Nnamdi Asomugha played 11 years in the NFL, as a cornerback for the Raiders, Eagles and 49ers. Since the end of his playing career in 2013, Asomugha has pivoted to acting, appearing in such films as Crown Heights, Harriet, Sylvie’s Love, and The Good Nurse.
This year, Asomugha — the husband of actress Kerry Washington — made his directorial debut with The Knife, a tense crime drama in which he also co-wrote and stars. The film tells the story of a family that has to deal with a mysterious intruder, with the bulk of the film taken up by a long police interrogation.
The film, which co-stars Melissa Leo, Aja Naomi King, and Manny Jacinto, was co-written with actor/director Mark Duplass and played several festivals in 2024, including Tribeca and the Philadelphia Film Festival. It came out in theaters in mid-August and was released last week on VOD channels.
We spoke with Asomugha about the film, his career pivot, and what’s gone in recent years with one of his old teams, the Philadelphia Eagles.
So you’ve been an actor, you’ve been a producer, you’ve been on stage, you’ve been many other things. Was the goal always to direct a movie or was that just kind of one thing on the way?
The goal was never to direct. It was about it was the furthest thing from my mind. I never thought about directing, I think my goal was to act and in order to act I had to create my own projects. So that led to producing, and this one, in order for us to start shooting we needed a director and talking with Mark Duplass, who’s the co-writer on this it just felt like we’d be waiting a long time to find a director and so because I wrote, the sentiment was why don’t you just direct and and so that i just went into directing. But if I’m being as honest as possible, directing never a thought, even a minuscule thought in my mind ever.
So what was it about this story that you wanted to tackle when you were writing it to start off?
I think for me, I’m less interested in the fact that people lie as I am in the circumstances that led to the lie. And I think in the story, I was getting glimpses of that, and that was the thing that I really wanted to enhance. And it’s like, why do people tell lies, and do they feel like it’s to protect someone else? Do they think that there, there are good lies and bad lies?
You know, there was, there’s so much complexity in it. And I said, I want to really tackle this idea. And so let me try to find this family, put them in this crazy situation and watch them navigate their way through it and see who can get through it honestly and who can’t. And, and I think that was the thing that I wanted to really sort of touch on.
I’m familiar with Mark Duplass as an actor, director and a TV creator. How did you get attached to him?
Mark just reached out. He wanted me to act in this film. He said that, you know, he’d seen my work. He was impressed. He wanted me to be the star of it. He sent me the script and that’s sort of just how it all started. I didn’t really know Mark before that. We did a project together, but in that project we never had scenes together, so we didn’t interact at all. And so this sort of fell out of the blue. But, you know, we took off from there, but yeah, that was how we met. He just brought the project to me as an actor.
As for the story, is it told in real time or not quite real time in terms of just how time passes in it?
Not quite. I mean, I wanted to do real time, but there was too much to cover in that amount of time. So if the film is maybe an hour and a half, I think if the story takes place over about four hours or so, four or five hours.
And where was it shot?
We shot in LA. We shot at like an old sort of retirement home facility that had been abandoned. And we were able to make a home out of the facility, which was great because, you know, when you’re shooting in a real house, you have to get cops and you have to do the whole thing. You have to talk to neighbors, but we shot in LA in a retirement facility and it was a very seamless process for us.
How long did the shoot take?
I think it was 21 days and then we did like two extra days. So probably 23 at the end of the day.
And I know it’s been on the festival circuit for awhile. How long ago was it shot?
I think it’s been over two years, a little over two years, and we were in the festival circuit just for the last year.
What was it like acting and directing at the same time? I know that can be a challenge to be doing both of those things. What was that like for you?
I think on the surface, that’s a crazy thing. You know, when I think about it, I’m like, it’s the most impossible task. But when I was actually doing it, felt like home, if I could say it in a way, like it felt very natural to be doing all of those things.
I think it was, it helped that I had a good team around me. You know, I was able to sort of get a group of people together that were able to bring their own personal attributes to each role that they were playing, whether they were actors, whether they were doing the lighting, whether they were holding the camera or the production design, I was inclusive in that I asked them to bring themselves to it and that the best idea would win. So I think a lot of that pressure on my shoulders was taken off to do so many things because I had great people around me to work with.
The final shot of the movie, where he’s in the back of the car and the credits roll. Was that an intentional tribute to Michael Clayton, or did that go back further than that?
No, that was definitely Michael Clayton in my brain, like that was unintentional. It wasn’t intentional in that it was a tribute, but it was intentional in, how do we shoot a moment where we get to stay with the lead guy at the end and be inside his brain, and sort of hear what happened? Like, how can we wrap it up in that way? And I think that’s how that moment sort of came to be.
But yeah, it wasn’t a tribute. But it was like, oh, that’s a perfect time to do it. And good on you for catching that. But then piece that together.
Melissa Leo is in the film. I know she’s been in a lot of different kinds of roles. She’s played cops before as well. What was it like working with her, and what was what was it was your interest in wanting to get her in the film?
Uh, Melissa, you know, she, she was elusive in what, which was what I heard, like, ‘oh, you’re not going to be able to get her as she wouldn’t do this film, you know, it’s your first time.’ And so my manager at the time was telling me, Why don’t you just reach out to her? Why don’t you just give her a call, see what she says?
And I was able to get her information, we were able to get on the phone. And it felt like she was going to say, I don’t want to do it. We talked for maybe 30 minutes. And she gave a lot of questions without giving much emotional direction, I couldn’t figure out how she was. And so we hung up and I thought, you know, this isn’t gonna happen. Let me go on to my second choice.
And it must have been 15 minutes later that her agent called and said she’s in. And, it took off from there. I was blown away. I was blown away by her not just as an actor, but as a person. She was one of the most generous actors that I’ve ever been around. When I say to generous, I mean, generous to the person across from them.
You know, as an actor, it’s not a competitive sport. As an actor, you have to be a teammate to the person, even if you’re yelling at each other, you have to be a teammate with them. And she is at the top of the top of the list of people that can give that level of generosity to another actor. It’s just great to work with in general. I really, really enjoy Melissa.
So I’m in Philly, so I got to ask one football question knowing you played for the Eagles. I’m interested in seeing what have your thoughts been on the direction the Eagles franchise has gone in the last few years, especially becoming Super Bowl champions twice now.
It’s been, impressive to watch. The Eagles have always been a franchise of toughness, and of grit, and of perseverance. And so to watch, I think over the last few years, especially, the Birds rise to the occasion each time out has been really, it’s been really impressive. It’s great. I’ve got so many people that I’m still in touch with in the organization. So it’s just great to be on in chat groups and phone calls and watching everything go down. It’s been really special.
I was just at a dinner a couple of weeks ago where they honored Brandon Graham.
BG, my guy.
So, my last question is, what are you working on next? Are you planning to direct again, or are you sticking mostly with acting?
A thousand percent to direct again, so I’m working on stuff now and trying to find what’s best and see what comes out of the gate first. And then acting-wise, I have The Savant, which is the Apple TV series, you know, September 26 [the show has since had its premiere delayed.] And yeah, just going from there, seeing what ends up being next after that.
