By Sandra Varner | OBSERVER Correspondent
“Swagger” — in verb form – is described as excessive confidence and arrogance. As a noun, swagger is said to be an aggressive strut or manner of comportment. Yet “Swagger,” in this iteration, is the name of multihyphenate Reggie Rock Bythewood’s dramatic episodic series on Apple TV+, now in season two.
But, before we dive into “Swagger” the basketball-centered series, allow me to illuminate the impressive portfolio of Reggie Rock Bythewood whose body of work includes some of the industry’s most beloved and celebrated stories.
When we spoke, the Los Angeles based writer-director-producer was back in New York for his mother’s birthday. A few weeks prior, he and his filmmaker wife, Gina Prince-Bythewood (“Love & Basketball,” “The Woman King”) had just celebrated 25 years of marriage — a portrait of accomplishment by any measure, particularly within the celebrity set. My conversation with Reggie Rock is a veritable case study on how they have amassed undeniable swagger.
Q: I’d like to borrow from and center our conversation on the title of this series, using the title synonymously, to punctuate the slate of film and television projects that bear your name. Can we roll with that?
A: I hope so (said with slight laughter).
Q: For many, swagger is oftentimes used to talk about people who are highly confident, sometimes more so than the norm who tend to have undisputed prowess. Perhaps we see this prowess in a person’s gait or their bodily language or their athleticism on and off the playing domain. In that regard, I’d like to talk about the rich history you’ve established and how you use basketball, specifically, to parlay your imprint in the entertainment business. How do you interpret the way I see you and what is your comment about my assessment?
A: Um…I appreciate that. I would say that none of us gets here alone. Right now, I’m in New York City and this is the only call I’m doing because it’s my mother’s 84th birthday.
Q: That’s beautiful.
A: My mother worked as a nurse. Right around the time I was in high school, she went back to school — a single parent mom who went back to school because she wanted to become a Registered Nurse (RN). While I was in high school pursuing my dreams, my mother would work double shifts. Somehow, in between the time I went to school and after school, I would get into trouble. Along with, when my mother was coming home late, I would get out of bed and stand at the corner where she was getting off the train station [in the Bronx] to make sure she got home safely. My mother has so much swagger, still. She was so determined to create a better life for herself and for her family. I have to be sincere with you when you say these things about me. I appreciate it. But I know I stand on the shoulders of — not just great Black artists who have come before us but like people in my everyday life — my mother for sure. Also, on the shoulders of my grandfather who was a detective. He was a Black detective in the 1940’s.
Q: Like the Easy Rawlings fictional character?
A: (Laughing) Well, he wasn’t a private detective. He was a detective with the police department. And he’s a whole other story that we could get into. I have real life examples of perseverance and the understanding that we are truly meant to come into our own, fully, committed to making a difference in this world. We have a cause bigger than ourselves, right? It’s the execution of this cause that’s bigger than yourself and that responsibility gives you swagger. Because life is an ever-evolving journey, any swagger that I have really comes from this need and drive to make the world better. The commitment to be a shoulder that other people can stand on.
Q: I see the essence of your moral barometer within the characters you create. Particularly, within the mother in “Swagger” — she is determined, focused, has her own swagger and a deep commitment to her children. She supports her son’s basketball career and she also wants him to have fun and enjoy the life he’s been given. She is the embodiment of the way you describe your mother. Am I off course here?
A: No, you’re not off course. I see my mother in this character and I see my wife in this character (nice laughter). As it pertains to my mother, it’s such an interesting thing as a parent because you want the best for your child. You want them to excel but you also want them to enjoy life and experience joy. And for me, I pressed so hard as a kid. We were poor and I just pressed so hard. As an adult and a parent, sometimes, I have to back off and realize [that] I don’t need to press as hard. But, the other side of it is, we are about that joy. And, we’re also about their hard work and the goal to go get it.
Q: If one were to define the story arc you use to blend basketball and regular life, describe the impetus and impact that “Swagger” has upon and within “the culture” that celebrates athletes?
A: I really wanted to give the audience a view from every seat in the house. I want the audience to understand what it’s like to be “that player” and the mother and the dad, the coach, the sneaker company educators — all the many aspects of “that player’s” life, you know? The common thread I’m really pushing in this show is hopefully entertaining. There’s something underlying everything which is really one word, community. I want to convey the message of community. I want the urgency of community to be felt in “Swagger” and the need for community rather than the story being individualistic. I feel it is important to look out for each other, to be there for each other, you know? I don’t think anyone achieves or arrives at success alone. For my view of this story — the community is strong, the team is strong hence we, the people are strong. So those are some of the metaphors that describe “Swagger.”
Q: I first met you during press rounds for “Dancing In September,” starring Nicole Ari Parker and Isaiah Washington. The film depicts the challenges experienced by a TV writer (Parker) and a TV executive (Washington) — remains one of my favorite films because it reveals and unpacks the machinations of an episodic sitcom. As told in the film, it can be controversial, political, and fraught with unpredictable decisions (the latter is my two cents). You were a very young man when you entered this industry. As a young man telling that particular story, I marvel at your perceptibility and keen sense of narrative.
A: Thank you. I mean, you know, I just wrote what I knew. It’s so interesting. There’s a line that I always marvel over in that film. I think it might have been Nicole Ari Parker’s character who said it. Her character stated, “There’s more chance of us having a Black man in the White House before there would be a Black studio president of a major network.” How the hell did I know that would happen?
About “Swagger”
Inspired by NBA champion Kevin Durant, this engaging story blends athletic prowess and community pride. In season two of “Swagger,” we meet the students as they are entering their senior year of high school. All but one player will be attending Cedar Cove Prep, a predominantly White institution where wealthy board members control the entire operation from the hiring of faculty to the enrollment of students. It is a school of power and influence.
“Swagger” stars O’Shea Jackson Jr., Isaiah Hill, Shinelle Azoroh, Academy Award-nominee Quvenzhané Wallis, Tristan Mack Wilds, Caleel Harris, Tessa Ferrer, James Bingham, Solomon Irama, Ozie Nzeribe, Jason Rivera, Christina Jackson and Sean Baker who all reprise their roles for season two, alongside new additions Orlando Jones and Shannon Brown.
“Swagger” is executive produced by Bythewood, Kevin Durant, Brian Grazer and Rich Kleiman. Series producers include Imagine Television Studios, Boardroom, CBS Studios and Undisputed Cinema.
Reggie Rock Bythewood’s Career Highlights
1992-93 Story Editor and Writer – “A Different World”
1994-99 Writer and Producer – “New York Undercover”
1996 Writer – Spike Lee’s “Get On The Bus”
2000 Writer, Director, Producer – “Dancing In September”
2003 Writer and Director – “BIker Boyz”
2009 Writer – “Notorious”
2010 Director – “One NIght In Vegas” 30 for 30 ESPN films
2014 Producer – “Beyond The Light”
2014 Writer and Director – “Gun Hill”
2017 Executive Producer and Co-Creator – “Shots Fired”
2021-present Writer and Director – “Swagger”