To celebrate the UK release of new romantic comedy Baggage Claim, we’re bringing you exclusive interviews with four of the film’s stars! Our second interview is with the uber handsome Taye Diggs, who plays a highly ambitious politician, who is reunited with an old flame, played by Paula Patton…
What was the appeal of the film?
I like the take on it. It reminds me of the actual baggage that exists in airports and the baggage we carry around in relationships. I love that concept. My character is overly ambitious – a politician, who’s just thinking about being Number One. The interaction between my character and Paula’s character is really interesting. You see a chauvinistic side to this man; he’s very controlling, and he’s got a dog (laughs). So that shows a different side to him as well. He was a really fun character to play. One of the things I like about this movie is the specificity of a lot of the characters. Obviously, as an actor, that makes it much more fun.
Do you identify with this character in any way?
I’m working on being less controlling in my life (laughs), and I once had a small dog. Those are two similarities right there.
Langston Jefferson Battle is every woman’s worst nightmare because although he’s successful, he’s chauvinistic and sexist. Do you think that is still common in men?
Oh absolutely, in men and in women. Sure, I do.
Did you know when you first met your wife, Idina Menzel, that she was The One?
No, no. It took us a while. We didn’t like each other at first. Then we gave each other a chance and became friends. Then after we were friends, we realised we could become something more. It wasn’t love at first sight at all.
What makes a good relationship?
If we all knew that, we’d be rich!
You’re both successful actors, does that make it easier?
This is our tenth year of marriage. Sometimes it’s easier and sometimes it’s more difficult. I think every couple deals with the same basic issues: for us there is the travel and the work. That can vary but regardless of what you are and what you do, relationships take work.
Has fatherhood changed your priorities?
Sure. Everything stops being about you, and it kind of happens naturally. At least for me it did. I’m far more vulnerable than I’ve ever felt in my life just because I can’t be looking over him 24 hours a day, and I’m worried something’s going to happen. You don’t experience love as big as this love of being a father. Your whole world and who you are as a person gets flipped all around.
What inspired your great children’s book, ‘Chocolate Me!’?
I wrote that book because when I was young there were issues that I had to deal with. My mother did a really great job. Even today I think back to how she brought the idea of self-esteem, self-love and self-empowerment to my life. I grew up in a neighbourhood in which I was the only black kid. All the kids made fun of the fact my skin was dark, my hair was curly and my nose was wide. So I went in and cried to my mother, and she gave me a lesson in self-empowerment and self-love. Instead of calling us black or Negro or African American she referred to us all as ‘chocolate’. At that time in my life, chocolate was everything positive to me so it was kind of what I needed to feel better about myself. I hope kids will benefit, if they have gone through something similar to what I went through.
What values are you imparting to your son?
Therein lies the rub. I want my child not to have to deal with any of the madness that I did, but at the same time I want him to be prepared. So we’re taking it day by day. I read him ‘Chocolate Me!’ We just try and teach him to be a good person, to not judge and to accept others.
BAGGAGE CLAIM will open in the UK and Ireland this Friday on 11 October 2013, distributed by Fox Searchlight
