UB Spotlights New Film ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ | The Cast Speaks
Academy Award-winning writer/director Barry Jenkins’ first film since the Best Picture Oscar winning Moonlight is If Beale Street Could Talk, his adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel — the first English-language feature film based on the work of the author, to whom the movie is dedicated.
Set in early-1970s Harlem, If Beale Street Could Talk is a timeless and moving love story of both a couple’s unbreakable bond and the African-American family’s empowering embrace, as told through the eyes of 19-year-old Tish Rivers (screen newcomer KiKi Layne). A daughter and wife-to-be, Tish vividly recalls the passion, respect and trust that have connected she and her artist fiancé Alonzo Hunt, who goes by the nickname Fonny (Stephan James). Friends since childhood, the devoted couple dream of a future together but their plans are derailed when Fonny is arrested for a crime he did not commit.
Tish knows that Fonny is innocent, and is mindful that his good friend Daniel Carty (Tony and Emmy Award nominee Brian Tyree Henry) has only recently been freed after an unjust incarceration. While Fonny’s mother (Aunjanue Ellis) clings to piety and his father (Michael Beach) grapples with feelings of powerlessness, Tish’s earthy father Joseph (Colman Domingo) and fierce older sister Ernestine (Teyonah Parris) are unwavering in their support. Even more anxious to clear Fonny’s name is Tish’s deeply compassionate mother Sharon (Emmy Award winner Regina King), readying to put herself on the line for her daughter and future son-in-law’s
happiness…
…and for the couple’s unborn child, whose arrival will herald new joys and challenges. Facing the unexpected prospect of parenthood and holding down a job without her partner at her side, Tish must adjust her perspective on the realities of her existence. She visits Fonny regularly, trying to shore up his spirit even as prison takes its toll. As the weeks turn to months, Tish reaffirms their hopes and resilience, relying on familial and inner strength.
Through the unique intimacy and power of cinema, If Beale Street Could Talk honors the author’s prescient words and imagery, charting the emotional currents navigated in an unforgiving and racially biased world as the filmmaker poetically crosses time frames to show how love and humanity endure.
Ms. Layne recently completed work on Native Son, starring opposite Ashton Sanders, Margaret Qualley, and Nick Robinson; the movie, directed by Rashid Johnson and adapted by Suzan-Lori Parks from Richard Wright’s classic novel, is slated for release in early 2019. Also next year, she and Mr. Sanders star in Captive State, directed by Rupert Wyatt.
The Chicago Tribune featured Ms. Layne as one of its “2016 Hot New Faces of Chicago Theater.” Her stage credits include starring in the U.S. premiere of Octagon at the Jackalope Theatre and garnering a Black Theater Alliance Award (BTAA) nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play; Genesis, at the Definition Theatre; Good People, at the Redtwist Theatre; Griffin Theatre’s touring production of Letters Home; and Definition Theatre and The New Colony’s co-production of Byhalia, Mississippi, earning her BTAA nominations for Best Featured Actress in a Play and Most Promising Actress. She graduated with a BFA in acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University.
Cast: KiKi Layne, Stephan James, Regina King, Colman Domingo, Teyonah Parris, Brian Tyree Henry, Michael Beach, Ed Skrein, Diego Luna, Dave Franco, Pedro Pascal.
“Beale Street is a street in New Orleans, where my father, where Louis Armstrong and the jazz were born. Every black person born in America was born on Beale Street, born in the black neighborhood of some American city, whether in Jackson, Mississippi, or in Harlem, New York. Beale Street is our legacy. This novel deals with the impossibility and the possibility, the absolute necessity, to give expression to this legacy. Beale Street is a loud street. It is left to the reader to discern a meaning in the beating of the drums.” – James Baldwin
Watch UB Clips of the director and cast discussing the film.
“If Beale Street Could Talk” is in theaters December 14th!
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