00:00I hope that people love these characters as much as we love these characters.
00:08I, when I finished reading the script, I thought to myself, I have never,
00:14and I actually said it to my agent, I've never read a script where I love
00:17and care for every single character that's written on the page.
00:20My name is Oakley Jones with Essence Magazine, Wound Me. I'm very excited to speak with you again.
00:30You know, I haven't been invested with a film quite like I am with Sinners, and I'm just happy for
00:35the world to be able to see the film and be able to speak with you again.
00:38Thank you so much. Good to see you again.
00:41Likewise, likewise. For my first question, your character Annie, she's described as a spiritual
00:47leader and a healer. Can you talk about the role that she plays in the community?
00:52She is a spiritualist, a conjure woman, a healer. She is a pillar and center in the community. She
01:02owns a little shop where with roots and herbs and hoodoos and then also who do practices and
01:14she also cooks. She smokes other half. She is a part of him in a way that she's his healer and his
01:31sanctuary, his place of vulnerability and openness. He can't hide from her, neither can she hide from him.
01:41She's a mother. And yeah, she's someone who is deeply rooted in her traditions. She's connected
01:53to the motherland. She's connected to the spiritual world. She's connected to the community. She's a very
02:01powerful person.
02:02So I think Sinners has a very unique storyline and unique plot. What drew you to the role of Sinners?
02:12Was it the genre bending nature of the story? Was it Annie's character? Was it Ryan Coogler? Like,
02:17what was it for you?
02:19I mean, first and foremost, Ryan Coogler, someone who I deeply respect and I'm inspired by. I just think his
02:27artistry is so profound and necessary and he's a beacon and a keeper of pan-African culture. I mean,
02:38he's a keeper of the culture and he like spotlights us and ours. And I feel like the first seven pages I
02:50read were some of the most beautiful writing I had ever read. The scene between Annie and Smoke,
02:59that's all I had when I had my first meeting with him. And I just felt this love for the two of them.
03:07This, I mean, I had never read something that was so perfectly written where
03:15you understand their history, their grief, their love, their hopes, their fears.
03:23Why? They're wise. And they're why not, I guess. And I wanted to be a part of that from
03:34the moment I read that. And I didn't have the whole script initially. I read that, I met Ryan,
03:39I was inspired by him at that meeting. He's so thoughtful. He's so intelligent and so eloquent.
03:48And he sees things in a way that I'm, I need his, I need his eye for me to see it too.
03:58In everything that he's done, I've, I've, I've been so grateful for his perspective and his,
04:04and his wisdom. Cause it's taught me something for myself, for, for, for my, my hopes for the future.
04:15And so, yeah, when I heard Ryan Coogler, I knew that it was going to be special.
04:20And then I knew I wanted to be a part of it.
04:24So I was able to see an early cut of the film. And then, um, you know, as it got cut down, um,
04:31you know, you have a, uh, heightened role in what the finished product is now, how much does,
04:36does that excite you? And what do you hope audiences would take from your performance?
04:41I, I, yeah, again, I just feel like so honored to be
04:45in this movie and to be, have the arc that my character does. Like she, she's,
04:52she's an integral part of their understanding and their fight. Um, I, I hope that,
05:07I hope that people love these characters as much as we love these characters. I,
05:15I, I, when I finished reading the script, I thought to myself, I have never,
05:20and I actually said it to my agent, I've never read a script where I love and care for every single
05:25character that's written on the page, whether it's the young girl outside the, the, the store at the
05:31beginning, keeping an eye on the truck. I love her. I feel like I love that scene. I love that, that
05:39teaching of community. And this is how you survive every single character that, uh, the Choctaw, um,
05:47chiefs at the beginning. I feel like I love them. Everyone's written so well. Um, I hope that every
05:56person who watches this film loves each of these characters and feels for each of these characters
06:03in the same way that we do. So you spoke about smoke earlier. I actually want to talk about a stack.
06:08Now we're specifically smoke and stack. Um, what was it like playing alongside like opposites?
06:15You were playing with Michael B. Jordan. What was it like acting alongside stack and alongside
06:20smoke? And what's that like a challenge for you at all? Um, honestly, Michael, Michael's work was so
06:28detailed that it was so clear who he was, even in rehearsal. Um, his energy was different when he came
06:35onto a set. When he was smoke, I felt like we gravitated towards each other. I feel like,
06:40especially in the emotional scenes, there was always like, I was always kind of by his side,
06:45behind him as support. And when he was stack, he, he'd be doing his, his thing. And I wouldn't even,
06:52I, I, I would be like, Oh, that's stack stack. You know, there was, there was just such an energy
06:58shift with him that was so apparent. I could tell with my back turned, if he was smoke or stack,
07:04I could tell so clearly. And so it was actually pretty, other than the technicalities of the
07:11actual filming, doing the scenes a certain, a way, a certain way, it was actually pretty easy.
07:16It was, it was easy. Cause, cause he, they, they were so different. They were so different.
07:24Um, so for you, how big of a role do you think, uh, the music and the blues aspect played in the
07:32film for you? Oh, I think the music is, is an, is the heartbeat. Um, I think Sammy is the heartbeat.
07:41Um, his love, his passion, his, his actual voice, like his journey, um, to the blues, his, his fight
07:54from, of against his family, his love, his discovery of himself as an artist. Um, I just think it's,
08:05it's all, I think of the blues and Sammy kind of entwined in, in that it's the, it's the,
08:11it's a journey of like torment and, and, and, and, and, and love. Um, I think the blues is
08:20absolutely integral to the movie. So one thing I thought was really interesting when I was, um,
08:26you know, doing research on you and research on the film, um, Ryan called this film a, uh,
08:31comfort food movie. Um, it's something that he thinks is a personal and exciting for him as a
08:37moviegoer because he's a director, but of course I know he's a fan of film as well as, as are you.
08:42Uh, how do you think that energy translated on set for you? I mean, it was amazing. Um, Ryan has such,
08:50uh, love and, and respect for movie making and movie makers. I mean, but he also like, you know,
09:00he, he would always joke like, I'm not joke, but he would always say, we're making a major movie,
09:08motion picture, maybe major, major motion picture. He'd say, and like, like every day,
09:14maybe three times, like guys, we're making a major motion picture and it seems, seems like obvious,
09:22but actually when he says it like that, you're like, wow, we're really doing this. We're really
09:26creating something together and let it be major, like, let it be. And, um, so there was always a
09:35reverence there and there was all, and there was always a reverence from everyone surrounding Ryan
09:44of the work that he puts out into the world. Um,
09:47Um, so I, I don't know. I, the, the, the feeling was always respect and enjoyment and wow,
09:56we're really doing it. We're making, we're making a piece of, of like
10:05culture. Like it's a thing. It's going to be part of the culture. And yeah.
10:11Well, Wumi, I appreciate you so, so much. I always love speaking with you. Um,
10:17the film is amazing and I know the world is going to think the same thing and you had an
10:21amazing performance. I'm just, I'm really happy. I'm, I'm excited for you. Thank you so much.
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