Halifax's Eli Goree on stepping into Muhammad Ali's shoes for new movie getting Oscar buzz

Actor Eli Goree from Halifax says his faith helped him feel connected to boxer and civil rights icon Muhammad Ali, whom he plays in the new movie One Night in Miami. 

"Obviously he was a devout Muslim and, you know, risked his entire career to stand on that principle, and it was very inspirational to me as a Seventh Day Adventist Christian," Goree told CBC Radio's Mainstreet during an interview about his starring role in the movie written and directed by Regina King. 

One Night in Miami was released recently on Amazon Prime and tells the story of a meeting in 1964 between Ali, Malcolm X, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke.

For Goree, who was raised on Creighton Street in Halifax and got his start on Sesame Park, the role is catapulting his career to new heights.

He spoke with Mainstreet guest host Preston Mulligan about his faith and why the story of One Night in Miami is especially urgent today.

Their conversation has been edited for clarity and length.

Tell me about what you knew about Muhammad Ali, Cassius Clay, going into production of this movie.  

I mean, he was the one that I always admired, someone that had been an inspiration to pretty much everybody that I knew. I saw him as, you know, the greatest athlete of all time and just such a person who had overcome so many obstacles. And so, yeah, he was someone that I kind of looked at as an inspiration. 

It's a really remarkable performance because you got the physicality down, you got the accent down, his sense of humour and just that swagger that he had. Tell me more about learning to do that and how much fun it was for you to play someone as recognizable as Muhammad Ali. 

Yeah, it was a blast. It was just a lot of work, a lot of time and, you know, dedication. But it was a lot of fun as an artist, you know, that's what you want, is to be able to portray somebody that you look up to and that you see as someone that you've been inspired by, and then to be able to go and play them on screen and to learn how to box and to change your body and to change the way you speak and all those things was just such a blessing as an actor to have that role. 

I'm wondering all those scenes where you're with the actor playing Sam Cooke and Jim Brown and the actor playing Malcolm X, was much of that improvised or was that all really tightly scripted? 

I mean, the script was really amazing. It was originally a play and that was written by Kemp Powers, and they did a really great job adapting it for the screen. But there were definitely things that, especially with my character, that I got to ad lib a lot because, you know, when I'm in the ring and I'm talking to Sonny Liston or when I'm cracking jokes in the middle of situations that are really tense, Regina gave me a lot of leeway because she knew that that would allow it to kind of have a lot of life. So I felt really comfortable kind of stepping away from the script, maybe more than the other guys just because of the character I was playing. 

It's a really remarkable and relevant story about these African American icons who meet. The things that they're talking about and how to forward the cause of Black people, what did you think when you read that script in this day and age?

The first time I read it, I remember calling my managers at the time and just saying, 'Man, this is amazing. You know, like, I can't believe that … someone actually wrote this. It just seems so powerful.' 

And it was before, you know, everything that we've seen in the last year and a bit … It was almost two years ago when I first got the script, but at that time, it was just as relevant. It was just as powerful as a Black man living in the United States, it definitely resonated for me. And even being from Nova Scotia in the racial tensions and history there, it was something that I was blown away by.

In a way, Eli, you're more like the Sam Cooke character personally yourself than the Muhammad Ali or the Cassius Clay, because he's an artist and that's what you are. How much is that part of your journey as a Black actor? Did you relate to the Sam Cooke sort of struggle?

Absolutely. That's very insightful of you. I definitely felt like I connected with his narrative and with his experience, and I'm trying to navigate the different worlds that you're in as an artist. And also Sam was more introverted. He wasn't the extrovert that Ali is. And so I think that naturally lends itself more to my personality as well, but I think I could garner and learn, obviously, from all those different characters. And that's the beauty of story, is that they all kind of inform and teach and help each other grow. 

Back to Cassius Clay and his transition there to Muhammad Ali. Did you relate to that as well? You're a devout Christian. Did you see any similarities or parallels there?

I keep Sabbath and in the movie industry, not working from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset is not very common, and so there's often times when it conflicts. It's very important for me to be able to see someone else who stood on their principles and in the end, usually when you do that, it ends up working out.

What's it like being a devout Christian, living that life in Hollywood, in Los Angeles? 

I look at it kind of almost like Daniel in Babylon. It's like you have a message and you have something that's the most important thing to you, which for me is the message of the gospel and of love and of eternal life in Christ. And you have this completely polar opposite environment that you're in, but the great thing about it is that it gives me a platform to tell people about what Jesus has done in my life, how he's turned it around and allowed me to have opportunities just spiritually and in a deeper sense than I never knew I could have. And it gets me in touch with people that otherwise would probably never even hear about things like that, because it's not really spoken of in that environment. 

And now you're in a movie that's getting Oscar buzz. Eli, are you noticing a change in opportunities that are presented to you or your life from all of this attention? 

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I signed with a top agency, William Morris Endeavor … because I had gone to them probably like five or six times and they had always said no. And then randomly after the film, they called me and they were like, 'Would you like to sign with us?' I'm like, 'What do you mean would I like to sign with you guys? I've been trying to sign with guys for, like, two years!'"

So, yeah, just getting opportunities like that to meet people ... that I've admired and obviously to do a lot of press and be on shows that allow me to kind of reach a lot of different people and audiences. Different scripts are coming to me and filmmakers, so, yeah, it's been quite a wild ride. 

For more stories about the experiences of Black Canadians — from anti-Black racism to success stories within the Black community — check out Being Black in Canada, a CBC project Black Canadians can be proud of. You can read more stories here.