‘Nickel Boys’ stars Ethan Herisse and Brandon Wilson on 1st-person POV acting technique: ‘Our bodies would become one’
“Nickel Boys” stars Ethan Herisse and Brandon Wilson took different approaches to tackling their roles in director RaMell Ross‘ adaptation of Colson Whitehead‘s 2019 novel. Prior to filming, Herisse dove into the Pulitzer Prize-winning book to prepare for his role of Elwood.
“I wasn’t familiar with the novel, nor was I familiar with the Dozier School for Boys,” he tells Gold Derby. “All of those things were presented to me in the email that had the self-tape request. I read the script, I did the tape, I sent it off into the void and then I picked up the book purely off of interest and knowing more about the story. I was familiar with ‘The Underground Railroad,’ I had read that, so I was familiar with Colson’s work. It wasn’t too big of a leap to go ahead and read this book.”
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Wilson, who plays Turner in the movie, admits, “I still haven’t read the book. After I read the scripts…I was kind of ready to just dive in. I was already full. I didn’t want to add more thoughts into this silly brain, so I was ready to go play.”
“Nickel Boys” chronicles the powerful friendship between two young African American men navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.
Herisse explains, “I was able to see a younger version of myself in [Elwood], in terms of his view on the world and his na?veté. Those were things I was able to relate to when I was around that age. I started to explore his relationship with his grandmother and all of the love that was present in his life. I’m privileged to say that I’ve got a family that I love very much and I was raised with a lot of love. Those were the two main things that were the entry point in relating to him. Then it was just about exploring all the other characteristics that I admired about him — his wisdom, his intense passion for the world he was living in, his political awareness, his bravery. All of those things were things that I admired and tried to emulate.”
Wilson says Turner had a “comfortability that is seeded in this world.” He expands, “Obviously, he doesn’t run the show because he’s confined like everyone else, but he has this presence and this intelligence about him. He feels like he’s made it his own and he’s kind of manipulating it in his own way. There’s a confidence he tries to show Elwood, like, ‘Let me tell you how the world works.’ A street smarts/book smarts vibe.”
For “Nickel Boys,” Ross decided to film the story in first-person point-of-view, which is an artistic choice most actors haven’t worked in before. “It wasn’t something that was heavily thought about,” Herisse says while recalling his initial script reads. Wilson adds, “Yeah, it wasn’t really a thought until we started filming and then looked down a lens. Then it was like, ‘Oh yeah, we know what POV meant.’ Then it takes some getting used to. RaMell would tell us sometimes, ‘I felt you looking at a camera in that moment.’ So that took a little getting used to and getting into a certain rhythm.”
Although the actors look down a lens while they’re performing onscreen, the two were still playing opposite each other. As one was on camera, the other would be huddled up next to cinematographer Jomo Fray or whichever camera operator was filming. Wilson explains, “We would put our arm under Jomo or whoever was camera operating. We put our arm under their armpit, so you become their arm to keep that proportion. Our bodies would become one.”
Herisse says with a laugh, “In the very early stages I was like, ‘Well, we’re getting close.’ We’re going to physically be in each others’ spaces and be accepting of that.” Wilson then jokes, “Learn each others’ smells.”
Amazon MGM Studios will release “Nickel Boys” on December 13, 2024 in New York City and a week later in Los Angeles.
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