Dominique Fishback talks starring in the new blockbuster film Transformers "Rise Of The Beasts", working with legendary actors Jamie Foxx & Samuel Jackson, being raised in Brooklyn New York, what led her to acting & More with DJ Suss One.
Trasformers is in theaters June 9th, 2023.
Trasformers is in theaters June 9th, 2023.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Movies. Do you mind this stepaside? It will be violence, video
games, music and yeah yeah,ladies and gentlemen stay connected right here the
feature Presentation podcast where movies and musicleads. Yo. DJ Suss won the
(00:26):
feature Presentation. We got a bigtalent on the platform today. First of
all, she represents East New YorkBrooklyn, New York. All right,
yes, if you were born andraised in New York City, then you
understand what East New York is.Yes, she's starring in the new Transformers
movie Big Deal. Out of theInn, the Streets. You know what
I'm saying, Dominique fishback, what'sgoing on? So? What's up?
(00:48):
What's up? So happy to betalking to you that that's so Brooklyn,
so New York, and I appreciateyou. I gotta, Yo, we're
from New York. I gotta.I gotta make sure that anybody who listens
to this platform from other to theworld understand what's going on. Yeah,
I mean I went to high schoolin Brownsville too, so it was deep
deep Okay, nice. Yeah,I don't even want to talk about I
want, I actually do want totalk about that, like how it was
(01:10):
being raised in Brooklyn. But firsttold me, how, you know,
since you're new to my platform,we're gonna get into Transformers. But how
did you get into acting? BecauseI heard that you start getting into acting
it was interested when you were tenyears old? Is that true? Yeah?
So I saw a musical theater companycome to my school when I was
eight, and I auditioned from eightto ten three times and never got in.
But my mom, when I wasten, I was like, dumb,
(01:32):
I think you should be an actress. I think you could really do
it. You're so dramatic, Andshe didn't really know how to get me
into it. And then when Iwas fifteen, she told me that she
was going to have a baby,and so whatever reason, my fifteen on
mind said, well, now she'sreally not gonna know how to get me
into acting. She's gonna have awhole brand new baby. So I started
googling free acting programs for kids inNew York City. Oh wow, yeah,
and I found this theater comeing waitwait wait wait how old were you
(01:53):
going? Wow? I just goton a computer one day. I just
remember being like free, like Ijust need free. And then I found
this theater company called mccum Youth Company. In order to act, you had
to write your own stuff. SoI started in theater and then I went
to college, went to Pace Universityfor acting, and that was kind of
how it started. Yeah, Iwant to get to Pace University. But
(02:15):
I also heard that when you wasbesides trying to get into acting, when
you was in Brooklyn, you wasplaying basketball. Oh. Yes, I
played football too, great quarterback safetyin middle school. I played football and
basketball. Yes, when I wasin middle school. Why what made you
not take one of those seriously?What made you take acting seriously over basketball
over football? Well, football happenedwhen I was at in middle school and
(02:37):
I was just I was the onlygirl in a co ed like a flag
football team. I was playing safetyand one day rehearse I mean you look
at me. Well, practice gotcanceled and I went into the gym and
the boys were running laps, andI asked the coach if I could shoot
around. And I started shooting andit was going in and he was like,
fishback, you want to be onthe team the girls I'm playing on
(02:59):
basketball? He was how you couldlearn? So I asked my football coach
and she was like, well itwas a woman too, this guy and
a woman. She was like,well, you have a better chance like
doing something with basketball than with football. So I would say you should try
to do the basketball team. SoI was like okay, cool, So
I did that and then acting.I just always had that, Like I
always loved acting, and so Iwould leave basketball practice in high school on
(03:23):
Tuesdays and go to NYU to practicethis data with this data company. And
when I got older, it startedbeing like, oh, you kind of
had they with kind of conflicting witheach other. And when I got to
college, I had to make achoice if I was going to go to
Westchester and played basketball, if Iwas gonna By the way, well actually
I'm originally from Brooklyn, but Ileft Brooklyn when I was nine years old
and I grew up in Westchester.Yeah, it was like I think it
(03:45):
was Western They have a Page Universityand Westchester or something um and so they
didn't have a basketball team in NewYork. So I just knew that acting
was more of my calling and thatI could always act, like I can
play basketball on a morn A movie. Like anything you want to do as
an actor, you could always do. If you wanted to be a boxer,
if you're an actor. You canbe a boxer, like you can
do it. Yeah, do itas an actor. Well, you chose
(04:08):
acting before we get into the acting. Were you even nice at basketball though?
Or were you? First of all, I was number three, Like
I was saying, I had agood point guard by point guard by force,
but I love shooting guard. AndI averaged twenty points a game.
My game high was thirty nine points. Ask about me. You know what
I'm saying, I have property andBrooke, I'm gonna go out there and
be like, yo, you knowabout fishback? She was nice? That
(04:30):
all right? So you went toPace University, you got into acting,
you got a BA in theater.Congratulations on all that. As if you're
not in Transformers. By the way, what do you think your first into
the game was? Like your firstlike, oh, you know I could
do I could really really do this. I know you had it in your
mind, you had it in yoursoul. But you know a lot of
people, you know, aren'to acting. A lot of people move out to
LA and be like, I'm gonnaget into this and it never happens.
(04:53):
What was your first into the game. So, I think graduating college and
writing My One Room Michelle coll Severted, which is about the destruction of black
identity in America, and I playedlike twenty two different characters and I wrote
it and people came to see andI just think once I was able to
write something that I created, likefull out like that and see it through,
I knew that the only thing thatwas going to stop me was myself.
(05:15):
You know, a lot of timesif I was thankfully that I went
to that company that said, inorder to act, you have to write,
because that made me find my voice, understand what I wanted to say,
understand character development and story art andthings like that, and so I
wasn't confined to the same things thata lot of my classmates were confined to
because they were relying on other peopleto cast them more than just like creating
their own stuff. So I leftschool with the One Woman Show and that
(05:40):
helped, and then getting on theDavid Simon Show. Nice Yeah. And
then fast forward you start working withpeople like Jamie Fox, yes, and
that Project Power and now and nowJamie Fox is he's eping my One woman
show? Really yes? Nice?Nice? Well? How was it working
at the beginning? I know youhave a relationship with him now but at
the beginning stages, how was itworking with Jamie amazing? I remember my
(06:01):
audition for my chemistry test with him. I remember thinking, how am I
going to show up? Because itwas an emotional scene that I had to
do. I was like, amI gonna just be emotional? But I
wanted him to see my personality.When the card that I wasn't pulled up,
his car pulled up the same time, and I was just like,
mister Jamie Fox, and he waslike, oh, your energy is crazy,
and it just felt very familiar.And then when I get into the
chemistry test, I have to doa scene where Robin is rapping. And
(06:24):
then afterwards we were sitting there andhe goes rapp in real life. I'm
like, nah, but I dospoke a word poetry. He was like,
oh, gonna do something for usthen, so I was like,
all right, that's again that theatertraining doing. Spoke a word, that's
all I do. So it wasn'tlike, oh my god, Jamie's asking
me. It was like, nowthat that's easy. I could do that.
So I got up and did apiece called an Ode to my Hood,
which is a conversation that I havewith Brooklyn where I personified Brooklyn and
(06:46):
we're having a conversation because Brooklyn feltlike I'm gonna get famous and never come
back, and I'm like, Noah, Brooklyn, don't do me like that.
Like, you know, we havingthis conversation. So I did that
for him and everybody was just blownaway. And then I didn't get the
part. Oh wow, really Ididn't the part and I was like what.
And then a month later my agentcalled me and says, hey,
you got the part because the othergirls schedule didn't work out, and so
(07:06):
they want you in New Orleans.And I was like, oh, I
don't know how I feel about that. I know, right, I know
right? Second, what are youtalking about? Whatever? It was meant
to be gods in your hands,you know what I'm saying. And then
you went on to do incredible moviesand TV shows like Judas and The Black
Messiah Swarm. You start working withSamuel Jackson, you know what I'm saying.
(07:28):
How was it working with the greatSamuel Jackson? Which, by the
way, I think Samuel Jackson's beenmore movies than anybody on earth, using
probably he is always working. I'mI think he's seventy eight three now something
like that, and I just rememberhe's like, oh, yeah, after
this, I'm going to do likeMarvel thing or something like. It was
just like crazy, and I'm like, I'm tired already. I gotta get
a stamin there. Like his he'sin a lot of big brand movies,
(07:50):
But how was his energy working withhim? Yeah? You know what I
appreciated about him is like his brandis exactly who he is, you know.
It's always like what you see ispretty much what you're gonna get.
And I appreciate that because a lotof times I think, as especially as
actresses and young black actresses, youthink, oh, I have to show
(08:13):
up I set and be a certainway. But really, if this is
your career, that's what you're gonnado for your lifetime, then you have
to leave space for who you arereally, for you to authentically be yourself
and know that you that it's okayto be human. It's okay to have
a bad day, it's okay tohave cramps and not be as bubbly as
you was before. You don't haveto always be performing and you're still worthy
and you're you know, and thenthat was that was a good thing.
(08:35):
That I learned. Yeah, You'vebeen very blessed, Jill. And now
come on man, Transformers, Riseof the Beasts, Yes, brok,
I call it. I call itRise of the East, right or Beast
from the East, the hip hoprocket called Beasts from the East with the
Lost Boys Cannabis. I'm talking hiphop talk now, ye, but yo,
how does it feel to be partand starring in one of the biggest
(08:58):
brands in France? Chi is ever? I know something? I think I'm
still pinching myself. I think whenI see it on the big screen or
we go on we're starting this tourwhere we go to Singapore and all these
different places and you see all thefan love, I think I'll feel it
right now. It almost feels likeI know I did Transformers, but I
don't know what it feels like tolike be in Transformers yet. I haven't
(09:20):
got the energy of the fans inperson. So I'm very excited about that.
But it really is a blessing.I remember writing a letter to all
of them to like the producers andstuff and saying, how you know important
this was or other people and otheryoung young women from all over the world
to be able to see seasonbody looklike them lead something like this. It's
incredible, super incredible. I wantedto know, did you even know what
(09:43):
Transformers was before you got the role? You know, Transformers Transformers around just
the eighties, you know, Igrew up in the eighties. It was
a cartoon and you know that lateron they did the movie and it became
a big franchise. But a lotof I don't want to make it a
female male thing, but I'm gonnabe honest, a lot of females I
know don't know what Transformers is.Did you even don't know what it is
that today? That's great? Ididn't know what the Transformers was. But
I definitely was more until like theRomance movies when I was younger, and
(10:05):
not the not the Transformers cartoons andthings like that. But I love Disney
and I loved even Stevens, andI would watch Shaya and I remember Shia
went from doing this TeV to doingDisney to being a mega movie star,
and it was him doing Transformers,and so I watched it said, Okay,
I gotta do something like that,like you know, like I was
like my mind was working I dosomething like that, and I just didn't
(10:26):
know that it would actually be that. Now you know it. You knew
he was gonna get maybe not Transformers, That's what I'm saying. I knew
it was gonna be something. Isaid, okay, something like that,
so I was I was okay withit, something like that. I knew
it was gonna be great. Butthen for it to be this, it's
like the cherry on top of theopportunity or the ability to manifest and and
call things into your life. Congratulations. Tell me about the um roll Elena
Wallace, tell me about it.You know that Wallace come from, don't
(10:50):
you yea Christopher Wallace? Come on? Was I hear the word Wallace?
I'm thinking Biggie. By the way, Biggie's my favorite rapper of all time.
He didn't get to um, youknow, really become what he was
going to be, and he stillwas the k But anyway, that's a
whole other conversation. Tell me aboutElena Wallace. Yes, Elena. So
she works at a museum. She'san artifacts researcher, and right now she
feels like she can't get a handleon her life because her boss keeps taking
(11:11):
credit for her work. And thisis in the nineties and things like that,
and so and I think also she'sreally smart, she's always heading the
books. I think her imagination runswhile, but she's not brave enough to
actually see adventures in real life.And then Noah comes into her life and
the autobots coming to her life,and then she has to heed the call
like we all get in our livesas moments where you get a call and
(11:33):
it's like, are you going tobe brave enough to do something different than
what you've always done or you're goingto stay the same And she eats a
call, and so there's no wayin his life. Nice And guys,
I know, I asked her aboutElena Wallace, that's the character she's playing.
Just to be very very very clear. So it takes place in the
nineties, Am I correct? Yes? How did that feel? Like?
How did they construct the set?Were they driving old accurate legends like what
(11:54):
was going on in definitely period cars? But we were in We shot in
Montreal out of exter because it sometimesit's like a city like old cities kind
of looked like your city before.So Montreal probably looks more like nineties Brooklyn
then Brooklyn could ever look right nowand I was the same thing for Judson
back Messiah. We filmed in Clevelandbecause Cleveland now looks more like Chicago then,
(12:16):
so you had to find those kindof locations that bringing the authenticity of
it. But really authenticity came fromSteven's direction, Stephen Kipbill Jr. Direction,
His intentionality of wanted it to benineties hip hop, Brooklyn cultural,
and then he went and got twoBrooklyn kids like they you know, I
was watching the clip because I didn'tknow at first, but you know,
(12:37):
they got Anthony and Anthony it's fromBrooklyn that I knew him before this and
we were from before that. Andthen after he got I guess it was
going to take place in Queens orthe character was going to be from Queens.
But Anthony came in. Stephen thoughtwas only right because he's from Brooklyn,
like why not? And then Stephenreally wanted me to be in it,
and then lo and behold, I'malso from Brooklyn, so it was
just it just spoke to him andthen we circled it around around that.
(13:00):
So I'm very excited. I'm veryexcited because I'm I'm you know, first
of all, as you can see, I collect retro stuff. I like
Transformers, and it's taking place inthe nineties, I'm going to be paying
attention. I want to see.Am I going to see Tower Records?
Am I going to see you know, some of these stores? Or I
want to see how they put ittogether. As far as the atmosphere of
the nineteen nineties and Brooklyn, I'msaying, what can people expect As far
as from your perspective of the NewTransformers movie as a whole, Yeah,
(13:24):
you know, I think. Ithink like there's reasons why things work.
They've been working the way they've beenworking. They've been working for so long
in a certain way, like there'sthe hero. The hero, he's the
call. They go on the journey, and so there's really nothing new under
the sun. Ever, the wayyou get new things is based off a
perspective, and so the perspective haschanged because we've never had Brooklyn kids have
(13:46):
their mind blown by autobots from spacewho turn into cars like like you just
you know, you don't see thatperspective. So the charisma, the swag,
the act, you just say,the New York swag, I thank
you, but but there's no slagmore than New York slacks. All I
say is black baby, and thenand then you get that, and that's
(14:07):
a whole fresh perspective. And Ithink it also opens up the world of
Transformers for other people to see themselves. It's not just me and Anthony,
but even the people who who voicedthe autobox. You know that it's it's
so diverse, and that people whocan listen and say, oh, that
sounds like my aunt, that soundslike my sister, that sounds like my
brother, that sounds like my teacher. Yeah, and they starting to feel
(14:28):
like it's, uh, it's umunified. I think, um, I'm
a little confused. The movie takesplace before the first Transformers movie, correct,
obviously, but after the Bumblebee movie? Is that what's going on?
So Bumblebee was in the eighties andthis one is in the nineties, so
it's like ninety two three something likethat. It's okay, got it all
(14:50):
right? Well, what can peopleexpect for the future of Dominique, Miss
Fishback? Oh? I think theshort answer is just more writing. I've
always wanted to do music. I'vebeen learning, Yeah, I've been I
do piano. I've been learning piano. But my first cover that I did
was a cover of song cry Soon my Instagram it's I Kept the Hook
(15:11):
by jay Z. Obviously I keptthe hook and I changed the verses to
be in my own story. Ilove I Love Lauren Hill's MTV Unplugged.
And so when I think about anep I think about something along that those
veins where you have, you know, I'm learning guitar as well. You
have spoken word, a little singingand just but more so a spiritual reckoning
(15:31):
of music from your soul. Likethat's what I really care about. So
but that's that's writing. And I'mworking on a poetry book and I'm working
on an epic romance scream. That'smy dream role is to be in a
really every romance that stands the testof time. So I said, you
know, it'd be great if somebodywrites it, but in the meantime,
if they don't write it, I'mwriting it for myself. So I've been
(15:52):
working on that. And yeah,just I plan on doing like a little
bit of a school tour in EastNew York after Transformers called the Domino effector
so that you know, And thenI'm just saying, have a tattoo and
it says be your self love,and it's in my mom's handwriting, and
I think that that's really what's gottenme through all these interviews. It could
be very nerve wracking to talk aboutdifferent things, but if I am myself,
(16:15):
then I can't go wrong if Ijust try to conform or be what
I think other people want me tobe. That's the same thing for auditioning
for Transformers or anything else. Youhave to be yourself, be loved,
and then everything else falls into place. So I just spent on carrying my
own things out. I think thedeal that I made with God is,
like, you know, He'll letme have all of the major thing you
can have a Transformers. You cando all that stuff, but you always
(16:37):
have to tell your truth from yourown words, your own perspective of your
own mouth, like behind your nameand your likeness, and not behind not
only behind characters. So I'm tryingto keep that promised by talking because I
realized too like doing Transformers, youknow, you never know why things happen
in your life. But I've beenvery open about the things I experienced.
And I film Transformers and then camehome and found out that my stepdad had
(17:00):
been shot five times. Man,I'm sorry while I was a woman and
nobody told me because I was awayin Peru and they didn't want to bring
that to me. He's alive andwell yea again and all that kind of
stuff. But it was like Iwas back home and I was looking at
the dichotomy that was my life,Like, you know, I come home
to hear this news, but Ijust led one of the biggest franchises in
(17:22):
the world. What does that mean? And that is that part of my
story something I'm supposed to hold onlyto myself or am I supposed to share
to give perspective that the impossible ispossible and you can't do anything you put
your mind to exactly by the way, I like to say, there's no
such thing as impossible. Everything's possible, you know what I'm saying. I
feel that too. Well, Look, thank you for the interview. I
didn't know you were doing music.I feel like a failure is a researcher.
(17:45):
But please, I'm on multiple radiostations. Send me all the music
that you're going to record and allthat. I'm very interested to hear it,
and thank you for being on thefeature presentation. I'm looking forward to
seeing the Transformers movie Transformers Rise ofthe Beast comes out exactly when June ninth,
June ninth, Yes, it'll beamazing, all right, Dominique fish
Pack, I appreciate you. Appreciateyou too,
Movies. Do you mind this stepaside? It will be violence, video
games, music and yeah yeah,ladies and gentlemen stay connected right here the
feature Presentation podcast where movies and musicleads. Yo. DJ Suss won the
(00:26):
feature Presentation. We got a bigtalent on the platform today. First of
all, she represents East New YorkBrooklyn, New York. All right,
yes, if you were born andraised in New York City, then you
understand what East New York is.Yes, she's starring in the new Transformers
movie Big Deal. Out of theInn, the Streets. You know what
I'm saying, Dominique fishback, what'sgoing on? So? What's up?
(00:48):
What's up? So happy to betalking to you that that's so Brooklyn,
so New York, and I appreciateyou. I gotta, Yo, we're
from New York. I gotta.I gotta make sure that anybody who listens
to this platform from other to theworld understand what's going on. Yeah,
I mean I went to high schoolin Brownsville too, so it was deep
deep Okay, nice. Yeah,I don't even want to talk about I
want, I actually do want totalk about that, like how it was
(01:10):
being raised in Brooklyn. But firsttold me, how, you know,
since you're new to my platform,we're gonna get into Transformers. But how
did you get into acting? BecauseI heard that you start getting into acting
it was interested when you were tenyears old? Is that true? Yeah?
So I saw a musical theater companycome to my school when I was
eight, and I auditioned from eightto ten three times and never got in.
But my mom, when I wasten, I was like, dumb,
(01:32):
I think you should be an actress. I think you could really do
it. You're so dramatic, Andshe didn't really know how to get me
into it. And then when Iwas fifteen, she told me that she
was going to have a baby,and so whatever reason, my fifteen on
mind said, well, now she'sreally not gonna know how to get me
into acting. She's gonna have awhole brand new baby. So I started
googling free acting programs for kids inNew York City. Oh wow, yeah,
and I found this theater comeing waitwait wait wait how old were you
(01:53):
going? Wow? I just goton a computer one day. I just
remember being like free, like Ijust need free. And then I found
this theater company called mccum Youth Company. In order to act, you had
to write your own stuff. SoI started in theater and then I went
to college, went to Pace Universityfor acting, and that was kind of
how it started. Yeah, Iwant to get to Pace University. But
(02:15):
I also heard that when you wasbesides trying to get into acting, when
you was in Brooklyn, you wasplaying basketball. Oh. Yes, I
played football too, great quarterback safetyin middle school. I played football and
basketball. Yes, when I wasin middle school. Why what made you
not take one of those seriously?What made you take acting seriously over basketball
over football? Well, football happenedwhen I was at in middle school and
(02:37):
I was just I was the onlygirl in a co ed like a flag
football team. I was playing safetyand one day rehearse I mean you look
at me. Well, practice gotcanceled and I went into the gym and
the boys were running laps, andI asked the coach if I could shoot
around. And I started shooting andit was going in and he was like,
fishback, you want to be onthe team the girls I'm playing on
(02:59):
basketball? He was how you couldlearn? So I asked my football coach
and she was like, well itwas a woman too, this guy and
a woman. She was like,well, you have a better chance like
doing something with basketball than with football. So I would say you should try
to do the basketball team. SoI was like okay, cool, So
I did that and then acting.I just always had that, Like I
always loved acting, and so Iwould leave basketball practice in high school on
(03:23):
Tuesdays and go to NYU to practicethis data with this data company. And
when I got older, it startedbeing like, oh, you kind of
had they with kind of conflicting witheach other. And when I got to
college, I had to make achoice if I was going to go to
Westchester and played basketball, if Iwas gonna By the way, well actually
I'm originally from Brooklyn, but Ileft Brooklyn when I was nine years old
and I grew up in Westchester.Yeah, it was like I think it
(03:45):
was Western They have a Page Universityand Westchester or something um and so they
didn't have a basketball team in NewYork. So I just knew that acting
was more of my calling and thatI could always act, like I can
play basketball on a morn A movie. Like anything you want to do as
an actor, you could always do. If you wanted to be a boxer,
if you're an actor. You canbe a boxer, like you can
do it. Yeah, do itas an actor. Well, you chose
(04:08):
acting before we get into the acting. Were you even nice at basketball though?
Or were you? First of all, I was number three, Like
I was saying, I had agood point guard by point guard by force,
but I love shooting guard. AndI averaged twenty points a game.
My game high was thirty nine points. Ask about me. You know what
I'm saying, I have property andBrooke, I'm gonna go out there and
be like, yo, you knowabout fishback? She was nice? That
(04:30):
all right? So you went toPace University, you got into acting,
you got a BA in theater.Congratulations on all that. As if you're
not in Transformers. By the way, what do you think your first into
the game was? Like your firstlike, oh, you know I could
do I could really really do this. I know you had it in your
mind, you had it in yoursoul. But you know a lot of
people, you know, aren'to acting. A lot of people move out to
LA and be like, I'm gonnaget into this and it never happens.
(04:53):
What was your first into the game. So, I think graduating college and
writing My One Room Michelle coll Severted, which is about the destruction of black
identity in America, and I playedlike twenty two different characters and I wrote
it and people came to see andI just think once I was able to
write something that I created, likefull out like that and see it through,
I knew that the only thing thatwas going to stop me was myself.
(05:15):
You know, a lot of timesif I was thankfully that I went
to that company that said, inorder to act, you have to write,
because that made me find my voice, understand what I wanted to say,
understand character development and story art andthings like that, and so I
wasn't confined to the same things thata lot of my classmates were confined to
because they were relying on other peopleto cast them more than just like creating
their own stuff. So I leftschool with the One Woman Show and that
(05:40):
helped, and then getting on theDavid Simon Show. Nice Yeah. And
then fast forward you start working withpeople like Jamie Fox, yes, and
that Project Power and now and nowJamie Fox is he's eping my One woman
show? Really yes? Nice?Nice? Well? How was it working
at the beginning? I know youhave a relationship with him now but at
the beginning stages, how was itworking with Jamie amazing? I remember my
(06:01):
audition for my chemistry test with him. I remember thinking, how am I
going to show up? Because itwas an emotional scene that I had to
do. I was like, amI gonna just be emotional? But I
wanted him to see my personality.When the card that I wasn't pulled up,
his car pulled up the same time, and I was just like,
mister Jamie Fox, and he waslike, oh, your energy is crazy,
and it just felt very familiar.And then when I get into the
chemistry test, I have to doa scene where Robin is rapping. And
(06:24):
then afterwards we were sitting there andhe goes rapp in real life. I'm
like, nah, but I dospoke a word poetry. He was like,
oh, gonna do something for usthen, so I was like,
all right, that's again that theatertraining doing. Spoke a word, that's
all I do. So it wasn'tlike, oh my god, Jamie's asking
me. It was like, nowthat that's easy. I could do that.
So I got up and did apiece called an Ode to my Hood,
which is a conversation that I havewith Brooklyn where I personified Brooklyn and
(06:46):
we're having a conversation because Brooklyn feltlike I'm gonna get famous and never come
back, and I'm like, Noah, Brooklyn, don't do me like that.
Like, you know, we havingthis conversation. So I did that
for him and everybody was just blownaway. And then I didn't get the
part. Oh wow, really Ididn't the part and I was like what.
And then a month later my agentcalled me and says, hey,
you got the part because the othergirls schedule didn't work out, and so
(07:06):
they want you in New Orleans.And I was like, oh, I
don't know how I feel about that. I know, right, I know
right? Second, what are youtalking about? Whatever? It was meant
to be gods in your hands,you know what I'm saying. And then
you went on to do incredible moviesand TV shows like Judas and The Black
Messiah Swarm. You start working withSamuel Jackson, you know what I'm saying.
(07:28):
How was it working with the greatSamuel Jackson? Which, by the
way, I think Samuel Jackson's beenmore movies than anybody on earth, using
probably he is always working. I'mI think he's seventy eight three now something
like that, and I just rememberhe's like, oh, yeah, after
this, I'm going to do likeMarvel thing or something like. It was
just like crazy, and I'm like, I'm tired already. I gotta get
a stamin there. Like his he'sin a lot of big brand movies,
(07:50):
But how was his energy working withhim? Yeah? You know what I
appreciated about him is like his brandis exactly who he is, you know.
It's always like what you see ispretty much what you're gonna get.
And I appreciate that because a lotof times I think, as especially as
actresses and young black actresses, youthink, oh, I have to show
(08:13):
up I set and be a certainway. But really, if this is
your career, that's what you're gonnado for your lifetime, then you have
to leave space for who you arereally, for you to authentically be yourself
and know that you that it's okayto be human. It's okay to have
a bad day, it's okay tohave cramps and not be as bubbly as
you was before. You don't haveto always be performing and you're still worthy
and you're you know, and thenthat was that was a good thing.
(08:35):
That I learned. Yeah, You'vebeen very blessed, Jill. And now
come on man, Transformers, Riseof the Beasts, Yes, brok,
I call it. I call itRise of the East, right or Beast
from the East, the hip hoprocket called Beasts from the East with the
Lost Boys Cannabis. I'm talking hiphop talk now, ye, but yo,
how does it feel to be partand starring in one of the biggest
(08:58):
brands in France? Chi is ever? I know something? I think I'm
still pinching myself. I think whenI see it on the big screen or
we go on we're starting this tourwhere we go to Singapore and all these
different places and you see all thefan love, I think I'll feel it
right now. It almost feels likeI know I did Transformers, but I
don't know what it feels like tolike be in Transformers yet. I haven't
(09:20):
got the energy of the fans inperson. So I'm very excited about that.
But it really is a blessing.I remember writing a letter to all
of them to like the producers andstuff and saying, how you know important
this was or other people and otheryoung young women from all over the world
to be able to see seasonbody looklike them lead something like this. It's
incredible, super incredible. I wantedto know, did you even know what
(09:43):
Transformers was before you got the role? You know, Transformers Transformers around just
the eighties, you know, Igrew up in the eighties. It was
a cartoon and you know that lateron they did the movie and it became
a big franchise. But a lotof I don't want to make it a
female male thing, but I'm gonnabe honest, a lot of females I
know don't know what Transformers is.Did you even don't know what it is
that today? That's great? Ididn't know what the Transformers was. But
I definitely was more until like theRomance movies when I was younger, and
(10:05):
not the not the Transformers cartoons andthings like that. But I love Disney
and I loved even Stevens, andI would watch Shaya and I remember Shia
went from doing this TeV to doingDisney to being a mega movie star,
and it was him doing Transformers,and so I watched it said, Okay,
I gotta do something like that,like you know, like I was
like my mind was working I dosomething like that, and I just didn't
(10:26):
know that it would actually be that. Now you know it. You knew
he was gonna get maybe not Transformers, That's what I'm saying. I knew
it was gonna be something. Isaid, okay, something like that,
so I was I was okay withit, something like that. I knew
it was gonna be great. Butthen for it to be this, it's
like the cherry on top of theopportunity or the ability to manifest and and
call things into your life. Congratulations. Tell me about the um roll Elena
Wallace, tell me about it.You know that Wallace come from, don't
(10:50):
you yea Christopher Wallace? Come on? Was I hear the word Wallace?
I'm thinking Biggie. By the way, Biggie's my favorite rapper of all time.
He didn't get to um, youknow, really become what he was
going to be, and he stillwas the k But anyway, that's a
whole other conversation. Tell me aboutElena Wallace. Yes, Elena. So
she works at a museum. She'san artifacts researcher, and right now she
feels like she can't get a handleon her life because her boss keeps taking
(11:11):
credit for her work. And thisis in the nineties and things like that,
and so and I think also she'sreally smart, she's always heading the
books. I think her imagination runswhile, but she's not brave enough to
actually see adventures in real life.And then Noah comes into her life and
the autobots coming to her life,and then she has to heed the call
like we all get in our livesas moments where you get a call and
(11:33):
it's like, are you going tobe brave enough to do something different than
what you've always done or you're goingto stay the same And she eats a
call, and so there's no wayin his life. Nice And guys,
I know, I asked her aboutElena Wallace, that's the character she's playing.
Just to be very very very clear. So it takes place in the
nineties, Am I correct? Yes? How did that feel? Like?
How did they construct the set?Were they driving old accurate legends like what
(11:54):
was going on in definitely period cars? But we were in We shot in
Montreal out of exter because it sometimesit's like a city like old cities kind
of looked like your city before.So Montreal probably looks more like nineties Brooklyn
then Brooklyn could ever look right nowand I was the same thing for Judson
back Messiah. We filmed in Clevelandbecause Cleveland now looks more like Chicago then,
(12:16):
so you had to find those kindof locations that bringing the authenticity of
it. But really authenticity came fromSteven's direction, Stephen Kipbill Jr. Direction,
His intentionality of wanted it to benineties hip hop, Brooklyn cultural,
and then he went and got twoBrooklyn kids like they you know, I
was watching the clip because I didn'tknow at first, but you know,
(12:37):
they got Anthony and Anthony it's fromBrooklyn that I knew him before this and
we were from before that. Andthen after he got I guess it was
going to take place in Queens orthe character was going to be from Queens.
But Anthony came in. Stephen thoughtwas only right because he's from Brooklyn,
like why not? And then Stephenreally wanted me to be in it,
and then lo and behold, I'malso from Brooklyn, so it was
just it just spoke to him andthen we circled it around around that.
(13:00):
So I'm very excited. I'm veryexcited because I'm I'm you know, first
of all, as you can see, I collect retro stuff. I like
Transformers, and it's taking place inthe nineties, I'm going to be paying
attention. I want to see.Am I going to see Tower Records?
Am I going to see you know, some of these stores? Or I
want to see how they put ittogether. As far as the atmosphere of
the nineteen nineties and Brooklyn, I'msaying, what can people expect As far
as from your perspective of the NewTransformers movie as a whole, Yeah,
(13:24):
you know, I think. Ithink like there's reasons why things work.
They've been working the way they've beenworking. They've been working for so long
in a certain way, like there'sthe hero. The hero, he's the
call. They go on the journey, and so there's really nothing new under
the sun. Ever, the wayyou get new things is based off a
perspective, and so the perspective haschanged because we've never had Brooklyn kids have
(13:46):
their mind blown by autobots from spacewho turn into cars like like you just
you know, you don't see thatperspective. So the charisma, the swag,
the act, you just say,the New York swag, I thank
you, but but there's no slagmore than New York slacks. All I
say is black baby, and thenand then you get that, and that's
(14:07):
a whole fresh perspective. And Ithink it also opens up the world of
Transformers for other people to see themselves. It's not just me and Anthony,
but even the people who who voicedthe autobox. You know that it's it's
so diverse, and that people whocan listen and say, oh, that
sounds like my aunt, that soundslike my sister, that sounds like my
brother, that sounds like my teacher. Yeah, and they starting to feel
(14:28):
like it's, uh, it's umunified. I think, um, I'm
a little confused. The movie takesplace before the first Transformers movie, correct,
obviously, but after the Bumblebee movie? Is that what's going on?
So Bumblebee was in the eighties andthis one is in the nineties, so
it's like ninety two three something likethat. It's okay, got it all
(14:50):
right? Well, what can peopleexpect for the future of Dominique, Miss
Fishback? Oh? I think theshort answer is just more writing. I've
always wanted to do music. I'vebeen learning, Yeah, I've been I
do piano. I've been learning piano. But my first cover that I did
was a cover of song cry Soon my Instagram it's I Kept the Hook
(15:11):
by jay Z. Obviously I keptthe hook and I changed the verses to
be in my own story. Ilove I Love Lauren Hill's MTV Unplugged.
And so when I think about anep I think about something along that those
veins where you have, you know, I'm learning guitar as well. You
have spoken word, a little singingand just but more so a spiritual reckoning
(15:31):
of music from your soul. Likethat's what I really care about. So
but that's that's writing. And I'mworking on a poetry book and I'm working
on an epic romance scream. That'smy dream role is to be in a
really every romance that stands the testof time. So I said, you
know, it'd be great if somebodywrites it, but in the meantime,
if they don't write it, I'mwriting it for myself. So I've been
(15:52):
working on that. And yeah,just I plan on doing like a little
bit of a school tour in EastNew York after Transformers called the Domino effector
so that you know, And thenI'm just saying, have a tattoo and
it says be your self love,and it's in my mom's handwriting, and
I think that that's really what's gottenme through all these interviews. It could
be very nerve wracking to talk aboutdifferent things, but if I am myself,
(16:15):
then I can't go wrong if Ijust try to conform or be what
I think other people want me tobe. That's the same thing for auditioning
for Transformers or anything else. Youhave to be yourself, be loved,
and then everything else falls into place. So I just spent on carrying my
own things out. I think thedeal that I made with God is,
like, you know, He'll letme have all of the major thing you
can have a Transformers. You cando all that stuff, but you always
(16:37):
have to tell your truth from yourown words, your own perspective of your
own mouth, like behind your nameand your likeness, and not behind not
only behind characters. So I'm tryingto keep that promised by talking because I
realized too like doing Transformers, youknow, you never know why things happen
in your life. But I've beenvery open about the things I experienced.
And I film Transformers and then camehome and found out that my stepdad had
(17:00):
been shot five times. Man,I'm sorry while I was a woman and
nobody told me because I was awayin Peru and they didn't want to bring
that to me. He's alive andwell yea again and all that kind of
stuff. But it was like Iwas back home and I was looking at
the dichotomy that was my life,Like, you know, I come home
to hear this news, but Ijust led one of the biggest franchises in
(17:22):
the world. What does that mean? And that is that part of my
story something I'm supposed to hold onlyto myself or am I supposed to share
to give perspective that the impossible ispossible and you can't do anything you put
your mind to exactly by the way, I like to say, there's no
such thing as impossible. Everything's possible, you know what I'm saying. I
feel that too. Well, Look, thank you for the interview. I
didn't know you were doing music.I feel like a failure is a researcher.
(17:45):
But please, I'm on multiple radiostations. Send me all the music
that you're going to record and allthat. I'm very interested to hear it,
and thank you for being on thefeature presentation. I'm looking forward to
seeing the Transformers movie Transformers Rise ofthe Beast comes out exactly when June ninth,
June ninth, Yes, it'll beamazing, all right, Dominique fish
Pack, I appreciate you. Appreciateyou too,
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