Young. Wild. Free.
Already an Emmy nominee forHulu’sOnly Murders in the Building , Thembi Banks has made a splash at this yr ’s Sundance with her feature picture debut , Young . Wild . Free . Sundance antecedently introduced the world to her short filmBaldwin Beautyin 2020 , and now she ’s leaven her chops with a much long runtime . A attractively told and grievous tale of a beleaguered youth yearning for freedom , Young . Wild . Free.makes use of everything from costume and cinematography to music and ball of fire performance from its fresh - faced casting to paint a vivid portrait of its characters .
Young . Wild . Free.follows troubled stripling Brandon ( bring byEuphoria ’s Algee Smith ) , whose threatening responsibilities within his kinsfolk weigh him down on a daily groundwork . contend financially and academically , his less - than - idyllic life of give care for his siblings and his not altogether present mother ( Sanaa Lathan ) is upend when he means a frenzied pixy dream girl by the name of Cassidy ( On My Block ’s Sierra Capri ) . Her carefree mentality and dangerous love of adrenaline goad him into living life as he had never before conceive of , even if the result is Bonnie and Clyde spirit level of catastrophic .
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Screen Rantspoke to Bankswhile at the Sundance Film Festival , where the manager charted her nonlinear journey from episodic television to a feature cinema unveiling and shared how she knew Smith and Capri were the veracious stars to leadYoung . Wild . Free .
Thembi Banks Talks Young. Wild. Free.
Screen claptrap : You ’ve done shorts and television system episodes , butYoung . Wild . Free.was your feature movie debut . What was that transition like ?
Thembi savings bank : It was not straight . I started the procedure of trying to prep my feature and get things in order , and I make my first episode of Insecure decent at the beginning [ of that ] . I got the first producers to sign on and an instalment of Insecure at the same fourth dimension . Then we had to stop shooting the film because of COVID , and then in between the wait time , I got a couple more episodes of TV . All throughout , I was OK - tuning my acquisition and sharpening my toolset .
It was interesting that it all happened that way , but I am really grateful for the journeying . I learned to not have any expectations , because it ’s not straight ; it ’s wriggle and mess and going backward and forward .
I really love the color pallet of the film , especially when it comes to Sierra ’s character , Cass . Can you talk about the intentionality behind that and how you fetch it together ?
Thembi bank : Yeah , it was really a collaborative effort . I have intercourse the great unwashed always say this , but it was genuinely me with my costume designer , the amazing Neishea Lemle , and my product designer , Tom Castronovo . We had meeting and session where we all had to make certain that we were in lockstep . Especially around Sierra ’s lineament , we had to check that that our ideas immix well and that it was organic once our front come onscreen , because thing changed there . That was very designed . I had ideas , but they made it better .
Algee already made a big impression withJudas and the Black MessiahandEuphoria , but how did you know he was right for Brandon ? It ’s a complicated theatrical role , and he ’s conduct so much on his shoulders .
Thembi Banks : Yeah , it was a complicated character . But I would say he was passably easygoing to spue once we saw him , because he just embody everything that we needed Brandon to be . We needed him to be vulnerable , and we take him to be a little fragile , but we also needed people to root for him . He needed to have wit and tidings ; goal and dreams and a subdued but very present inner strength .
Algee did that all so beautifully which , like I said , was hard . We would see auditions from the great unwashed , and they ’d have one but they would n’t have the other , or they ’d have a little bit of something but still not be just veracious . But Algee was just so complete .
Without baffle the ending , how did you function towards rationalise it , but also not telegraphing it ?
Thembi camber : You start from the ending , and you go back right through your script . You just check that that you are being very detail - oriented and specific , and that you ’re doing the work . Then you also ook at your script and make certain that each moment is garner ; that nothing is cliche or feels overwrought or developing . You just really abide in melodic line with the characters and the intention , and you just go over and over and over it with a all right tooth cockscomb .
As anOn My Blockenthusiast , I wish to know if you were one also . How did Sierra come into the picture ?
Thembi cant : No , but I kind of became one because once Sierra came into my world , so did On My Block . When I assure you that girl can not go outdoors without people run up to her , going crazy , asking for pictures and autographs and hugs . She has such a huge , firm rooter stem from that show , and I love that .
I opine , in a path , Cassidy was an even more complicated character than Brandon , because there was so much to layer in . Her audition was also really great , her alchemy with Algee was really great , and what really come to me is her edginess . She had this callousness about her , but there was also a layer that made you require to lean in and say , " What ’s going on with that girl ? " I opine that it was a vast challenge for her because this was like embark a new phase . On My Block was a very different character , but she was very much willing to squeeze the newness and the challenges of reintroduce herself to the domain .
The claim feels almost ironic , in that you may see Brandon trying to endure up to the mantra of being young , uncivilised , and free , but his circumstances keep pulling him back . How do you balance those two extreme point in the write up ?
Thembi Banks : The best way to trace it is one of the manner that the original author of the handwriting talks about the claim and where it came from . It ’s even present in that way , with period , on design . I really do think about it as chapters in a book ; chapters in his living that are piece and pieces of the journey . He is very much trying to tap into all those elements , like you said , but his role in his family does n’t let him to .
I think you have to empathize the importance of all three of those in every man ’s life . I do n’t care how former or how vernal you are , but enjoy your youth and have a chance to be wild and free is so authoritative for your psyche .
perfectly . With this having been your first feature of speech film , what were the biggest challenge you had to overcome or the most surprising element of production ?
Thembi Banks : Definitely COVID keep out us down . The most surprising part and the biggest challenge , to be honest , was having patience and knowing that we would get back on racetrack when it ’s correct . We had to trust that the cosmos would coordinate things and people and situations , because so much exchange . Casting changed , manufacturer changed — my compass point of view changed . We went back in and OK - tune up things in the handwriting and the story , which was a beautiful process but also a awful one .
Finally , I ’m very excited to see your future projection . What can you tell me about1266with Gabourey Sidibe ? How far along you are in that ?
Thembi cant : Yes , we ’re in the showtime phases of prepping to shoot the pilot , which is very exciting . I ’m so excited to work with Gabourey ; she is so dynamic and so smart , and she has such wisdom and mantrap about her that I just ca n’t wait to show the world . I ’m so grateful that she is trusting me with this , because this is her own personal life story . She was a speech sound sexual activity operator .
It is going to be so fun , but also layer with so much to say about sexuality , dish standard , and gender dynamic . We ’re gon na have a good clock time .
About Young. Wild. Free.
Being a teen is approximative , and Brandon ( Algee Smith , 2017 African - American Film Critics Association Best Ensemble Cast winner for Kathryn Bigelow ’s Detroit ) is no unlike . Between skin in school , care for his two younger sibling , and having just been let go from his job , Brandon often uses his art as an escape from the confines of his subdued daylight - to - day life . Enter Cassidy ( Sierra Capri , On My Block ) , a daze bad girlfriend dripping in self-confidence , freedom , and danger . tempt in by her whimsy , Brandon teams up with Cassidy , seamlessly slip into the role of Clyde to her Bonnie as they make their means down an more and more perilous track .
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Young . Wild . Free.premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival , and it will have another screening on January 27 .
