Among the upcoming 2024 movies new to theaters this weekend is The Book of Clarence, a comedy set in biblical times from writer/director Jeymes Samuel. But you might not want to trust the image that might pop in your head when imagining an entry into biblical epics, because The Book of Clarence puts forth a fresh, (and as one of its stars RJ Cyler puts it: “so swaggy”) vision that elevates the genre to new heights. When CinemaBlend spoke to the cast, they shared how the set helped bring a certain energy to set.
Jeymes Samuel was behind 2021’s The Harder They Fall following being music consultant on 2013’s The Great Gatsby alongside Jay-Z, along with helming the legendary rapper’s Jay-Z: Legacy and being a musician in his own right under The Bullitts. When I spoke to the cast of The Book of Clarence, they shared the big part music played on set. Here’s what David Oyelowo shared:
It creates an incredible atmosphere of freedom, and I think you feel that in the film 'cause even though we are dealing with a subject matter, a place, a time, a faith that deserves reverence, I think in order for it to be embraced by a global audience, there needs to be a lightness of touch. There needs to be a kind of jovial quality to it that definitely I think worked its way into the film. When I was talking to Jeymes about playing John the Baptist, he sent me a video of a rock band drummer, and I can't remember the name of him, but he was this guy with ginger hair and a ginger beard who would beat the drums with so much abandon and craziness. And he was like, ‘That's John the Baptist’, and I couldn't have agreed more [laughs]. And so just that kind of energy and disposition is something I took into the character. But you know, I've never worked with anyone quite like Jeymes and I mean that in the best possible way.
David Oyelowo previously worked with Samuel as a part of The Harder They Fall's cast (which landed on 2021’s best Netflix movies), and he was back for seconds to play John the Baptiste in The Book of Clarence. In his comments to CinemaBlend (which you can check out in full in the video above), he shared the unexpected artist that Samuel pointed to when it came to him giving him pointers on playing the Judaean preacher.
LaKeith Stanfield leads The Book of Clarence as the titular Clarence (along with playing Clarence’s twin brother Thomas), who decides to capitalize on the rise of Jesus Christ by pretending he’s a Messiah in his own right in order to pay back the money he owes. While speaking to us, here’s what Stanfield shared about the songs that blasted on set:
The thing that I liked the most that he played was [sings] ‘celebration time, come on’ Because it made it just feel it was a lot of like hard, gritty work going into it and that made it feel like just remember to celebrate and remember to have levity and feel light because at the end of the day this is a blessing, what we're doing and what we're able to do here. So, and it just reminded me of that. So, that was really beautiful. I'm really grateful that he does that. And none of you other directors steal it. He's the one who does it. Let him do the music.
While one certainly might not expect Kool & The Gang’s party hit to be part of the making of a biblical epic, the anecdote from LaKeith Stanfield speaks to the good energy Jeymes Samuel brought to the actors, especially as Clarence goes on a rather intense journey throughout the film. RJ Cyler, who plays Elijah, the best friend and partner in crime to Stanfield’s Clarence, Samuel’s approach on set was really helpful to him being a musician himself who is constantly listening to music in his life. Here’s what Cyler told us:
I constantly need a rhythm or something, even if I'm driving in the city or whatever, I'm listening for a tempo, even if my blinker is on. And so the music on set, if I'm kind of tired that morning, all I gotta hear is the loudspeaker blasting through Matera because Matera it's very small. Everyone heard when Jeymes was up. That's the type of movie set we need, we need energy. So for Elijah, I think the song of choice would be, and it's so simple, it's because of the rock to it. There's a song called ‘Lucifer’ by Jay-Z. And I know this sounds bad, please do not beat me up everybody that's religious 'cause I'm religious too and trust me, God has talked to me about it. But the tempo of the song is like 'Lucifer son of the morning, and I'm going to chase you out of Earth’... I feel like [the beat of the song is the] swag of the whole film. Like the film is so swaggy. So, when I'm on set or I'm walking on, that's what's bumping in my ear.
Surely “Lucifer” is a somewhat unexpected pick, but Jay-Z did produce The Book of Clarence! Ahead of the new movie hitting theaters this Friday, January 12, check out what critics are saying about it, including CinemaBlend’s The Book of Clarence review, which gave the film 3.5 out of 5.
