BLACK KNIGHT

About The Production
The worlds of literature and film have long been fascinated with time travel and the comedic results of a man or woman being thrust out of their modem time frame and into the distant past. One of the most notable examples is Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, in which a young man in a nineteenth century New England arms factory is struck on the head and awakens to find himself in sixth century Camelot.

The Middle Ages continues to inspire artists, writers and filmmakers. Screenwriter Darryl J. Quarles credits his grade school lessons on the Arthurian legend as early inspiration for BLACK KNIGHT. "Ever since my third grade teacher read us stories about King Arthur, I've been fascinated with medieval times and the way people lived all those centuries ago," he notes. "I thought it would be a lot of fun to write a screenplay about a modern-day African-American man who finds himself in the middle of a rebellion in 14th century England. And to watch him handle the situation, using his contemporary knowledge."

Quarles was no stranger to putting a character in some off-the-wall situations, having come up with the notion of a male detective disguising himself as a rotund Southern granny in the hit comedy "Big Momma's House." For BLACK KNIGHT, he long pondered the method by which he would transport his protagonist back in time. Again, he turned to his early fascination with the period. "Castles and moats have always been magical and mystical to me, so I decided that I could use that as the door to take my character to this new/old world," Quarles states.

Quarles' mix of contemporary humor with a medieval setting drew the attention of Martin Lawrence, who earlier had donned a fat suit to bring Quarles' "Big Momma" character to life. "The BLACK KNIGHT script really made me laugh," Lawrence remembers. "I loved its fish-out-of-water theme, and I thought it would be a lot of fun to play Jamal. I mean, what's a bigger fish out of water than a brother from modern day going back into medieval England?"

According to director Gil Junger, who honed his skills on over 600 hours of television comedies, the BLACK KNIGHT scenario and the character of Jamal Walker were perfect fits for Lawrence's style and humor. "What I loved about the script was that it provided great opportunities for Martin, who's a brilliant comedian, to develop and enrich the situations," says Junger. "Martin's unique style and talents really brought out the story's theme of Jamal's impact on these fourteenth century people and their influence on him."

Central to this theme is Jamal's relationship with Sir Knolte, a once legendary knight who has fallen on hard times. Having just arrived in this strange land, Jamal is oblivious to the fact that he's way out of his element, and that Knolte could be anything but a Los Angeles street person. "When he meets Knolte, Jamal's first thoughts are, 'How do I get this guy sober?' and 'Where's the closest AA meeting?"' Lawrence laughs. "But for all of Jamal's scheming and scamming, he's a compassionate guy who sees Knolte's in need of help. And Jamal wants to know how he can help him."

Out of this ultimate odd couple pairing that spans over 500 years, comes what Junger describes as a "love story/buddy comedy."

"Knolte and Jamal inspire each other to be the best they can be, out of respect and honor," he elaborates. "In that way, it is a kind of love story."

Junger cast Tom Wilkinson, one of Britian's most distinguished actors, as Knolte. The contrasting methods of the classically-trained Wilkinson and Lawrence's razor-sharp comic timing and improvisational style enhanced the dynamic between their respective characters. Says producer Paul Schiff: "One of the pleasures of working on this movie was watching Tom and Martin come to their characters from such completely different perspectives. Tom comes from a tradition of the British stage, steeped in a certain kind of discipline, which was a wonderful contrast with Martin's process and comic timing. And, in essence, that's what their characters and the movie are about."

Wilkinson confirms that his and Lawrence's differing styles added to the chemistry between the actors. "When you have someone who's as accomplished and inventive as Martin, the give-and-take comes naturally," he says. "Martin's generosity in front of the camera also was instrumental in showing how the two characters transform one another: Jamal teaches Knolte self-respect, and Knolte teaches him honor."

Jamal also learns much from Victoria, a strong, willful and beautiful young woman with whom he embarks on a cross-epochal romance. Once a serial womanizer, expert at scamming and scheming, Jamal more than meets his match in this medieval feminist. "Victoria was born at the wrong time," notes Gil Junger. "If she lived in the 1960s and 70s, she'd be Gloria Steinem. Jamal has never met a strong woman like Victoria. He falls in love with her strength and devotion to others."

Victoria has never met anyone quite like Jamal, and she eventually comes to find him irresistible. "Victoria's mind is blown when she meets Jamal," says British actress Marsha Thomason, who takes on the role of the feisty heroine. "He impresses Victoria when he tells her how women are treated in his time. That really appeals to her because she feels muted in the fourteenth century."

As Jamal bonds with Victoria and Knolte, he antagonizes Percival, a villainous knight who is suspicious of Jamal's swagger and bizarre manner. Percival also wants to quash the rebellion brewing against an illegitimate monarchy and the knight's iron rule.

In bringing the character to life, director Gil Junger and actor Vincent Regan were intent on keeping him as real as possible within the film's comedy framework. In other words, no mustache-twirling allowed. "We saw Percival as being believable — the type of villain that never needs to yell," Junger asserts. " He just has to look at you to scare you. Adds Regan, a renowned dramatic stage actor: " don't get the opportunity to appear in many comedies, so I relished every evil drop of my character. But even with all the bizarre goings-on that come with Jamal's arrival to the castle, I worked hard to keep the performance authentic. That makes Percival much more of a threat to Jamal."

The realism and authenticity also extended to the film's production design, especially the film's principal set: a castle that looks like it might have been built in the 14th century but was the handiwork of production designer Leslie Dilley. Situated in the middle of what had been a parking lot at Screen Gems Studios in Wilmington, North Carolina, the castle was a marvel of imagination, careful research and lots of hard work.

When director Gil Junger came aboard the project, he decided that the castle should be historically accurate in scope and scale. "When Martin Lawrence travels back in time to medieval England, I wanted audiences to feel like we were really there," Junger notes. "It was essential that the castle be impressive and 100 percent real."

After interviewing several prospective designers, Junger gave the assignment to Leslie Dilley. The British native, whose credits stretch from "Star Wars" to "Raiders of the Lost Ark" to the recent "Men of Honor," was eager to tackle BLACK KNIGHT's myriad design challenges. Upon arriving on location in Wilmington, Dilley and his staff put to paper ideas he had when he first read the script, built models of the village and castle, and began to clear the land on the Wilmington backlot. "BLACK KNIGHT was a golden opportunity for me, especially being from England," Dilley offers. "How often do you get to recreate medieval England'?"

Instead of using his homeland's surroundings, Dilley recreated medieval England in Wilmington. "Finding a castle with room for cast and crew, a courtyard and moat, surrounded by grass and trees would have been nearly impossible," Dilley explains. "The set had to be right for the director, the camera operators and the actors."

Nevertheless, there is more than a little touch of England in Dilley's North Carolina castle. He made fiberglass molds of actual stone work of castles from the English countryside. The plaster shop at the studio then made hundreds of plaster casts that were then nailed or stapled into place, then plastered and sealed. Each stone was individually painted to make the castle walls look just the right age. These plaster stones also line all of the sets built on sound stages at the studio, including Jamal's bedroom, the grand hall, and the dungeon, all of which were then finished with antique wooden doors, torches and period fabrics.

The castle construction was an enormous undertaking. It took Dilley and his crew of 100 craftsmen and construction workers over three months to build the castle and neighboring village. The front of the castle, complete with drawbridge and moat, looked out over a grassy field, which was seeded with a winter-growing rye. The courtyard, measuring 300 feet across, was lined with pens holding goats and Jacob's sheep (a four- horned breed that dates to that period), carts of straw, and booths for peasant extras to buy and sell meats, vegetables and other necessities. Dilley, ever mindful that he was working on a comedy, lightened the imposing set with bright banners and tapestries.

For Gil Junger, the castle set was one of the film's many high points, as well as a daunting challenge. "I was nervous twice during this entire period of planning and filming BLACK KNIGHT," says Junger. "The first time was when I actually got the nod to direct, and the second was when I walked onto the set. When I saw the actual castle, I thought, I'd better be really good, because this set is incredible.' It gave me tremendous opportunities for shooting. And it was an incredible playground for me."

Jamal walks though this incredible world clad not in shining armor or any other medieval gear. His electric-green football jersey provides a sharp and comedic contrast to the chain mail, peasant garb and royal velvet surrounding him. Jamal eventually dons some period garb when he begins preparing his new friends to rebel against their evil king. But it is his own interpretation of what costume designer Marie France calls "hip hop/medieval": suede and leather accoutrements adorning his trademark football jersey.

Jamal teaches his new "army," comprised of Knolte and several hundred peasants, some football and wrestling techniques, to get the upper hand on Percival and his knights. It was not exactly Sword Fighting 101, even though several cast members and extras attended a special swordsmanship boot camp. Martin Lawrence, for one, was pleased to incorporate the more accessible modern moves into the centuries-old dueling techniques. "When they gave me a sword I was rolling," Lawrence admits. " Because I was thinking, 'What am I going to do with this?"' As Lawrence's on-screen counterpart proves, a wrestling hammerlock is mightier than the medieval sword.

Jamal also brings some twenty-first century moves to a lavish banquet thrown by the king in the castle's Great Hall. The sovereign, thinking Jamal to be a Norman, orders him to demonstrate a dance from his far-away land. Forced to improvise, Jamal ends up teaching the partygoers to let loose for the first time.

The filmmakers brought on famed recording artist/choreographer Paula Abdul to put Lawrence and the cast through their paces for this show-stopping number. Abdul worked closely with Lawrence, incorporating his signature moves (which poke fun at '80s and '90s dancing) into the scene. It was an "historic" occasion, of sorts, for Abdul. "BLACK KNIGHT was my first medieval piece," she jokes. "But I really enjoyed choreographing the dance. I loved celebrating that awkwardness of learning to dance for the first time."

Dancing, fencing, riding a horse, making people laugh. For Martin Lawrence it was all in a day's work on the BLACK KNIGHT set. Having for a few months been immersed in the medieval era, Lawrence decided it was a nice place to visit, but he wouldn't want to live there. As he discovered, it truly was the dark ages for toilet facilities, which were nothing more than stone benches encrusted with filth (with pieces of straw subbing for the Charmin). "The bathrooms back then were certainly different," Lawrence laughs."I don't think I could go back to Medieval times. I wouldn't want to live that way."

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