Fans and critics alike have championed Sinners as the best film of 2025 so far. The musical thriller comes from the brain of Ryan Coogler, the mastermind behind franchises like Creed and Black Panther, and takes audiences on a vampiric journey through the 1930s south as blues music, and its supernatural effects, begin to bloom.
Sinners continues Coogler’s streak with Michael B. Jordan. The 38-year-old actor has appeared in every one of Coogler’s directorial endeavors, beginning with Fruitvale Station and continuing up to this blockbuster. Outside of his frequent collaborator, Coogler brings first-time partners like Hailee Steinfeld, Omar Miller, Delroy Lindo, Miles Caton and more into the enigmatic ensemble.
ScreenRant spoke with Jordan, Steinfeld, Miller, Caton and more at the Sinners world premiere to dissect several Sinners production secrets.
Michael B. Jordan’s Return To Acting Following Directorial Debut
“It made me pay attention a lot more…”
While Jordan is no stranger to being on a Coogler set, this time he arrived with a new perspective. Sinners marks Jordan’s first acting role since he made his directorial debut with Creed III in 2023, a film in which he also starred as the тιтle character.
“Everything. Everything,” Jordan said when asked what his directing experience made him see differently when he returned to being in front of the camera. “That’s a great question. I think it made me a better actor. It made me pay attention a lot more to what Ryan needs to have, and have a lot more empathy through his process. It helped me anticipate the things that he might need, that situational awareness. Our shorthand grew. I was his eyes where he wasn’t looking, and I tried to do as much as I could to help the process along.”
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Similar to Jordan’s ability to see things from a directing perspective, Steinfeld has an eye for music. Throughout her acting career, Steinfeld maintained a presence in the music space, having released several multi-platinum songs over the past decade.
“There was so much conversation around the music. I was so grateful. Music is such a huge part of my life,” Steinfeld shared. “It’s always been such a huge part of me as an actor.”
“I’m always so just excited to be a part of something where music plays as much of a role as every person in it.”
While she does lend her voice to some ensemble tunes, Steinfeld is without a solo song in Sinners.
“That wasn’t even ever a thing that crossed my mind,” Steinfeld said when asked if there was ever a conversation about having her sing. “I was so grateful to just be able to sort of perform with this score and with this soundtrack and with everything around me musically. It helped shape my performance.”
Sinners’ Revolutionary Musical Sequence Used Movie Magic
“They put that thing together seamlessly…”
The centerpiece of Sinners‘ music moments is Miles Caton’s Sammie “Preacher Boy” Moore. Sammie’s musical gifts awaken spirits from past and future, and that ability is shown to its full power in his first song inside Club Juke. As he strums his guitar, ghosts from early civilizations all the way up to present-day breakdancers join in the noise.
“That day was incredible,” Caton recalled. “I remember getting up in the morning, and I had been practicing for that scene for a couple of weeks before. Waking up that day, I was like, ‘Yo, this is the scene! This is the scene where Sammie really shows everybody what he’s got.’ I had to lock in, and I had to really give it my all. That scene was incredible, man. That was one of the scenes where a lot of the cast was there, so the energy was up. We all had a great time.”
The scene unfolds on screen as a oner, with the camera tracking throughout Club Juke without making a tangible cut. As it turns out, that “oner” was actually Coogler working some movie magic.
“I’m going to tell you something, it wasn’t a oner!” star Omar Miller revealed. “How great is Ryan Coogler? They put that thing together seamlessly, like it was a oner, but that was multiple sH๏τs. (DP) Autumn (Durald Arkapaw), Ryan, the editors. Man, this movie from a technical standpoint is on a whole nother level, I’m telling you. This movie is really special.
“This is my first time [working with Ryan], hopefully it won’t be the last. I can’t say enough positive about him,” Miller continued. “He’s a super collaborator. He’s got all the juice, but he never hangs it over your head. There’s no ego. It always feels like you’re working with Ryan and not for him, and as a creative, he makes this space so safe for you to create that. A lot of the stuff that I improvised ended up in the film.”
Sinners is in theaters now.
Source: ScreenRant Plus
