U.S. actor Omar Benson Miller who is known for roles in "8 Mile," HBO's Ballers, and Apple's "The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey," stars in Italian immigration-themed drama "Naples to York" by Oscar-winning director Gabriele Salvatores that is having its festival premiere at Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Film Festival.
Interestingly, Federico Fellini co-wrote this tale of two Neapolitan kids who embark on a ship to New York to escape Italy's early postwar poverty with his frequent collaborator Tullio Pinelli, a writer on the Italian maestro's "La Dolce Vita" and "8 1/2," as well as other titles.
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In the film Benson Miller plays the ship's cook who, during their travels, takes the kids under his wing.
He spoke to Variety about being back in Italy more than a decade after working in Tuscany with Spike Lee on "Miracle at St. Anna"; why this movie, conceived by Fellini, is "the antithesis of disposable content," and how exited he is about his next film Ryan Coogler's "Sinners."
What drew you to the role?
My character, George, is a flawed person. He's a drunk, and he does something by accident and then spends the rest of the film trying to atone for that. When you watch the film you have all these nuggets of humanity. And the reason I think it's super relevant, is because of immigration and leaders talking about mass deportations and the shadow of war that the film is based on. The wars that are going on now all over the world. There are a lot of similarities that we haven't outgrown as a species, unfortunately.
How do you feel about acting in a film based on a story written for the screen by Federico Fellini?
How awesome is that? I mean, I'm promoting a film that'll probably end up taking me all around the world, and I used to play baseball. Before I got busted up, I went to school to play baseball. I got into this career because I was chasing a girl into the theatre and I fell in love with the theatre, and it was the first thing that I loved like I loved the game of baseball. After that, I also went to the movie theatre to see every movie I could, when I was in college from '96 to 2001. And of course, I learned about the masters. And to think that this concept is something that comes from an absolute genius, and it's still relevant. To me this is the antithesis of disposable content.
How has it been working with Gabriele Salvatores?
I've had the pleasure of working with several Academy Award winners, and Gabriele is as good as anybody that I've ever worked with. It's funny because he doesn't speak much English and I don't speak Italian. What was wild is that both he and I speak French, so he's directing me in French while he's directing the rest of the film in Italian. The reason that's wild is communication and culture meshing is so much of the theme in this film. And it was happening at work with a guy who also is a master of what he does, who has been accoladed, who is an Academy Award winner. And is also a cool dude.
What can you tell me about your next movie, Ryan Coogler's "Sinners" in which you star with Michael B. Jordan and Hailee Steinfeld?
They bound us to secrecy, but what I will say is that when you see "Sinners," this film is so creative it's going to be hard to put it in one genre. On its nose, it's a horror film. But when you see the film, man, it's a musical, it's a comedy, it's a drama. There's historic components to it. And it is going to either be absolutely brilliant or it's going to be: "Man, what were they going for?" And I'm betting on it to be the former, because that kid and that cast and that group that he's working with, we all got to put something down. It felt special."