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"What's The Wall?"

Toback was inspired by the volatile subject matter of "Black and White" -- the combustible mix of actors and non-actors, the spontaneous nature of such a large, diverse cast, and the general sense that anything could happen when you film in the streets of New York "It adds an air of authenticity that is impossible to fake," he says.

"It's urban New York, and it's real," says Kim Matulova, whose favorite scene was the conversation among the high school kids, Brooke Shields and Robert Downey Jr in Central Park "It was cold, it was late and we were in Central Park shooting until six a in" she remembers "But we were really putting our feelings into it, it felt so natural and real, all of us just talking freely about everything."

Authenticity also was an issue for New York natives Wu-Tang Clan Method Man, Power, Raekwon (all of whom appear in the film), Inspectah Deck and other Wu-Tang members painted a mural in 1994 on a wall in Staten Island's Park Hill Projects There's not a graffiti artist in town who would tag over this monument to hip-hop, however, the Wu intended to repaint the mural for its appearance in the film, but later decided against it This artwork, first done to promote Wu-Tang's video "Can It Be All So Simple?" appears in the scene when Sam and Terry invite themselves to follow the rappers to "the wall"

"White people are as different from each other as black people; you can't just lump 'em all together like that."