2019-10-16 The Hollywood Reporter

About Town

People, Places,

Preoccupations

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 30 OCTOBER 16, 2019

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and romantic partner. Before this
breakout turn, which earned her
a standing ovation at the Toronto
Film Festival, Randolph had
played a series of TV roles includ-
ing a recurring part on Empire,
one on Showtime’s On Becoming a
God in Central Florida and another
on Zoë Kravitz’s up comi ng Hu lu
series, High Fidelity.
Randolph didn’t meet Murphy
until the first day of shooting
Dolemite, but the comic soon put
her at ease. “He said, ‘You’re a
trained actor and that is a viable
resource,’ ” Randolph recalls. “I
quickly understood, I’ve got to
meet this man toe-to-toe to the
best of my abilities.”
On the male-heavy set,
Randolph advocated for a nuanced
portrait of Lady Reed — to show
that she was Moore’s confidante
and, as a single mother earn-
ing a paycheck through her wit

and wiles, a powerful figure.

“The director, writers, cast —

it was all men, the whole set,”

Randolph says. “I felt a respon-

sibility as a woman to impart

this information.”

Another creative female force

was key to Randolph’s comfort

on the film: Oscar-winning Black

Panther costume designer Ruth E.

Carter. During their first encoun-

ter, Randolph burst into tears,

she recalls. “I was like, ‘You don’t

understand, you’re it,’ ” Randolph

says. “As a curvy woman in show-

biz, it’s always daunting, what am

I going to wear? Ruth empowered

me. She made it so I just felt confi-

dent and good.”

After the Dolemite premiere,

Randolph, who’s based in L.A.,

flew to Montreal to begin shoot-

ing Lee Daniels’ film about Billie

Holiday in a role as the torch

singer’s best friend. She’s also

nursing some passion projects of

her own — one on actress Pearl

Bailey and another on gospel

singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe

(growing up, Randolph found her

love of performing in the church

choir). Another dream: “I would

love to be in a for-real action

film,” she says, “where we do not

comment on my size ever.”

“They had a ramshackle elevator; you’d go

down with the shift of miners and come

back up with the outgoing shift,” says

Kleeman, who found unproduced scripts

by everyone from Woody Allen to Samuel

Beckett. But amid all the boxes, none

was marked “Kubrick.” Just as Kleeman

was about to give up, he says, “I open up

this one script — and it’s Napoleon.”

Alas, the discovery didn’t thrill Kubrick,

Randolph in Dolemite Is My Name.

who, contrary to his protestations, had

spent years developing the film and even

compiled 17,000 images of Napoleon. “I

don’t want to make it,” the director told

Calley after his fib was revealed, “and I

don’t want it made.”

As to other treasures, don’t expect to

find any there. UA no longer keeps its

archive in the mine, according to a spokes-

person. But it’s still in operation.

WELLNESS TIPS FOR SHARKS

Talent agencies are helping reps and clients

stay balanced amid high Hollywood anxiety

By Rebecca Sun

I

t was only a matter of time before someone mashed up

the L.A. trends of holistic health and membership clubs.

Enter Parsley Health, opening Oct. 17 in West Hollywood.

For $150 a month, members meet with doctors for up to five

visits a year, with a personalized plan, biomarker testing and

unlimited messaging access to coaches. Parsley launches in

L.A. with support from a Hollywood heavyweight:

UTA, whose employee initiative United Wellness

hosted a panel featuring Parsley’s founder,

physician Robin Berzin, on Oct. 14. “The agency

lifestyle comes with a unique schedule,” says

agent Katrina Escudero, who co-chairs United

Wellness. Adds Berzin, “Parsley is perfect for people in [enter-

tainment] because we offer convenient online access 365 days

a year, and you can have any visit via video.” And UTA isn’t the

only agency promoting wellness. On World Mental Health Day

Oct. 10, WME joined Live Nation and Friends at Work to launch

Tour Support, a program (a division of the nonprofit suicide

prevention foundation LightHopeLife) to provide mental health

resources to those who work in the live music business.

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In 1993, Jeff Kleeman, then an executive

at United Artists, was summoned to the

office of his boss, John Calley, and invited

to listen in on a phone call with Stanley

Kubrick. Calley wanted to ask about a

project Kubrick was rumored to have writ-

ten for UA: a Napoleon biopic, purportedly

with Jack Nicholson in mind for the lead.

“Kubrick burst out laughing,” recalls

Kleeman, now president of Ellen

DeGeneres’ A Very Good Production. “He

said, ‘John, it doesn’t exist. I made a deal,

but I never wrote it.’ ” The studio chairman

took Kubrick at his word. But soon he sent

Kleeman on a trip out of state and 650 feet

underground, into a cavernous collection

of galleries in Hutchinson, Kansas, where

UA and other companies held archives.

There, in a working salt mine, the

Underground Vaults & Storage Co. kept

innumerable papers and film reels pro-

tected by the dryness and the cold. The

UA delegation went through thousands of

boxes with only flashlights for illumination.

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