Michael B. Jordan and director Ryan Coogler have collaborated on multiple blockbusters and critically-acclaimed films for over a decade. But for their latest project, supernatural thriller “Sinners,” the actor takes on a challenge he has never encountered before in their history of working together: playing twins.
In Coogler’s horror epic, which is set in 1930s Mississippi, Jordan leads an impressive cast, including stars like Wunmi Mosaku and Hailee Steinfeld, as he portrays twins Smoke and Stack. “Sinners” shows Jordan’s twins make a mysterious and unexpected return to their roots after spending time in Chicago among local gangsters. The powerful brothers have a reputation that precedes them, invoking feelings of fear, admiration and love in each character they encounter.
While Smoke, who mostly wears shades of blue in the flick, has a cutthroat attitude and a hardness to him, Stack, donning suits with red accessories and gold in his teeth, is slightly more playful and trusting.
Michael B. Jordan plays charismatic brothers Stack and Smoke in “Sinners.”Warner Bros. Pictures
To make each twin come alive on screen, the actor had to film scenes multiple times as he transformed into each brother between takes. Jordan tells TODAY.com what he did to prepare for the double role and how he was able to develop each character, which had subtle but impactful differences.
“Ryan had these two brothers, the twins Noah and Logan Miller, and they were like twin consultants,” he shares. “So I got an opportunity to talk with them about their experiences growing up as twins and the psychology behind it.”
He said the Millers helped him get into the mindset he needed to convincingly play twins with an unbreakable bond.
“They walked me through, like, a twin meditation, that got into just the psyche of them and that bond and that connection,” Jordan continues.
With the Millers’ insight, the actor then worked to form Smoke and Stack’s separate identities. For both brothers, the 38-year-old star used a southern twang. Jordan explains to TODAY.com how he was able to refine the accent.
The “Creed” star said he worked with a “dialect coach, who helped break down the more physical element of them all, of how they walked, and talked, and their mannerisms and all sorts of things that you guys get a chance to see on the screen.”
Jordan also credits Coogler’s script — which includes moments where Smoke and Stack reveal hints about their dark past — for assisting him in perfecting the characters. Additionally, there are scenes with Steinfeld’s character Mary and Mosaku’s character Annie that inform the audience how Smoke and Stack have changed since they were last in town.
Mary has a complicated history with Stack and in the multiple scenes viewers can almost feel the palpable tension and resentment that lingers between them. Meanwhile, Smoke and Annie’s relationship reveals their tragic backstory and the pain he hides.
Steinfeld and Mosaku opened up to TODAY.com about filming scenes with each twin. They reveal that the type of music playing on set changed depending on if Jordan was portraying Stack or Smoke in a scene.
(L to R) Michael B. Jordan as Smoke, Wunmi Mosaku as Annie, Hailee Steinfeld as Mary, Michael B Jordan as Stack, Miles Caton as Sammie and Omar Benson Miller as Cornbread in “Sinners.”Warner Bros. Pictures
“There was definitely a song that we played, Michael and I, around some of our scenes,” Mosaku says. “We played Sade’s ‘By Your Side.’ That’s a song that we used to get into a moment together.”
Steinfeld, meanwhile, reveals that the song played during some of their scenes had a much different vibe.
“There was one particular song that I had on repeat…There were a couple scenes in particular with Stack (where) ‘Ex-factor’ (by) Lauryn Hill (was playing).”
“Sometimes I would just read the lyrics, and it felt like if Mary were to write a song to Stack,” she adds.
“Sinners,” also starring Delroy Lindo, Jack O’Connell, Jayme Lawson, Omar Benson Miller, Li Jun Li and newcomer Miles Caton, is now playing in theaters nationwide.
