Ryan Coogler’s new movie Sinners may be led by his longtime collaborator Michael B. Jordan, but the Black Panther director welcomed a bunch of fresh faces along for the ride in supporting roles.
In a new interview with GamesRadar+, Miles Caton, who plays Sammie ‘Preacher Boy’ Moore and Jack O’Connell, who stars as vampire antagonist Remmick, describe the filmmaker as “an inspiration”, having created “a beautiful, beautiful environment” on set that encourages actors to take risks.
“I feel like the big thing on set [was] like, ‘Man, I don’t know if there’s going to be an experience like this moving forward,'” Caton explains with a grin. “[Ryan] set the bar so high. He’s such an inspiration, just seeing the type of person he is on set; he’s a leader, he’s there with us every day, you know? It’s not like he’s just off to the side, he’s really embedded in each scene and making sure that we have everything we need to give the best performance.
“Just having someone like that, every day, just constantly motivating me and pushing me to go forward and not be scared to, you know, make certain choices?” the musician-turned-actor added. “I’m excited to see what’s next, man.”
O’Connell was similarly praising, recalling how Coogler “cultivates this amazing atmosphere on set where you feel like anything goes and anything’s welcome. It’s encouraged, and it’s a beautiful, beautiful environment, man.”
Also starring Wunmi Mosaku, Delroy Lindo, and Hailee Steinfeld, Sinners follows Jordan’s twin brothers Elijah, also known as Smoke, and Elias, who goes by Stack, as they return to their hometown on the Mississippi Delta.
With Chicago in their rearview mirror and a truck full of Irish beer, the siblings quickly buy up an abandoned sawmill and turn it into a juke joint. But their blues-filled safe haven soon turns into a horror house when it’s beset upon by a trio of banjo-playing bloodsuckers.
Due to the movie covering a lot of ground – jilted exes, prohibition, Al Capone, what it’s like to be a Black American living in the era of Jim Crow, hoodoo, and more – we don’t get to learn all that much about O’Connell’s fanged foe.
Behind the scenes, though, the British actor worked with Coogler to figure out who Remmick was before he started terrorizing Smoke, Stack, and their pals. Not that he’ll divulge that information…
“One of the things I love about Ryan is you can ask him any question relevant to the story or the character, and if he doesn’t have the answer straight away, he will make sure he’s got one by the end of the day, even if you’ve had to answer it together,” says O’Connell. “He’s so inquisitive and so he interrogates every detail with you. I mean, Remmick has, like 600-700 years worth of heritage, just by nature of being a vampire. As long as he follows a certain set of rules, he just lives forever. So there was all that. How you pack that into, you know, two hours worth of cinema or a performance is unknown to me, which is why it was great to have someone like Coogler, who’s there with you all the time, just as curious as you are.”
Sinners releases on April 18. For more, check out our guide to the most exciting upcoming horror movies heading our way.
