The Knockturnal’s OJ Williams sits down with ‘Sorry to Bother You’ stars Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson.
When The Knockturnal caught up with Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson at the premier of their new film Sorry to Bother You, Stanfield and Thompson addressed not only the film but also their relationship as friends and actors.
When asked about what each actor admired most about the other, Stanfield said “Tessa is a vessel of freedom, and I say a vessel because I feel like God is running through her, whatever that is and with very little in the way to stop it and it’s just unfiltered beauty”.
Thompson responded to the question in a similar vein by saying that Stanfield is “free and has a real like childlike spirit and energy”. She went on saying to him, “you’re so playful and silly, and I love in work and also just in life”.
As The Knockturnal’s time with Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson continued, we asked if they had any say in their costuming while on set. The two stars laugh about the choice of wearing ‘Cosby sweaters’ in the film. They go on to give a shout out to costume designer, Deirdra Govan, Stanfield saying, “she really killed it and really did cool costumes”.
Thompson shares the fact that while filming she would take trips to Michaels, saying, “I made some of my costumes too, which was really fun. Like that blue jacket I wear at the end, I made that, it was really fun”.
With Sorry to Bother You being a film that plays with fantastic elements and real elements, The Knockturnal asked the actors how they separated the two worlds.
Stanfield: I didn’t separate them, I just thought like this is a different universe and in this universe, these things happen, and in fact, the universe we live in something stranger than that happened.
When asked about having to mime their lines in the film when they are using their ‘white voices’ both actors agreed that it was a weird experience and something they were not used to. Thompson remarked that it was “weird to have that sort of intensity [when speaking] but not to have any sound”.
The final topic The Knockturnal discusses with Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson is about filming their silent takes in the film. The duo demonstrates what it was like for them in the video above.
To watch the full interview with Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson and the cast of Sorry to Bother You, click the video above.
