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00:00I hope that people love these characters as much as we love these characters.
00:10When I finished reading the script, I thought to myself, I have never, and I actually said
00:14it to my agent, I've never read a script where I love and care for every single character
00:19that's written on the page.
00:21My name is Oakley Jones with Essend Magazine, Wound Me, I'm very excited to speak with you
00:30again.
00:31You know, I haven't been invested with a film quite like I am with Sinners, and I'm just
00:35happy for the world to be able to see the film and be able to speak with you again.
00:39Thank you so much.
00:40Good to see you again.
00:41Likewise.
00:42Likewise.
00:43For my first question, your character Annie, she's described as a spiritual leader and a
00:47healer.
00:49Can you talk about the role that she plays in the community?
00:53She is a spiritualist, a conjure woman, a healer.
00:58She is a pillar and center in the community.
01:02She owns a little shop where with roots and herbs and hoodoos, and then also hoodo practices.
01:14She also cooks.
01:19She smokes other half.
01:23She is a part of him in a way that she's his healer and his sanctuary, his place of vulnerability
01:34and openness, he can't hide from her, neither can she hide from him.
01:43She'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.
01:56She's connected to the community, she's a very powerful person.
02:03So I think Sinners has a very unique storyline and unique plot.
02:10What drew you to the role of Sinners?
02:12Was it the genre-bending nature of the story?
02:15Was it Annie's character?
02:16Was it Ryan Coogler?
02:17Like, what was it for you?
02:18I mean, first and foremost, Ryan Coogler, someone who I deeply respect and I'm inspired
02:25by.
02:26I just think his artistry is so profound and necessary and he's a beacon and a keeper of
02:35Pan-African culture.
02:37I mean, he's a keeper of the culture and he like spotlights us and ours.
02:47I feel like the first seven pages I read were some of the most beautiful writing I had ever
02:56read.
02:57The scene between Annie and Smoke, that's all I had when I had my first meeting with him
03:02and I just felt this love for the two of them.
03:09I mean, I had never read something that was so perfectly written where you understand their
03:19history, their grief, their love, their hopes, their fears.
03:25They're why's and they're why not's, I guess.
03:31I wanted to be a part of that from the moment I read that.
03:35And I didn't have the whole script initially.
03:37I read that, I met Ryan, I was inspired by him.
03:42That meeting, he's so thoughtful, he's so intelligent and so eloquent.
03:48And he sees things in a way that I need his eye for me to see it too.
03:59In everything that he's done, I've been so grateful for his perspective and his wisdom,
04:06because it's taught me something for myself, for my hopes for the future.
04:15And so, yeah.
04:16When I heard Ryan Coogler, I knew that it was going to be special and then I knew I wanted
04:21to be a part of it.
04:25So I was able to see an early cut of the film and then, you know, as it got cut down, you
04:31know, you have a heightened role in what the finished product is now.
04:36How much does that excite you and what do you hope audiences would take from your performance?
04:40I, yeah, again, I just feel like so honored to be in this movie and to be, have the arc
04:48that my character does, like she, she's, she's an integral part of their understanding and
04:58their fight.
04:59And I, I hope that, I hope that people love these characters as much as we love these characters.
05:15I, I, when I finished reading the script, I thought to myself, I have never, and I actually
05:21said it to my agent, I've never read a script where I love and care for every single character
05:25that'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.
05:34I love her.
05:35I feel like I love that scene.
05:37I love that, that teaching of community and this is how you survive.
05:43Every single character that, uh, the Choctaw, um, chiefs at the beginning, I feel like I love
05:51them.
05:52Everyone's written so well, um, I hope that every person who watches this film loves each
05:59of these characters and feels for each of these characters in the same way that we do.
06:04So you spoke about Smoke earlier.
06:06I actually want to talk about Stack now, well, specifically Smoke and Stack.
06:10Um, what was it like playing alongside like opposites?
06:14You were playing with Michael B. Jordan.
06:16What was it like acting alongside Stack and alongside Smoke and was that like a challenge
06:21for you at all?
06:23Um, honestly, Michael, Michael's work was so detailed that it was so clear who he was even
06:31in rehearsal.
06:32Um, his energy was different when he came onto a set.
06:36When he was Smoke, I felt like we gravitated towards each other.
06:40I feel like, especially in the emotional scenes, there was always like, I was always kind
06:44of by his side behind him as support.
06:47And when he was Stack, he, he'd be doing his, his thing and I wouldn't even, I, I, I would
06:53be like, oh, that's Stack.
06:54Stack.
06:55You know, there was this, there was just such an energy shift with him that was so apparent.
07:01I could tell with my back turned if he was Smoke or Stack, I could tell so clearly.
07:07Um, so it was actually pretty, other than the technicalities of the actual filming, doing
07:12the scenes a certain way, a certain way, it was actually pretty easy.
07:17It was, it was easy because, because he, they, they were so different.
07:23They were so different.
07:25So for you, how big of a role do you think, uh, the music and the blues aspect played in
07:32the film for you?
07:34Oh, I think the music is, is an, is the heartbeat.
07:38Um, I think Sammy is the heartbeat, um, his love, his passion, his, his actual voice, like
07:47his journey, um, to the blues, his, his fight from, against his family, his love, his discovery
07:59of himself as an artist.
08:02Um, I just think it's, it's all, I think of the blues and Sammy kind of entwined in, in
08:10that it's the, it's the, it's a journey of like torment and, and, and, and, and love.
08:17Um, I think the blues is absolutely integral to the movie.
08:23So one thing I thought was really interesting when I was, um, you know, doing research on
08:27you and research on the film, um, Ryan called this film a, uh, comfort food movie.
08:33Um, it's something that he thinks is a personal and exciting for him as a moviegoer, because
08:38he's a director.
08:39But of course, I know he's a fan of film as well as, as are you, uh, how do you think
08:43that energy translated on set for you?
08:45I mean, it was amazing.
08:47Um, Ryan has such, uh, love and, um, respect for movie making and movie makers.
08:57I mean, but he also like, you know, he, he would always joke like, well, not joke, but
09:03he would always say, well, we're making a major movie motion picture, maybe major, major
09:11motion picture.
09:12He'd say, um, like, like every day, maybe three times, like guys, we're making a major
09:17motion picture.
09:19And it seems, seems like obvious, but actually when he says it like that, you're like, wow,
09:25we're really doing this.
09:26We're really creating something together and let it be major, like let it be.
09:33Um, so there was always a reverence there and there was all, and there was always a reverence
09:39from everyone surrounding Ryan of the work that he puts out into the world.
09:46Um, so I, I dunno, I, the, the, the feeling was always respect and enjoyment and wow, we're
09:56really doing it.
09:57We're making, we're making a piece of, of like culture, like it's a thing, it's going to be
10:07part of the culture and yeah.
10:10Well, Wumi, I appreciate you so, so much.
10:14I always love speaking with you.
10:16Um, the film is amazing and I know the world is going to think the same thing and you had
10:21an amazing performance.
10:22I'm just, I'm really happy.
10:23I'm, I'm excited for you.
10:24Thank you so much.
10:25Bye.
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