‘Sinners’ Hair Designer Shunika Terry on Why Texture Was Important to Sammie’s Story

Shunika Terry, the hair designer of “Sinners,” recalls the first time she saw a photo of one of the film’s stars, Miles Caton. Seeing his “locs,” she thought, “Yeah, he’s going to have to cut his hair.”

This came after director Ryan Coogler had asked her to work on his supernatural thriller, where Caton plays the son of a preacher. Sammie (Caton) is called on by his twin cousins Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan) to sing at their latest business venture, the juke joint. Except when the sun sets, vampires descend on the community.

The film is set in the 1930s Mississippi Delta, so Terry wanted to get every detail right. “After Miles agreed to commit to that, he got the haircut,” she says. Texture was important to Sammie’s story. Before he goes on the journey, he’s working out in the field picking cotton.