United States tour on March, and I'm all over the country, and I'm doing my one-man show, and A Bronx Tale. And that started it all. I wrote the screenplay and the movie, and I started it, started the one-man show. And I wrote the Broadway book for the musical,

and I started it too. When I look at it. So Sonny is me, you know? And you know what? And I respect the fact that you embrace, like people don't understand, like the body of work that you have, right? But I always tell people, you know what? It's so hard to get people to recognize you from anything.

So if there's a character, something that you connect with, why would you run away from it? Not only that, but I know nobody comes up to you and say, fuck you, Sonny. You know, they come up to you, and I'm sure of that they're excited. They reminisce with the movie. It's a level of appreciation.

Yeah, absolutely. You know, they always come over to me. And, yeah, I don't get fans that, you know, bust my balls. They're really very respectful. They come over to me, and they're very nice. They tell you that the movie changed their life. You know,

a lot of people they were junkies and they saw The Waste of Talent. I had fathers come up with their sons and said, my son saw your movie

and he cried to me and we never had a relationship. We've had a great relationship now. You have to see in your movie. It's about family. See,

my movie is not a mom movie. Goodfellas, one of the great movies of all time. Godfellas, Godfather, Donnie Brasco, all great movies, all great mom movies. My movie is a family movie. And you know what? It really is. It's a family movie with killing, too. With killing, yes.

But, yeah, that's how you get a good Italian. You're like, oh, yeah, happy birthday, but somebody's got to die. Right, right. So I'm like, how important would that say? And, like, the scene that happy birthday, but somebody's got to die. How important would that sit in the scene that resonates with me and so many people and especially me being a father now at an older age. I know the one.

You know the fucking scene. Like how is it important to you as being a good dad? What does fatherhood mean to you? Well, you know, it's funny because when I first started doing the scene,

I was a young actor and I got discovered doing A Bronx Tale, which I wrote. But then when I had a son, I used to relate from the boy to the father. Then when I had a son, the essence of the show got even richer because I started relating from the father to the show got even richer because i started relating from the father to the boy right and uh it was just much it was just much better i mean i have a son dante who's in the business and you know what i did your podcast you asked me why did i name my son austin i said it's because i want him to be accepted on paper with the name austin right my question is why did you name your name son Dante? You wanted him to get black pussy. Tell the truth. I wanted him to get black pussy.

And he does. No, he's a very... I'm Dante. He's a Dante. I can believe it. 6'2", handsome. All right, you ain't turning me on, bro. Why you... No, but he's... But I wanted him to be Dante because Dante Alighieri was one of my

favorite writers, Italian writers. And I just knew he was going to be something artistic, which he is. And I said, you got a lot to live up to with a name like Dante. And he does. So I'm happy for him. And then my daughter, Gabriella, too. Robert De Niro, he saw your one-man show. Yes.

And is that where you guys built it? How did that? First off, what the fuck was he doing at your show? Not to be insulting or anything. Okay, you want me to tell you the story? I'll try to be quick. I'll paraphrase a little bit. I was working.

I was working. When I first got out there, I started doing, I was on Hill Street Blues. Then I got on Matlock. Then I got on. But were you on Law & Order is the fucking question. Law & Order came later. Law & Order wasn't even around then. I don't think.

And then finally, all of a sudden, I ran out of money again. So I got a job as a bouncer, you know, and I worked at this club. And all of a sudden one night, I'm there for about three months. And I was the guy in the front with the clipboard. I would let people in, let people not in, you know. And all of a sudden this guy runs over to me, goes, hey, I'm late, come on, move the rope, move the rope. And he was like really abusive to me, a little short guy with big glasses. And I said, hey, take it easy. I'll let you in in a minute.

What's your name? He goes, do you know who I am? I said, yeah, you're the guy who's not getting in tonight. That's what I said to him. And all of a sudden he goes, you're going to be fired in 15 minutes. I said, yeah, fuck you. And all of a sudden he called.

All of a sudden didn't have cell phones back then. You made a big fuss. The owner came out. Who was the guy? Swifty Lazar. Jewish? Jewish guy. Jew-Tang Clan ain't nothing to fuck with.

You got to remember that. Oh, man, you can't fuck with them. No, no. So Swifty Lazar, if you look him up on Google, is the biggest agent in the world at the time. Just like he said, I got fired. 15 minutes later, I'm driving back on my 1972 Honda with the fucking dent in it. I go back to my bullshit apartment. This is 1987. And I go back to my apartment and I said, here, what am I going to do with my life? I'm in there. I was on Broadway. I had all these

credits, but I didn't have any really film credits. I said, I want to do films. And then finally, I saw this sign on my refrigerator, my father's car, the saddest thing in life is wasted talent. I said, fuck this. If they won't give me a great part, I'll write one myself.

I love it. I went to Thrifty Drugstore. I took it home. I used to write stories and poetry. And I said, I'll write about my relationship with Sonny, my father, and me. And I'll put the boy in the middle.

It'll be like a triangle. Did you see the beginning? I know writing process, you don't see everything. Was it clear to you that you had the beginning, the middle, and the end? Or you just had the beginning? No. I start writing when I see the beginning. And I think I know the ending.

I knew the beginning. I knew the beginning. But I knew at the end Son sunny had to die for the boy to it's a catharsis for the boy to move on so i started writing i performed it for my every monday night in front of my theater and then i would write 10 minutes you know the process 10 minutes out of the 10 minutes you keep four minutes and i kept taping it on my a track on my track cassette tape and each week i would write and I would perform it on Monday night. At the end of almost a year,

I had 90 minutes of this one-man show. I borrowed money from my friend. I put it up. Bam! My fucking life was like, the reviews, it was insane, Donnell. Insane. It's so interesting you say that

because I have a similar feeling when you say when something hits you, you got to do it yourself. I always say, you know, like when someone, one of my friends, I'm like, oh, man, I'm having a fucked up day. I just got fired from my job. And I'm never like, oh, that was fucked up. First thing I said was like, you got fired for a reason. Yeah. You got fired for a reason. No question I got fired for a reason.

That was divine intervention. God took me out of there and said, get off your fucking ass and let's go. And what I did for that one year, I just wrote every day. I wrote every fucking day. And then on Monday, I would perform it and take whatever I thought was good and hear the audience response. And some people would make a good note. I would pick it up, write it, write it in. At the end of the year, I did it. But here's the thing. Everybody

wanted it, but they didn't want me. They wanted to put a star in the role. Pacino came, Jack Nicholson came. They all, Burt Reynolds came. They all came. They wanted to play this Sonny. And every big director came, every big producer came. I went from 250 they offered me and I refused 500. I refused 1 million. I refused. I had $200 in the fucking bank at the time. And I still said, no, finally I did it after I turned down a million dollars. The last one was a million dollars. The guy put a piece of paper in front of me. He said, sign that you'll have a million dollar check tomorrow. My agents were on left and right of me. And I said, I have to play Sonny.

He said, no good. I said, fuck it. I stood up. I said, meeting's over. My agents looked at me like I was fucking crazy. But you knew your worth. I knew my worth. I did it.

I performed it again. And one night, somebody comes over to me, the stage manager, and says, Jazz, Robert De Niro just saw the show. He just saw it. He's in your dressing room. And I walked in the dressing room, and there's Bob De Niro. You know, he's sitting it he's in your dressing room and I walked in the dressing room and there's Bob De Niro you know he's sitting there with a black chick? No

he wasn't with a black chick he was by himself and he said the fucking show was great he couldn't believe it he said how'd you do that you know so he said look they're going to come to me anyway if you sell this thing he says I think you'll be great as Sonny I think you should write it because it's your life.

It'll be honest. He says, I'll play your father, and I'll direct it, and we'll go partners. And if you shake my hand, that's the way it'll be. I shook his hand. I never looked back. Man, you hear so many bad stories about Hollywood. You never get the stories like motherfuckers being real

to their worth and everything. Question, like you say, it's so hard for people in the beginning to know their value because you're dealing with, like you say, a shitty apartment. You're dealing with this shit. And like the first time you get a lick, you're going to jump on it. What makes you feel better, the process or the result? And when I say that, I mean like the hustle or the hustle the hustle of hustles the process is always great i don't want to go back to that time right but i

never forget the feeling when i got my first big check i was going to say that because you get the this is what people don't understand yeah we don't understand about acting you see somebody on tv and oh he's getting money you don't understand how much money you owe other motherfuckers. Yeah. So it's hard, especially with acting. That's why so many people have jobs to supplement their income. Yeah. Because you'll get a nice check, but then next thing you know, that's gone. It's gone.

Yeah. The first big check was that? The first big check. Well, I sold the script to Star in it for a million and a half. So my first check was for $500,000. So when I got that, I was in a better apartment, and I never forget I was with my friend, and I knew I made a deal.

I was waiting for the check, and we were just like we are now, me and my friend Dayton Calley. He was a wonderful actor. We're sitting there, and we're talking about we're going to go back to the theater, and we're going to do a scene together. Guy knocks're going to go back to the, you know, theater and we're going to do a scene together. Guy knocks on the door. He doesn't, I'm not famous.

He goes, you Charles Sparta? I go, yeah. He goes, this is for you. Just like that. I said, oh, well, thanks. And he walks out. I go, what the fuck? You know, it was from my agent, William Morris.

So I knew it was from, because I signed with them. So I figured, what the fuck's this? I said, you know, just like that. Nobody called me nothing I open it up and I see and I stand up

you see the zeros and I you're so smart and I see the zeros you know so I go and it's not the two so I go

hey Dayton I just got a check for $50,000 and he goes what and he stands up and he gets and he looks behind me and he goes, I see him go like this. He goes,

he goes, Chaz, no, no. It's $500,000. And I went, and I sat down and he sat down just like this. Donnell, we didn't say a fucking word for about three minutes. You know how long three minutes is?

Forever. Yeah. And I sat there. Especially for you not to talk. Yeah. I didn't talk. He didn't talk. Because he knew me many years and he struggled with me.

And tears were rolling down my fucking eyes. And I just started crying. And then we started laughing. And I said, come on, man. Let's go fucking out. Yeah, let's go fuck some up. Fuck some. You got to fuck some of it out. Yeah, let's go fuck some up.

We got to fuck some of it up. But when you, like, so, like, when you get a big check, some people are like, did it make you feel like, oh, shit, if they got this one, they got a lot more of these motherfucking big checks out there. Well, I didn't realize, but three weeks later I got another $500,000. Oh, yeah? And then three weeks later I got another $500,000. So I got paid and I kept getting this.

It was really strange because I was collecting unemployment at the time, $127 a week. With the fucking million? You owe somebody some money, bro. What's that? You got to give them their money back. Every guy who let me money, every person who ever let me money, people, I remember I had a girl named Dawn Wells.

She lent me $2,500 in the 80 named dawn wells she lent me uh twenty five hundred dollars in the 80s and that was a ton of money back then i told her i couldn't pay it back i can't take this money but she said i'm gonna do this for you anyway years later ten years later it was i called her up i found out where she was i sent her five thousand i sent every i paid everybody back whoever lent me money that's dope i. I had a story that was similar to that. It was, I call it my ride or die bitch.

Right? Like, I think everybody, especially you get to a certain level of success where it doesn't matter. The woman you date,

they're not going to go through anything. Right. You know what I mean? You're not going to, you know what I mean? It's just like, this is how it is.

Like, and I say she was ride or die because she was like, I would borrow her car. I would get it towed. You know what I mean it's just like this is how it is like and I say she was about to die because she was like a chick that I would borrow her car I would get it towed you know what I mean I would bring it back smell like weed

it was on E you know what I'm saying but and I had talent back then but I was like I can't I knew she was I couldn't give her the life that she wanted not that she was money hungry but she was still like, I want to be able to go to nice dinners

and all that type of shit. And then when we broke up, I said to her, I said, the toughest thing about this is that any success I get from this point on, if I'm not sharing with you, it's going to be fucked up. Right.

You know, I wanted to be able to say for all those times where you had to put up the money for Christmas and all that stuff. I want to do it. And to this day, I was talking to the other day and she just sent me something and said, I like these shoes or something. Right. Right. And I said, what's your size?

Right. She said, this was a text, she said eight and a half, right? And I was like, okay. And then evidently, I don't know if she was lit

when she sent me those texts two days later. She said, don't you ever disrespect me like that and ask me what my sizes are. Right? Because that's kind of insulted. It's like,

it's like some sugar daddy type shit, right? Right, right. But I was like, it's not that I said that. I just felt like i'm happy i'm in a position where why not why not why not right why not be nice i don't want no ass or nothing but just i just want to you're a good man man you're a good man to do that i wonder i mean i'm not that good no but but i know the feeling behind it it's like hey you know we came up with this. Yeah, no, I had one woman like that who came up with me,

but not before I ever, you know, got successful. And we went out for a long time. And she's still a good friend of mine, and I wish her well. Why do you think, and I'm speaking for the streets, I'm speaking for hip-hop, why do you think that the black community connects so much to the mafiosa lifestyle? I don't know. You know, I was at a, I went to a, I went to a dinner once with me and, and I, you know, it was me, Al Pacino and Bob De Niro.

We went out to dinner one night. It's not name dropping if you know them, right? It's not name dropping if you're good friends. I can feel it the way you said it. It's not, no. And we sat there and we were somewhere

where the guy put us somewhere where we'd be okay. But the people that came over to, the people that were around, we had some bodyguards there and shit. But the passion that the black people came over was was fucking amazing like you fucking fucking guys they just had so much passion for us you know and even when i go i'll never forget that night and i mean i i've been to the cotton club and

always was treated fucking right They could feel it. You know, I think it looked. Well, black people love people that they can be scared of. Well, no, no. Yes, it is. You motherfucking scare your shit, bro. They love. Black people love people they're scared of.

I grew up in the Bronx. Okay. And they feel it. And they feel my authenticity. That's true. That I'm there. Were they were I was we all grew up in the streets together

and I've always never looked at people as color never ever ever well if you're smashing black chicks every week you're never going to look at them I don't know what y'all talking about I'm going over here with Cleopatra real quick I'm talking fuck you and Amy

I'll see y'all later black of the bird is sweet of the juice. Once you go black, you might get whacked, but it still feels good. Once you go black, you might get whacked. I never worried about getting whacked. But it's interesting because I know, like,

when I grew up, my dad was a heroin kingpin, right? And I noticed people say stuff like, oh, you're proud of that. And to that, I'll say, yes, I was proud of it. And the reason why I was proud of it,

because I know we, we look at different people for different reasons, heroes, whatever, but I was so proud that my father was a Kingpin and not just the fucking soldier or the guy going hand in hand. He was a boss. He was a boss. He was the boss.

And I was like, it just made me feel good. But what I'm finding out now, a story of Jay-Z and so many other people, and Elon Musk made a comment about like the most successful drug dealer

probably got more business sense than any motherfucker running a corporation. Absolutely, yeah. He just put it for a different use. A lot of these guys who were so successful, if they would just put it in a different direction, they would be very successful too.

You came up in the Bronx. Yeah. You came up in a tough neighborhood. Yeah. You had a great relationship with your father, right? My mother and father were great. What you see in Bronx now, that was my father. You're showing off now.

No, my mother and father. No, you can't keep saying my mother. Okay, we get it. You had a mother and a father. Lucky you. All right? That's bragging. You're bragging.

Well, let me explain something to you. In the 60s, my friend, in the 60s, everybody had a mother and father. 78% of- And they didn't even have to like them. That's right. 72% or 78% of the black communities had a mother and father in the 60s. It changed. Then something happened. So how did you, like even in your movie,

how did you stay away from the lures of- Yeah. I'm sorry. How do you stay away? Can you ask this for me, please? I'm sorry. How do you stay away? Can you ask this for me? Please? I'm sorry. I'm so rude. Stay away from There's a black chick right there too.

How do you stay away from, how did you stay away from the streets? I stayed away from the streets because of the love of my mother and father. That's why. My mother and father, they gave me so much love and so much confidence

and said, you're going to be somebody. You're going to do something with your life. They did the same thing to my two sisters who were very successful way before I was. I was the last. I made it in my early 40s. So it was just the love and not wanting to disappoint them. Always wanted them to be proud of me.

And I think that's what really did it. I was very enamored by this lifestyle, about the wise guys. I hung out with them. But you know, it's so funny you say that because I was the same way coming up. Like, I liked being around the gang some of them until the police came, until the guns came. And then when the lights came on, I was like, it's time until the police came, until the guns came. And then when the lights came on, I was like, it's time for me to get the fuck out of here. I was still one of those kids, like, I would try to get in as much activity before the lights came on.

And I remember my mother used to be like this, you ask, what you do? You better be home before the streetlights come on. So right before the streetlights come on, I used to act like I was bored. I would be like, yeah, man, y'all ain't doing shit. Let me get the fuck out of here. I didn't want to get my ass ripped. Of course, yeah, that's the way my mother followed. But that's why you turned out okay, man.

Yeah, okay is good enough. So we talked earlier, and this is like, you were talking about, we were talking about comedy. Right. Right, and you said something something to the effect of well you know you're the comedian right and i said um that's a disclaimer for someone that thought about doing stand-up which you said you tried it how was that experience i tried it i i remember it was you know know, I didn't, I was okay.

I had a couple of bits that were very funny. You remember them? Premise, you got to remember. Yeah, I remember one bit that was funny. I did this, and it's probably been done already. I did the thing about, I went for a speeding ticket once, and they show you films of car accidents to scare you. And I did this whole bit about that's the

defensive driving class right yeah yeah and i did this whole bit about slow motion about how it drives and they see the car you know it always had to be acting i i was an actor i always had to be driving and talking to a friend and and then like it was like the whole thing and the whole thing what you think i get the question a lot too people, because I dabble in acting a little bit. Yeah. And they say, what do you enjoy most, acting or stand-up? And I explain that I can do stand-up in my sleep. Yeah.

But for me, acting is more challenging because you don't really get an initial feedback. You don't know how you're doing. Right. You know, I remember the first time I had a role in anything, I was like cop two and I didn't even understand anything about cameras or anything.

I don't know how I got this shit. I opened the door. I was supposed to get somebody out of the back seat. I opened the door and it was a camera in the back seat. Yeah.

And I slammed the door like, what the fuck? It's supposed to be somebody back there. Right? Right. And I thought,

and it's so interesting because I talked to some really dope actors and when I tell them, I talked to them about doing stand-up, they like, what the fuck? It's supposed to be somebody back there. Right? And I thought, and it's so interesting because I talked to some really dope actors. And when I talked to them about doing stand-up, they're like, there's no fucking way I could do that. What's the difference? The hardest thing in stand-up is it's you. It's you. If I don't like what you're doing, it's fucking you. In acting, they don't like the character. It's not me. I'm doing a character. You know, it's you. If I don't like what you're doing, it's fucking you. In acting,

they don't like the character. It's not me. I'm doing a character. You know, it's different. In film, well, theater,

even theater, I'm hiding behind a character. But when you get up there, I say stand up is the toughest. I've always said that. When you get up there with a microphone and stand on stage

and start to talk to people, holy shit shit three minutes a minute is a lifetime it's forever a fucking lifetime but i remember what chris rock said to me once well i did a movie with chris called um fuck heaven i forgot the name of the movie but it's it was a funny movie chris was terrific. And I said, Chris, what's the most important thing that a stand-up should know? If you had to give advice, because I had a friend that asked me, and I said, you know what, let me ask

Chris. He's a stand-up. I said, he would give you better advice than I would. He gave you stand-up advice? No, he gave me advice to give to my friend. Okay. Because I wanted to tell my friend, who was just starting as a stand-up, and he said, don't be afraid of the silence. That's a hard thing. People can't stay in the silence he said don't be afraid of the silence that's a hard thing people can't stay in the silence that's what makes you and you could that's one of the

things that um i appreciate about Dave Chappelle right like he could just stay in the pocket and always kind of compare us in regards to like if you would say both of me and Dave were quarterbacks i would be more of a Michael Vick and he'd be more like Tom Brady. Exactly. Like a Michael Vick. He's trying to score every down. Every down. You see him being kind of frantic or whatever.

But Tom Brady and I equated to Dave, they'll stay in the pocket and they'll stay in the pocket, stay in the pocket, stay in the pocket, stay in the pocket, take a hit at the last minute and then they score the touchdown.

Exactly. That silence is the most penetrating thing. But another thing about silence too is that that's the ultimate level of control as a stand-up. I did a show with Red City Music Hall, right? We did a residency with Dave. 6,500 people

and the best feeling is when I heard nothing from 6,500 people. I'm talking about waiters. I'm talking about security. And that's when you know you've got the undivided attention. When you see me do, when I do my one-man show,

because it's so orchestrated and so timed and everything, every nuance is worked out, there's points there where I actually let the silence go a little longer. And it's a very powerful feeling. How do you feel? I mean, I don't watch Bronx Till at least once a year. Right. But now I'm excited about seeing the one-man show

knowing, and a lot of people may not know, that's the origin of the movie. That came before the movie, before the musical, before the documentary, before everything. How do you do, and I'm saying to myself, because I had an idea years ago. I wanted to do this one-man show. It was called Zero to 60.

Yeah. Basically, what I was going to do is capture me from conception. It's great. Great timing. All the way to 60. Right. How do you do, what are you doing for wardrobe changes? No wardrobe changes.

Nothing. I do it all with lights and sound. Right. I do it like this. But you have to, when you talk well sometimes i have five characters talking at the same time so each character characters talking at the same time yeah so each character has to speak differently and look differently and you got to remember that shit too yeah yes yeah when i first when i was writing it and doing it was it was really fucking hard. Really hard. So it took me a year to work on it and do it. It was very hard.

But you know what? Through great work comes great success sometimes. And this was the thing that just, if you see the show, you'll see. I'm going to see it. I am not embarrassed to say that the show was, you have to see it to believe it. If you go on my podcast. You describing it. You describing it. If you go on my podcast. I just, you describing it. Yeah.

You describing it. And I did a little research. And I thought, first of all, I said, hold up. He did the play. I'm like, who played what? And they're like, wait a minute. This motherfucker played everything? Everybody.

All 18 parts. The nine-year-old, the father, the mother. Everybody. The nine-year-old? The nine-year-old, yes. What's the nine-year-old voice? I can't. I don't want to do that.

Okay, I'm sorry. But I'm just. Yeah, the boy, Jane, the mother, everybody. But you have to do it in a way. You have to commit to it and do it. If you do it in a sticky way, it's not right. If you commit to it as an actor and do it, and it's all done with lights, lights, and fucking sound.

It's so much power in your face, man. Yeah. I remember I never took it like an actor class. I kind of like audited a couple. And I remember when I was, the guy that was teaching, he was like, he wanted us to do something like just be, show power. Right. Right. Whatever it was and if everybody was like and everybody was like this fuck you motherfucker like everybody thought yeah and he was like first off he said what do you have right here people's like he was like we have

space that's the first thing you need to perform a space then he said everybody's playing over top he said you could be in a situation, a scene so dope that a motherfucker could do something as small as just twist their finger. That's how I got my first part on Broadway.

Actually, I was in another study. That's another story. But everybody, I was playing this heavy who walks in and wants this money. And the were sal said he wants the money he's been the action you five fucking times and i was listening i was this young actor sitting out there like this i heard everybody screaming and then i went in and i said can i use a chair i'm a member of the actor's studio so i i say that because i studied actually with lee strausberg himself. Oh, you're okay to show off? But no, that's the-

I'm fucking, you know, I'm proud of that. That's why I say it. And it resonates through all your work, too. So I put the chair next to the guy, and instead of doing what everybody was doing, I just went, so, you know, Seth says that he wants the money. You know, you understand that, right? And I just played it the opposite way. I got the money. You know what? You understand that, right? And I just played it the opposite way.

I got the plot. That's so awesome. I got a role once like that. I didn't even know what I was playing. I just had, it was when I was on HBO's The Corner. Charles Dutton was the director of that. And I had the role of a heroin addict. Right.

Right. But when I went in to audition, it was Jackie Brown Carmen, one of the biggest cast directors back, you remember? I remember. So I'm in there and I'm like, I'm fucking up. I think I'm fucking up. Right. And she told me, she said, Donnell, just relax.

God is in the room. You're going to be okay. I was like, I don't know if God is going to help me right now. I prayed to get this audition. I don't know if I could pray my way into the part. And I did the audition and I got it. Right. And when I talked to David Simon, when I went on set, I was like, how the fuck?

Like, how did I get that? He was like, well, Donnell, we like the fact that you didn't feed into the stereotype. Yeah. And what it meant like everybody knew heroin addict they was going in there yeah nodding and leaning yeah but the side they wanted to see was the guy when he wasn't high right they wanted to see his sister's sister humor exactly and it probably got it because i was such a it was the first time me being a shitty auditioner turned into getting a part which led to The Wire

and a couple other things. When you started, there's always the people that are supportive. Who said you weren't going to make it? Who was that person?

Was there anybody that didn't believe, where you felt like, I want to prove something to this motherfucker? Who actually said, do you want... I had people when I was doing the show in the very beginning in the theater that said, this will never work. I don't know what this is.

Is this stand-up? Is this... What is he doing? And I remember those people. And I said, well, you know, listen, if it's not for you, it's not for you. But, you know, they were wrong. I know it's a crazy question.

Like, I know this is fucking one of those generic questions. And how do you say this? If there is any type of advice that you want to give someone that's considering a career that may be very very challenging is there any as an actor you mean yeah yeah i would say my advice to them is if you have to do it if you must do it if the only thing that'll make you happy is to do it then i would say do it if you're doing this as a whim and you have another job and you're saying i'll try it don't do it save yourself a lot of aggravation because it's too hard it's too hard and i've and i've said people ask me that question and i said first thing in this business you have to be

able to you have to be able to be happy being broke yes if you can be happy if you can be happy being broken get beat up and get rejected. Rejected. The level of rejection. People like think it's, nowadays it's weird because you got so many different ways people can get on. You can make yourself a hero or a star on your phone. Right.

You know what I'm saying? But if you can be happy and appreciate the struggle. I remember when I moved from DC.C. to New York, I was excited that you could go into a bodega and get how much money you had in your pocket worth of deli meat. Right. Because when I grew up,

it was like you had to get the whole pack. Oh, I know that, yeah. So many times I went in, I was like this. I want $1.32 worth of the turkey, sliced real thin, American cheese, wafer thin, and give me a fucking hoagie, and I'm a bad savager forever. I remember I didn't cash my,

it was a Sunday, I didn't cash my unemployment check, and I opened the can of tuna fish, and I took it out, and I said, shit, I don't have anything left right now. And I took half, and I put it back. I remember putting half the tuna fish in, and I remember me going,

I'm fucking happy, man. I'm doing what I'm doing. It'll be okay. I never forgot that. One of my roommates, when I was in Brooklyn, I was in Brooklyn, we used to do shows, and we were both just coming up, like working spots for $5 or $10, and we would literally eat

egg sandwiches every night, but then we would go to the club and catch a cab back to Brooklyn. I'm like, yo, we just blew fucking $15. We eating egg sandwiches. He was like, yeah, but you still got to treat yourself to certain things. Yeah, that's true. Yeah, I used to eat pasta and tuna fish. That was my thing.

Because tuna fish was cheap and pasta was cheap. Do you cook? I can cook five things really good. What's your favorite dish? My favorite dish? Probably my favorite dish would have to be chicken parmesan. Oh, yeah? You good at it?

I'm good at that. What's the secret? Everything, like in the black community, there's a secret to potato salad. You make good potato salad? No, no. You don't put like cranberries and raisins and shit? No, I don't. But you like potato salad? I like potato salad, yeah't put like cranberries and raisins and shit? No, I don't. But you like potato salad? I like potato salad.

Of course, all the black cheese. I like potato salad. What's the, if there's like a hidden, like, you know something like this. You know what they say, what I learned a long time ago. With your pasta, the most important thing you got to remember is salt to water. The water got to taste

like the sea. Right. The most important thing with pasta is when you make pasta is everything has to water the water gotta taste like like the sea right the most important thing with pasta is when you make pasta is everything has to be put in at the right time right you can have you gotta have grading simple great ingredients but everything has to be mixed at the right time you put the garlic the oil if the oil if you burn that too long it tastes differently garlic burns taste differently i I know I got to wrap it up soon, but I have to ask this question because, like I say, the scene in Bronze Tale, Father, like when you had your first kid, what went through your mind? Wow. It was really when my son was born first but i remember i i mean i was so proud of so proud of him but i remember when he was nine years old and i remember i'm looking at him when he was nine

and i turned to my wife and i said this is weird i said what and he looked like a child he was a baby to me at nine yeah because well first of, he didn't grow up where I grew up. He grew up with a beautiful life. And I looked at him and I said. Does he respect and appreciate it? Very much. Very much. And I looked at him and I said, I was this age when I saw that he killed that man.

I was this age. And it was horrific to me. When I thought of that, that if this boy saw a man killing me right in front of him, how he would feel. I was like nervous. I just told my wife and she said, it's amazing. But you saw the difference in his life and your life. Right, yeah. Something similar to that.

My father was in and out of prison my entire life. Right. And my son is six now, right? And sometimes I'll just, it might have had a moment like you i just stare at him right right yeah i just stare at him right and i look at my life at his age right and i said one time i was like i can't imagine being in prison at this time of his life yeah the memories the memories, the simple shit. The other day he told me, Daddy, he was crying. He was like, Daddy, I said, what's your problem? He said, I don't want to be seven.

Wow. He's going through a midlife crisis at six. He said, I don't want to be seven. Oh, wow. And I know why, because his mother keep calling me an old motherfucker, right? Right, right, right. So he was like, I was like, you don't want to be seven?

He was like, yeah, I just want to be six. Wow. So, you know, as a, especially an was like, you don't want to be seven? He was like, yeah, I just want to be six. Wow. So, you know, as a, especially older dad, you got to try to figure out a situation. So I told him, I was like, you don't want to be seven? He's like, he was really torn. Yeah. He's like, I don't want to be seven, dad. I just want to be six. And I said, you know what?

That's so interesting, Austin. I said, because he likes to do sculptures and stuff. So he made these little, like these clay figures. And I said, Austin, you remember those three clay figures you made for me the other day? Yeah. How beautiful they were? He was like, yeah, yeah, yeah. I was like, you know I talked to three of my friends, right?

And I said, how old do you think the kid is that made these sculptures? Right. And he said, what? I said, they said seven. He said, oh! Wow. He was ready to be seven. Wow.

You know, there's only two things in life you can leave behind if you're gone art and children so you you and i both are leaving both ladies and gentlemen that's the donnell rawlings show that was so powerful leave two things art and children thank you for being on my show. I appreciate that. I think I'm about to go to the next level. Motherfuckers, they're going to be like this. Yo, you had that gangster-ass motherfucker on this show. I really appreciate it.

It was my pleasure, really. Thank you. My pleasure, brother. All right. They're going to call me a pussy because I never shook nobody's hand at the end of this show. Can I get a bomb, son, or are you sleeping? Thank you. The Don Air Rollins Show. We about to blow up, bitch! Thank you.