The Direct spoke with the talented cast of Apple TV+'s show Government Cheese at SXSW about what it means to live life on a righteous path and what inventions they wish they coined.
The series follows David Oyelowo's Hampton Chambers, a burglar-turned-inventor whose life gets more chaotic than intended when he gets out of prison and tries to squash his bad habits by inventing a self-sharpening drill.
The talent on the red carpet at SXSW included David Oyelowo (Hampton Chambers), Bookem Woodbine (Bootsy), Evan Ellison (Einstein Chambers), and Jahi Di'Allo Winston (Harrison Chambers).
What Does It Mean to Live Life on a Righteous Path
"Understanding That Your Perspective Might Not Be the Only Perspective
- The Direct: "Religion is a driving force for your character as he tries to stay on a righteous path after a sketchy history. How has Hampton changed and evolved from his old self? And do you think he's stuck wearing a mask for most of the show?"
David Oyelowo: Great question. The tension of our 10 episodes is the fact that Hampton hasn't changed as much as he should but is on a journey to being better than he once was. And so, you know, this is a guy who is in prison for check fraud, but in the midst of that challenge, he has a revelation about a self-sharpening drill, which he invented, and this is going to be the means by which his family is going to have a better life.
But he comes out, and those nefarious habits of the past just keep on pulling him backward. And, you know, it's literally 10 episodes of that tension, which is a lot of fun to play.
The Direct: "The show follows Hampton Chambers, [who is] on a righteous path now, or so he says. For you personally, what does that mean to live life on a righteous path?"
Bookem Woodbine: Being true to yourself, being considerate of other people's feelings, understanding that your perspective might not be the only perspective, and staying away from things that harm yourself or harm people you care about. And sometimes patience, employing patience, which is so hard. Yeah, that's what it means to me.
Evan Ellison: I think whatever feels true to you. I think whatever intuitively feels right. That can mean many different things for many different people, but I think it's almost like an internal validation that you'll feel when you do it, you're like, that's right, or that's not right, yeah.
Jahi Di'Allo Winston: That's relative. I think It's just following wherever your heart leads you, or doing whatever, pursuing whatever passions that you want to pursue without compromising your morals and integrity.
Government Cheese Cast on Those Inventions They Wish They Invented
From More Fitting Band-aids to Unrealized Ideas
- The Direct: "The show centers around a big invention... Have you ever like, you know, thought to yourself, oh, I should patent that? Was there [ever] an idea?"
David Oyelowo: Oh, my gosh, I—for a long time... So, you know, as a black person, you didn't think twice about the fact that you would wear band-aids that were pink. And, you know, my gosh. Why am I wearing this thing that highlights my injury? They should have black people colored band-aids. They have those now. But I definitely thought that growing up.
Bookem Woodbine: Just about every good idea I've ever had about 30 days after I have it and I get excited about potentially inventing it, I realize it's already out. You know?
Evan Ellison: Many ideas, dude, honestly, yeah, but now I'm blanking. What have I thought about? You know, not even like a piece of technology, but I feel like the old—when you would go into, I think it's like good fellows, that type of bar restaurant where everyone's sitting, and there's like a performer, and you're all like smoking and drinking and like vibing, and it's intimate. I feel like we need to bring those back. And I think I'm going to start that.
Jahi Di'Allo Winston: If I could have had the idea for something like, I don't know, Bitcoin or like, Uber well before then, then maybe, I mean, I don't know. I think I hear songs all the time, and I'm like, Man, I wish I wrote that.
The full video interviews can be seen here:
Government Cheese debuts on Apple TV+ on April 16.
