--- title: Sorry to Bother Director Boots Riley Talks to Trevor Noah description: Boots Riley, the director and writer of 'Sorry to Bother You' says "people aren't used to thinking and laughing at the same time." canonical: https://time.com/5344233/sorry-to-bother-you-on-trevor-noah/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-07-20T15:51:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T09:35:04.701Z og:title: Trevor Noah Interviews Sorry to Bother You's Boots Riley og:description: "People are seeing something new that should have been in cinema already" og:url: https://time.com/5344233/sorry-to-bother-you-on-trevor-noah/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt839695efdf624fc0/698935d486f68e3d696e9b0a/boots-riley-trevor-noah-sorry-to-bother-you.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: 2018 MTV Movie And TV Awards - Red Carpet og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trevor Noah Interviews Sorry to Bother You's Boots Riley twitter:description: "People are seeing something new that should have been in cinema already" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt839695efdf624fc0/698935d486f68e3d696e9b0a/boots-riley-trevor-noah-sorry-to-bother-you.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # _Sorry to Bother You's_ Boots Riley on Hollywood: 'People Aren't Used to Thinking and Laughing at the Same Time' > Sponsored content. 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It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=df8137b4-2d0e-4171-bb95-9b967d29b727&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: SORRY TO BOTHER YOU - Official Trailer [Watch (HLS stream): SORRY TO BOTHER YOU - Official Trailer](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/dLe1u46I.m3u8) (2:34)  _Published 2018-05-03. SORRY TO BOTHER YOU - Official Trailer_  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jul 20, 2018 3:51 PM UTC  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Jul 20, 2018 3:51 PM UTC _The Daily Show_‘s [Trevor Noah](http://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/5217611/trevor-noah/) revealed on Thursday night’s show that he hasn’t left the movies “not knowing what I thought about the world” since _The Matrix_ — that is, until he saw this summer’s dystopian hallucinatory fever dream of a film, [_Sorry to Bother You._](http://time.com/5331075/review-sorry-to-bother-you-lakeith-stanfield/) In an interview with the movie’s writer-director, [Boots Riley](http://time.com/5341385/boots-riley-sorry-to-bother-you-interview/), Noah asked Riley why he thought that the film — which addresses racism, code-switching, and capitalism — has been a hit with audiences. “It’s a funny movie and people aren’t used to thinking and laughing at the same time, the way the movies are right now,” Riley offered as a possible explanation. “I think people are seeing something new that should have been in cinema already.” Riley later shared that the film was inspired by his real-life experiences as a telemarketer and elaborated on the “mythical idea of the white voice,” a voice where “there are no problems, where you got your bills paid, you never get fired, you just get laid off — that is almost the opposite of the racist black tropes.” Watch the full interview below. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] I'm just out here, just some [ UNKNOWN ] and what I'm doing right now, it won't even matter. Baby, baby it will always matter. [ MUSIC ] I thought you said you fixed that. Get a room. I got a room mother. [ NOISE ] [ MUSIC ] Hey cash, how much longer I gotta wait for my money? God made this land for all of us. Greedy people like you wanna hog it to yourself and your family. Me and my family Yeah. Cashes I'm your [ SOUND ] uncle. [ MUSIC ] I just really need a job. 40 on. [ SOUND ] This is marketing, stick to the script. Hello Mr Davidson, Cashes Screen sorry to bother you Let me give you a tip. You want to make some money here? Use your white voice. My white voice? I'm not talking about Will Smith white, like this young blood. Hey Mr. Kramer, this is Langston from Regal View. [ SOUND ] As always, we'll be getting that out to you right away. [ MUSIC ] You're doing so good with the voice thing. Holla holla holla holla. Yeah. All right. Hell yeah. You're going upstairs, our caller. They even have their own elevator. Welcome, power caller. I hope you did not masturbate today, we need you sharp and ready to go. [ MUSIC ] [ MUSIC ] I got promoted. [ INAUDIBLE ]. What do they sell? They not selling [ INAUDIBLE ]. No. Well there's no amount of money that would make me do that. [ SOUND ] Here's the starting salary. [ INAUDIBLE ] I'm gonna have to get me some new suits. [ INAUDIBLE ] Emaciated. I can't ride with you. I'm doing something that I'm really good at. Cash. I want to make you a proposal. I can see that you want to say no, but I wouldn't do that before you see what I'm offering. Cash. You are awesome. Yeah. Alright. something for the homies and something for me. [ MUSIC ] Hell yeah. That's right. Yeah. All right. Yeah. 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