Antron McCray Shares Heartbreaking Moment With Oprah in New 'When They See Us' Interview
On June 12, the Oprah Winfrey Network and Netflix aired a special interview between Oprah and the Central Park Five.
The five men are the subjects of Netflix's miniseries When They See Us.
During the interview, Oprah also spoke with director Ava Duvernay and the When They See Us cast.
Two weeks after the release of When They See Us, the Netflix miniseries about the five black and Latino boys known as the "Central Park Five" has taken the world by storm. With the poignant way that it tells the stories of Korey Wise, Raymond Santana, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, and Yusef Salaam, the show has touched the hearts - and ignited the fury - of many Netflix viewers.
So, on June 12, Oprah sat down with When They See Us creator Ava Duvernay, the show's cast, and the real Central Park Five for a powerful conversation about the making of the show and the true story behind it. Here are some of the highlights you might have missed from her interview, appropriately titled Oprah Winfrey Presents: When They See Us Now.
The title for the series was originally Central Park Five.
While speaking with Ava (who has also directed such acclaimed films as Selma and 13th), Oprah revealed that the working title for the Netflix miniseries was Central Park Five - that is, until Ava insisted that the name of the project be changed.
"'Central Park Five' felt like something that had been put upon the real men by the press, by the prosecutors, by the police," Ava explained. "It took away their faces. It took away their families. It took away their pulses and their beating hearts - it dehumanized them ... We needed [the title] to be more than Central Park Five."
Korey saw the five boys as not the "Central Park Five," but the "Central Park Four Plus One."
As is now well known, Korey was not originally a suspect in the Central Park Jogger rape investigation, but he accompanied his friend Yusef Salaam to the police station and was ultimately pulled into the interrogation. While he told Oprah he still has "mixed feelings" about about his decision to go with Yusef that day, he does know one thing: As the oldest boy in the group - and the only one to be tried and sentenced as an adult - his experience in court and in prison was different from that of the other four.
"When I first sat with [Korey], he said, 'Ava, you can tell my story, but you need to know right now I feel that it's four plus one. Because at least they were together, and I was alone,'" Ava explained.
The other men didn't realize how bad things were for Korey until they watched the series.
The five men are still in communication: Antron and Raymond revealed they live five minutes away from each other; Yusef said he'll "forever" have Korey's back. But they don't really talk about their individual experiences during their trial and incarceration - which is why watching episode 4 of When They See Us, which centers around Korey's time in prison, was especially moving for them.
"Here [Korey] was, he wasn't even a suspect. And he goes down, and he becomes the absolute thing that freed us," Yusef said, referring to the fact that Korey met Matias Reyes in prison, which ultimately led Matias to confess to being the lone attacker in the Central Park Jogger rape.
Korey toured Harlem with Jharrel Jerome during filming, and even bought him shoes.
Actor Jharrel Jerome played Korey Wise as both a teen and an adult in When They See Us. And to prepare for the role, he worked closely with Korey himself.
"I spent a lot of time with him walking in the streets of Harlem," Jharrel revealed. "He bought me a pair of sneakers the first time we hung out. I was like, 'Don't buy me these kicks.' He was like, 'I have to. I'm Korey Wise. Korey Wise buys Korey Wise sneakers.'"
Some of the other young actors hadn't even heard of the case before their auditions.
Both Ethan Herisse and Caleel Harris, who play young Raymond and young Antron in When They See Us, admitted to Oprah that they had never heard of the 1989 Central Park Jogger case - and the resulting wrongful incarcerations of the Central Park Five - prior to working on the Netflix series. They did research the case and learn about it before auditioning, however.
Antron has never forgiven his father for pushing him to falsely confess.
Perhaps the most emotional moment during Oprah's interview with the five men was when she asked Antron if he's ever forgiven his father, Bobby McCray, for pushing him to falsely confess in the Central Park Jogger case: "Like I've said before, he's a coward," Antron answered, holding back tears. "I have six kids. Four boys, two girls. I couldn't imagine doing that to my son."
Antron later added that he's told his sons that, if they're ever taken in by the police, they're to wait until he gets there before talking.
Yusef thought Matias's confession wouldn't make a difference in their charges.
Even today, Korey, Raymond, Antron, Kevin, and Yusef all still remember where they were when they got the call that Matias Reyes had confessed to being the lone attacker in the Central Park Jogger rape. But Yusef admits that, at first, he wasn't sure that the confession would be enough to exonerate them.
"I had this weird thought: 'They're going to make this into the sixth man,'" he told Oprah. "And they're going to somehow bury this."
Ava isn't surprised by former prosecutor Linda Fairstein's response to the series.
Since the release of When They See Us, Linda Fairstein, the supervising prosecutor in the Central Park Jogger case and former head of the Manhattan District Attorney's sex crimes unit, has been hit with some major backlash. In the wake of it all, she's stepped down from various positions and been dropped by her book publisher - but she's also been very vocal about her feelings about the series, going so far as to call it an "outright fabrication" in a recent opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal.
During the interview with Oprah, Ava revealed this isn't surprising to her: "I think it's expected," she said. "I think it's important that people be held accountable ... But I think it would be a tragedy if this story and the telling of it came down to one woman being punished for what she did, because it's not about her."
The five men believe Linda is partially to blame for what happened to them - but she's not the only one.
When Oprah asked the so-called "Central Park Five" if they blame Linda for their wrongful incarceration, they were quick to nod and respond with a "Yes." But they know she isn't the only one who should be held responsible, either.
"I believe she was one of many," Kevin Richardson said. "I think she was the culprit of it because people was going by what she said. She was basically telling them what to do, and they abided by it ... But there's still many more that need to be exposed."
Ava says "nothing can beat" Korey's reaction to the series.
"There's nothing else that can beat the moment when Korey Wise stands up after you see episode 4," Ava said to Oprah. "I was sitting right behind him. He stood up. I was terrified. I didn't know what he was going to say. And he had tears in his eyes and he said, 'You did it. You got it right.' And he embraced me."
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