Melonie Diaz Video Interview On ‘Fruitvale Station,’ Michael B. Jordan, Trayvon Martin

Melonie Diaz stars along side Michael B. Jordan and Octavia Spencer in Fruitvale Station. Co-produced by Forest Whitaker, the film tells the true story of 22-year-old Oscar Grant III’s life (Jordan) on the day that he is killed by a police officer at a Bay Area train station on New Years Day 2009.

Diaz, who had breakthrough roles in Lords of Dogtown (2005) and A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints (2006), didn’t know about the Grant case before signing on to do the film. “I couldn’t believe this happened and I had no idea about it. We’re such a media obsessed country, and I wasn’t sure why this didn’t come in front of me,” she told Uinterview exclusively.

Fruitvale Station premiered in wake of the George Zimmerman verdict for the shooting of Trayvon Martin, and Diaz thinks that reflects poorly on our society. “I think it says that there’s an obvious issue with our judicial system you know, and I think it goes further back it’s like you want to talk about Emmett Till wanna talk about Rodney King,” she said. “I think, I think there’s a problem with how we choose to judge each other.”