Hollywood Speaks talked to Oscar winner Casey Affleck, West Wing alum Richard Schiff, and country superstar Garth Brooks about Wednesday's inauguration of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Six Things You Need to Know:
- This will be the second inauguration Garth Brooks has appeared at, having performed at Barack Obama's first inauguration ceremony. This time out, he'll be playing the acoustic guitar immediately following the swearing in of Joseph Biden.
- Brooks was invited to play at Donald Trumps inauguration but had to turn it down because it conflicted with his world tour. He also has played for all the other living presidents during their terms in the White House.
- Brooks got a phone call from Dr. Jill Biden who asked him if he would perform at this year's ceremony. The country superstar held a press conference on Monday and said he couldn't refuse, accepting the honor. Brooks embraces the theme of unity, saying; "We can’t just take extreme left, extreme right, cause there’s a silent majority in the middle that will dwarf both of those, it’s going to take all of us and what I want from all of us is to listen. So I think we listen to all of us and then we make the best decision for all of us."
- On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Brooks quoted from the late civil rights leader to explain the country's division, saying; "The greatest quote fit the time no matter what the time is and one of my favorite quote from him is 'We can’t start living until we rise above the narrows of our own individual concerns and focus in the broader concerns of all humanity.' Beautiful day for that, you can say that today and you can say that tomorrow and the day after that as well."
- Richard Schiff, who is best known for playing Toby Ziegler on The West Wing, campaigned for Joe Biden back in 2004 in Iowa. Schiff is not planning to attend the inauguration this time out but believes Biden is a true patriot, saying, “To have someone who has a genuine kindness and honesty and desire to leave a world a better place than how he found it.. to watch him to be sworn in and take the oath of office is going to be a very, very special thing for me."
- Casey Affleck, younger brother of Ben Affleck and recent Oscar winner, has long been politically active, campaigning for Hillary Clinton in 2016. He was very passionate about the upcoming inauguration when we talked to him for his new movie Our Friend. Affleck said, "It’s been a really, really long road, it’s been a tough year. It’s been a tough four years, but it’s been an extra tough year, it didn’t get easier. Some hard experiences they sort of peak in the middle and you can ride it out when the fever breaks. This just seems to get harder and harder, more painful right to the bitter end. I think that all of this pain, discomfort, confusion, is an expression of progress and things really are getting better. And when I hear people talk about this year as only bad, I think we need to remember that really good changes were made, even if they were hard. We are better than we think, but not quite where we want to be and I think that sums it up. I think in the coming year we will realize we are not in such a bad place as we think and we’ll get a little closer to where we want to be."