Photo: Universal
Yahya Abdul-Mateen IItook on one of the most infamous names in horror with his latest role.
The Emmy Award winner, 35, and hisCandymancostarTeyonah Parrisdiscuss their spiritual sequel to the 1992 horror film with PEOPLE and why 2021 was the right time for a new chapter.
“Candyman haunts adults today. You know what I mean?” Abdul-Mateen says.
“And to be honest, you asked if we saw the movie, and I’m pretty sure I did. But at the time that I that I got the invitation to join this project, I couldn’t have told you the plot of the movie at all. But I could have told you the myth of Candyman,” he adds. “So I think it’s a nod to that story, about how certain parts of it, some of the more impressive parts, really stood the test of time. And I think that’s why a lot of people are really excited about this because it gave them that visceral feeling.”
Having both grown up in the ’90s, they recall testing out the film’s urban legend of saying “Candyman” five times into a mirror to summon the eponymous killer. “I did, as a young child, attempt to say it in the mirror but never with the full intention of getting to five,” Parris, 33, admits with a laugh, noting that she was “just tempting it, playing with it.”
Universal
In 2021, the film’s tagline of “say his name” takes on a new meaning, following the growing presence of the Black Lives Matter movement in recent years and the tragic police killings ofGeorge FloydandBreonna Taylor.
“One of the things I like about this film is that the film doesn’t aim to keep very many people comfortable. … Now is the time to show characters who were vilified, to show them taking agency over their lives, over their stories, even as far as to say over their traumas,” Abdul-Mateen muses.
“When all you have is a person’s spirit to evoke, what happens when that spirit comes back and shows up with a little bit more agency than they were given in their own real life?” he adds. “And so, that’s what I like to look at, when it comes to thinking about our film.”
RELATED VIDEO: Yahya Abdul Mateen II Tells PEOPLE the Sexiest Secret About “Baywatch Movie” Costar Zac Efron
Being the firstCandymanfilm with all Black leads and a story that spotlights the very real horrors of racism,Nia DaCosta(Little Woods,The Marvels) was the perfect choice to co-write and direct the new chapter. At her helm, the spiritual sequel forces audiences to look at the myth of Candyman — a Black man who was tortured and killed for falling in love with a white woman — in a new light.
“I think that’s what’s really beautiful about our re-imagining of this story,” says Parris. “As Yahya said, there’s empathy. I think you leave ourCandymanfeeling more empathy and humanizing the character and asking questions.”
See Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Teyonah Parris inCandyman, which premieres Friday, August 27 in theaters.
source: people.com
