From the beginning, Opus writer and director Mark Anthony Green knew he wanted the film’s main character to be a Black woman. He found her in Ayo Edebiri.
The new A24 thriller stars Edebiri alongside John Malkovich, Juliette Lewis, Murray Bartlett, Amber Midthunder, Young Mazino, Stephanie Suganami and Tatanka Means. At the center of Opus is the tell-tale story of what happens when a celebrity abuses their influence and power over others.
Green, a journalist-turned-filmmaker who spent 13 years working at GQ, describes the film as evocative and fun, balancing heavy themes with entertainment. He expressed that he wanted to make a film that forces people to ask the right questions, and he said his approach to his first feature film was slightly different because it hit a little closer to home than ever.
“It should be heavy on the honey, and the medicine. … It’s funny because I thought I knew what all the pieces of the medicine were in the film, and then I made it so true to myself, true to how I see the world, and it’s so deeply personal, despite the fact that, you know, this has never happened to me,” he told Blavity’s Shadow and Act. “No one’s ever tried to kill me, believe it or not, and there are other pieces of medicine in it that have been really interesting in conversations with people. I think I thought I knew exactly the approach, but I think I’m kind of still learning. Now that the world is seeing the film, I’m learning new things about the movie myself, which has been trippy and really fun.”
What is ‘Opus’ about?
According to an official film synopsis, “A young writer (Ayo Edebiri) is invited to the remote compound of a legendary pop star (John Malkovich) who mysteriously disappeared thirty years ago. Surrounded by the star’s cult of sycophants and intoxicated journalists, she finds herself in the middle of his twisted plan.”
Edebiri said she tried to get inside the director’s brain to figure out what parts of him led to making the story.
“When I was with him and we were sort of just talking about the film, I wanted to know, like, where he was coming from, like his experiences, both as a former journalist, but also as a person and filmmaker. What are the things that he wanted to see?” The Bear actor said. “And I think there were questions that he was asking about how we consume things, and what we care about, and also, I don’t know, can we also have a good, fun time? I think these are some of the cues.”
Green’s vision for Ariel
Much like in the real world, there is a certain stereotype often placed on Black women in horror films, and avoiding this trope was a major consideration as Green shaped his main character.
“It was so important to me that Ariel be a Black woman that wasn’t perfect, but never was dumb,” he said. “There’s no point in this film where she does any of the horror tropes, she trips when the boogeyman is chasing her — or, you know, I had this thing I would say, it’s like, ‘Would it pass the Magic test?’ I’ve only seen one movie in the Magic Johnson theater, but it was the most interactive movie experience I’ve ever had before in my entire life. And so my goal was, I don’t want people to be yelling at her because she’s done something stupid.”
“Ayo is everything that I want out of a movie star,” Green continued. “She is beautiful, incredibly talented, constantly interesting on and off the field. She understands humor on like a molecular level. … If you cut Ayo open, you know how like you cut something open, it’s like is this cake or not? If you cut Ayo open, there’s humor there. She’s just that deeply funny and really sharp. I don’t know, people have asked that question, ‘Why Ayo?’ And I can’t, for the life of me, think of a reason why anyone wouldn’t cast Ayo for anything. I think she’s that good. You know Ayo should be like Superman. We should do a Superman with Ayo, $250 million budget, put her in a cape. She should be everything. Ayo as Garfield. I would watch that.”
Opus is in theaters now. Watch the interview below:
