You didn’t even know there were vampires in it when you were auditioning?
No, it was a surprise. So my initial thought was, “whoa, what’s going on?” And then as you read the story, and as you see how he blends all of those things together with the 1930s and Jim Crowe and Prohibition, and you see how he ties all of those elements in the music, I thought it was going to be something that was really different. It was risky, but something that would be really impactful.
Was acting something you had always hoped to pursue?
When this opportunity presented itself, it wasn’t. I was on tour. I was really submerging myself in the music side, working, producing my stuff and working on building my sound. That was the main focus and still is today. But when this opportunity came, I just took it as a chance to really further myself in everything. As a kid, I was always the family clown—just always doing stuff to try to make people laugh. So I felt like eventually that was something I would branch off to. When this opportunity came, it was something I had to do.
How much time did you have to learn to play the blues guitar?
Definitely not much time. We had two months for me to prepare. I started working with Randy Bowland, who’s a great touring guitarist, and we got him to help me learn the fundamentals. And Ryan sent me an essential blues playlist of different artists. I would travel out to Philly to do practice guitar with Randy, and they sent us a resonated guitar, which I hadn’t really messed with before. So that was something new. And the whole slide aspect was something that was a challenge. I felt like the more time went on, I kind of got the grasp of it enough to get out there and start playing.
Since this was your first movie, were you nervous?
I remember it was really the table reading—that was the moment where I was like, “wow, okay, I’m here now. I’ve got to deliver.” And it was nerve wracking. But at the same time, I just felt like I was supposed to be there. I felt like I was meant to be there, and meant to soak up and learn from the incredible people around me.
The first scene we shot was actually the car scene with Smoke and Stack and Sammy, and they’re performing “Traveling.” I remember waking up that day and just practicing and getting ready. We were at a sugar cane plantation, and it was like 100-something degrees. We were in wool suits. But it was incredible. The energy and the adrenaline was running that day for sure.
How would you describe working with Michael B. Jordan as he’s playing twins?
His dedication is really something that inspired me throughout. I think that inspired everybody else too—just to see how he broke down those characters, how he would map out their different personalities and the reasons why they do things. When he walked in the room, you knew which twin it was. There was no question about it.
