Ryan Coogler Talks Traveling To The South To Film ‘Sinners'
Ryan Coogler and Miles Caton Talk Traveling To The American South To Film ‘Sinners,’ Blues Music, And More
Ryan Coogler may have outdone himself with his latest film, Sinners.
It’s probably hard to believe, given his laundry list of cinematic excellence, including Sundance Film Festival winner Fruitvale Station, Oscar-nominated Black Panther, CREED, and more. However, in Sinners, the writer and director made bold moves and took a risk on making a genre-bending film that blends horror and vampiric elements with comedy and music.
Similar to other director-actor duos like Spike Lee and Denzel Washington and Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, Coogler tapped his right-hand man, Michael B. Jordan, to play twin leads Smoke and Stack in the unique historical thriller, marking their fifth collaboration.
Though he’s built a solid friendship and creative symbiosis with Jordan, Coogler also made room for acting newcomers like Gospel singer Miles Caton, a real-life child prodigy who transformed into Blues savant Sammie– also known as Preacher Boy in the new film.
“I come from the church, so the vocals, it really comes naturally. So I felt like I used that to kind of translate to the Blues,” Caton told Cassius.
Sammie’s journey provides an incredible throughline for viewers as his cousins, Smoke and Stack, return home to the Mississippi Delta after years of living in Chicago.
We chatted with Coogler and Caton about the filming experience down south, music, the interactive audience experience, and more. Watch the full interview in the video above.
Inspired by his blues-loving uncle from Mississippi, Coogler taps into the emotional weight of this foundational genre, merging it with crisp storytelling and supernatural gravitas to illuminate the Black experience in the Jim Crow South in the 1930s.
As the twins in the film experience a homecoming, the Academy Award-nominated director experienced his own while developing this film.
“This film brought me to Mississippi [and] brought me to New Orleans. I was able to take my family to the American South, having not spent time in that specific region,” Coogler said. I got to learn a little bit more about maybe what my ancestors would have went through, getting to walk around in that same part of the world. It was beautiful for me and it gave the film a sense of perspective and importance.”
Sinners, now rated at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, is in theaters and IMAX on April 18. The one-of-a-kind cinematic experience proves one thing: Ryan Coogler is only in competition with himself.
Check out the trailer here.
