Fishburne is fielding questions 54 floors up in a Manhattan hotel, in an empty conference room with a wraparound view of the city. The actor, 31, is in town to promote the forthcoming “Searching for Bobby Fischer,” in which he has a small, live-wire role as a street hustler who specializes in chess. Fishburne has a gravelly, deep-sea sort of voice and a sudden laugh that is perhaps three times too loud. In person, he is so charming that he reminds one of the young Ike Turner, he of the pencil-thin mustache and the dangerous cool. The actor’s charm takes the edge off a not exactly malnourished ego. Asked whom he considers his peers, Fishburne does not flinch: “I associate myself with all the bad motherf—– in the world. Gary Oldman, De Niro, Pacino, Chris Walken, Gene Hackman, Denzel Washington, Ben Kingsley…I’m down with them. I’ve been working with them since I was 14.”
Which is true. Fishburne was born in Augusta, Ga., and raised in Brooklyn, the son of a corrections officer and a school-teacher. Before he hit his teens, the actor worked onstage, in films and on the soap opera “One life to Live.” At 14, Fishburne won a role in “Apocalypse Now,” and he and his mother flew to the Philippines for what producers said would be a three-month shoot. (Yeah, and Gilligan and the Skipper were going on a three-hour tour.) More than a year later, Fishburne wrapped his last scene and headed for Hollywood. Over the years, Fishburne has brought real gravity to his roles, even in movies like Spike Lee’s bewildering musical melt-down, “School Daze.” Often, Fishburne’s characters have an immovable moral center. They’re smarter than everyone else. And they have cool facial hair. The actor played an over-the-top hit man in the drug war (“King of New York”) and marked time on “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.” But his career really took off with “Boyz N the Hood,” in which he played, of all things, a father. “I had always been the kid on [the set],” says Fishburne, “so it was kind of strange but I just accepted it and did the old-man thing. I stood around shaking my head and looking really wise.”
Last year Fishburne turned in his first leading role, as an emotionally damaged narc in “Deep Cover.” He also won a Tony on Broadway, for August Wilson’s “Two Trains Running.” By the time he was offered “What’s Love Got To Do With It,” Fishburne was in a position to say no, and he did. Later, he took the part on the condition that Ike’s character would be fleshed out and humanized. The actor is still ambivalent about the film, although his reviews have been purple with praise. Ike Turner claims he hasn’t seen it but adds, “Everybody says the front part of the movie is the way I really am. But the end part-I guess they had to do something to sell the movie.”
After his stormy performance as Ike Turner, it’s a bit frustrating to see Fishburne in a smaller role, that of Vinnie, the manic street-chess king in “Bobby Fischer.” But Fishburne has a singular on-screen rapport with newcomer Max Pomeranc, who plays a 7-year-old prodigy named Josh Waitzkin. The actor says he took the role partly because he saw his former self in Josh: the precocious Larry, who now bills himself as Laurence.
Fishburne is still searching for his next role. For their part, producers are clearly ready to gamble on him as a star. Correction. “I don’t think of it as people gambling on me because I’m a sure thing,” says Fishburne. “I’m not going to get in front of a camera and choke. I’ve been doing this too long.” The actor sounds arrogant, until you realize he’s right. The charm kicks in, and Fishburne laughs, three times too loud.
