Mekhi Phifer Talks Ex-Con Role In ‘Lights Out’ Film And Black Hollywood

Mekhi Phifer has become a coveted actor over his longstanding career with relatable roles in a plethora of films and TV shows including: Soul Food, O, Paid in Full, 8 Mile, Divergent, Truth Be Told, and many more. Most recently, he’s taken on the role of ex-con, Max, who is engulfed in an underground fight club in the film Lights Out.

Speaking with VIBE about the role, Phifer opened up about the thrill of it all, making every character he’s ever played “human,” and also his take on Hollywood as a Black male actor.

“This is actually one of two films that we [Frank Grillo] have coming out together this year. That’s how much fun we had on this initial one,” he spoke of the filming. “We really wanted to bring not just action, but we really wanted to bring heart to it. So every day we changed up a lot of things that was initially in the script, to give it that heart, to make the fighting more of the backdrop, but the heart of the story be the driving force.”

He added, “When people can go on a nice journey with characters, and really care about whatever their passions are, care about their journey — it always makes for a great experience for the audience, and that’s one thing that we wanted to concentrate on.”

In the film, Phifer takes on the role of “Max Bomer” who recruits a homeless veteran, Michael “Duffy” Duffield (Grillo), to a dangerous, yet well-paying, job. Max brings Duffy into the competitive world of underground fight clubs, where they make money and find themselves in a world of trouble trying to pay back a crime boss. The deeper they both get into industry, the more deadly it gets.

Speaking of playing the role, which is different from other roles he’s taken on, Phifer said, “It wasn’t easier. I don’t think any role that I do is easy, because you still have to have a well-rounded character. Easy would just be ‘show up, say your lines, and don’t have any input.’ Each film, I don’t care if it’s this film, all the way back to 8 Mile or playing a doctor on ER, you always try to bring something new, some kind of nuance, a certain energy to each role, because every character is different.”

Phifer also reflected on his 30-year career and the recent conversations surrounding pay disparity, unfair treatment, and more amongst Black actors, sparked by the likes of Taraji P. Henson and Mo’Nique.

“I started in ’94, so you’re talking about three decades of experience, of nonstop working, and working with different actors, directors, writers, producers… being on different sets,” he recalled. “The [Hollywood] journey is no different than people of color in America anyway. Hollywood is just one aspect. You can go to any form of profession, professional, entertainment-wise, sports, whatever — we’re on a journey as people of color in this country.”

“Since we were brought here to be slaves and make this country as great as it is, up until Civil Rights and the abolishment of slavery and all of that, so there’s still a journey that we’re going on,” he continued. “As people of color, we have always had to have the mentality of, ‘you’ve got to work two, three times harder than the next man or next woman to be able to make your presence felt.’ And I love the work, so there’s no problem there with that. I love the hustle, I love the grind. I love the commitment to the roles. I love being able to add my input and my life experience to every role, and the challenge to make every role different.”

Like Mo’Nique, Phifer too speculated that maybe if he was of a different color, he may be in a different realm, but he lets his work speak for himself.

“Of course there’s different challenges. Maybe if I wasn’t African-American, and I was Caucasian, I would be one of the biggest whatever, because I am very serious about my craft,” he said. “I don’t do tomfoolery or buffoonery, and I’m a strong Black man in this realm. I want to show all aspects of Black men and the complexities of men of color, so I try to bring all of that to the table.”

Take a look at Mekhi Phifer playing Max in the official trailer to Lights Out below and watch the film now available in select theaters, on digital, and on demand.