Atlanta (TV Series)

Teddy Perkins (2018)

LaKeith Stanfield: Darius

Photos 

Quotes 

• Darius : You know, uh, not all great things come from great pain. Sometimes it's love. Not everything's a sacrifice.

  Theodore 'Teddy' Perkins : Sacrifices are necessary, Darius.

  Darius : Yeah, maybe. But your dad should have said sorry. I'm sorry. Shit. I went through daddy shit myself. But when you're young, you try to just... make it be okay and say everything's gonna be fine. And that's just, you don't know the difference, but... that don't give you an excuse to grow up and repeat the same shit over and over. It's like there's a, there's a "what if" factor. What if you would've been great at something else? Or you would've seen the love... instead of all the other shit, like Stevie.

  Theodore 'Teddy' Perkins : I'm sorry?

  Darius : Stevie Wonder.

  Theodore 'Teddy' Perkins : Stevie had his own... sacrifices. He was blind.

  Darius : Yeah but he wasn't blinded. He saw through his music.

  Theodore 'Teddy' Perkins : That's beautiful... but wrong.

• Theodore 'Teddy' Perkins : [On his father]  When me and Benny were children, he instituted a very rigorous training method. Piano three hours a day, twice a day. With exams on Sundays, that, if failed, meant physical punishment.

  [chuckles] 

  Theodore 'Teddy' Perkins : He wanted the best out of us. It's because of him we have all of this.

  Darius : So you said your dad, uh, used to beat you so you'd be good at piano?

  Theodore 'Teddy' Perkins : To be good at life. We were his sacrifice.

  Darius : Oh. Well, um, I'm not trying to, like, shit on your dad, or nothing, man, but that seems a little... unnecessary.

  Theodore 'Teddy' Perkins : Most people wouldn't understand. To make an omelet you have to break a few eggs. I mean, to build bridges, people have to fall.

  Darius : Are you not mad at your dad?

  Theodore 'Teddy' Perkins : Of course not. There was no way for a child to understand what was at stake. He just wanted the best for us. My father used to say, "Great things come from great pain." I want this wing of the museum to be dedicated to great fathers. My father, Joe Jackson, Marvin Gay Sr, Tiger Woods's father, Serena Williams's father, the father that drops off Emilio Estevez in The Breakfast Club.

• Theodore 'Teddy' Perkins : Are you a fan of Benny's?

  Darius : Who?

  Theodore 'Teddy' Perkins : Benny Hope. The pianist. He's the one who owned the piano. He's my brother.

  Darius : Oh, sh-shit! Is that Keith Jerrett?

  [looks to pictures on piano] 

  Darius : Let me look at that.

  Theodore 'Teddy' Perkins : Yes. Yes. And Stevie, as well.

  [Darius chuckles] 

  Theodore 'Teddy' Perkins : And Al Jarreau and Ahmad Jamal. I think Nina's over there somewhere. Ahmad and my brother, they had a residency in New York together.

  Darius : Hmm. That's Flames, man.

  Theodore 'Teddy' Perkins : Yes!

  [laughing] 

  Theodore 'Teddy' Perkins : Flames. My-my brother and Ahmad, they were staying at a-a hotel, in Brooklyn off of Bergen Street. Eight dollars a night, if you can believe it. He told me something I'll never forget. He said, "Your brother... plays pain better than anyone." Benny just played what he knew.