THE BLOOD AND THE BOND: Jordan and Coogler reunite for a genre epic with soul.Michael B. Jordan, Ryan Coogler & the Cast of Sinners Bring Heart—and Horror—to the Bayou
The room is alive with energy—not the synthetic kind, but the real, buzzing current of a cast who knew they’ve made something special. Sinners is not just a movie. It’s a pulse. A fever dream. A Southern Gothic soaked in sweat, blood, and love. And at the center of it all? A collaboration that’s aged like a bottle of the finest bourbon.
“Let’s just say we’ve got a shorthand now,” says Michael B. Jordan, nodding at director Ryan Coogler beside him. “And that trust keeps getting stronger.”
From Fruitvale Station to Creed, Coogler and Jordan have grown together—as artists, as collaborators, as brothers. But this time around, it’s different. Jordan is no longer just a leading man—he’s a director in his own right.
“After directing my first film, I just had so much more empathy for what Ryan goes through,” Jordan continues. “All the hats he must wear, all the chaos. I could now anticipate what he needed and be that extra set of eyes, you know? Time is always an issue on a set, but when you’ve got that kind of unspoken understanding… it changes the game.”
Coogler, sitting with the ease of someone who trusts the people in his orbit, smiles at the mention.
“I worked as his producer on Creed III,” he says. “There were moments where Mike would be like, ‘Man… now I see what you’ve been dealing with.’ But I never rubbed it in. Truth is, our jobs are wildly different. He was acting and directing. I’m never on camera, but Mike? He’s getting punched in the face, then running behind the monitor to see how it played, then going back in to get hit again.”
He pauses, reflecting.
“Mike’s work ethic is insane. But more than that, he leads with kindness, and that sets the tone. When your number one on the call sheet treats every PA, every camera op, every AD with respect—people notice. That’s culture-setting behavior.”
“In this industry, stress can turn toxic real quick,” Coogler adds. “But Mike keeps it grounded, loving, and respectful. That’s infectious.”
Miles Caton, the film’s breakout star, beams as he listens. Chiming in, he shares, “Being on this project, I got to grow so much. Every day was a learning experience. From the time I got on set to the end, I really did push myself every day to be better. Being around actors at this level, who all showed me so much love, has been such a blessing.”
For Jack O’Connell, stepping into the role of Remmick—a seductive, violent force who spirals the story into chaos—was about complexity, not caricature.
“Look, ‘villain’ is fair,” he says, half-grinning. “But Remmick doesn’t think he’s the villain. He thinks he’s offering love. Just… through a bite to the neck. Everlasting love. There’s real depth to Ryan’s writing. It’s rooted in history. In culture. That’s what I grabbed onto.”
Delroy Lindo, a screen legend known for gravitas, had to get physical in a way we haven’t seen in years. A juke joint brawl becomes one of the film’s standout set pieces.
“When Ryan told me I’d be doing these fight scenes, I went back to my roots,” Lindo says. “I trained in dance. And fighting, when it’s done right, is choreography. Precision. We had a killer fight team. Everything was mapped out to a tee. But what I appreciated most? The openness. The space to bring your own flavor. Ryan and Mike created that.”
Li Li, whose role adds a rarely-told layer of history, took her character personally.
“I had no idea there was a Chinese American community in the Mississippi Delta,” she says. “But there was. They ran grocery stores. They were a bridge between Black and white communities—and they faced their own prejudice. I modeled my dialect after a real woman named Frieda Kwan. There was this line she said in a documentary: ‘We were fine if we stayed in our lanes. Trouble came if we crossed over.’ That stuck with me.”
And then there’s the romance—two love stories, both rich and raw, unfolding against the lush Louisiana backdrop.
Wunmi Mosaku describes her character Annie’s home as a place “anchored in memory.”
“There were spider webs on the spell books. Candles burning. Smoke rising through the floorboards,” she says, wide-eyed. “It was magic. It made our love story feel eternal.”
Hailee Steinfeld, whose character Mary navigates grief, music, and redemption, adds, “Everything was shot at night, which gave it this dreamlike energy. The juke joint felt like home, even though Mary had never been there. It was the people. The food. The music. That sense of belonging.”
By the time the cast finishes speaking, it’s clear—Sinners isn’t just a genre film. It’s a reckoning. A reclamation. A celebration of the messiness of love, legacy, and the shadows we carry.
As Coogler puts it: “Every actor came in hungry—ready to be better than their last project. And I know they’ll be even better on the next one. That culture? It starts with Mike. But it touched all of us.”