Earlier this year, I wrote a column where I discussed the movies I was most looking forward to in 2025. “Sinners,” the new Warner Bros. film from writer/director Ryan Coogler, ranked at number three for me. I have been extremely excited about this movie for quite a while. As a big fan of Coogler, I’ve been eagerly anticipating seeing what an original period-horror film from him would look like.
“Sinners” follows twin brothers (both played by Michael B. Jordan) trying to leave their troubled lives behind them. As they return to their hometown to start again, they discover that an even greater evil is waiting to welcome them back.
I was lucky enough to be present for a virtual global press conference for “Sinners,” moderated by Jacqueline Coley, who is one of my favorite moderators and interviewers. The press conference was with Ryan Coogler as well as cast members Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Delroy Lindo, Li Jun Li, Wunmi Mosaku, Hailee Steinfeld, Omar Miller and Jayme Lawson. This was a great group of people to hear from. They were all very joyful and laughing a lot, but also very insightful and complementary of each other. I’ll be taking you through some of the great insight we got about the film from this press conference.
Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan on Their Creative Partnership
Coley opened by asking Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan about their creative shorthand.
“The shorthand has done nothing but get stronger over the years,” Jordan said. “Especially with this one being my first movie that I’ve done since I directed my first film, and just kind of having a deeper sense of empathy of what Ryan goes through on a day-to-day basis…And especially on this one, for me to be able to be an extra set of eyes for him and help where I can, or anticipate his movements or needs, allowed us to maybe get a little more done, especially when time’s always an issue on set in general.”
Coley followed up by asking Coogler essentially if he had any “I told you so” moments for Jordan after he directed “Creed III.”
“I worked as his producer on ‘Creed III,’ and it was a lot of times where, I would never rub it in his face like that, but he would say, ‘Woah, man, I see what you’re dealing with,’” Coogler replied. “But the reality is our jobs are so different. Even what he did when he was directing ‘Creed III,’ he was acting in that movie! He was having to go get punched in the face, and then having to go and look and check and see how he did, and then go back and get punched again. I’m not on screen ever when I’m directing, I’m behind the camera.”
He also praised Jordan’s presence on set.
“Mike is an empathetic guy…what I like the most about working with him is he has an incredible work ethic, but he’s also a very kind and family-oriented person…Kindness is the default, and that’s just infectious on a set in terms of establishing the tone that everybody’s going to work with.”
“The other piece is he wants to challenge himself, constantly,” Coogler continued. “And what was great was I got that with every cast member. Everybody who went through the worst and stepped on set, they were trying to be better than they were on their last movie. And I believe that they’re going to be better than they were on this movie on their next one. That’s the type of people that we hired, and that culture starts with Mike.”
Discovering Miles Caton and the Layers of Jack O’Connell
Miles Caton described his unexpected path to the role. Caton explained that he was a background singer for R&B singer H.E.R., and Ryan Coogler wanted him to audition for “Sinners” after hearing him sing at one of the shows.
“I sent in a self-tape audition, and after that I got a call back. Then they sent a couple sides; it was a young kid just playing the guitar. So I did that, and I sent that off. The next thing I knew, I went to LA to do an audition. And I got to meet Mike, and I got to meet Ryan, along with Ludwig [Göransson] and a couple of other people. From there, I got to really talk with them about the role and just kind of put my best foot forward. After that, I was kind of able to really learn from them.”
Jack O’Connell reflected on playing a character with so many layers, after Coley stated that she doesn’t think he sees his character in the film as a villain, although the character is clearly ‘enjoying himself.’
“I think ‘villain’ is a fair description! There’s probably an easier way of doing things, but in the film, we do it the hard way. He’s all about fellowship and love. All he wants is just to bite you on your neck, and then that’s everlasting love! Just a little bite, you know? He’s constantly saying, ‘I promise I won’t hurt you!’ There’s the easy way, but then we’d end up going the hard way.”
O’Connell followed up by offering reverence for Ryan Coogler’s writing, stating that it had a real richness and depth. He also said they were striving for something not superficial, and that he loved getting to latch onto how the film was grounded and rooted in history.
Delroy Lindo on Physicality and Openness On Set
When asked about the physical demands of his role, Delroy Lindo shared his approach to the fight scenes.
“Ryan has a wonderful team that he puts at all [his] actors’ disposal.” Lindo said. “When I was younger, I did dance class. And fighting on film and in the theater, it’s like choreography. It’s choreographed. And on some level, the more violent the fights are, the more critically important it is that it be choreographed to a tee. And these fights were.”
“I came to the project a little late, ‘cause I was working on something else,” Lindo elaborated. “But when I arrived in New Orleans, they were already in the thick of building the moves in the fight. And the very first fight rehearsal that I went to, the fight captain showed me what they were working on, and showed me very specifically, ‘Okay, this is how you’ll slot in.’ And we just worked very methodically to achieve that.”
Lindo also offered some praise to the leadership from Ryan Coogler and Michael B. Jordan.
“There was an openness, which trickles down from Ryan and from Mike, in terms of the generosity shown to all of the actors,” he stated. “There were a couple things presented to me in the fight scenes where I said, ‘Hmm, can I maybe try this?’ And absolutely, there was always space to incorporate what felt more organic for me as an actor.”
Cultural Roots
All of Ryan Coogler’s films explore aspects of the Black experience, but Coley highlighted that Coogler also will incorporate other cultures into his storytelling, treating them with the same level of detail and attention. Coley asked Li Jun Li how she was able to craft her character, not just with the look of the time but also with her culture.
“I was not aware of the Chinese-American community in the Mississippi Delta at all,” she replied. “I had no idea about them. All I knew was that when I was presented with the sides during my audition process, I had no other information other than the fact that she was a Chinese-American with a very thick, deep Southern accent, which was what really piqued my interest. And when we dived into the research, it was fascinating. They were such a crucial part of the world at the time. They were the only people who were able to open up grocery stores specifically for the black and white communities, but they also endured a lot of prejudice themselves.”
Love Stories and Locations
Although “Sinners” is a genre story, the film has two very intense love stories at its heart. Coley asked Wunmi Mosaku and Hailee Steinfeld about filming in picture-esque Louisiana locations and how that helped the actors invest into their respective love stories. Mosaku and Steinfeld had lots of praise for the set design, with Mosaku shouting out production designer Hannah Beachler (who has worked on all Ryan Coogler’s films). Mosaku even said there were real spiders included in the set design!
Coley added that Hailee Steinfeld had to film everything at night and asked her about how that informed her character.
“The nights were crazy, and a lot of the nights took place inside the juke, too,” Steinfeld said. “We would go in and it would be light, and we’d come out and it would be light again. What I loved, though, so much about the juke for [my character] Mary was that even though it was a new place to her, it was home. There were so many elements within that juke that were created, that were brought to life, that were home.”
Working on a Ryan Coogler Set
Coley remarked how all the actors she’s spoken to who have worked on Ryan Coogler’s sets say he brings a vibe that is infectious and stimulates both collaboration and creativity. She asked Omar Miller and Jayme Lawson if they could describe what that vibe is like from their perspectives.
“I’ve been blessed to work for a long time, and Ryan Coogler runs the most egalitarian set I have ever been on, and I say that in the most complimentary kind of way,” Miller responded. “Once we got to set, once everybody came out of the trailers, everybody was equal.”
“This is hands down my favorite experience,” Lawson added. “And I think the way Ryan really set the tone, that it felt like we could bring our stories with us, as he shared his with us. And it made for this collaboration where, I think I can speak for a lot of us, we found a level of freedom that oftentimes you don’t get to tap into.”
“Sinners” arrives in theaters on April 18.
