TCNJ

22 The College of New Jersey Magazine TCNJ Magazine: When you were TCNJ students, did you ever think you would be where you are now? Kenny Lucas: No. Keith Lucas: Not at all. Kenny: Back then, I was probably terrified of an exam coming up or something. There was a calculus exam I had, that I bombed. I really learned a lot about myself from that. TM: Like what? Kenny: That I am really bad at calculus. TM: Is that why you became philos- ophy majors? Kenny: Our first year at TCNJ, we were political science majors and we didn't love it. It was a lot of statistics and like I said, I don't like math. Keith actually came across philosophy. Keith: I was helping with a book drive for student government, and I was doing a terrible job at it because I was reading books instead of giving them out. I stumbled across Plato's Five Dialogues and it just blew my mind. Kenny: We signed up for philosophy our sophomore year, and it changed our lives. It opened up our worlds to guys, mostly guys, who pontificated on things that we just never thought of before: What is real? What's the nature of being? What's the nature of justice? Keith: That's why I love philosophy. It pushes you to question everything, for better or worse. Kenny: Yes, it does. Why am I paying taxes? Should I pay rent? [Laughs]. But that kind of questioning is fundamental to our creative process. It's made us much better writers. TM: Such good writers, in fact, that you were nominated for an Oscar for best screenplay for Judas and the Black Messiah. The film is about FBI informant William O'Neal who infiltrates the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party to gather intelligence on its chairman, Fred Hampton, who is then assassinated. But it was here, at TCNJ, where you got the idea for the film, right? Keith: Judas started here. We were in a class with professor Chris Fisher that covered African American history from 1865 to the present. Kenny: We learned about Fred Hamp- ton, and I was just like, "Why is this story not widely known?" I mean, it's so fascinating. You have espionage, you have the FBI. You have the makings of a classic thriller. Keith: The story was overwhelming. I can't believe the government assassi- nated a citizen for exercising his consti- tutional rights. It stayed with me. Kenny: Once we got into entertain- ment, we felt it was our duty to bring this story to a broader national audi- ence. And, coincidentally, we took a philosophy and film course and we studied The Conformist, a Bernardo Bertolucci movie. It had a huge influ- ence on how we structured Judas. Keith: So those two key parts, that all happened at TCNJ. Kenny: Without TCNJ, we would've never been nominated for an Oscar. s students at TCNJ, Keith and Kenny Lucas '07 were bookish, set to go to law school, and not all that funny. "I think people saw us as serious," says Kenny. They returned to the college in October 2021, now brilliant comedians, law school dropouts, and co-writers of the Oscar-nominated film Judas and the Black Messiah. During their visit, The Lucas Brothers headlined several campus events: Lorna Johnson-Frizell, interim dean of the School of the Arts and Communi- cation, led a master class discussion between them and a small group of students from the philosophy, African American studies, and communication studies departments that focused on several specific scenes from Judas. A broader conversation about the film and their life was held in Kendall Hall and moderated by professors Christopher Fisher and Piper Kendrix Williams. Lucky for us, the twins also sat down with TCNJ Magazine to talk philosophy, the red carpet, their bond as brothers, and their affection for Jimmy Fallon.

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