‘Book Of Clarence’ Exclusive: RJ Cyler And Anna Diop Discuss Diasporic Disciples And Jeymes Samuel’s Push For A ‘Godly’ Outcome

The
Book
Of
Clarence
is
finally
here
and
we’re
excited
to
check
out

the
movie
and
the
soundtrack.

Source:
Courtesy
/
Sony
Pictures

The
film,
which
is
director
Jeymes
Samuel’s
take
on
the

Hollywood
Biblical
epic,
stars
Stanfield
as
Clarence
—
a
young
Black
man,
struggling
to
make
it
in
Jerusalem.
He’s
down
bad,
no
money
to
his
name,
indebted
to
the
brother
of
the
woman
he
loves
but
isn’t
worthy
to
be
with.
His
twin
is
a
disciple
of
Jesus,
who
is
performing
miracles
left
and
right
and
has
the
people
in
awe.
Clarence
forges
a
plan
with
his
friend
Elijah
(RJ
Cyler)
to
become
a
kind
of
Messiah
himself,
and
after
faking
a
few
miracles
and
performing
some
actual
good
deeds,
he
slowly
finds
his
way
to
betterment.
Anna
Diop
plays
Varinia,
Clarence’s
crush
and
the
incredible
cast
includes
Omar
Sy,
David
Oyelowo,
Micheal
Ward,
Alfre
Woodard,
Teyana
Taylor,
Caleb
McLaughlin,
Eric
Kofi-Abrefa,
Marianne
Jean-Baptiste,
James
McAvoy
and
Benedict
Cumberbatch.

GlobalGrind
Sr.
Content
Director
Janeé
Bolden
chatted
with
Anna
Diop
and
RJ
Cyler
ahead
of
release
day
and
got
some
great
insight
into
the
on
set
dynamics
working
with
a
group
of
fellow
global
superstars.

Source:
Courtesy
/
Sony
Pictures

“That
was
really
exciting,”
Diop
told
GlobalGrind
about
the
diasporic
group.
“We
had
LaKeith
and
RJ
who
are
from
America,
I’m
Senegalese-American,
a
lot
of
our
apostles
and
cast
you
have
Caribbean-British,
Nigerian-British,
Omar
is
Senegalese
too,
French-Senegalese,
so
there
was
nearly
almost
across
the
entire
diaspora
of
Black
people
a
part
of
this.
For
me
that’s
always
really
self-affirming
when
we’re
all
together,
because
no
matter
where
we’re
from,
we
share
so
many
similarities.
No
matter
where
we’re
from,
we
share
so
much
of
the
same
sense
of
humor.
So
that’s
always
exciting
for
me.”

“I
get
to
take
in
new
ways
of
how
you
guys
also
approach
the
craft,”
RJ
added
about
working
with
the
international
ensemble.
“I
just
have
the
American
way
of
approach,
so
to
be
able
to
be
with
other
artists
from
other
countries,
they
all
have
different
learning
styles,
different
tools
in
the
kit
and
I
feel
like
I
get
to
bring
my
tools
and
say,
‘Hey,
you
want
to
use
my
hammer?
Go
ahead
and
use
that,
the
bottom
of
it
is
coming
off
a
little
bit
so
watch
your
hands.’
But
yeah
you
just
get
to
enjoy
this
buffet
of
greatness
to
be
honest.”

Source:
Courtesy
/
Sony
Pictures

Cyler
and
Diop
spoke
to
GG
about
their
characters
in
the
project.
Cyler
plays
Clarence’s
best
friend
Elijah.

“Elijah
is
just
the
person
that
we
all
got
in
our
corner
you
don’t
like
to
listen
to
at
times,
but
we
listen
to,”
Cyler
described.
“We
don’t
always
push
each
other
to
do
the
best
things,
because
we’re
just
in
the
space
of
wanting
the
best
for
each
other.
If
you
say
you
want
to
reach
for
the
end
of
the
rainbow,
‘Alright,
I’m
down.
Let’s
reach
for
it!’
That’s
that
person
that
Elijah
is,
which
everybody
deserves.
I
have
those
in
my
in
my
group
like
Aaron,
Azizi,
Jade,
my
wife.
My
wife
first.
She’s
my
first
homie…
She’
s
always
like,
‘I’m
down
baby!’
And
I’m
the
same
for
her.
I
don’t
understand
all
her
plans
but,
‘I
got
you
big
dog!’
So
that’s
what
Elijah
is,
he’s
the,
‘Well
if
we
die,
we
die,
but
we
gonna
die
together
big
dog!’”

Diop
spoke
about
how
her
character
Varinia
is
reluctant
to
admit
how
drawn
she
is
to
Clarence,
despite
their
undeniable
connection.

“That’s
exactly
Varinia’s
conflict.
I
think
all
along
she’s
known
there’s
like
this
undeniable
chemistry
and
love
that
she
has
for
and
with
Clarence,”
Diop
told
GG.
“It’s
the
conflict
between
her
heart
and
her
mind,
because
in
no
way
does
she
see
logically
that
he
makes
sense
for
her,
but
in
every
way
she
feels
that
he
does
and
so
we
get
to
see
her
reject
him
over
and
over
until
it
comes
to
her
that
maybe
he
is
and
has
always
been
who
she
was
meant
to
be
with.”

We’re
so
excited
for
the
world
to
see
this
great
film.

The
Book
Of
Clarence
is
in
theaters
now