©Courtesy of Warner Brothers

Sinners : Trying to leave their troubled lives behind, twin brothers (Michael B. Jordan) return to their hometown to start again, only to discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.

©Courtesy of Warner Brothers

 

Press Conference with Director Ryan Coogler, Actors Michael B. Jordan, Jack O’Connell, Hailee Steinfeld, Delroy Lindo, Li Jun Li, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Benson MIller, Miles Caton

 

 

Q : I’m going to go right to you, Ryan and Michael B. Jordan, we’re not going to talk about how y’all came from Fruitvale Station to now, you two have been a dynamic duo. It has been an incredible collaboration. Now coming into this project, can you talk a little bit about the shorthand that you’ve developed over these projects? Michael, I’ll start with you.

Michael B. Jordan: The shorthand has done nothing but get stronger over the years, especially with this one being my first movie that I’ve done since I directed my first film and just having a deeper sense of empathy of what Ryan goes through on a day-to-day basis, all the hats that he must wear, the amount of places that he has to be at the same time.

Especially on this one, for me to be able to be an extra set of eyes for him and help where I can or anticipate his movements or needs allowed us to maybe get a little bit more done, especially when time is always an issue on set in general, but it’s a mutual just understanding. I can’t really explain the nonverbal communication that we have that’s only gotten better over the years.

Q:  Ryan, I’m going to switch it up for you, because I feel like in a lot of ways, as somebody who has seen him before he directed a film until after, did you have a moment where you were like, “See, I told you, and now you know.” Did you have one of those, see, that it was different on the other side?

Ryan Coogler: You mean telling him, see how difficult filmmaking is?

Q : No, not see how difficult filmmaking is, but more of, you remember how stressed I was? Because he’s dealt with it on his side, now he has his empathy to it, but for you, it’s like, “Yes, I appreciate that.”

Ryan Coogler: Oh no, I worked as his producer on Creed III. It was a lot of times where I would never rub it in his face like that, but he would say, “Whoa, man, I see what you’re dealing with,” but the reality is, man, our jobs are so different. Even what he did when he was directing Creed III, he was acting in that movie, you know what I’m saying? He was having to go get punched in the face and then go look and check and see how he did, and then go back and get punched again. I’m not on screen ever when I’m directing.

I’m behind the camera. Mike is an empathetic guy. He grew up on film and television sets. What I like the most about working with him is he has an incredible work ethic, but he’s also a very kind and family-oriented person. You know what I’m saying? When you’re number one on the call sheet, in this case, he was 1A and 1B. You have that culture. Oftentimes, it’s going to come from there and it trickles down.

People are watching how the lead actor communicates with the PA, with the assistant director, the AD, with the camera operator, with the sound. Do they like to let the sound person mic them, or do they want to complain? All of these things, man. He’s such an incredible sport and just moves. Kindness is the default. That’s just infectious on the set in terms of establishing the tone that everybody’s going to work with. It’s unacceptable to yell at a PA if Mike had never done that. You know what I’m saying? Mike had never raised his voice. You following?

Michael B. Jordan: That’s right. That’s right.

Ryan Coogler: In an industry where it can get very high stress, it can get very toxic, it’s great to have somebody who understands the value of keeping it loving and respectful, so that’s what I like about Mike the most. The other piece is, he wants to challenge himself constantly. You know what I mean?

What was great was I got that with every cast member. Everybody who went through the works and stepped on the set, they were trying to be better than they were on their last movie. I believe that they’re going to be better than they were on this movie on their next one. You know what I’m saying? That’s the type of people that we hired and that culture starts with Mike, but I was fortunate enough that everybody came with that, and I was very happy with that.

©Courtesy of Warner Brothers

Q : Love that. The way that Ryan speaks about his relationship with Michael B. Jordan, I have a feeling, Miles, you just had one of the greatest film school type experiences to be this as your kickoff, but I’d love for you to just tell us about your journey from when you first got approached about the project to now having the premiere in New York and just now the world finally getting to see it. Take us inside that journey.

Miles Caton: Yeah. I started off when I was 16 years old, I got the opportunity to sing background for her, and we began a tour all over the world. We opened up for Coldplay. Towards the end of that tour, I got a call one day saying, she called me and she said, “Little bro, there was somebody in the crowd that heard you sing and they want you to audition for this role.” I took that and I ran with it. I sent a self-tape audition. After that, I got a call back. Then they sent a couple sides. It was a kid, a young kid just playing the guitar. I did that and I sent that off.

The next thing I knew, I had went to LA to do an audition, and I got to meet Mike and I got to meet Ryan along with a couple other people. From there, I got to really talk with them about the role and just put my best foot forward. Yeah, after that, I was able to really learn from them. Just being on this project, I got to grow so much. Every day was a learning experience. From the time I got on set to the end, I really did push myself every day to be better. Being around actors at this level, they all showed me so much love, man, so to be here in this moment, I feel super blessed.

Q : Yeah, it is an incredible moment and you’re so great in the film. I think what’s so interesting is, Jack, your character essentially starts a lot of this ruckus because he just sees what Miles’ character has and he just has to possess it. I know you’re very thoughtful about your projects and the things that you like to do, and I don’t think you really think of Remmick as a villain, but he’s clearly enjoying himself. He’s enjoying all of this destruction, so I would just be curious how you approached him and all the layers that I think are present in the character.

Jack O’Connell:Yeah, man, listen, I think villain is a fair description.

Q :Maybe he doesn’t think he’s a villain, though. He’s probably thinking-

Jack O’Connell:　No, no, definitely not. Definitely not. I think, listen, there’s probably an easier way of doing things, but in the film, we do it the hard way for Remmick. He’s all about fellowship and love. All he wants is just to　bite you on your neck, and then that’s everlasting love, just a little bite. He’s constantly saying, “I promise　I won’t hurt you.” It’s the easy way, but we end up going the hard way.

Listen, there’s a real richness, areal depth, I think, to Ryan’s writing. What we were striving towards was, it wasn’t superficial. It was　grounded in something that’s rooted in history. That, to me, was the main thing I was loving to latch onto　was the cultural richness that our characters were representing in individual ways.

Q :　Yeah. I don’t want to tell too much, but you do more than just a bite in this one. I’ll put it to you that way. There’s some more things that was asked of your character. Mr. Delroy Lindo, sir, I just want to say I’ve seen you in action movies. I’m not trying to pretend. We’re very familiar with your filmography, but I think it’s been a minute since you’ve had to get so physical and fiery in a role. Can you talk a little bit about that scene in the juke joint and what that was like? When did Ryan tell you, “Okay, you’re not just going to be playing in this one. You’re going to be getting physical with it.”

Delroy Lindo :Right. Right. First of all, we have such a wonderful team who work on the fights. I had said earlier, “Oh, Ryan has a wonderful team that he puts at all the actors’ disposal.” I had talked earlier about the fact that when I was younger, I did dance class and fighting is on film, and in the theater, it’s like choreography, right? It’s choreographed. On some level, the more violent the fights are, the more critically important it is that it be choreographed to a tee.

These fights were. I came to the project a little late because I was　working on something else, but when I arrived in New Orleans, they were already in the thick of building　the moves in the fight. The very first fight rehearsal that I went to, the fight captain showed me what they were working on and showed me very specifically, “Okay, this is how you will slot in.”

We just worked very methodically to achieve that, so by the time we got on camera to shoot those scenes, we all knew exactly what we were doing, what our responsibilities were. The other thing I would say really quickly, there was an openness which trickles down from Ryan and from Mike in terms of the generosity shown to all of the actors. If something was presented to me, there were a couple of things presented to me in the fight scenes where I said, “Can I maybe try this?” Absolutely, there was always space to incorporate what felt more organic for me as an actor.

©Courtesy of Warner Brothers

Q : Yeah, I would say it’s definitely in the screenplay. You can tell when you really watch the film that, of course Ryan is writing another story that tells an aspect of the Black experience, but he always makes sure that there’s other cultures. Whenever he does it, he treats it with the same detail and attention and reverency. Li Li, I think your character is a quick example of that because, even I think in the fashion and in some of the moments, again, that happen in the film that allude to other parts of the culture, I would love for you to talk a little bit about how you were able to craft the character, not just to look of the time, but also of her culture.

Li Li: I was not aware of the Chinese American community in the Mississippi Delta at all. I had no idea about them. All I knew was that when I was presented with the sides during my audition process, I had no other information other than the fact that she was a Chinese American with a very thick, deep southern accent, which was what really piqued my interest and also obviously because it was Ryan’s project. When we dived into the research, it was fascinating. They were such a crucial part of the world at the time. They were the only people who were able to open up grocery stores specifically for the Black and white communities, but they also endured a lot of prejudice themselves.

In a documentary made by a filmmaker named Dolly Li, she mentions there were a couple of people that she mentioned. One of the women’s name was Frieda Kwan, which is whom we used for our dialect inspiration. She always said that as long as we stayed in our lanes, we were fine, but trouble would start if we crossed over. Yeah, I just love how fascinating it was, how deeply embedded they were in the culture and how you would never think that a person who looks like me would speak that way, and yet they did. They also made southern-style Chinese food and they built their own community. It was really a gift to learn about this.

Q : I love that. Again, so much attention to detail. One of the things I think is the most important about this is, although this is a genre story, there’s lots of blood. There’s lots of action and some incredible music. At the heart of it, there are these two really intense love stories. For Wunmi and Hailee, I would just like to talk to you about the fact that, yes, you were in love with these two men, Smoke and Stack, but Ryan does this on the backdrop of the most grand part of the Louisiana wildlife, so it’s in this very picturesque scenery. Talk a little bit about how being in that environment made you more able to invest into these characters, into these stories and the realism. Wunmi, I’ll start with you.

Wunmi Mosaku: Yeah. Annie’s shop, her home is in this picturesque environment with these massive shaded oaks and what’s the other tree, the one in Louisiana with the, I don’t know what it’s called?

Q : Moss?

Wunmi Mosaku: Moss. It’s so beautiful and romantic and really adds to the magic of their relationship, their love. It elevates it. I love how in the scene when we see Annie and Smoke for the first time, is it dandelions you’ve got blowing behind Smoke?

Ryan Coogler: Yeah, pussy willows.

Wunmi Mosaku: You say willow?

Ryan Coogler: Yeah, pussy willow.

Wunmi Mosaku: It’s so beautiful. The whole shop itself, I feel like I wish we could see the whole thing because Hannah Beachler, she did such an amazing job.

Delroy Lindo: She did.

Wunmi Mosaku: There’s smoke coming up through the floorboards and there were these little cards hanging from the ceiling. This candle’s burning in the background. You can’t see all of this. There were spider webs on these spell books. These are real spiders. It’s not even set design. It just felt really magical. It felt like their home. When he comes into the store, he knows where to pick his pipe from.

He knows that time has stood still for her and everything is as it was. Yeah, I really loved their environment. It felt like it really added to the scene, it added to our intimacy, it added to our connection. Then having the grave right there, knowing when Annie says, “I don’t need any other money because I’m not going anywhere else,” that is her anchor. Her heart is right there in the ground and right there in front of her.

©Courtesy of Warner Brothers

Q : That’s so well said. Hailee, for you, I’m going to turn it a little bit more because you also had to film this all at night. I think for your character, for the journey that they go on, I think that probably added to what you were heightening up towards the final parts.

Hailee Steinfeld: It all plays a part for sure. Quickly, though, on what Wunmi’s talking about, that was one set I wish I got to see in person because I had heard about it and seeing it in the movie, the thought of there being more of that is just, because what you see is so spectacular. The note about him knowing where the pipe is and knowing where to go and that being your home, I think the nights were crazy, and a lot of the nights took place inside the juke, too. We would go in and it would be light and we’d come out, it’d be light again.

What I loved, though, so much about the juke for Mary was that even though it was a new place to her, it was home. There were so many elements within that juke that were created, that were brought to life, that were home. The food, the people, most importantly, the music, just the way, the layout where you’d have Smoke and Stack up above, Annie in her corner, the stage and Mary just moving through and feeling this sense of familiarity having never been there before because of who was around her. I love that so much about this character and how she falls into this story because she’s in a place of not knowing whether or not she, to an outsider, not so much herself. An outsider may not believe that she belongs in that space, but she does. She knows that and she feels it.

Being in that juke, being on that stage and even in our exterior location, looking at that structure that was built, it was like it became our home. It became Mary’s home. It became her connection to her mother and her past that she’d been away from for so long, living a very, very different life that we didn’t necessarily see, but we could only imagine how beautiful it might’ve been or looked, rather, or how different it might’ve looked.

It wasn’t what she wanted. This is home. I loved walking in there and hearing everyone’s shoes creak on the wood and the chairs that, we see a little bit in the movie of the juke coming together. It’s just like you wonder where it all came from and how they got it all together. It was all these people that are in there that made it happen, that brought it together. We had just the most incredible team, some of who you mentioned, bring this to life and make this feel like a safe space that we could call home.

Q : Love that. We have to get out of here, but before we do, Jayme and Omar, I want to talk to you both because, again, you’ve already done several projects. I want everyone to check out The Running Man, Jayme’s in as well. Not to shout out, but I think Ryan brings something to his sets that is very unique. Every time I’ve spoken to any of the casts for any of the films that he’s been upon, they’ve all remarked on, “There is a vibe, there is an energy that he brings to all of his projects that it’s infectious and also really stimulates collaboration and creativity.” I’d love for you to talk about, if you could really briefly, what that vibe is, if you could describe it. Omar, I’ll start with you.

Omar Benson MIller: I want to address whoever Darth Vader that’s breathing all over the mic. I can’t take it. Somebody is out here. I don’t know who it’s, but somebody is out here struggling. Somebody needs to go do a defibrillator. Is that you, Jumping Jack? Is that Remmick over there lusting after? Somebody’s over there dogging it. All right. That wasn’t the question, but I had to get it out. It started 10 minutes ago. I was like, “Damn, what just happened?”

Anyways, I’ve said it a bunch of times. Hones to God, y’all heard it. I didn’t make it up. Honest to God, I’ve been doing this for a good amount of time now. I’ve been blessed to work for a long time. Ryan Coogler runs the most egalitarian set I have ever been on, and I say that in the most complimentary way.

Once we got to set, once everybody came out of the trailers, everybody was equal. For somebody who’s had an underdog element to his whole career, I value that so much. To me, that was something that I leave with leaving that set and always being welcome to return to the set and always being a part of it with looking forward to return to it was that I know that we’re all being treated equally. Ryan knows everybody’s first name. It’s 200-something people. Ryan’s calling people out. “Roger Stevenson, how was your weekend?” It’s stuff like that. It’s very, very, very impressive.

Q : Love that. Jayme, ma’am?

Jayme Lawson: Yeah, man, this is hands down my favorite experience. I think the way Ryan really set the tone, that it felt like we could bring our stories with us as he shared his with us. It made for this collaboration where, I think I can speak for a lot of us. We found a level of freedom that oftentimes you don’t get to tap into because you’re being led by somebody that has so much faith in you and trust in you with his brainchild.

At no point did he ever feel so precious about it. It was a gift that he was willing to share. Every day, like Omar said, I would show up when I didn’t have to be at work. Now, I don’t know anybody else that would want to do that, but to be able to watch Ryan work, I had to. I just wanted be in that room at all times and I am forever grateful for that.

Q : Wow. I want to thank you all for your craft and your artistry. I can’t wait for folks to see the film. I want to thank all of you for watching and all of your submitted questions. Thank you all again, and folks at Warner Brothers as well.

©Courtesy of Warner Brothers

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