NEW YORK (AP) ā Before Aaron Pierre wanted to act, he wanted to be the fastest man in the world.
Growing up in West Croydon in London, Pierre was drawn to track and field. He thought gold medalist sprinter Maurice Greene was the coolest man on Earth. Pierre ran the 60-meter, the 100-meter and second leg of the 4x100 meter relay.
āSomething thatās been instilled in me is to be calm in high-pressure situations ā dude, one of which is the relay second leg,ā Pierre says, speaking by Zoom from his apartment in Los Angeles. āWhen the whole school is out and you get that baton, youāve got to just focus on one foot in front of the other.ā
How fast Pierre can put one foot in front of the other is a point of interest not just because of the quickening pace of his career. (This December, heāll be the voice of Mufasa in ) Itās also because for a guy who can be really fast, the 30-year-old Pierre, as an actor, has startling power in stillness.
In Jeremy Saulnierās a taut, suspenseful thriller that debuted Friday on Netflix, Pierre plays Terry Richmond, a former Marine who, while biking, is stopped by police and has a bag of money ā bail money for his cousin ā confiscated. What follows is a tense and evolving standoff with the rural townās corrupt police department and its chief (a terrific Don Johnson). And until he isnāt, Pierreās Richmond is unyieldingly patient and unthreatened. Heās a preternaturally calm martial arts expert. A demure Rambo.
āI had to employ a level of trickery on my brain,ā Pierre says. āThis character that Jerry Saulnier has written and created, is so badass. Itās understandably, deeply tempting to do too much. I said to Jeremy I had to do my best to normalize how cool Terry Richmond was.ā
āRebel Ridgeā is one of those overwhelmingly clear moviegoing experiences: Pierre is so obviously a star in the making. From the moment he rides into town on a bike ("a modern-day horse," says Saulnier), he commands the screen with a singular potency. He has the body of a chiseled athlete but the heavy, melancholy eyes and resonant baritone (this is a man who's inheriting a role voiced by James Earl Jones, after all) of a Shakespeare-trained thespian.
Though Pierre has been seen in a number of earlier films and series (Jenkinsā āThe Underground Railroad,ā ), āRebel Ridgeā is his first lead role.
āOnce I got on a Zoom with Aaron, I had only seen a clip of and that was enough to sell me,ā says Saulnier. āI saw the chops. I saw his presence. I said, āThatās it. Thatās my guy.āā
Saulnier, the writer-director of āGreen Roomā and āBlue Ruin,ā is one of the most gifted genre craftsmen in Hollywood. āRebel Ridgeā is his first film in seven years, but itās a reminder of his prowess in lending thrillers earthy authenticity and rich atmosphere.
āI miss texture,ā says Saulnier. āLike seeing shocks on cars and knowing youāre in a real vehicle, even when youāre doing a dialogue scene. That level of veracity, I think, is being removed from moviemaking. If the top tier filmmakers with $100 million-plus budgets canāt sell an interior car dialogue sequence, letās just go back to basics.ā
Saulnier first cast John Boyega in āRebel Ridge,ā but Boyega departed the film just as it was starting production. Saulnier calls that rupture āwater under the bridge.ā
āJohn and I would both agree that it was the best path for both of us. Thereās no ill-will at all,ā says Saulnier. āWhatever pressure system that got created when we were looking to cast that role ended up this very unique experience. When I see the film and how people are reacting to it now, itās just undeniable how amazing an actor Aaron Pierre is.ā
Pierre grew up in a counsel estate (government housing) in West Croydon. His father, he says, is an actor, teacher and life coach; his mother has been, among other things, a project manager. He speaks glowingly about them and of his London youth.
āWest Croydon is my favorite place in the world. It truly enormously contributed to the man I am today,ā Pierre says. āIt really instilled the importance of intentionality in me. It also contributed massively to how I view my journey, my careerās journey. For me, as much as I am deeply passionate about what I do and wouldnāt want to do anything else, before that I am a son, Iām a brother, Iām a friend. Iām many things before Iām an actor.ā
Pierre began acting as a teenager and ultimately graduated London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. In summer of 2018, he landed the role of Cassio in a production of āOthelloā at the Globe Theatre that starred Andre Holland and Mark Rylance. Barry Jenkins happened to catch it and that night messaged Pierre through Twitter. āI was convinced that someone was having a laugh at my expense,ā laughs Pierre. That led to āThe Underground Railroad.ā
Working with Jenkins, Pierre began finding himself as a screen actor. Jenkins, he says, taught him to put truth and honesty above all else in performance. On his first day on set, Jenkins approached him about an important scene that wasnāt landing.
āBarry came up to me and was like, āAaron, I love what youāve done on these first few takes, but weāre not landing on the truth right now. I need you to find the truth, and I need you to find it now because the sun is going down,āā Pierre recalls, chuckling.
āRebel Ridgeā brought many new demands, though, including being first on the call sheet. The film had had a tortured path to production, through the pandemic and Boyega's unexpected exit. But Saulnier remained committed to making it how he envisioned.
āThere were certainly forks in the road where I could have tapped out, and been fine,ā Saulnier says. āI dug in and made sure whatever version we ended up with, if it wasnāt the best version possible, it would have been better on a shelf. The fight was to hold the line at quality.ā
Saulnier was inspired by real-life instances of , which is when police can seize money purely on suspicion. There are some echoes of movies like āMississippi Burning,ā Saulnier grants, in how āRebel Ridgeā captures a Black man ensnarled by Southern racism. But Pierre's Richmond is a more modern figure, who encounters a prejudice that has merely gone just below the surface, hiding beneath legal cover.
āOne of the many things that appealed to me about this character was his ability to regulate his emotions even in moments which are undeniably, blatantly unjust and intentionally so,ā says Pierre. āHe does it in a way thatās so not demonstrative and so not braggadocious that even when heās articulating how patient heās being with you, you still might not quite understand. Heās not bringing out his extensive martial arts certificates or resume. Heās just trying to share with you that youāre approaching a line.ā
For Saulnier, āRebel Ridgeā is the first film he's made that, though it is enveloped with a sinister, shadowy darkness, is less reliant on high levels of brutality. Instead, āRebel Ridge" heats up with a slow burn made possible by Pierre's simmering performance.
āItās been a long time coming, this moment,ā Pierre says, with gratitude. ā And Iām just doing my best to be present in it.ā
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
