Tank Jones talks about 'Union Bound' and bringing a real person to life onscreen

Known for his roles in Breaking Bad and CSI: Miami, actor and entrepreneur Tank Jones has recently stepped into leading man territory with a role in the film Union Bound, which was released last Friday. In the film, based on the true story of Joseph Hoover,  Jones plays a slave who is faced with the moral dilemma of helping Hoover, an escaped Union soldier played by Sean Stone,  return to the battle front. The film, released on April 22, has already been well received by critics and Jones and the rest of the cast will soon be embarking on a nationwide tour in May to promote the movie. TheCelebrityCafe.com's Jorie Goins got the chance to speak with Jones just before the film was released.

TCC: I did some research, but I would like to hear from you a little bit more about the project Union Bound, and your part in it. Obviously you can't give too much away because the movie isn't out yet, but just a little more about your role and the film in general.

TJ: No problem. Well, Union Bound is a movie based on a true story the diaries of one Joseph Hoover. Joseph Hoover was a union soldier in the Civil War and he was fighting in the Battle of the Wilderness, got captured, by the confederacy of course, shipped down to Andersonville prison, got into another prison where he escaped and somehow stumbled his way onto a plantation and tried to enlist the help of slaves to help him get back up North to continue to fight for the Union. It's a pretty interesting story.

My role, my character his name is Jim Young. Jim was a real person, who existed. Joseph actually stumbles upon the plantation where I happen to be a slave, and I have to make some decisions. Joseph went to war to free the slaves, but in the end he was the one that ended up being freed by them and my character Jim Young, played an integral part in that so Union Bound is the story of how this comes about and it's pretty fascinating.

When I first heard about this project from my good friend Harvey Lowry, I thought that this might have been an interesting take on the Civil War because I know it's not a take, it's based on a true story, because I'd never heard of Union soldiers...white union soldiers...somehow finding out about the underground railroad and attempting to use it just like slaves they had to try to escape back up north. It's pretty awesome.

TCC: Wow, that sounds awesome. How much did you know about Joseph Hoover prior to taking on this role, if anything, and what did you do to prepare for the role?

TJ: I knew nothing. [Laughs] I got involved with the process of Union Bound is a little bit of serendipity and blessedness if you will. So as I said, Harvey, who's like family for me, he's like my brother, or at least a good cousin. He was shooting a film out in Arizona and it was at the time I was staying in Arizona, but I'm a little bit frustrated, if you will, at how things are going, I'm doing so many different things and it's taking my focus away from my acting. I basically put my flag in the ground and said you know what I need to focus on, what I love to do and that is acting. So he said, "Come on down, let me show you around the studio, see what we're doing, talk about new projects" and I was explaining all of this stuff to him, he said, "Well, I've got a film coming up in a few weeks called Union Bound, take a look at the script let me know what you think about it. And I was reading the script and I was just, like I said I thought it was a take, but it was based on a true story, and I was so fascinated by what I was reading. I did a little bit more research and was giving him notes ... on the script on two characters - one was Simon and the other was Jim.

They originally were looking at an actor from The Walking Dead to play Jim, but I was giving him notes on the script, and I said it would be great to be a part of the project, good luck with it. And then he calls me back and said how would you like to play Jim. I said, "What?" And he said, "Yeah...if you want to do it," he said, "I read your notes and I know you and I know you can pull it off. So would you like to do it?" I said, "Abso-freakin'-lutely."

When he did that and I didn't have to audition for the role and it was such a prominent role in the project, I said I don't want to be the weak link in telling this story, so I read everything that I could on the Civil War, I read and watched documentaries and I watched other films on the period. Everything that I could -- learned the vernacular of the time, how slaves really talked during that time and everything that I could for at least four or five weeks before that project was shot. I went through my whole checklist, because Jim goes through a lot of different emotions in this project ...  As an actor you want the challenge to see if you can do that and hopefully when people go to see it, they feel that they can see the work and it helps tell the story of a man whose descendants I met and they treated me just like I was the real Jim Jones. I just wanted to make sure that I did their ancestor proud, with my portrayal of this part.

TCC: What were some specific titles of documentaries and books you read? Do you remember any of them?

TJ: Well, I watched the whole series of Roots. There's a Civil War documentary that's on Netflix that's a nine part series, that I watched the entirety of. I read three different books on the period and one of them was actually from North Carolina, it was a history of North Carolina, and it's slave history and it's plantation history.

TCC: Did you have to do anything physically to prepare for the role?

TJ: I don't generally rock a beard, [laughs] so I wore a beard ... I also did online searches of appearance and how everybody looked. So I had a full beard, my hair was cut short. It was a whole different look than what I ever, ever wear, but I just wanted to make sure that I looked the part, so that was the physical.

The mental and emotional, I have my own acting process of how I build and develop a complete character, but I also take a lot from Ivana Chubbuck who I used to study with out in L.A. She has a 12-step process of creating an entire character, and I use that process and ... I let my imagination take over, but I've had similar instances that when I'm in a certain scene ... my life experiences as it relates to Jim's experiences during this moment, how did I feel at that time, why was I feeling that way? What got me to that point, what's my objective in this? What am I trying to accomplish as Jim? Those types of things, so I did a lot of that too.

TCC: Right and so, what is substitution, exactly? I'm not an actress so...

TJ: [Laughs] Say if you were a soldier in WWII, you're playing that in a film. Obviously you've never been a soldier in WWII, but that soldier's facing a particular instance in his life at that moment on the battlefield, you've never been on the battlefield. You substitute a person or a scene, or what have you from your own life, so when you're acting with another person this person, find a feature on their face or on their person that reminds you of someone in your real life that evokes some of the same response that you're asked to portray in this film. The same type of emotional response, who in your life have you met that gives that to you. So when you go into the scene, you're looking at that actor, but you're picturing that person in your life that gives you that same emotional response that you're trying to get out of this character in this particular scene.

TCC: That's really interesting. How long did it take you to film Union Bound ?

TJ: Six weeks.

TCC: And you filmed where, in North Carolina?

TJ: Yeah, North Carolina, Stagville Plantation and a few other places as well around the Raleigh area or the greater Raleigh area. Six weeks dealing with different elements, they've got tons of bugs out there, particularly in the summer time and you're shooting in the forest and I think one of the ladies, Sheila Gould, she probably immersed me in Deet and bug spray to protect me because we were dealing with mosquitoes, we were dealing with ticks chiggers, different types of millipedes, centipedes, snakes, spiders, yeah it was fun. [Laughs]

TCC: Where are you from originally?

TJ: Actually I'm from Illinois, so I've dealt with all of those things before, it's just funny to watch other people, and myself, have to deal with it while shooting a film. We even made a shirt for the wrap party, that on the back of it said, "Don't feed the ticks," because everybody, before they realized that they were really out in the forest that we were shooting, had them on their person at the end of the shoot. We started having to really protect ourselves against that.

TCC: That's interesting. So your character Jim in the movie, who would you say he interacts with the most? I know it's a starring role, but who do you say his relationship is strongest with in the film?

TJ: Yeah, he interacts with the other two characters that are on the run, Joseph and Tom. That's basically the whole of his interactions for the entire film. I mean he along the way meets some people from his past that he hadn't seen because of slavery, and the history there people get torn apart families get torn apart ... their families would get torn apart, and so there's people from his past from 10, 12 years ago when his family gets torn apart that he comes across during the film and of course has to deal with that emotion. So yeah, mostly, Tom and Joseph.

TCC: How did you establish a relationship with Sean Stone and Randy Wayne to be able to play off of them?

TJ: Sean and Randy are great. We had a couple of days that we all got in before we start shooting and on the rides to set, while we were at set we stayed at the same hotel, we ran scenes, we shared ideas and we just kind of gelled. At night we would go hang out a lot of the time, and Sean and I, we actually developed a really good relationship where even when we had the premiere here not too long ago, we hung out just like we did when we were on set. So, we talked and we hung out, we had cars so we would go different places together and we just really had a good time and everybody was really trying to encourage everyone else to put their best effort forward.

TCC: You mentioned some of the other films and media that are out related to the Civil War like Roots and like Glory, where do you think Union Bound falls amongst those films? Does it tell the same type of story or does it tell that story in a different way, how does it converse and interact with those films? With films that already exist like Glory, like Dances with Wolves, like Roots, like even Gone with the Wind?

TJ: Interesting. Union Bound is actually to me different than all of them in the way of the take in which it has. I've never seen a film that's from the side of a Union soldier ... It's a story of humanity. Basically you have a Union soldier who gets captured and tries to enlist the help of slaves -- and the definition of a slave, you are subservient to others, you don't have certain freedoms, you're not considered a person you're considered property -- And you, [the] Union soldier, who also looks like their oppressors, gets captured and now you're asking these people who've known nothing but oppression and captivity for their whole lives, you're trying to ask them for help to get you free.

That's an interesting, interesting take on the Civil War that I've never seen on a screen. It's based on a true story too, I've never seen it in documentary form. I've never seen it anywhere, so for there to be documented proof that this actually happened to me is pretty cool, pretty unique different and we're talking a story of humanity.

At the end of the day, that's the whole piece of Union Bound, I'm hoping that [people] take from it, is humanity prevails. Even in one of the darkest points of our history, you're looking at a case of people, like I said, who've only known slavery, they have a white man, come up 'can you help me get to freedom?' How funny is that? And people say, 'why would they help him, he looks like his oppressors and they're this, and they're slaves.' And in the end you hope that doing the right thing and humanity will prevail. If`you believe that this person is actually fighting to get you free, what lengths would you go to to help him get back to where he can continue that fight, not only for his freedom, but eventually for yours as well. I've never seen that in film.

TCC: Wow. So what was your favorite scene to shoot?

TJ: Favorite scene to shoot, good question... I actually don't know. Because here's the thing as far as being favorite. Jim goes through so many emotions that I was even telling the writer on set that I feel like I'm crying in almost every scene. And he said, "Trust me it's not coming off like that on camera you can see the different layers of emotions that Jim is going through and you're portraying it very well so keep doing what you're doing." But it was so hard for me from an emotional state, favorite wouldn't really be the term I would use, but I would say one of the more challenging ones to where there's a lot of emotions that I had to play and really get there would be when I met my mom.

TCC: And what about that scene was so challenging?

TJ: Without giving too much of the film away because, just to give you that piece of it would really give away the whole scene, but basically as I said after 12 years of not seeing her, Jim gets to see her and it's totally accidental and there's some things that happen during that scene that really can get you, and if you've ever lived something similar once you watch it you'll see what I mean. There's a myriad of things that happen, it goes from joy and elation to sadness to scared to a little bit of everything so the whole spectrum of emotions is played out during that scene. So that's the challenge, it was everything in a short period of time.

TCC: Before this film your screen credits included Breaking Bad, CSI; Miami, and Rules of Engagement. So what did you draw from those projects that helped you in this film?

TJ: Absolutely nothing. [Laughs] I watched some of my earlier works, and people are always their own worst critics, and I just looked at the growth from the beginning of the things that I've done to where I am now. I've gotten little nuggets from every piece that I've ever played, and I've been fortunate to also play across from some pretty respectable and well known names. You always ask questions, or at least I do because I'm a student of the art. But occasionally you get an opportunity to ask someone who's a heavyweight, who's working fairly often, for pointers and what their method is. I've just developed a better method the longer I've been at this. You just keep playing it, and you keep trying to go deeper and it's really just the exploration of self and what it means to be human. So each role built on the other and that just comes from experience. It's not necessarily from any one of those roles that helps go into this, it's just been a culmination of all of those.

TCC: Have you seen the film?

TJ: Yes, we had two premieres, one in North Carolina , one in South Carolina.

TCC: What was your initial reaction when you saw the finished product?

TJ: You know, it's difficult for me to say...Do I think that it is a film that people will enjoy? Yes, I do. As an actor that's difficult to say because you're part of that project, or at least it is for me. But as I was watching it there are some pieces that I'm reliving as we're watching it, and thinking about the times on set and what was going on and what was going through your head and you break your own performance apart, "Oh, if I would have made this choice and oh, they used that take?" That kind of thing. But overall, I'm very happy with the film and I believe that other people when they see it they will be happy with it too, and be happy that they spent their $10 or $12 to go see it. And hopefully they'll tell a friend and everyone goes to see it from the entertainment value and also from the educational perspective. Like I said, this is true history and it's history that's never been told on screen before.

TCC: Have any of your close friends or loved ones seen the film and what have they said to you?

TJ: My dad got a chance to see a little bit and ... those types of things ... when you deal with anything slave related he just -- it got to him. But he said, "I guess that makes it a pretty good film, because it made me feel. And so hopefully it does well," he said, "I didn't like the feeling that I was getting at first, but it really had me emotionally involved and enveloped in the story."

So hopefully that's an indicator that other people get emotionally invested in the project, the characters, and what's going on and afterwards let's have conversation about it. Hopefully the film sparks that kind of conversation.

TCC: So you said that people will enjoy the film, but there are scenes that are going to make them uncomfortable.

TJ: There was a lady in North Carolina, she walked out because it had. Again, this is not a violent film, but it's just the subject matter and some people, and even in the country, we just haven't dealt with it in the way that we should. The Civil War happened, slavery happened and there are remnants and there's different things that we're still dealing with right now sometimes it just makes some people so uncomfortable to talk about it, and she walked out.  There was a Q &A ...she came back...but there was a Q&A afterwards and she said, "Man there was a couple of scenes in there," and I actually was humbled by her comments because she was talking about the performance. And it was the performance that made her leave and walk out because it really touched her, but she came back and she really enjoyed the film. She was also a film critic and she wrote a great review on the film, so that was pretty awesome.

TCC: What's next after Union Bound? You filmed this amazing movie, it's getting traction, its premiering soon, do you have any other projects coming up?

TJ: We're doing Union Bound the Tour, it kicks off May 11 in Franklin, Tennessee. It's a whole experience, you'll come in, there'll be paraphernalia from the film, Joseph's diaries will be on display, his medals, there'll be other Civil War experts there, that you'll be able to talk to maybe even a couple of reenactments everybody comes in. I'm hosting it, so I welcome everybody to the screening, then they'll get a chance to see the film afterwards. The Street Drum Corps, which is a nationally known drum company, will be playing, Collin Raye, I think Nikki Nelson and in the end of it is Cactus Moser, who is the husband of Wynonna Judd, he and Wynonna will be playing at the end of the show in Franklin as well. And we've got 16 other dates going from May 11 all the way to the 31st, so it's going to be pretty cool.

And if you want more information on that you can go to unionboundthetour.com. I'm looking forward to that we'll be on the road for three weeks tour bus. I've done that before, but it's going to be great.

Then I am... there's a pilot that I shot, also produced a show called Fire and Ice that is an '80s style cop drama mixed in with a little '70s blaxploitation, but it's based in the now and it's a comedy that'll be coming out in October. I co-produced a national comedy tour called the Latin Comedy Jam and we're doing that all over the country and it's getting bigger. And I've got another horror film called Void Finder that I'm shooting in the summer, there's a film called Heat on the Delta, I'm shooting a western. There's a couple more projects, but all that stuff's really just keeping me super busy.

TCC: Great, great and then my last question is, what have you just learned from this whole process -- from filming this, from learning about this story, from watching it -- what have you learned about yourself about other people that you can take forward into your future not just as an actor, but as a man?

TJ: Thank you for allowing me to answer that question. Unfortunately, there are a lot of parallels to that time in our history to now. The one thing about the now, which is beautiful, is we live in an era of social media and I'm all for the first amendment, the second amendment, the entire constitution is what this country was founded upon and it's beautiful that everybody gets a chance to express themselves and express their opinion so long as they're not infringing on the rights of others and trying to do them harm. It's wonderful to watch all the different opinions being shared.

Having said that, some people feel so free to express such hatred, such venom and such divisive comments that instead of celebrating differences, and not of culture, but of other people they just do everything they can to try to tear everybody apart. And that's the sad thing about what's going on. Paralleling that to what was going on in the Civil War, one of the darkest parts of our history, where you have people, as I said who were subservient to others who were slaves who were considered property being presented a choice of help this white man who looks like your oppressors, who may or may not be trying to tell on you, but if anybody finds out you will be killed maybe even hung for your family to see, what do you think the right thing in this situation is for you to do? And nobody that you know will probably fault you if you said 'no thank you, I will not help you' and still doing the right thing, in spite of all of that, it's a coming together.

What I've learned for myself is celebrate the differences in other people, listen to other people's opinions, everybody has one, you don't have to agree with me at the end of the day, but just because we disagree, doesn't mean you shut that out of your life. Life, the world, people so rich such diversity, it's beautiful, but people shun anything...some people shun what's different than them, instead of celebrating the differences. They look for ways to tear apart, so for me it's celebrating the differences in people learning as much as I can about others, learning the cultures. I know three languages -- I speak English, I can speak Spanish and I can speak Mandarin Chinese. And it's just so I will be able to talk with other people and I'm looking to learn Hindi soon. They call me a black-a-nes-ican because I'm black, I can speak Mandarin Chinese and I help promote Latin Mexican events. I think that's awesome. I'm living what I say and the Bible puts it best and I'm hoping to leave this legacy for my kids, Love God, Love Others -- and love yourself, again, yourself is last. And most people when you get those things out of order a lot of times is when your life ends up all screwed up.