In the roughly five years since he made his remarkable feature film debut in SHORT TERM 12 as the troubled teen Marcus, Lakeith (sometimes billed as simply Keith) Stanfield has been one of the hardest-working men in show business, working with a remarkable string of both well-known filmmakers and relative newcomers in both high-profile films and smaller, indie gems. Often he pops in in a choice supporting part and takes the movie away from the leads just enough to become unforgettable, most recently as a body-swapped musician in Jordan Peele’s GET OUT.
Since SHORT TERMS 12, Stanfield has shown up in THE PURGE: ANARCHY, SELMA, DOPE, STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON (as Snoop Dogg), Don Cheadle’s MILES AHEAD, Oliver Stone’s SNOWDEN, and in three recent Netflix debuts—WAR MACHINE, THE INCREDIBLE JESSICA JAMES, and the just-released DEATH NOTE. But many know Stanfield best from his role as the hilarious stoner-savant Darius in creator Donald Glover’s FX series “Atlanta.”
I had a chance to chat with Stanfield last week about his new theatrical release CROWN HEIGHTS, the Sundance hit from writer-director Matt Ruskin concerning Colin Warner, who was wrongfully convicted of murder and spent more than 20 years in prison before being released thanks to the never-ending efforts of his best friend, Carl King (Nnamdi Asomugha). It’s a harrowing story, but unfortunately, it’s not an unfamiliar one. I spoke with Stanfield about what it took to embody Warner, about the ground shift that GET OUT caused, and what it’s like to be one of the most in-demand, reliable acting forces on the planet right now. Please enjoy my talk with Lakeith Stanfield…
Lakeith Stanfield: Hello?
Capone: Hello. How are you, sir?
LS: I’m great. How are you?
Capone: Good. We actually met at Ebertfest a few years ago when you and Brie Larson came down for the SHORT TERM 12 screening. So it’s good to talk to you again.
LS: Oh, man. Cool. I remember being there. That was quite a trip.
Capone: I realized pretty early on in watching CROWN HEIGHTS that this wasn’t a story about just one man. It’s about a friendship and a community that’s has been maligned and wronged historically. Was that an element of the story that hooked you, that it wasn’t just about this one man’s injustice, but an injustice that runs deeper?
LS: Yeah. I think it’s pretty ubiquitous in America in general, this imbalance that exists between what’s considered the administration of justice and the citizens. It’s just a large issue that I think we can all observe. We have far too many people in this country in prison. When you break it down into specific caveats, I think it’s obvious that it’s a problem that’s a little bit deeper for people of color in this country, and I think that can be pointed to a lot of different reasons why that’s the case. Historically, we’ve seen legislation that has not helped that situation, rather exasperated it.
This is something I’ve been wanting to discuss on a larger platform for quite a while, and this movie coming to my awareness has presented an opportunity for me to do that in a way where it allows people to engage in the conversation, because I hadn’t been thoroughly educated in all the different ways in which a thing like this are created by this imbalance. I didn’t know about this story until it came into my awareness through the script, so I knew that there were probably other people who hadn’t heard of it either. So I just wanted to give them the same opportunity that I was fortunately awarded with and perhaps introduce this story to a larger platform.
Capone: Tell me about that initial time you spent with Colin. What did you learn about him through your first interactions with him that maybe the script didn’t tell you?
LS: Well, there are certain times in your life when you’re able to come into contact with just really great human beings and people, and this is a great example of that. I couldn’t imagine having to spend so much time tortured that someone could come out of that situation and still have resolve and a sense of self and a sense of empathy and understanding for human beings, having been the recipient of such horrendous things. This situated in my mind that, in fact, those people do exist, that was something that was reinstated to me when I met him.
Capone: You play him over the course of 20 years. What did you do in terms of your performance to mark that passage of time and show that he was getting older and wiser and otherwise changing as a person? I’m assuming you couldn’t simply shoot in chronological order.
LS: No, we didn’t. It was very sporadic. It was everywhere. It just means that you’ve got to try to maintain a focus on the general story so that way, anywhere we are, I’m not too unfamiliar with the passage of time that’s taken place—just a little bit of extra focus on the story at large.
Capone: But did you do anything in your performance to make him seem older in one scene than maybe in another scene?
LS: I did. There’s a natural progression of experience. Say for instance, if you’ve just come to prison and you see somebody break out in a fight, your response to that might be a little different than if you’ve been there for 20 years, and you’ve seen many fights. So I just got to keep things like that in mind, and remember how all humans, if they’re given enough time, will eventually adapt to their surrounding environment. So I just kept that in mind.
Capone: Since SHORT TERM 12, over the four or five years since then, you’ve done a really exceptional job of selecting interesting materials, interesting roles. What are you looking for when you’re assessing a role, and I’m really curious what you’re saying no to. What are you bringing in that you’re not interested in doing?
LS: It’s profound, when I think about, the amount of good fortune that I’ve had and being in contact with many great, brilliant people, and having the opportunities to work on many cool projects. Part of it is that, as I went forward, I’ve always tried to maintain a sense of integrity and a big idea knowing that I still need to get a job at the end of the day and I’ve still got bills to pay, so there’s that. So I’ve taken care, with the blessings and privilege that I have, to be able to say no to some things and really taking care and making sure I’m doing things that I can look back on and say “I was glad to be a part of that.”
It’s thing that you can’t really see out of the gate. You can have a really good story, and there are so many elements that come into making a film that any one little thing can throw it off, and it can become a disaster. So it’s my collaboration with a lot of people who are very focused and happen to have talent and happen to be in the right place at the right time that made me be able to be a part of these really cool projects. I think there’s also a spiritual guiding hand, and without that, I’m not sure it would be that. I can’t say it’s all me, as much as I’d like to [laughs], but I do try to be conscious of what I do. The things that I won't do are the things that I don’t feel represent real ideas that I’ve interfaced with, that I’ve been a part of, because if it isn’t real to me, then I don’t see how I can make it real to you.
A lot of times, particularly roles in Hollywood written for black people and people from different ethnic backgrounds and dimensions and creeds, that inaccurately don’t fall in line with the reality of these situations, so I had to be careful to not jump at the opportunity because it looks good on paper. But I consider, “Does it represent something that really is true to me now?” Even if I think I can really effectively pull it off, and while I am up for a challenge, I don’t want to represent something that I don’t feel is real.
When I grew up watching a lot of stuff and images of black people on TV, there were things that were done and executed, and I’d think “That’s not real.” And I realize now that I have that luxury [to pick and choose roles], I should use it, because people before me who didn’t have it were taking jobs that were humiliating and not what they wanted to portray in order to make a better platform for people like me. I think it’s important for me to exercise a little bit of discernment.
Capone: That’s a great answer. What was it about Matt Ruskin, when you met him and you heard his vision for this story, that made him the right guy and someone you could trust to tell this story right?
LS: I think there were many things. One was he seemed to have a really honed-in focus on what he wanted to tell, the story he wanted to tell, but honestly for me at that time, I was really younger in my career, so I didn’t have the ability to be able to determine on a whim whether or not this would be a project that I would want to work on. So basically I was a little uncomfortable at first not knowing if this would be exactly right. I got into the process and I realized that not only were Colin’s friends and people who actually worked on the case involved, but that Colin himself was involved directly, and this made me felt more at ease.
Once Matt Ruskin thought though all of the transcripts from the actual hearing, I really felt comfortable because I knew the script was directly translated from those transcripts, so I thought “Now we really have got the truth of what’s going on.” So it felt good. Similar to that, I did a story on Ferguson [the documentary short VERBATIIM: THE FERGUSON CASE] where I played Dorian Johnson, and everything was verbatim from the court case translated into the short project.
And I feel like with those, you can’t really go wrong, because here you have the raw, actual words from the people, and it’s up to the audience to determine what they see about what’s going on, and that’s my favorite thing to do. I’d rather do that than try and lead people into thinking what we want them to think. Let’s just provide them with the facts and see what they feel about it. And this felt like we had all of our ducks in a row before we started shooting, so I felt confident.
And also, Colin’s family and his wife, they blessed me at a shrine they had in their house. They gave me the wherewithal to feel like they had my back during the process, so that was a great, beautiful luxury.
Capone: You learned your craft as an actor from on-the-job training, and I admire that incredibly. That being said, do you still consider yourself a student of acting. Are you still learning from other actors and filmmakers you work with?
LS: I got all the answers now.
[Both laugh]
Capone: “No one can teach me anything.”
LS: Most definitely, definitely. I’m always watching people who are around me and always remaining open to new interpretations. Life itself is direct homework for me. That’s how it’s always been for me. My teachers are the people around me. Like I said, I’ve been very fortunate to work with a lot of great, talented people, and I hope that trend continues, because you’ve got to believe I’m stealing things from them at an alarming rate to re-situate them into my own style. So all of that stuff is really good.
You have to stay open. I’m constantly reading, I’m constantly trying to align and expand my awareness and pick up as I go, and that’s just part of the journey, and falling down, you’re really just living in that fall down, you know? And just trying to get back up and figure out the appropriate steps to take. I’ll continue to fall, I’m going to be strong.
Capone: Shooting so much of this film in a prison setting, in a cell, did that affect you at all away from the set? Did that confined space haunt you?
LS: I think in some weird way it creeped into my sub-con. I try to be careful about that. Sometimes you take things a little bit too far or you saturate yourself a little bit too much. It can be weird. With this particular project, I definitely had weird dreams after having worked inside. A couple of days ago, I had a dream of being pursued by law enforcement and locked up. I’m not sure how much of that is different experiences that I’ve had coupled with the film, and how much is just that experience, but there’s this weird little dream that’s been occurring, and I’ve been trying to shake it for a while now. That’s pretty much it.
I try to leave everything at the door and start a new one every project. Invariably, there are different things you might encounter. Sometimes I think about things that I probably should leave alone in order to get into certain things. I’m not sure how healthy my method always is but I’m just trying to make it real.
Capone: Are you guys back shooting the second season of “Atlanta” yet?
8 LS: Real soon. And that’s one that’s really fun. I don’t have to do all that.
Capone: What do you love most about playing Darius?
LS: I love it, man. It’s really fun because I just get to erase my brain and all of my stresses. Coming to Atlanta in itself is a departure—the city and the energy there. I live in Hollywood, so it’s all very [approximating loud club music] “Na-na-na-na-na na na-na.” And I come to Atlanta, the frequency is a little slower. It already feels like it’s a departure. Working on this show, I get to completely erase my mind in a MEN IN BLACK style and tap into the spacious genius that is Darius and allow the universe to siphon in and out of this very weird, unraveling character. It’s nothing I have to stay confined to. I can go to really weird and dark places, but then I can instantly turn it around into something fluffy and light, and you can still believe that that’s Darius because he’s everything. That’s a real great treat from Donald’s creative genius, to allow me to walk into that space.
Capone: I don’t think Darius could say anything, and it wouldn’t seem like a Darius thing to say. It all makes sense coming out of his mouth.
LS: The funny thing is, they go hand-in-hand, right?
Capone: Exactly. I have to ask about a film that you recently shot called SORRY TO BOTHER YOU. The concept sounds insane. Tell me just a little bit about that, if you can.
LS: Oh, man. It’s crazy. I can’t say too much, but it’s probably the craziest thing I’ve worked on outside of “Atlanta.” Actually maybe even crazier than “Atlanta,” I’ve got to be honest. It’s pretty fucking crazy, and I mean that in a good way, in a weird was as well. It’s material that I haven't worked with before, but still speaking to real life things that we can all identify with, but it’s just fucking insane. It’s a lot of stuff. I don’t even want to start. It’s crazy.
Capone: I was at the GET OUT premiere screening at Sundance, where the ball started rolling. You have to feel really proud about what that film did, in terms of catching on, everybody wanting, the way it turned out, and the conversations it started.
LS: It sounds cliche, but you never really know if these things will happen this way. In my head, I had no fucking idea. GET OUT, it was a small film. We did it for Blumhouse. It was a really small budget. It was just getting together thinking we’re just making a film. Maybe some people will see it, maybe not. And it exceeded everyone’s expectations. It was amazing. Even for me, reading it on the ground, I knew Jordan was up to something, but I didn’t know what the fuck he was actually up to, until I saw the film in its entirety. I was like, “I’m a part of something that’s a classic,” and that’s great, man. You can’t even really describe it. It’s amazing.
Capone: Your performance in that party scene, I’ve never seen a person look less comfortable in their skin than you do there, even before you have meltdown. Tell me about that experience. Was it as awkward and weird as it appeared?
LS: Yes. There was no moment when I wasn’t on that set where I wasn’t nervous. Whether it was the opening sequence where we were walking through that creepy neighborhood, which was very fucking creepy. I didn’t realize that it would be. In daytime, it’s much less creepy. It was really fucking creepy, and that was real, and I was nervous the whole time, every take. Also, I had just gotten off of a fresh car crash before we had shot that, so knowing that this dude was going to be choking the shit out of me, I wasn’t really looking forward to that, and I was probably bedridden for a week after that not really able to move because it’s stupid to come off whiplash and do something like that.
But again, I wanted to make it real, so I sacrificed common sense. The scene in the party section was really weird, because all the extras around me were white, and I was supposed to be a white energy embodying this black body, and I’m talking about my own tattoos as if they’re this foreign tribal markings. It was just very strange to be in that space and be removed from my body in that way, so it was quite strange and weird and uncomfortable.
Capone: Lakeith, thank you so much for talking. Best of luck with this, and with everything.
LS: Yeah, thanks man. We’ve been talking 20 minutes, and it just all went by in a flash. I’ll talk to you later.
