‘He’s Kind Of A Mystical Creature’: LaKeith Stanfield Talks Working With Jay-Z As A Producer On The Book Of Clarence
What's it like to share the air with Jay-Z?
What’s Jay-Z up to these days? As fans of the legendary rapper know all too well, it’s been quite a few years since he’s put out a new album, but he has more recently been doing a lot more work in the world of Hollywood as a producer. Jay-Z’s latest producing effort is Jeymes Samuel’s The Book of Clarence, and CinemaBlend spoke to the film’s lead, LaKeith Stanfield, about working with the “Run This Town” icon.
Jay-Z finds himself behind the production of The Book of Clarence following the rapper previously working on 2021’s The Harder They Fall alongside Jeymes Samuel and LaKeith Stanfield. Here’s what Stanfield had to say about his collaboration with Jay-Z on one of the upcoming 2024 movies set to hit theaters this weekend:
After LaKeith Stanfield was part of The Harder They Fall cast as American outlaw/cowboy Cherokee Bill, the actor has continued work with both Samuel and Jay-Z on the biblical epic that is The Book of Clarence. The comedy has Stanfield playing the titular Clarence, who is an outlaw in his own right in terms of owing a lot of money and deciding to con a community into believing he’s a new Messiah as Jesus Christ’s popularity blooms in Jerusalem in 33 A.D.
Stanfield recalls his run-ins with Jay-Z as being in a “regal” and “mystical” presence, and he shares a lot of respect and gratitude for what the rapper provided the production with behind the scenes. On the other hand, Jay-Z is very much still a mystery to Stanfield’s co-star RJ Cyler, who plays his best friend Elijah in the new release. In Cyler’s words:
Between The Book of Clarence’s booming soundtrack and bold swings, it certainly feels like the movie is right up Jay-Z’s alley, even if what he specifically brought to the production remains rather underwraps. As the movie hits theaters this weekend, critics are saying positive things about the movie overall, including CinemaBlend’s own The Book of Clarence review, where Mike Reyes gave the movie 3.5 out of 5 stars. He said “All the viewer needs is an open mind and a taste for the cinematic flare that mixes old fashioned with contemporary.”
While Jay-Z’s own life may be shrouded in mystery, you can enjoy his latest producing effort only in theaters starting January 12.
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Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.