Laurence Fishburne, currently starring in a one-man, off-Broadway play, recently discussed his sometimes unusual costume choices for this production and his experiences with costume designers elsewhere.
In a talkback with Anna Deavere Smith following a performance of Like They Do in the Movies at the Perelman Performing Arts Center in New York, Fishburne said his performance was “me doing me. I’ve never done it before, and who could dress me better than me, who knows me?”
Beside portraying himself at various stages in his life, Augusta, Ga.-born Fishburne portrays both his mother (who raised him in Brooklyn) and his father, as well as a number of people he has met during his life, including a survivor of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, a truck packer for The New York Daily News and a homeless man who washes cars.
Depending on who he is portraying, Fishburne wears everything from a hooded sequined robe to a suit by Ozwald Boateng, the British designer of Ghanaian descent who was a costume designer for Black Panther. These outfits, he said, “allow me to be anything I want.
“All my life I have costume designers tell me what to wear. Sometimes they’re really great and sometimes they’re not.
“Sometimes with costume designers it’s more about them than about the character you’re playing. They don’t put any thought into the character you’re playing.”
People, Fishburne added, “associate me with whatever their favorite version of me is.”
He also said he likes women and portraying women, particularly strong women, as depicted in his play.
Fishburne received an Academy Award for best actor for his portrayal of Ike Turner in What’s Love Got to Do with It as well as a Tony Award for best featured actor in August Wilson’s Two Trains Running.