RZA on the three things films should do
The Treatment
KCRW
4.6 • 656 Ratings
🗓️ 29 May 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
RZA may be the ultimate multi-hyphenate. He’s a founding member of the groundbreaking hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan and is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers ever. He’s also a versatile actor, having appeared in films including 'Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai,' 'Coffee and Cigarettes,' and 'Minions: The Rise of Gru.' And he is a director of films including 'The Man with the Iron Fists' and 'Cut Throat City.'
His latest film as director is 'One Spoon of Chocolate,' starring Shameik Moore and presented by Quentin Tarantino. The film follows a veteran and ex-convict looking for a fresh start in a small town.
RZA spoke to Elvis at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival where his film premiered. He talks about his growing confidence as a director, collaborating with Moore, and the three things he believes each film should do.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From KCRW Santa Monica and KCRW.com, it's The Treatment. |
| 0:10.1 | Welcome to The Treatment. I'm Elvis Mitchell. You may know him from co-starring with the |
| 0:15.2 | minions, or maybe as Bobby Digital, or more than likely as the founder of the Wu-Tang Clan. |
| 0:22.3 | But Theriza is equally formidable in the movie world. |
| 0:26.2 | He's acted for directors from Jim Jarmish to Ridley Scott. |
| 0:30.2 | As a writer and director and actor, he has given us the man with the Iron Fists, |
| 0:35.3 | in which he co-starred with Russell Crowe. His newest as writer-director |
| 0:39.9 | is the horror film One Spoon of Chocolate, which drops on VOD on June 5th. It had its premiere at the |
| 0:47.6 | 2025 Tribeca Film Festival. I spoke to his there before a live audience. There's a dream come true about the origins of his movie. |
| 0:57.9 | One of the first things I said to you backstage is that I thought about that old |
| 1:01.5 | Grave Digger song, Die of a Madman. |
| 1:04.1 | If anybody knows that the group Gravediggers, which is his horror on shoot for like |
| 1:08.1 | the 20th century. |
| 1:10.5 | And that song is really about getting inside somebody's head |
| 1:14.7 | who's going through something just like this, isn't it? |
| 1:17.1 | Yeah, I mean, you think about the darkness of the grave diggers |
| 1:20.9 | or the lyricalness of Wu-Tang and the, I don't know, |
| 1:25.0 | the brightness of something like a gravel pit, all that, all those different |
| 1:29.9 | elements when I, I think, when I'm creating, I just, they all find their way into my art, |
| 1:35.2 | you know what I mean? |
| 1:36.1 | But I think what's really interesting, too, is watching this is that by the end of it, |
| 1:40.2 | you've taken us through so many places. |
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