From “The Wood” to “The Mandalorian”: Rick Famuyiwa Proves Good Stories Are Universal
Baby, this is Keke Palmer
Wondery
4.7 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 4 February 2025
⏱️ 51 minutes
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Summary
There are SO many different ideas out there about what it takes to make it in Hollywood. But our guest today, Rick Famuyiwa, is living proof that carving out your own lane is the move. You probably know him from his recent work, like the hit show “The Mandalorian,” or his 2015 indie smash “Dope” with Zoë Kravitz and A$AP Rocky. But today, we’re throwin’ it all the way back to where it started. Rick’s breaking down exactly how he paved his own way in the industry, the magic of telling stories that hit close to home, and y’all…he’s spilling some tea on how, at just 24 years old, three guys who would go on to become pretty big stars—Terrence Howard, Jamie Foxx, and Usher (ever heard of them?)—auditioned for his first movie, “The Wood.”
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode is sponsored by the lovely people over at Airbnb. |
| 0:03.0 | Are you celebrating love this month? |
| 0:05.0 | Book an Airbnb for you and your boot and watch the sparks fly. |
| 0:09.0 | Now, let's start the show. |
| 0:15.0 | Hey, it's your girl Kiki Palmer here. |
| 0:18.0 | One thing that I think a lot of creative people struggle with is finding an authentic voice. I'm curious of what makes a creative voice authentic and how we find that sort of voice. So today we have Rick Femuiwai here to tell us about his creative journey and how influences like hip-hop music has shaped his work. So let's get into it because, baby, this is Kiki Bomber. |
| 0:57.9 | No matter what we're doing in the car, just chilling, popo Amazon music, sit back and listen. Life, love, sex, science, covering it all, especially the bad because money always involved. No matter what it is, we can't make it make sense. Nothing else to do but kick it with the homies and key. So grab you a drink and a snack you enjoy and get into the vibe that only want this is |
| 0:57.0 | You know it's your girls. |
| 0:58.0 | Baby, this is, this is Kiki. |
| 1:01.0 | Baby, this is Kiki Poma, yeah. |
| 1:09.0 | I am so hyped to have this one-of-a-kind filmmaker here today. |
| 1:13.1 | He is a visionary director, writer, and producer known for creating stories that capture culture, |
| 1:19.0 | identity, and real-life experiences with authenticity. |
| 1:22.7 | You've seen his work in films like Dope, The Wood, and Brown Sugar. |
| 1:27.4 | Lately, he's been writing, directing, |
| 1:29.1 | and producing for the critically acclaimed Star Wars show, The Mandalorian. Rick Famu Yiwa. |
| 1:34.7 | Welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you for having me. It's excited to be here. |
| 1:39.5 | You know the first time that I met you. All I could talk about was the wood. The wood, the wood, the wood, the wood. |
| 1:45.4 | And I'm telling you, man, I saw that movie when I was, I think, probably way too young to see it, like six or seven years old. Yeah, you're a little too young. Right, way too young. But what I loved about that movie, even at that young age, what I understood was this reminds me of my family in my community. |
| 2:00.8 | I think a lot of times, |
| 2:03.3 | and I think maybe I was |
| 2:04.5 | able to articulate this obviously as I got older that we didn't always see our stories and our |
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