Hollywood stars Lupita Nyong'o, Peter Macron and Edi Gathegi
Peter Macon should be one of the most recognisable faces in cinemas right now, or on video-on-demand platforms like Disney+ or Hulu or the hundreds of illegal streaming platforms, thanks to his scene-stealing role in the sci-fi blockbuster Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.
Only he's not.
Even his two sons, aged eight and six, would have a hard time identifying daddy under all the detailed, realistic ape props he found himself in for his new role as Raka.
It's a role that took him away from his family for six months of intense training to make his transformation into a primate as believable as possible.
But Kenyan film industry insiders are sure to recognise Macon without all the monkey props and mannerisms, thanks to his 6'2" frame, deep husky voice, clean-shaven head and 35 years of experience as a theatre and screen actor, when the Hollywood star flies into Nairobi this autumn from September 22.
Hollywood star Peter Macron
The Yale University School of Drama graduate - the same institution from which Lupita Nyong'o graduated - will be visiting Kenya for the first time on holiday, or better yet, to give masterclasses in film and theatre at clinics organised by Year of Return Africa (YORA).
“I and some collaborators are designing what I like to call ‘actors gym’. The hope is to build a sustainable space and make money for and by actors because there will also be entrepreneurs who are keen to build unicorn businesses around film and theatre. Essentially it will be workshops where actors bring monologues and scenes and we are going to workshop them and present them to the conference with the hope that we attract investments from investors.” Macon tells me in a virtual meet-up from his home in Atlanta, US.
“The goal is also to have this space sustainably exist where Kenyan actors can come weekly to edify themselves, almost like the studio in New York where actors converge to train, and present new work almost like a school model. It’s simple but ambitious” he adds.
Paycheck from ‘The Apes’ blockbuster
Macon's timely visit to Kenya couldn’t have come at a better time than this. His latest project released on May 10, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes blockbuster where he plays the supporting character Raka, is currently among the top five highest-grossing films at the Box Office.
With a budget of USD 250 million (Sh33 billion), the 10th instalment of the Planet of the Apes sequel has already generated more than USD 400 million (Sh53 billion) in three months since its release.
“It’s exciting to see the movie doing great but I will be sardonic about this. Can you imagine it won’t be easy for me to get a bonus yet the film is making tons of millions of dollars? For me to get a bonus of between 20,000 to 25,000 USD dollars (Sh2.6 million – Sh3.3 million), that film has to make US dollars 560 million first. But I never concern myself with that because money is always going to be a problem. You will never have enough money especially if you are working for corporations. That struggle is consistently, always going to be there so I am never surprised. I am disgusted but not disappointed.”
Even then, for his services in the film, Macon maintained he wasn’t paid what he dully deserved.
“I was never paid what I wanted. And this is also an aspect I will be speaking about at the Masterclass in Nairobi which I want actors to understand when negotiating for roles. My lawyer negotiated for two months for this deal. They came in with peanuts that could barely pay my bills for the six months I would be away with them shooting this film.” He vents.
Hollywood star Peter Macron.
And so Macon turned down the offer and the option was to find someone else. However, Director Wes Ball known for his work on the Maze Runner series, insisted he wanted Macon having been impressed by his auditions.
“There initial offer was insulting because it was less of what I someone in employment would make in those six months. So I had to factor in my bills, which includes my manager, agent, and lawyer commission and my craft experience and put all that in that project,”.
Bust still Macon didn’t get the offer he was looking for.
“It’s because I wanted to do this project,” explains Macon
For every deal sealed, Macon’s agent gets 10 percent of the deal, another 10 percent for the manager and 5 percent goes to the lawyer.
Hollywood not a bed of roses
When Lupita won her first Oscars in 2012 for her supporting role in 12 Years a Slave and gave a moving award acceptance speech, her closing remarks “Your dreams are valid” reverberated amongst a majority of Kenyan actors.
To witness Lupita’s- whose acting career began in Nairobi when she was cast in once popular local series ‘Shuga’ – meteoric rise to Hollywood, had every Kenyan actor believe they too stand a chance someday.
However, the Emmy award-winning Macon's advice to Kenyan actors is not to pay too much attention to how to break into Hollywood.
Before starting on another Sci-Fic film ‘The Orville’ that further amplified his acting virtuosity, Macon’s opportunities in Hollywood were largely limited to gritty guest-star roles.
“What I have found in my experience working in and around Hollywood is that the name of the game is, ‘create your work’. All the top filmmakers started by making their work and the way the (Hollywood) studios system has vastly changed since the strike (Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of TV & Radio artists SAG-AFTRA strike), the studios are monopolizing green lighting films,” he voices.
This situation of actors striking to push for better pay Macon says has made Hollywood a little bit hostile to players unlike before.
A solution to this, he insists is for actors to collaborate on creating works together rather than waiting for manna to fall from Hollywood heavens, which might never come anyway.
“When I was an undergrad in the 80s I would go to see foreign films, and there would always be 4-5 on average different production houses that would collaborate to make one film. That’s because money was scarce and so the studios would pull their resources together to make films as opposed to the Hollywood system where studios like Paramount, Disney, and Universal, own everything. So I found myself even after 30 plus years in the business I still always had to wait for Hollywood opportunities and so I thought to myself I got get to create my work rather than wait for Hollywood to call."
With actors churning collaborative works, Macon who also makes a living as a painter and sculptor, believes it would be easier to have a better bargaining position against Hollywood studios in the market film.
“Hollywood is what it is, it’s the Goliath and I can tell you it’s very hard to break into Hollywood if you are just waiting for their opportunities. But that’s not the only way forward to make work and earn. The good thing about this era is that even though money is scarce; technology has vastly improved some aspects of film production making them easily attainable. I mean people are now making movies on phones. That never used to be the case,” Peter points out.
Macon’s vision for Kenya's film scene
To emphasize his point on collaboration, Peter says when the SAG-AFTRA strike hit last year there was no work for most actors him included, so he used that window to collaborate with other actors on a project that is currently under production.
“This collaborative system is what built Nollywood and that’s what I would love to see with Kenyan filmmakers. They don’t need to wait for studios or broadcasters to commission them for projects.”
To achieve this, Macon says structures have to be built first.
“From my Kenyan contacts, I understand there aren’t proper structures and systems in film, and that is why this YORA summit is important for me. I’m hoping that we achieve this goal of setting up a space for an actor’s academy in Nairobi and we will be trying to speak to some investors to see if they buy into our vision. Right now a Film Festival is happening in Zanzibar and I would love for Kenya to have such where actors from across the globe can converge, exchange energies, and create synergies. These are but some good starting points for building a system that would eventually revolutionize the industry That’s why at the conference we will present the scenes to all in attendance so that we get to see the quality of work and these actors and possibly tap into investors.” Macon details his plan.
As part of his Yale training, when his class graduated, they were tasked with presenting scenes to casting agents, directors, and managers in New York and some projects were lucky to be picked.
“We showed entrepreneurs what they could invest in because they don’t know it unless you show them. Most entrepreneurs have no idea what actors do to create projects but you will find they are huge fans of investments.”
My relationship with Lupita, Edi Gathegi
Macon describes Edi another Hollywood actor of Kenyan descent whose career has been ever-expanding, as ‘his boy’.
He doesn’t struggle to convince you how the two are close.
“Edi has been my boy for years. I might see him tomorrow as I am going to Sant Diego for a Comic Con (Comic Arts Conference) and it’s in such forums where we get to meet as actors, hang out and exchange ideas” he chuckles.
Peter traces his bromance with Gathegi to 2007 when they worked on a Shakespeare project Macbeth an all-black production.
“That Western movie The Harder They Fall (2021) that Edi and Idris Elba were in, he called me and said they were looking for someone to replace one of the roles. This is to tell you that we have been looking after each other in this career and I am happy that he is doing exceptionally well with his career.”
Even though they have yet got an opportunity to work together, Macon also harbors great admiration for Lupita whose training he says is similar to his.
“Lupita is amazing. In Black Panther, you had Lupita, Angela Bassett, and Winston Duke who all graduated from Yale University School of Drama and that gives me this ‘fam’ vibe (we are family). I say so because, most people don’t know, that the training program at Yale offered an adulterated study, and we didn’t have time to have jobs. I was working when I joined Yale and had to quit. Lupita too was already working but had to quit when she joined Yale and you could see what that training did to them in terms of their career."
