How the ‘Sinners’ Supporting Stars Dove Into Ryan Coogler’s Southern Gothic Smash

Ryan Coogler created a whole world in “Sinners,” a musical horror film set in a 1930s Mississippi Delta ravaged by a gang of identity-stealing vampires. Alongside Michael B. Jordan’s dual leading performance as twin brothers Smoke and Stack, a robust supporting cast further fleshes out the bustling community at the film’s center.

Performances like those of Delroy Lindo, Miles Caton, Wunmi Mosaku and Jayme Lawson help make the fully-realized world of “Sinners” sing.

Delroy Lindo (Delta Slim)

A seasoned veteran of the works of Spike Lee, Lorraine Hansberry, John Irving and many others, Lindo appropriately plays the part of Delta Slim, a local blues legend who takes young Sammie under his wing. Naturally, he brings the role to life with humor, empathy and miraculous nuance.

In one car scene, you have a crushing monologue about a time when you were arrested and forced to play for white audiences before your friend was lynched. Miles said that you brought a lot of physical improvisation to that scene.

First of all, it’s a beautifully constructed monologue, so Ryan deserves all the kudos for that because he wrote it and put it on the page. In terms of how I interpreted it, what I found was that it was one of those pieces of work where every take, one felt closer to the words that one was saying. One felt closer to the experience, and that was what made it so engrossing and encompassing for all of us in the car.

There’s a lovely bit of reciprocity where Delta Slim sacrifices his life for Sammie, and Sammie, in turning away from his preacher father, is essentially devoting his life to carrying forward what Delta Slim taught him.

I have to say, it’s so affirming to speak with various audiences and journalists, all of whom are responding so incredibly positively to this work: not only positively in broad terms, but positively in terms of picking up the various nuances of the storytelling. This is a rare and rarefied moment in my work as an actor—which is not to say, and I need to be clear about this, that I haven’t had rewarding experiences in the past. I have. But “Sinners” is somewhat in a league of its own in terms of the space that it’s occupying, how it’s resonating for audiences and how it’s resonating for the culture.

Miles Caton (Sammie “Preacherboy” Moore)

Playing Sammie “Preacherboy” Moore, a gifted young bluesman whose voice can conjure spirits from the past and future, Caton is the linchpin of Sinners, taking on the role of an audience surrogate, a leading musician and the primary survivor in this horror/musical mash-up.

You make a powerful opening statement in this film when you’re singing “Travelin’” in the car with Michael B. Jordan. It’s such a joyous “Oh s–t, this kid’s got talent” moment.

That was the first day of shooting. We drove out to Thibodaux, Louisiana: 110 degrees, plantations, endless land. That was the first time I got to perform. It was so much fun to shoot, just having that natural reaction to the music and the playing and just capturing being excited for the night and for what was to come later in the day.

“I Lied to You” is a magical five minutes of filmmaking. Was it stressful that this giant dance number is built around your voice?

I wouldn’t say it was stressful, but there was definitely a lot of pressure to capture the essence of that moment. Ryan described Sammie as the lens for the audience. Everything that Sammie’s seeing for the first time, so is the audience, so he has to help navigate everybody through that. It was really just about paying homage to the blues, doing my due diligence and researching the music and the artists. It was amazing to be in the room with 40-plus musicians, actors, dancers, all contributing to this one important scene.

Wunmi Mosaku (Annie)

The British-Nigerian actress plays Annie, both the partner of Michael B. Jordan’s Smoke and the resident expert in the world of vampires, magic and time-altering musical prowess. That means she’s tasked with giving the audience a helping hand, ensuring they know every rule and wrinkle before things get crazy.

In your first scene, you have to establish that this woman has a history with Smoke and that they’ve lost a child, but also that she knows all about this spiritual, otherworldly stuff and she’s the smartest person in the room because of it.

It was really exploring what each moment meant, you know? He’s been away for seven years. When did our daughter die, and when did he leave—figuring that stuff out. He doesn’t ask for forgiveness and neither does he need it, because she understands him so wholly and she understands his grief and what he needed to do to deal with his loss. I feel like she poured everything she had into that mojo bag for him.

Your last scene is ethereal and metaphorical. Is it tough to play all of that?

No, it’s beautiful. It makes you feel more connected. You’re forced to engage with the spiritual and the divine, and then you can’t help but connect to the spiritual and divine in your personal life whilst you’re doing that research and trying to be on that vibrational level. For me, it felt like the most beautiful experience because I felt like I grew spiritually.

Jayme Lawson (Pearline)

The Juilliard-trained Lawson says she’s “dying for another renaissance” to go alongside the Harlem Renaissance and the Afro-surrealist cinema of the 2010s, and she describes “Sinners” as a “call to arms” for the movement she desires. As Pearline, she cherishes a fleeting night of liberation before the outside world comes crashing down around her.

This movie has a few turning points, and your song “Pale, Pale Moon” is definitely one of them. What was filming that scene like for you?

The musical-theater kid in me came alive. I hadn’t done musical theater in, like, 10 years, and I hadn’t really sung in 10 years on a project. And so there was a lot of emotion for this project and this character, this kind of reclamation of myself. On the day, I remember being extremely nervous and also really sick, but I still felt like I got to come alive in a way that I’d been craving.

You have a background in theater, and the stage has such a presence in this film. Did that bring back memories?

Absolutely. I am such a huge fan of Ryan’s directing style. That man was never at the monitor; he was boots on the ground. He would be crouched directly under the camera, or he’d find himself in that room with his own hand-held. As an actor, it helped me stay grounded to know that that man was right there and wasn’t precious about it. That tiny detail lets me know you’re not afraid to get messy, which gives me, as an artist, permission to be messy. A lot of my theater training is in that. We will bare all, we will get messy. This was one of those roles where I finally got to bring a lot of that background.

A version of this story first ran in the Actors/Directors/Screenwriters issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine. Read more from theissue here.

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