André Holland is back at Sundance with an emotional, funny and culturally impactful new film in Love, Brooklyn. Holland, best known for his turns in Moonlight, The Knick and Castle Rock, among others, not only leads the cast of the romantic dramedy, but is also one of its lead producers, wanting to bring the Black perspective to the subgenre he often watched when he was younger. Holland was even able to turn to his frequent collaborator, Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh, for help in financing the project.

In addition to Soderbergh, the actor turned to some of his longtime friends to fill out the Love, Brooklyn cast, bringing on Miss Juneteenth‘s Nicole Beharie as Casey, an art gallery manager and one of two love interests for Holland; Imaginary‘s DeWanda Wise as Nicole, a woman he’s begun dating who also has a young daughter; and Confess, Fletch‘s Roy Wood Jr. and Bel-Air‘s Cᴀssandra Freeman, who have very different ties to the trio’s lives. The movie, which has a 79% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes after its Sundance premiere, hails from director Rachael Abigail Holder in her feature debut.

In honor of the movie’s Sundance Film Festival premiere, ScreenRant interviewed André Holland, Nicole Beharie, DeWanda Wise, Roy Wood Jr., Cᴀssandra Freeman and Rachael Abigail Holder to discuss Love, Brooklyn. The cast all reflected on what it was about Paul Zimmerman’s script that drew them all to be a part of it, as well as what their experience watching Holland work as both a producer and star was like in the film. Holder similarly shared her enthusiasm about Holland’s behind-the-camera support of the movie, and putting together the movie’s talented ensemble.

Holland Immediately “Saw Myself” In Love, Brooklyn‘s Script Upon Reading It

He’s Also Thoroughly Grateful For His Very Friendships Helping Get The Movie Off The Ground

Though he’s been an acclaimed actor for the better part of two decades, the past few years have seen Holland begin to expand his industry work to the producing side of things, being an executive producer on the Steven Soderbergh-helmed High Flying Bird and Damien Chazelle’s The Eddy. When it came to why he sought to both star in and produce Love, Brooklyn, Holland recalls feeling like both he and his community were meant to be in the movie, particularly as he hasn’t “often” seen the Black community in these “small love stories“:

André Holland: Thank you for saying that, I appreciate it, I’m so excited to be here, too. As soon as I read the script, I saw myself in it, I saw my community in it. It struck me as the kind of movie that I grew up seeing, right? These kind of small love stories, but I often didn’t see myself in those, or characters, like, Black folks in those stories. And I thought, “Well, what would happen if we took the script, and we populated it with us, and put it in our community, and gave the actors space to like, create?” So, a lot of the movie, we’re sticking the script in a lot of places, but then there’s other places where Paul and Rachel were cool with us improvising, so we were able to bring a lot of our own personality to it.

Even with the talented ensemble leading the charge on the film, and Holland as both a producer and star, he did acknowledge that it ran into some financial hurdles, confirming that Soderbergh ended up being “the lead financier of the movie“, but praising his frequent collaborator for being a support “not only financially, but creatively” throughout the filming process:

André Holland: 100%, and it was more than a little bit of financing. Frankly, he is the lead financier in the movie. Without him, this movie would not exist. It came out of our relationship from The Knick, we did High Flying Bird together. We have a number of other things that we’ve been working on together, and we formed a really, really strong friendship. And when I went to him with this project, right away, he said, “Let’s make it happen.” And he’s been a support, not only financially, but creatively, throughout the entire process. We need more people like him.

When it came to building the movie’s cast, Holland celebrated that he got to bring on many of his friends for Love, Brooklyn‘s characters, noting specifically that he and Wise went to NYU together, as did he and Freeman, while also having met Beharie during her time at Juilliard, as they would see each other’s shows while he was in grad school. Holland also expressed his feelings that this lent itself in a big way to the chemistry in the film, along with Holder allowing the cast to “improvise a bit” and “challenge each other“:

André Holland: Yeah, well, the good thing about it is that we are all friends, like, really friends, and have been for a long time. DeWanda and I have known each other since NYU. Nicole was at Juilliard while we were at NYU, so we all used to see each other’s shows. Cᴀssandra and I went to NYU together, Carra Patterson. Literally every single person in the cast are people that I picked up the phone and said, “Hey, can y’all come through and help me with this thing?” And they all said, “Yeah, let’s do it.” So I think that a lot of the chemistry that you feel on the screen is true, because we actually have a lot of chemistry together. We have a lot of history that we’re leaning on, and I realized it, so that was part of the project too.

It’s like, “What would happen if we all get to be in something together, and improvise a bit, and play and challenge each other?” And I think, most importantly, allow each other space to do the thing that we know that each other can do, but that the industry maybe hasn’t seen us do. I know these people intimately, and I know how brilliant they are. I was like, “I want to see Nicole Behari sit and just be, and exist, because she’s so stunning.” And the same with Cᴀssandra, same with Roy. Roy’s getting to do something that I think most people wouldn’t think he can do, but he gives this wonderfully subtle, beautiful performance. It’s just exciting to show people the sort of mulтιтude of who we are, all the dimensions of who we can be.

One of Holland’s more recent roles just before Love, Brooklyn was that of Terminator Zero, starring as the scientist Malcolm Lee who races to create an AI to rival Skynet and prevent Judgment Day. Though his character died by the end of the show, Holland is still very hopeful to reprise his role in the live-action franchise, having immediately expressed his interest to the producers on his final day of voice recording:

André Holland: Man, listen, I had so much fun doing that. And when we finished, I remember the day we finished, we walked out the door and I said to them, “If you guys do this, please call me, because I would love to do it.” It was so much fun.

Wise Is “The Most Honest Person I’ve Ever Played” In Love, Brooklyn

She Also Couldn’t Be More Thrilled To Return To A More Grounded Story

Though having been an actor since the mid 2000s, Wise quickly rose to stardom with her leading role in Spike Lee’s She Gotta Have It series adaptation, having since gone on to star in everything from the blockbuster Jurᴀssic World Dominion to the more fantastical Blumhouse horror movie Imaginary. When it came to starring in Love, Brooklyn, Wise was immediately thrilled to be going back to her original career plan of “indie films and theater“, while still expressing her graтιтude for her bigger-budget roles:

DeWanda Wise: I really love that you asked that question, because when I started my career, I saw indie films and theater. That is what I envisioned for myself. So, as you can imagine, it is a little disorienting to be in Twilight Zone world and Jurᴀssic World. I’m very grateful for it, but it’s really special to tell a story like this.

The movie also marks a reunion for Wise and Holland after having attended NYU together, part of the reason why she wanted to star in Love, Brooklyn. In reflecting on her experience watching him work as both a producer and star on the movie, Wise humorously described Holland as being “so stressed“, though praised his efforts as being because he “deeply cared” about the film:

DeWanda Wise: André is going to tell you this, maybe, but that boy was so stressed. It was funny, because I’m a horrible person, and that’s my sense of humor. [Chuckles] He was deeply stressed, but to me, watching it just showed me that he deeply cared.

While much of the plot of the film is being kept close to the vest, as many slice-of-life movies do, in order to allow audiences to immerse themselves in the grounded story, Wise is starring as one of Holland’s character’s two love interests in the film. When asked what she could share about her role, the star expressed her feeling that she is “probably the most honest person I’ve ever played” and that she has a deep love for her:

DeWanda Wise: I can share that she is probably the most honest person I’ve ever played. She’s the most honest, direct character I’ve ever played, and I love her so much.

Holder Encouraged Beharie To Be “More Quirky” To Capture Her “Nuanced Character”

“…that was a gift.”

Even after finding mainstream success as the co-lead of Fox’s Sleepy Hollow show, Beharie has frequently teamed with a number of on-the-rise Black directors, including Channing Godfrey Peoples on the critically acclaimed Miss Juneteenth and future Bob Marley: One Love director Reinaldo Marcus Green on the similarly acclaimed Monsters and Men. When it came to being approached by Holder, Beharie was amazed by her dedication to making Love, Brooklyn while seven months pregnant, while also praising the filmmaker for how she encouraged her to tap into her character.

Nicole Beharie: It was wonderful. She was, first of all, seven months pregnant. So she was on it, she was dealing with that in addition to trying to birth another baby, which is this film. She encouraged me, I think — sometimes when the directors are outside of the industry, in a way, they are more open to different choices. So, she was sort of encouraging of a more quirky, neurotic, nuanced character that I got to play. So that was a gift.

Wood Jr. Feels Blessed To Play A Character “That’s A Little Bit More Grounded”

He Also Offers A Promising Tease Of Keanu Reeves & Jonah Hill’s Outcome

Starting his career as a stand-up comedian before finding mainstream success with Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, the past few years have seen Wood Jr. begin expanding his talents into the world of acting after departing his position as a correspondent on the political comedy news show, including Jon Hamm’s Confess, Fletch and A24 dark comedy The Death of Dick Long. In reflecting on his venture into acting, Wood Jr. expressed his graтιтude at getting to be part of Love, Brooklyn, not only for the people he got to work with, but also for getting to play a more grounded character:

Roy Wood Jr.: It was a blessing to get off to be a part of this film. André Holland and I are both Birmingham boys — well, he’s from Bessemer, but we’re both Alabama boys. So, for André to reach out to me, and not only want to give me an opportunity to be in a film where I’m not a comedian — I get to be funny, but I get to be something that’s a little bit more grounded. The entire film is grounded, which meant that my performance, you’ve got to be grounded, which performatively, is total night and day for me. Like, if you look at anything I’ve done, from Only Murders and Last O.G. and Flatbush Misdemeanors, those are great performances, but those are proper sitcoms.

This is a romance movie. The f–k am I doing in a romance movie? [Chuckles] When André Holland asks, you say yes, and to be a part of this great cast, that’s the other thing that just made this such a beautiful thing. You don’t get an opportunity to be with people this talented, and people this dedicated, often, to this industry. It is not often. So this is a blessing, and to have other people that are as dedicated to the craft as I consider myself to be, it’s a no-brainer.

As he continues to grow his acting resume, Wood Jr. ᴀssures that comedies will always be part of what he looks for in taking on a new role, finding it “beautiful” to be able to “give the gift of laughter” to audiences, though also hopes to find movies in which they have “some truth” and tell “a story about the world in which we are currently living“:

Roy Wood Jr.: For me now, when it comes to film, in terms of taking on roles, I still want to be funny. I still think that that’s my brand. I’m no André Holland. I don’t think I’ll ever have the Jamie Foxx dramatic transformation. And it’s not self-deprecating myself, it’s just the things that I’m drawn to. I always love laughing, and I grew up watching Zucker Brother movies and, after that, In Living Color.

So, being able to give the gift of laughter I still consider to be something beautiful. I like to think of myself like when you see Mike Epps pop up in Resident Evil, he gets to be funny. It’s like, “All right, cool.” That’s the thing. But for me, when it comes to roles that I’m looking for, it’s just anything that has some truth and tells a story about the world in which we are currently living.

Beyond Love, Brooklyn, Wood Jr. is also part of the cast of Outcome, the dark comedy movie that marks Jonah Hill’s return to the directing and writing chairs after his success with Mid90s. Though Wood Jr. wasn’t sure when the movie would release on Apple TV+, nor when trailers or images would start coming out, he did call it an “extremely funny film” and praised Keanu Reeves’ return to the comedy genre, while also teasing the wild nature of his own character:

Roy Wood Jr.: I spoke with Jonah Hill, who’s directing and starring in Outcome, and I know they were still finishing up just a couple of tweaks on the edit. I feel like it should be this year. I’m not going to speak out of turn, because I don’t want to get in trouble with Apple. [Chuckles] But I can say that it is an extremely funny film, but to see Keanu Reeves, I don’t think he does one karate punch in the whole film. Yeah, proper comedic Keanu Reeves is back. I can’t say too much about my character, other than imagine if Deion Sanders was a civil rights lawyer. Whatever you envision, that’s who I am in Outcome, which is totally different for me in Love, Brooklyn. [Laughs]

Freeman Had A Delight Watching Holland Work As Both A Producer & Star

She Also Looks Forward To Bringing Bel-Air To A Close On Their Own Note

Much like Wise and Beharie, Freeman’s relationship with Holland also goes back to their college days and was a big reason as to her interest in the film. Even with that said, though, she found it to be a rewarding experience watching him be “the main caregiver” on the set of Love, Brooklyn during production, and for getting to play a character she doesn’t often get offered:

Cᴀssandra Freeman: I’ve been best friends with André Holland since I was 19 years old. We went to Florida State together, we went to NYU to grad school together, and we’ve done plays together. And finally, we got to do this together. First of all, André Holland is the most calm person ever. He could be juggling 100 balls, and he’ll be like, “You okay?” He is such a caregiver on set. He’s not stressed, he’s not chaotic. He’s the main caregiver, he’s got a very mothering, nurturing kind of energy. I’m just there, I’m like, “Okay, what do you need?” I’m like, “How are you like this, dude?” It’s amazing. [Chuckles]

I think this role is so fun. Just wait till you meet Lorna, okay? I’m not a part of the love triangle. I’m one of the characters that Nikki Behari and André Holland have to come to my house, and there’s this whole thing. I feel like she’s the comedy relief of the movie. And that’s the reason why he gave me this role. He knows I used to be a stand-up comedian. I’m a funny person, but as you know, most of my career is based in heavy drama. So he was like, “Come here and give us some levity.” So wait till you meet my character, Lorna, and you will be like, “Who is this woman? Someone tell her to sit down!” [Laughs]

Looking to the future, Freeman also has Bel-Air season 4 on the horizon, which will close out the Peacock dramatic reboot of the iconic Will Smith show. While she indicates that filming won’t begin for a few months, Freeman was very eager in her feelings about getting to close the show on the creative team’s own note and “really end the show with purpose“:

Cᴀssandra Freeman: Oh, it’s bittersweet, but I feel so ecstatic that, you know, so many people don’t get to go back. They’re just like, “And you are done.” So, it feels like great that we get to have this family reunion, and really end the show with purpose, with intention. We’ve already started talking about storylines, and yeah, we’ll be back at work in a few months.

Holder Saw The Opportunity To “Infuse Any Culture” Into The Movie’s Original Script

She’s Also Amazed More People Don’t Recognize Beharie & Wise’s Comedic Skills

Holder has been on a steady rise in the director’s chair for the better part of the past decade, though largely in the world of television, helming episodes of Hailee Steinfeld’s Dickinson and Starz’s Run the World, among others. When it came to making her feature directorial debut with Love, Brooklyn, Holder recalls having seen “myself in it” and leaping at the opportunity to “infuse any culture” into Paul Zimmerman’s original script:

Rachael Abigail Holder: I saw myself in it, and I felt an opportunity to bring Black people to the screen in a script that we would normally not be in. And I was like, “Hell, yeah, this is so great.” And it wasn’t like they were white characters that we then had to make Black. They just felt human, and I felt like we could infuse any culture. It was exciting.

When it came to working with Holland as both a producer and star on the film, Holder praised the acclaimed actor for being able to “hold both really challenging roles” simultaneously, particularly as it meant that he could be completely on her side and support her through “all of the crazy logistics” required to make a movie:

Rachael Abigail Holder: I think it was really great that he was one of the producers. Because producers are sometimes not on the side of the artist. You know, they’re the left brain over the right brain sometimes. So, it was really cool that he was a right brain and left brain at the same time. And not that we were on separate teams, but he was able to hold both really challenging roles in this in both hands, at the same time, juggling them well. I felt support through the art, but also through all of the crazy logistics that it takes to make a movie.

In looking at her star-studded cast beyond Holland, namely the range of genres they are all known for, Holder expressed her surprise that Beharie and Wise aren’t more recognized for their comedic potential, calling them “so hilarious” and feeling that “they’re so good at that“, namely one element of the human condition and comedy:

Rachael Abigail Holder: You know, it’s funny, because, Nicole and DeWanda are so hilarious, and a comedy is so much harder than drama, and I feel like they’re so good at that. The specificity of the ridiculousness that it is to be a human. They’re both so capable of capturing that. So it was so wonderful to work with them.

Check out more Sundance 2025 interview coverage here, including:

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Source: ScreenRant Plus