WATCH: Colman Domingo & Clarence Maclin On The Power Of Reliving The Past In ‘Sing Sing’
The actors open up on recreating the beauty of a dark period one of them actually lived through in this uplifting prison drama.
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00:00Well, every day was fun and lighthearted because I had my comrades with me, I had my bros with
00:06me.
00:07We done been through the fire together, we done been to college together, and now we're
00:10making a movie together.
00:12So every day was like a reunion, it was great.
00:14And then I had my brother Coleman who I just connected with.
00:18We met via Zoom and all that for the first time we got it together.
00:22But once we got into the space, I mean, once we got on the Zoom, like two minutes into
00:27the conversation, it was just like this.
00:30That's just how it went.
00:31You know, the connection was immediate.
00:35But once we got into the space and we was there for days at a time, you know, it just
00:39made the bond stronger, solidified the bond.
00:42It's a lot of scenes that didn't get to the movie that you might want to see, you know?
00:47It's a lot of things that didn't make it into the movie that, I mean, I think they should
00:52make a cut of that.
00:54It's inspiring.
00:59To die.
01:01To sleep.
01:03To dream.
01:07This is a clemency hearing for your conviction 25 to life.
01:12Since you've been in custody, you've been involved in the theater program.
01:17All right, gentlemen, let's go.
01:20It's been a program that was established to help people get more in touch with their feelings
01:25and to get some rehabilitation.
01:27I am gladiator Goliath.
01:29I am Star Trekker.
01:31I'm Prince Hamlet of Denmark.
01:35And it's turned into something, I don't know, wonderful.
01:41What part do you play?
01:42From time to time I do act, like we all do.
01:46So are you acting at all during this interview?
01:52To kick things off, Colvin, I'll start with you.
01:54This movie deals a lot with a lot of misconceptions people have about people who have been through
02:00incarceration and have, you know, become victims of the system.
02:06I want to know, when you first read the script and when you researched the story, what was
02:10it about Divine D's soul and his personality that drew you in and made you want to play this role?
02:17You know, the thing is, I didn't have a script to read at first.
02:21There was just an article from Esquire magazine that told me about the program itself.
02:26And then meeting with Greg and Clint, my director and co-writer, they had an idea that they
02:33haven't been able to really hit.
02:35They've had this idea and they were like, we needed to involve you and involve my brother
02:40Clarence here and see how we can create this story based on some people who've had this
02:46lived experience.
02:47So meeting my brother John, who I play a version of in many ways, I thought I wanted to download
02:54and take in his heart, his humanity, these key things that I start to understand about
03:00him, about always being in the law library and always advocating for others and really
03:05being a person who is doing his own work of healing and rehabilitation and working with
03:13other brothers with this program, RTA.
03:15I thought all of that was fascinating and I wanted to be a part of that and I wanted
03:19to help build that.
03:20And so did my brother here.
03:22We wrestled with text.
03:24We wrestled with how to do it, what stories were important to us.
03:27The themes that are the underlying themes of the film and the arcs of it.
03:32Every single part of that we've been a part of and creating.
03:36So it wasn't like something was there.
03:38We actually have our fingerprints on it to make it.
03:41And I think that's why we feel ownership of it.
03:43And because there are things that are important personally to me that I knew that I wanted.
03:48I wanted to show tenderness between black and brown men.
03:51I wanted to show, to deconstruct what people think about us.
03:55And the things that I started to understand about this brother's heart and how he cares
03:59for other people, making sure that they show up, the work that he's doing.
04:03I got to know who this brother is now and what he does with youth and how he inspires
04:08people and he's really a community builder in many ways.
04:11I had all this information to pull from and say, oh, these are the men and their stories
04:17that I want to tell and how this program works to rebuild the minds and hearts and
04:24souls of these men to bring them out into society and make them really productive members
04:29of the society and make this world a better place.
04:31Now I know you're in a unique position here.
04:33We've seen you play historical figures.
04:35Often now we've seen you play fictional characters, but you're playing a person that
04:39is not only a real person, but is still living and can react to your performance.
04:45What has his reaction been and what was that experience like for you playing someone that
04:49can actually give you feedback on, you're doing me wrong here, you're doing me right there?
04:54Well, you know, I think we both had to understand that we're creating a work based on a true
05:00story, that it is something that I need to take and liberate myself from the real person.
05:05I can take aspects of that person, but I have to build it into a character that exists in
05:09100 minutes.
05:10You know, everything won't be exactly the way you did it, the way you move, the way
05:14you cut your hair, the way you, you know, whatever.
05:16But I have enough compassion and curiosity to try to get the essence of a person and
05:23put them into the spaces where I feel like I would have my brother say, oh, my God, you
05:28remind me just like he was like that.
05:30You would say, please, I'm going to look like him sometimes.
05:33You know, that was the greatest compliment.
05:35And so he wouldn't critique me in a way, because also the beautiful thing is John is
05:39an artist.
05:40He's a playwright in his own right.
05:42And he's an actor and a director.
05:43And so he knew that I would take, you know, dramatic license and theatrical license with
05:49his portrayal.
05:50You know, there was maybe one time I was a one or two times he would come say, well,
05:53I would have done.
05:54I would have did this, whatever.
05:55I might remember the same.
05:57But but also that's human.
05:59And also, but I think he's very proud of what I I think he wanted to make.
06:03I think all anybody ever wants is for you to take care of their soul.
06:06And you're going to make sure that you give the complexity of who they are.
06:09You know, I didn't want to make him too heroic and I didn't want to make him to villainize
06:13him in any way.
06:14I want to make him human.
06:15And that was my goal and intention.
06:17And I think he trusted that.
06:19And yeah, great job.
06:21Thanks, man.
06:22And Clarence, you and also unique positions like playing yourself, but you're playing
06:27yourself at a different time frame in your life.
06:29So it's almost as if you're playing a different person, but you aren't.
06:33What was that experience like to have to go back to a place that you've evolved past
06:38and portray that for the screen?
06:40That's a great question.
06:41I like the way you put it.
06:43To go back into that same mind state and put on the greens to walk voluntarily, go back
06:50inside a prison.
06:51You know, all those things create a lot of apprehension for me and a little anxiety as
06:56well.
06:57But the purpose of doing it is a lot bigger than apprehension and anxiety.
07:02The reason why I was doing it made more sense to me, made me play past all that apprehension
07:08and show up and give the best performance I could get.
07:11Because the obligation I have to the story and to the community that brothers like me
07:19return to after, you know, damaging the community to come back with the mindset to repair the
07:26community and help others and be a contributor and be responsible for this now.
07:32You know, that was the purpose of doing all that.
07:35So it was a great experience to do.
07:39And I know I'm sure it was a difficult experience to have to, you know, go back, like you said,
07:44limitedly into a prison on your own volition.
07:46But what was a maybe a particularly fun or lighthearted day set for you, despite the
07:52fact that you were in that environment?
07:54Well, every day was fun and lighthearted because I have my comrades with me.
07:59I have my bros with me.
08:00We don't, we don't been through the fire together.
08:02We don't been to college together.
08:04And now we're making a movie together.
08:06So every day was like a reunion.
08:08It was great.
08:09And then I have my brother Coleman, who I just connected with.
08:12We met via Zoom and all that for the first time we got it together.
08:16But once we got into the space, I mean, once we got on a Zoom, like two minutes into the
08:22conversation, it was just like this.
08:24That's just how it went.
08:26You know, the connection was immediate.
08:28And but once we got into the space and we was there for days at a time, you know, it
08:33just made the bond stronger, solidified the bond.
08:36It's a lot of scenes that didn't get to the movie that you might want to see.
08:40You know, there's a lot of things that didn't make it into the movie that I mean, I think
08:46they should make a cut of that.
08:48It's inspiring.
08:51I think the thing is, as well, to do a film like this, we're asking people to bring up
08:58parts of themselves and experiences.
09:00You're asking people to, hey, come back into this space.
09:04Yeah.
09:05And they look at it as a privilege.
09:06They're not even apprehensive.
09:07They're just like, you know, I'm going to do this because it's going to save some other
09:10lives.
09:11Yeah.
09:12It requires a level.
09:13And for me to be the leader of this group is it requires a level of radical joy.
09:18And I think that we made sure that we looked after each other outside, you know, off stage,
09:23off screen and made sure that there was music and there was laughing and dancing so that
09:28everybody felt like there was truly a bond of brotherhood that we can pull from as we
09:32go and do this work and this heavy lifting and being in these spaces of like decommissioned
09:36prisons in upstate New York and all.
09:38But we knew that the task at hand is that this is something that's meaningful and sort
09:44of deconstructs ideas about these men and women, you know, behind bars and showing that
09:50their hopes, dreams and aspirations and their willingness to do the work for true rehabilitation
09:56to be members of society.