Miles Caton has a “once in a lifetime voice.” So it’s no wonder , Ryan Coogler cast the 20-year-old in Sinners, his new thriller that’s much more than just a vampire movie. It also dabbles in mysticism, explores ancestral histories, and is a love letter to the power of blues music.
The latter is where Caton comes in. The first-time actor, who stars in the film as musician Sammie, is the son of gospel singer Timiney Figueroa and a musical prodigy himself. At the age of 12, he appeared on NBC’s talent competition Little Big Shots, and he’s been touring with Grammy-winner H.E.R. since he was 16 years old.
“I grew up in church, in a family full of musicians. So that’s something that has been ingrained into my life and everything that I do since I was a kid,” he tells Vanity Fair. “The culture of it means a lot to me. To be able to have this experience—to do research, and learn about the blues and the story behind it, was really special for me.”
Set in 1932 in Mississippi, the film follows twins Smoke and Stack (both played by Michael B. Jordan) who open a juke joint with their cousin Sammie, a musician whose talents attract the attention of bloodthirsty vampires. When Caton was first tapped to audition for a top-secret new movie, he had no idea it was a film written and to be directed by Coogler. After acing the audition process—on his first tape, he sang Sam Cooke’s “Bring It On Home to Me”—Caton had to learn blues guitar and how to hold his own opposite Jordan. In the film, Caton makes this all look easy. Now that Sinners is both a critical and box office hit ( it landed No. 1 at the box office this weekend with $48 million), Caton spoke to Vanity Fair about what he learned from working with Coogler and Jordan.
Vanity Fair: How do you relate to Sammie?
In a lot of ways, we were kind of in the same place in life. We were both 19, both come from a religious background. So those were things that clicked for me immediately. And then just seeing his ambition, and his determination to pursue his music, was something that resonated for me.
After your audition tapes, what happened next?
I was brought in for a chemistry read with Michael B. Jordan and Ryan. I worked with [composer] Ludwig Göransson. He played me “Death Letter Blues” by Son House. That was one of the songs that I started learning to get a feel for what the process would be like for learning the blues. And I felt like the chemistry read went pretty well. I was nervous, but I was excited to be in that room and just to get to meet those people. I went back home, and I think it was a week that went by. I was at the mall when got a call from Ryan Coogler telling me he wanted me to be a part of it. I lost it. And then after I got the role, they sent the whole script. That’s where I found out everything that the role entailed.
You didn’t even know there were vampires in it when you were auditioning?
No, it was a surprise. So my initial thought was, “whoa, what’s going on?” And then as you read the story, and as you see how he blends all of those things together with the 1930s and Jim Crowe and Prohibition, and you see how he ties all of those elements in the music, I thought it was going to be something that was really different. It was risky, but something that would be really impactful.
Was acting something you had always hoped to pursue?
When this opportunity presented itself, it wasn’t. I was on tour. I was really submerging myself in the music side, working, producing my stuff and working on building my sound. That was the main focus and still is today. But when this opportunity came, I just took it as a chance to really further myself in everything. As a kid, I was always the family clown—just always doing stuff to try to make people laugh. So I felt like eventually that was something I would branch off to. When this opportunity came, it was something I had to do.
How much time did you have to learn to play the blues guitar?
Definitely not much time. We had two months for me to prepare. I started working with Randy Bowland, who’s a great touring guitarist, and we got him to help me learn the fundamentals. And Ryan sent me an essential blues playlist of different artists. I would travel out to Philly to do practice guitar with Randy, and they sent us a resonated guitar, which I hadn’t really messed with before. So that was something new. And the whole slide aspect was something that was a challenge. I felt like the more time went on, I kind of got the grasp of it enough to get out there and start playing.
Since this was your first movie, were you nervous?
I remember it was really the table reading—that was the moment where I was like, “wow, okay, I’m here now. I’ve got to deliver.” And it was nerve wracking. But at the same time, I just felt like I was supposed to be there. I felt like I was meant to be there, and meant to soak up and learn from the incredible people around me.
The first scene we shot was actually the car scene with Smoke and Stack and Sammy, and they’re performing “Traveling.” I remember waking up that day and just practicing and getting ready. We were at a sugar cane plantation, and it was like 100-something degrees. We were in wool suits. But it was incredible. The energy and the adrenaline was running that day for sure.
How would you describe working with Michael B. Jordan as he’s playing twins?
His dedication is really something that inspired me throughout. I think that inspired everybody else too—just to see how he broke down those characters, how he would map out their different personalities and the reasons why they do things. When he walked in the room, you knew which twin it was. There was no question about it.
There’s an incredible scene in the film where Sammie is playing, and performers from different times and cultures appear as an exploration of the way storytelling and music has been tied together through time and space. What was it like to shoot that?
It was dope. It was definitely one of the highlights of filming for me. I remember reading it on the script and thinking, “yo, this is incredible, but how is this going to work on the screen?” They made an animated video of how it would look, and how they would go through the camera changes, and how they would pan to show the different ancestors and the different culture and genres of the music. So to get there and see all of that come together was dope. Being there on the day, you have the whole cast there, and everybody’s dancing and just being in the moment. So that made it special for me, just to be there and to be able to perform. It felt like a real performance. And I think that was something that was important for Ryan: for it not to feel like a musical, but for it to feel like a real performance.
When did you know you were working on something special?
On one of the final days on set, they played a 10-minute clip just kind of throwing together everything we had shot so far. Just to see everybody in the room and how they reacted to it, all the work we had put in during that time – I think from then we knew that this film would be something special. It meant a lot to us regardless of what the outcome would be. To see that people are receiving it, and it is meaningful to people now, it is really special.
What’s next? Do you want to do more acting?
I definitely want to do more acting. I am working on some things, but I’m also excited for music. I have a song that I’m dropping really soon, and so I’m just expecting the people to rock with me and stay tuned for what’s next. But I’m so excited. This is an incredible moment right now, and I’m just soaking it all in.
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