Tyrese Gibson: '1992' movie triggered memories of L.A. riots

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Tyrese Gibson said his new movie 1992, in theaters Friday, brought back intense memories about participating in the 1992 L.A. riots.

Gibson plays Mercer Bey, a single father navigating the aftermath of the Rodney King verdict that led to the riots, looting and protests in South Central Los Angeles, while a gang of thieves uses the riots as cover for a heist.

"This was triggering and full circle," Gibson told UPI in a recent Zoom interview, adding that the role "didn't require much acting at all because I lived it."

Gibson, 45, said he joined in the riots as a teenager because he felt the acquittal of the police who beat Rodney King in a traffic stop was an injustice.

"I was scared, but I was fed up like everyone else," Gibson said. "We continued to be on the receiving end of what the police want to do to us

"I just remember at least five weeks of never seeing the sun because the sky was pitch black with smoke," Gibson said. "I remember ashes were everywhere, on top of every car, roof, neighborhood, the grass."

In the film, the riots are the backdrop to Riggin (Scott Eastwood) and Lowell's (Ray Liotta) heist. Their crew of thieves attempts to break a safe, thinking the police will be too busy to stop them.

Mercer stumbles onto their heist when trying to find his son, Antoine (Christopher Ammanuel). Gibson said as realistic as the riot scenes are, 1992 is not meant to relitigate what happened.

"If you want to watch a documentary about the 1992 riots, that's not this movie," Gibson said. "This is about a heist. This is about father-son dynamics."

Eastwood, 38, said he re-educated himself about the riots to prepare for the film. As an 8-year-old in 1992, Eastwood said, he remembered his parents -- Clint Eastwood and Jacelyn Reeves - talking about the events.

"I remember it being a big deal at the time," Eastwood said. "I know it was a big injustice at the time. That's what spurred the riots."

The riots make Riggin an opportunist, using the unforeseen events as cover for his crime. Eastwood said despite being a thief, Riggin has a code of honor, more so than some of the men Lowell brings along, who shoot security guards and injure each other.

"He did have honor," Eastwood said. "He had morals. I think he was the voice that bridged the two storylines."

In Mercer's storyline, it was also important for Gibson to portray the struggle of a single father with a teenage son. Mercer was not in Antoine's life until his mother and grandmother died in an automobile accident, and Mercer is quick to practice discipline.

"I'm the adult here," Gibson said of Mercer's parenting style. "We're not friends. This is what we're doing. This is what we're not doing."

When Mercer and Riggin meet, the characters have a very different dynamic than the actors' Fast and the Furious characters. Eastwood plays Little Nobody, who gives the drivers, which includes Roman (Gibson), their missions.

"This is a much more serious film and a much higher-stakes film," Eastwood said. "In Fast, I think we're really just breaking each other's balls mostly."