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Do you ever think about previous characters you\u2019ve portrayed and the impact they\u2019ve had on audiences? Like, what those characters mean to people?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I do. I mean, usually, I\u2019m contemplating those things in the context of a conversation that I\u2019m having with somebody, whether it be a journalist or another audience member speaking to me about how something that I have done has impacted them. It\u2019s hard for me to articulate that, on so many levels, because it is a visceral, emotional phenomenon. It makes me feel a certain way. So I can say, \u201cThank you,\u201d but internally, I am filled with gratitude. I\u2019m filled with a range of emotions that affirm, for me, the humanity of what I do. But also the human connection that\u2019s made between what I\u2019m doing and how it\u2019s being received, and that\u2019s huge. It\u2019s gargantuan. I don\u2019t have the words to adequately describe how that makes me feel, but trust, it makes me feel good. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Is that how you\u2019ve been feeling these past couple of months, with all the \u201cSinners\u201d chatter and people saying they loved you in the movie? <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Yes, I mean, there\u2019s a lot of that. And look, I would be remiss, and it would be slightly \u2026 no, not slightly \u2014 it <\/span>would<\/span> be inauthentic of me if I did not tell you that right before I started doing this interview, I got word from somebody, a colleague at the studio, who said \u201cSinners\u201d has been nominated for some awards, but <\/span>I<\/span><\/em> personally have not been. And so, to be honest with you, I am filtering my feelings, as we speak right now, through that lens. However, and this is really, really, <\/span>really<\/span><\/em> important for me to communicate to you. There is a distinct difference between whether one is officially recognized with an award or not, compared to how the work impacts audiences and how it impacts other human beings. I value that and I always will, no matter what. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
And to your question before, yeah, I add Delta Slim to that list, from the standpoint of how his existence, my existence as Delta Slim, has impacted people. It\u2019s been, and continues to be, very significant, and it means the world. It means everything. It\u2019s interesting, because what would I… How would I be? What would my stance be had you not said what you said? What would my stance be if the various people who have articulated to me what the work has meant? What would I be in the absence of those comments? I\u2019m not sure, but I would still have to trust that I\u2019m on the right path. I would still have to trust that God has put me on the right path. And I want to believe that that would be the case no matter what. But I\u2019ll tell you this, audiences such as yourself affirming me in those ways make the journey that much easier. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
This isn\u2019t the first time you\u2019ve been snubbed for an award outside of this \u201cSinners\u201d run; I\u2019m thinking of \u201cDa 5 Bloods\u201d here. Did that snub teach you not to get your hopes up and put too much stock in awards recognition?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
The short answer is yes. Look, a really wise person said, \u201cFilm is forever. It speaks on its own terms.\u201d And so, I\u2019ll just leave it at that.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
How does it feel to be part of something that\u2019s become such a phenomenon, not just in the film world, but culturally, too? <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
It\u2019s a cultural phenomenon. It\u2019s a cultural <\/span>moment<\/span><\/em>. And it feels … really special. It\u2019s one of those situations where what makes it more special is that I didn\u2019t see it coming. I wasn\u2019t sure how the film would be responded to. I knew that it was a singular and special piece of material, but I was hoping that audiences would not be disappointed that it wasn\u2019t \u201cBlack Panther 3.\u201d And I\u2019m not being facetious. I mean, completely different kind of material, obviously, but I was hoping that Ryan\u2019s fans and even Michael B\u2019s fans would not be disappointed [and say], \u201cOh, man, I wanted something more along the lines of \u2018Black Panther.\u2019\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
What\u2019s been particularly rewarding is that, hands down, from top to bottom, this film has been accepted very much in its own terms, embraced on its own terms, lauded on its own terms, and has sort of transcended itself to become this cultural phenomenon. And that feels pretty amazing to be a part of. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Music, of course, plays such a central part in \u201cSinners,\u201d and is also how you first heard about the movie, with Ryan texting you and asking if you play the piano.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
What was his initial pitch of the movie to you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
He didn\u2019t pitch it. He just sent me the script, and I read it. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Yeah. He sent me the full script, and I read it. And the things that I recognized, the things that I thought I was seeing in the material, I emailed him back, and I said, \u201cThis is what I\u2019m seeing. Am I right about this?\u201d And he emailed back and said, \u201cAbsolutely.\u201d It was pretty much that straightforward. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
And you\u2019re talking about the deeper messages in the script, yes? <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
That\u2019s right. From the very beginning, I acknowledged that this is a very contemporary story. Part of the genius of this story, as far as I\u2019m concerned, is that it has all these very contemporary themes having to do with what happens when community gets infiltrated, violated.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
When I spoke to Ryan, I told him that \u201cSinners\u201d is a period piece, but the story\u2019s message very well applies to today, too. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
No question. That was one of the main components that I identified right off the bat. And I have to say to him, \u201cLook, is what I\u2019m seeing? What I\u2019m reading, is it accurate?\u201d And he said, yes. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n“You see me at the beginning as one kind of human being, and at the end of the film, I\u2019m somebody different,” Lindo said of his “Sinners” journey.<\/figcaption>\n
\u00a9Warner Bros\/ Everett Collection<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n
I\u2019ve heard that among a lot of the \u201cSinners\u201d cast. The fact that the script caught your guys\u2019 attention immediately and had you so engaged and excited, before read-throughs, before shooting even started.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Sure, sure. You know, the first \u201cBlack Panther\u201d was a cultural moment too. I mean, hands down. So one knows from the inception that one is working with a filmmaker, a really important filmmaker, a really important <\/span>storyteller<\/span><\/em>. A storyteller committed to presenting us in all of our humanity and complexity, and that\u2019s profound. But it also resonates for me because personally \u2014 and I said this during the press run of \u201cDa 5 Bloods\u201d \u2014 the rejection of <\/span>our<\/span><\/em> humanity (when I say our, I\u2019m talking about African descendants) is the source of all the problems. That\u2019s the beginning, middle and end of the problems right there. Historically, our humanity has been denied. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
So, what\u2019s interesting with Ryan is that it\u2019s not like he\u2019s standing on a soapbox with his fist in the air. He\u2019s telling a human story, not proselytizing to anybody. He\u2019s telling a story about who we are and showing this community in response to being what I call \u201cinfiltrated.\u201d So, humanity, humanity, humanity. That\u2019s always the job. Who is this in any piece of work that one is doing? Where is the human being inside here? And how do I work on this in such a way that I can present that? It\u2019s always about finding the humanity. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
To that point, where did you start with Delta Slim and finding his humanity? Or was most of it already laid out on the pages for you? <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Much of it was laid out on the page. There was a key clue with Delta in the monologue in the car, which, for me, explained why I\u2019m self-medicating \u2014 what the liquor represents. Then, in articulating that story [about Delta\u2019s buddy, Rice, getting lynched] to Stack and Preacher Boy, I then had the opportunity, as created by Ryan, to explain part of my origin story and, hopefully, explain to the audience what the basis of my self-medicating is. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
\u201cSinners\u201d seemed to challenge everyone in the cast in some way in preparing for their characters. Miles learned to play the guitar in two months; Wunmi did a deep dive on hoodoo; Michael had to figure out how to portray two different men. Beyond researching the blues and blues musicians, what was your challenge for Delta Slim?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I didn\u2019t think of it as a challenge. Well, there was a challenge. One of the things I discussed with Ryan originally was how to have me not disappear in the second act. You\u2019ve probably heard at this point\u2014<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I was going to bring that up next. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Yeah, there was such a dynamic introduction to Delta Slim in the story. I said to Ryan, \u201cI fall off in the second act. Is there a way we can maintain or beef up my presence?\u201d And he said, \u201cYes, we\u2019ll work on it,\u201d and we did. That was a challenge as much as how are we going to do this? But it wasn\u2019t from the standpoint that I trusted we would find ways of doing this. I believed when Ryan said, no, we\u2019ll work on that. And where I end up making the ultimate sacrifice, which audiences have perceived as very heroic, it\u2019s the sacrificing of myself so that Preacher Boy survived, the culture survived, the music survived, which is a larger set of dynamics associated with my presenting myself to the vampires for supper [laughs]. But that was not in the script originally. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
So we arrived at that place, and it\u2019s a wonderful … I\u2019m not sure wonderful is the word. It\u2019s a nice completion of my narrative arc. You see me at the beginning as one kind of human being, and at the end of the film, I\u2019m somebody different. But to your question, there was the challenge of playing the piano and the harmonica convincingly, or in a way that the audience believed. There were those technical challenges. I guess, as with anything that one does, you hope that when you\u2019ve done all of this work, you come up with a character that, A, is compelling, and B, supports the narrative that the storyteller wants to tell in a way that is engaging for the audience. But I kind of didn\u2019t think of it as challenging. I thought of it as, OK, this is the work. This is what I have to do.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nLindo said Ryan Coogler (right) was “generous” in working with him on strengthening his character arc so that Delta Slim didn’t disappear in the second half of “Sinners.”<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n
That\u2019s a good perspective. Also, the fact that you were able to work with Ryan and that he was open to your suggestion to make sure Delta Slim didn\u2019t disappear in that second act speaks to him as a director and to how much he respects the people he works with.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
It\u2019s generosity. It\u2019s a combination of being generous, being smart enough and self-aware enough to know what\u2019s missing from his own story, from what he\u2019s written, and what he could and should do in order to address that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Absolutely. Now, since you brought up the car scene earlier, we might as well unpack it, since that\u2019s also a scene people are still talking about. Do you remember what was going through your mind as you guys were filming that?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Doing the work, remembering the lines. I mean, I\u2019m not being facetious. Tracking the story in a way that modulates and hitting the notes with the right emphasis that need to be hit. Because this was a three-page monologue, so you can\u2019t give every single sentence and every single word the same value. You have to decide, OK, this part of the monologue is more important, and I need to get through these words so I can get to this part. And then once I\u2019ve done that, I continue talking because I\u2019ve got another two pages to talk, and then I\u2019ve got to get to the next mountaintop and then the next mountaintop. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
So it\u2019s a question of modulating and deconstructing the monologue in a way that it\u2019s, hopefully, emotionally and narratively dynamic, so that audiences will stay with you on the journey. That\u2019s what was going through my head. Making sure that what I was saying and how I was saying it was engaging to the two gentlemen in the car with me and, by extension, the audience. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Then once that\u2019s all done, that\u2019s where the improv comes in. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Yeah, and that was not planned. That was entirely organic to the moment and where I ended up, how I ended up feeling as a result of everything that had preceded it. And my co-stars, God bless them, were right there with me. We were all in it together at that point. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
I appreciated how you gave Ryan and Michael their flowers during your speech at the Critics Choice Awards. As a veteran, it takes a lot of humility to give them that spotlight in that moment, and you also made sure the room recognized them. What about their partnership inspires you personally?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Well, as I said, it\u2019s very, very dynamic and only time will tell [what happens next]. It\u2019s sort of mind-blowing when you take a half a step back, and you look at the first \u201cBlack Panther.\u201d As I am thinking about it, I think about Chadwick Boseman. Not only Chadwick, but all of these really dynamic Black people who are in this, who are being presented. And then [Coogler] does it again, elevating, presenting these Black people, these African people, African descendants, giving them platforms from which to express. \u201cBlack Panther,\u201d \u201cBlack Panther 2,\u201d \u201cCreed,\u201d \u201cFruitvale [Station],\u201d my God \u2014 I live in the Bay Area, so I\u2019m very aware of what Oscar Grant\u2019s murder represented, not just as an event, but how it impacted this community. So you get [those movies] and \u201cSinners.\u201d Each of those achievements are monumental in their own right. Then, when you look at Michael B and Ryan working together as co-artists, being part of presenting this work to audiences across the world, it\u2019s not just an American phenomenon. These are global phenomena. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Acknowledging that, recognizing that, it\u2019s mind-blowing, particularly as young men too. None of us knows what the future holds. Is it a paradigm shift? I do not know. I hope it is. I\u2019ll tell you what, on their own terms, they\u2019re extraordinary achievements. And the fact that Michael B and Ryan have been part of presenting these narratives, these incredibly successful phenomena, critically and commercially. Who does that? The answer is these two brothers have done it. And I can only surmise at the impact, not only on audiences but on younger people coming up who were looking at that. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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