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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview With Emmanuel Lewis
Aired January 12, 2003 - 10:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: What happens when you take seven celebrities, put them in a house and see what happens when they stop being polite? You get "The Surreal Life." Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew that Manny was a great dancer, so I asked him to help me with my moves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Manny meaning Emmanuel Lewis, who is best known for his role as Webster on the hit '80s TV show. Now he's living the surreal life right there. And now it's real life in front of the camera just for us. From Los Angeles. Good to see you, Emmanuel.
EMMANUEL LEWIS, ACTOR: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Or should I call you Manny?
LEWIS: You know, on the show Hammer renames me Manny-mo. So whatever you love. It's all good with me.
WHITFIELD: All right. Good. So you've been looking for an opportunity, and you decided to take a stab at this reality, a new twist of reality TV?
LEWIS: Well, when this was presented to me, I think the producers, you know, talked to myself, and my agent and was trying to get me to do it. And of course, like we said last night, when we had a big press conference, for ITC, it's like everybody turned it down at first, and then, they kept assuring us and telling us about what could happen, how much fun it could be. We said, OK. We'll -- as long as you take good care of us. And so it was a lot of fun. There was a lot of ups and downs throughout the whole period of time. And it's a very unique experience.
WHITFIELD: So I guess a lot of people turned it down at first because you really are exposing yourself and you're kind of really revealing your frailties along with, I guess, all the great attributes as well. What really is the premise of this show? We've got seven celebrities, you included, but are people really being real, or are people kind of performing because they know the camera is there? LEWIS: I love that question, but I think for those people who aren't being real or for that person who's not being real, you will find out. You can't fool the viewing audience. They know. And so I think for me, this is the first time where people get a chance to see me really as myself. Normally when you see some roles that I might play and it says, Emmanuel Lewis as himself, it's a script. I'm blocked, so it's not really my words. So this is the very first time where you say this show is about himself, well, you get a chance to hear my words, my reactions through whatever stuff they put us through. And so it's a lot of fun.
WHITFIELD: We just saw a clip where you guys are grocery shopping. It's Emmanuel Lewis as himself, it's MC Hammer as himself. And what are some of the things that you all are doing and how does it kind of promote maybe some conflict or new discoveries about one another? Because isn't that what reality TV has been all about?
LEWIS: Very much so. The whole point is for us to get in a house with no money, no cell phones, no plan, no itinerary. We just have to block out 10 days of our lives and hand that over graciously over to our producers and say, OK, we're going to let you plan our week for us. And in the morning we get this newspaper just to give us a vague idea of what's going to happen that day.
And so that's very hard. I mean, most people could not do that. It's kind of very bold to be able to give somebody else yourself to do that with. Do you know what I mean? That's just not usual. I would challenge anybody that, you know, who loved having control over their life to hand that over and say, OK, I'm going to trust you, but today we're going to go and we're going to go camping. And who knows what you're going to throw into the pot when we go camping. And then one day they have us going to Vegas. And one day you are having us playing softball, finding a date for somebody.
I mean, there are various different things that they put us through, and you see how we go through it, because we're not just regular people here. So it's going to be a little bit different the way we go about it than the way somebody else would go about it.
WHITFIELD: So just like, say, the show that started it all, MTV's "Real World," did you find that there were some folks who kind of really camped together, got along, and there were other little factions who just really didn't like each other in the end? They started fighting and it got kind of ugly, quite frankly?
LEWIS: No. I think there were definitely -- there was some real differences. And there were definitely some arguments being made. And you know, you just -- you're going to have that. We're really living together for 24 hours for the full 10 days. I mean, my upper bunk mate is MC Hammer. Across the hall to my right is Gabrielle, Jerry and Brandy. Over to my left is Vince Neil and Corey Feldman.
So this was real. When you wake up, there's a camera in your face. So I can't even express to you -- I think the best thing for people is to see it, because to explain it to you is one thing. For you to see it is another, because I was very shocked when I saw the taping this Thursday, how it happened. It was phenomenal. I really enjoyed it. We kicked butt on ratings, too.
But I was just happy that it was really edited very well. And this Thursday I have got so many people e-mailing me, calling me saying, oh, man, what's going to happen next? What's going to happen next? I'm hooked already!
So I'm loving it.
WHITFIELD: OK. All right, well, good job. Congratulations to you. And best of luck on it. So we'll see what real life is like for real celebrities in surreal TV. All right, Emmanuel Lewis, thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 12, 2003 - 10:45 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: What happens when you take seven celebrities, put them in a house and see what happens when they stop being polite? You get "The Surreal Life." Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I knew that Manny was a great dancer, so I asked him to help me with my moves.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Manny meaning Emmanuel Lewis, who is best known for his role as Webster on the hit '80s TV show. Now he's living the surreal life right there. And now it's real life in front of the camera just for us. From Los Angeles. Good to see you, Emmanuel.
EMMANUEL LEWIS, ACTOR: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: Or should I call you Manny?
LEWIS: You know, on the show Hammer renames me Manny-mo. So whatever you love. It's all good with me.
WHITFIELD: All right. Good. So you've been looking for an opportunity, and you decided to take a stab at this reality, a new twist of reality TV?
LEWIS: Well, when this was presented to me, I think the producers, you know, talked to myself, and my agent and was trying to get me to do it. And of course, like we said last night, when we had a big press conference, for ITC, it's like everybody turned it down at first, and then, they kept assuring us and telling us about what could happen, how much fun it could be. We said, OK. We'll -- as long as you take good care of us. And so it was a lot of fun. There was a lot of ups and downs throughout the whole period of time. And it's a very unique experience.
WHITFIELD: So I guess a lot of people turned it down at first because you really are exposing yourself and you're kind of really revealing your frailties along with, I guess, all the great attributes as well. What really is the premise of this show? We've got seven celebrities, you included, but are people really being real, or are people kind of performing because they know the camera is there? LEWIS: I love that question, but I think for those people who aren't being real or for that person who's not being real, you will find out. You can't fool the viewing audience. They know. And so I think for me, this is the first time where people get a chance to see me really as myself. Normally when you see some roles that I might play and it says, Emmanuel Lewis as himself, it's a script. I'm blocked, so it's not really my words. So this is the very first time where you say this show is about himself, well, you get a chance to hear my words, my reactions through whatever stuff they put us through. And so it's a lot of fun.
WHITFIELD: We just saw a clip where you guys are grocery shopping. It's Emmanuel Lewis as himself, it's MC Hammer as himself. And what are some of the things that you all are doing and how does it kind of promote maybe some conflict or new discoveries about one another? Because isn't that what reality TV has been all about?
LEWIS: Very much so. The whole point is for us to get in a house with no money, no cell phones, no plan, no itinerary. We just have to block out 10 days of our lives and hand that over graciously over to our producers and say, OK, we're going to let you plan our week for us. And in the morning we get this newspaper just to give us a vague idea of what's going to happen that day.
And so that's very hard. I mean, most people could not do that. It's kind of very bold to be able to give somebody else yourself to do that with. Do you know what I mean? That's just not usual. I would challenge anybody that, you know, who loved having control over their life to hand that over and say, OK, I'm going to trust you, but today we're going to go and we're going to go camping. And who knows what you're going to throw into the pot when we go camping. And then one day they have us going to Vegas. And one day you are having us playing softball, finding a date for somebody.
I mean, there are various different things that they put us through, and you see how we go through it, because we're not just regular people here. So it's going to be a little bit different the way we go about it than the way somebody else would go about it.
WHITFIELD: So just like, say, the show that started it all, MTV's "Real World," did you find that there were some folks who kind of really camped together, got along, and there were other little factions who just really didn't like each other in the end? They started fighting and it got kind of ugly, quite frankly?
LEWIS: No. I think there were definitely -- there was some real differences. And there were definitely some arguments being made. And you know, you just -- you're going to have that. We're really living together for 24 hours for the full 10 days. I mean, my upper bunk mate is MC Hammer. Across the hall to my right is Gabrielle, Jerry and Brandy. Over to my left is Vince Neil and Corey Feldman.
So this was real. When you wake up, there's a camera in your face. So I can't even express to you -- I think the best thing for people is to see it, because to explain it to you is one thing. For you to see it is another, because I was very shocked when I saw the taping this Thursday, how it happened. It was phenomenal. I really enjoyed it. We kicked butt on ratings, too.
But I was just happy that it was really edited very well. And this Thursday I have got so many people e-mailing me, calling me saying, oh, man, what's going to happen next? What's going to happen next? I'm hooked already!
So I'm loving it.
WHITFIELD: OK. All right, well, good job. Congratulations to you. And best of luck on it. So we'll see what real life is like for real celebrities in surreal TV. All right, Emmanuel Lewis, thanks very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
