When “Creed II” opened in November earning an over $55 million opening and being deemed the highest grossing opening for a live-action film released over a Thanksgiving weekend, the film’s successful was in part due to the directing work of Steven Caple Jr.
Steven stepped in to take over directing duties when Ryan Coogler, who directed the sequel’s predecessor was unavailable. The 30-year-old Cleveland born filmmaker who debuted a feature film at Sundance Film Festival in 2016, and won an HBO short film competition, chatted with The Knockturnal about taking the helm of the latest film in the Creed film franchise.
The Knockturnal: So let me say, congratulations on the film. Congratulations on your success.
Steven Caple Jr.: Thank you, thank you. I appreciate that man.
The Knockturnal: No problem. So first off, did being handpicked by Ryan Coogler to take on this project add more pressure, or give you more confidence?
Steven Caple Jr.: I definitely felt more pressure obviously working with Coogler man, he did a great job with the first one, and he’s coming out with his second Black Panther 2 so it’s like people were expecting me to step into his shoes and wack it out of the park or people were very skeptical like who is this dude – which I don’t blame. People didn’t really know who I was, or they still don’t to this day. But, it was a lot of pressure that came with that. But, Ryan himself, ya know, I know him, so it was good to have these creative conversations. That felt good. It took away any pressure and our styles are somewhat similar but they’re also different too. We have different voices and so, with this project, I felt good. I felt like I was in a comfortable place to do my own which brought on the level of confidence when tackling the project and trying to make it my own, set aside from what Sly has done throughout the years or what Ryan did on the last Creed.
The Knockturnal: Can you speak a little bit more about how did you incorporate your unique vision in the such well-established story of Creed?
Steven Caple Jr.: Yeah, I just found personal avenues man with the relationships, ya know, to take. You know, like everything with the relationship with Bianca and Creed – with how the proposal went down and the baby thing. It’s all stuff that I’m going through in my life. And then just stylistically I played a lot with sound and the fighting I wanted to take to another level. I wanted to add stakes behind the fighting. So those were things that I felt like separated from the other stuff from the franchise. I still had a similar formula format to work with that was done in all the Rocky and Creed movies. You find those pockets where, ya know, you’re able to put your own stamp into it – whether it be visual style or whether just how you follow the story, or enter or exit a scene.
The Knockturnal: What was the most surreal moment on set for you?
Steven Caple Jr.: Whew! I have a lot of those! A lot of those. To name two, there’s one moment which was the very first day. We shot our fight stuff first, our fight material. Sly came out, Mike came out, Tessa came out, and the crowd we shot in a ring with 2000 people and they went ballistic! The extras were cheering and chanting people’s names and I was like man, that’s some pressure man. It got real for me right there at that moment. Because it was just day 1 of a project and again all the expectations of people loving the franchise just came about again. And then I was like alright we gotta go, we gotta knock this out of the park so we can get those cheers after the movie is done as well. Then another one, ironically enough, is when Sly had posted up. Sly said he wasn’t gonna do Rocky anymore. Ya know, he was done with portraying Rocky. That was touching because I remember that day on set. It was the last thing we shot. Just going from the first day where everyone is cheering his name to the last day and him saying he’s not doing it anymore. That had me and Mike and all of us real emotional because we didn’t know that’s where he was going with this. Those were probably the two realest moments I had on set.
The Knockturnal: Is there anything that you, filmed during the movie or wish you could have put in the movie, that you couldn’t get into the movie?
Steven Caple Jr.: There’s a lot! (Laughs) Yeah, a lot more with Bianca. If I could go back, I would try to figure out how to weave in Tessa’s character more. We had a lot more with her, we had like 2 additional scenes with her, it was her talking about her music career and moving out of Philly. She met with A&R from Interscope, I believe it was, so we had someone playing [someone from] Interscope. So it was a lot more about her career and her hearing loss that I really wanted to tap into. But I’m not upset at it because there’s obviously, looks like there’s going to be a Creed 3 and Creed 4 and there’s places to go with it. But there’s still so much history with the Drago’s and since the baby was involved in her life and Rocky was going through his things. There’s a lot of storyline, and obviously Creed and what he’s going through to keep it afloat. But if I could go back, I probably would’ve brought in one of these scenes where Bianca performs on a Jimmy Kimmel set.
The Knockturnal: Nice, sounds interesting. So working with Sylvester Stallone, who has been involved with this series for so long, was your dynamic on set more collaborative?
Steven Caple Jr.: Yeah, I mean, I think it was a big bro, big uncle type of vibe, ya know, I will always call him or hit him up, or meet him in his trailer beforehand to ask him for a little advice if I needed it. He has directed before so he was very much like, let you have your own space and do what it is you have to do. When it comes to Rocky, he knows exactly who Rocky is, but as a filmmaker, I was coming to him for advice, how to be efficient, how to execute a scene, do you remember back in the day when you did this and in ‘83, what did you use. That kind of stuff was very helpful and that was kinda our process everyday – everyday that Sly was on set. Ya know, I was either in his hotel room that weekend before or ya know, in the trailer the day of and ask him for quick advice to move forward on the project. It was cool, I loved it. It was very collaborative and again, easier when someone knows the craft and knows the character in and out, so it made my job easier.
The Knockturnal: What advice would you give to other young directors, like yourself, about navigating a huge project like this?
Steven Caple Jr.: Just, one, listen to your peers man, and those around you. Ya know, don’t be afraid to ask questions. I know a lot of people feel like when they step into a big position, that they don’t want to ask questions. They want to act like they know everything. Nah, do your research, get into it. If there’s something you don’t know, don’t hesitate to ask people who are around you that know this stuff. Ya know, it was my first time working with visual effects. Like I don’t know much, so hire a visual effects supervisor that’s gonna help guide you through that and be on the same page as you visually but yet, at the same time, teach you stuff. That’s how it works. You know what I mean? Like don’t go super hard at it, because if you mess up or fail, or just being stubborn, that shows what kind of leader you are. Ya know what I mean? And you want to make sure that you lead in the right way, and make sure that everyone feels like they’re part of this one vision. And don’t single them out. So yeah, it’s a team thing man, and if you can approach it that way, think you’d be in good hands. To get to a project like this, I can’t answer. It just kinda comes. Definitely keep making films, keep creating, put your work out there, fail a lot. I always say that. Ya know, fail big. Ya know, the reward is bigger on the other side.
The Knockturnal: Are you looking to direct more action, drama based stories or would you be open to exploring other genres?
Steven Caple Jr.: Open to exploring other genres. But drama is my thing, man. I love drama. It allows me to connect with the characters more and to make people feel something emotionally, and make it more relatable. But you can take drama in anything. There’s sports drama, there’s thriller drama, ya know, so it’s a cool genre to be a part of. But, I would love to step into mystery. I would love to step into sci-fi. Those are areas that I’m exploring and looking at, and ya know moving forward and developing projects.
The Knockturnal: My last question to you is, so what has been your experience so far writing the Emmett Till project?
Steven Caple Jr.: It was great, I mean we no longer have it set up at HBO, it’s on the legs. It was tough because the project at a certain point got real personal with me, ya know, I’m from Cleveland and have friends and relatives who are really close to the Tamir Rice situation. It, I think, happened literally a couple blocks away from my house, and so when writing this story, I was pulling from that man and just being so honest, a person of color, being black, and having my thoughts about the system. I was really incorporating all that within this writing piece, but it was probably the best thing I’ve ever written and I really hope it gets made. Right now I think we’re at a time where there’s a lot of people and maybe the studio system or whatever is scared to make it. But, there’s a reason why it hasn’t been told. Whether it be John Singleton making the feature with Taraji P [Henson] or myself doing a mini-series – I hope it gets out there. But the experience has been amazing. It really gives me purpose, ya know what I mean?
The Knockturnal: We are definitely looking forward to it, and thanks for speaking with us man. Best of luck with everything in the future and we are really looking forward to your future projects.
Steven Caple Jr.: Thank you so much man, I appreciate it. Great questions man. Thank you.
