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Movies & TV

11th Mar 2021

INTERVIEW: Daniel Kaluuya and LaKeith Stanfield on the power behind their new movie Judas and the Black Messiah

Rory Cashin

You can watch their new movie at home right now.

While a lot of the blockbusters of 2020 had to be pushed back quite significantly, it did give more room for the smaller, perhaps more important releases to get more space, be given more of the attention that they deserve, something they might have missed out on under the shadow of big budget behemoths.

Such is the case with Judas and the Black Messiah, which has been garnering some heavy Oscar talk in the run-up to the big ceremony itself.

In case you didn’t already know, the movie tells the true-life story of FBI informant William O’Neal (LaKeith Stanfield), who infiltrated the Illinois Black Panther Party, when he was tasked with keeping tabs on their charismatic leader, Chairman Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya).

The movie also stars Jesse Plemons and Martin Sheen, and is executive produced by Ryan Coogler, the guy behind Creed and Black Panther.

Due to COVID, the movie won’t be premiering in Irish cinemas, but it will be available to watch on PVOD platforms such as Rakuten TV, Google Store, Apple TV, Sky Store, etc., from Thursday 11 March.

Check out the brilliant trailer for the movie right here:

Clip via WB UK & Ireland

Prior to the movie’s release (and ahead of his win for Best Supporting Actor at the Golden Globes!), we chatted to Daniel Kaluuya about his role as Fred Hampton.

Kaluuya has successfully, continuously impressed viewers with his turns in movies such as Get Out, Black Panther, Widows, Queen & Slim, and Sicario, but his turn as Hampton in this movie is sure to be THE calling card of his career, the movie that officially gets all of Hollywood’s attention.

You can watch Daniel’s interview in full here:

We were also lucky enough to chat to LaKeith Stanfield, as we point out that Judas and the Black Messiah is the second time the Kaluuya and Stanfield have shared the screen after Get Out, so we were curious if they’d any plans on making it three for three?

Stanfield’s career to date has also resulted in a very impressive CV: Short Term 12, Selma, Straight Outta Compton, Sorry To Bother You, Knives Out, and Uncut Gems, to name but a few.

You can watch LaKeith’s interview in full here:

Or you can listen to them both in full right here:

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