“I’d love to play a Marcus Garvey-esque type character. That would be a dream project. I wanna bring that to fruition. But if you ask me, “Would you like to work on the Marcus Garvey project or get your own film made?” I would say, “I wanna get my film made first.”
Latasha M. Ford with Awards Buzz, recently had the privilege of conducting an in-depth interview with Delroy Lindo, offering an exclusive, behind-the-scenes look at one of his current projects, “Sinners.”
This conversation delves into the film’s overarching themes, particularly its innovative use of vampires as a narrative tool to explore community, spirituality, and the intricate facets of the human experience. A significant portion of the discussion is dedicated to the portrayal of Black culture within the vampire genre and Mr. Lindo’s personal insights into this narrative approach.
Delroy and Latasha’s conversation touches upon the profound emotional connection to music within a film, including the extensive research and immersion actors undertake. Latasha candidly inquired about Mr. Lindo’s current process for securing roles, exploring whether or not during this phase of his career, he still audition for roles or primarily receives direct offers and requests from filmmakers and more. The authentic nature of the conversation led to a discussion about Delroy’s perspectives on Hollywood, his career trajectory, and aspirations for future projects, including a dream character he would be keen to portray…. and you can find out what dream project and character role that is when you check out the full interview below.
“From the very first time that I read this script, I knew, I felt that the vampire aspect was a conduit only to tell a much larger story.”
About “Sinners”
The film is a haunting Southern Gothic epic centered on twin brothers and veterans, Stack Moore and Smoke (played by Michael B. Jordan in a powerhouse dual performance), who return to their Mississippi home as bootleggers intent on opening a juke joint.
However, their dreams are quickly overshadowed by a rising tide of supernatural evil as vampires, Hoodoo, and buried trauma converge in a blood-soaked reckoning. Set in 1932, Coogler’s film operates on multiple levels and acts as a horror send-up that conceptualizes the terrors of the Jim Crow South’s social construction as a figurative sundown town.
At its core, “Sinners” is a blues movie that revolves around Black spirituality and music’s place in the Mississippi Delta community’s evaluation of righteousness and iniquity. The narrative draws references from Black Christianity and Hoodoo, pitting piety against profanity, with music functioning as a turning point toward both salvation and damnation. The twins, Smoke and Stack, return to Clarksdale, Mississippi, aiming to establish their juke joint in a sawmill purchased from a member of the Ku Klux Klan after working for (and ripping off) Al Capone’s Chicago Outfit. Their cousin, Sammie (Miles Caton), a pastor’s son known as Preacher Boy, is an aspiring musician. Despite his father’s warning that the blues is supernatural, Sammie is set on leaving town to pursue a career as a singer and guitarist.
Official Trailer:
