Inside the Actors Studio. Laurence Fishburne

Authors:James Lipton (Interviewer), Laurence Fishburne (Interviewee), Mike Kostel (Producer), John Servidio (Producer), Jeff Wurtz (Director), Angelo Badalamenti (Composer), Actors Studio (New York, N.Y.), Bravo Cable Network, Betelgeuse Productions, In the Moment Productions, Ltd

Summary:James Lipton hosts an evening of discussion with actor Laurence Fishburne. Fishburne speaks about his upbringing in Brooklyn, N.Y.; his career as a child actor on television at age eleven, then in the daytime drama One life to live, and at fourteen in the 1979 film Apocalypse now, directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Fishburne examines his roles in such motion pictures as The color purple (1985), Spike Lee's School daze (1988), King of New York (1990), Boyz n the hood (1991), What's love got to to with it (1993), in which he played musician Ike Turner, and his 1995 Othello, in which he played opposite Kenneth Branagh. Fishburne also speaks about his role as Cowboy Curtis in the television series Pee-wee's playhouse; his Broadway debut in 1992 in August Wilson's play Two trains running, in which he was mentored by director Lloyd Richards and star Roscoe Lee Brown; and his 1995 Off-Broadway play Riff raff, which he wrote, produced, directed and starred in. Fishburne speaks about how his acting has helped him work through his personal problems; his search for the "love" within his characters; and his views on being a black artist in America. A brief question and answer session with Fishburne and the Actors Studio master's degree students concludes the program