B
orn in 1986, Yahya
Abdul-Mateen II was just
six years old when the
original Candyman came
out. Too young to see it in theatres,
certainly. But not, it transpires, too
young for Tony Todd’s iconic hook-
handed killer to become a major part
of his childhood.
“He lived in my imagination, in the
retelling of Candyman, in the way that
my older siblings talked about him,”
explains the actor who played
supervillain Black Manta in Aquaman,
and Cal Abar, (spoiler alert!) the host of
Dr. Manhattan, in HBO’s magnificent
Watchmen series. Abdul-Mateen is now
the lead in a new
telling of the
Candyman
legend, as
brought to us by
producer Jordan
Peele and
director Nia
DaCosta. “I
grew up with
Candyman not
being a figure from television or
movies, but with the possibility of
him being a real threat within the
house,” he continues. “The dread
of Candyman was palpable. We’d go
into the bathroom and play the game
in the mirror...”
The game is to utter “Candyman”
five times while peering into a looking
glass. To do so, goes an urban legend, is
to summon the vengeful spirit of the
titular monster and to invite your own
death at his hand – well, hook – as
surely as any teenager snoozing on ElmStreet, or shagging at Camp Crystal
Lake, can expect to be eviscerated. Only
unlike most slasher films, Candyman is
politically charged – it’s set in the
Cabrini-Green public housing
development in Chicago, and its
black killer (Todd) is granted a tragic,
all-too-believable backstory.
This “spiritual sequel” also comes
freighted with subtext. Abdul-Mateen
plays Anthony McCoy, the infant in the
1992 movie who is now an artist and
returns to the gentrified Cabrini-Green
in search of inspiration. No prizes for
guessing who he finds instead.
“There were some days when I did
absolutely pay for it, physically and
emotionally,”
says the actor of
having to register
extreme terror.
“The body
doesn’t know
that it’s acting.
You have to let it
cool down. But
it’s fun to find
new ways to be
terrified, and what it means to be
paranoid, because every fear will not be
expressed in the same way. Sometimes
it’s a jump scare, sometimes it’s the
threat of something around the corner
that never comes, sometimes it’s a
terror that you can’t run away from
and have to give into.” His laugh
carries a nervous edge. “It’s a
rollercoaster for an actor and, I hope,
for an audience.” JGETA | 12 JUNE / CANDYMAN OPENS IN THE
SUMMER.Off The Hook
CANDYMAN I Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is buzzing
about this reimagining of the supernatural slasher...
EXCLUSIVE
‘IT’SFUNTO
FIND NEWWAYS
OFBEING
FRIGHTENED’
YAHYAABDUL-MATEENIIHARDCANDY
AnthonyMcCoy
exploresCabrini
Greenright
TeyonahParrisplays
McCoy’sgirlfriend
BriannabelowNia
DaCostagivesYahya
Abdul-MateenII
somedirection
bottomUNIVERSALTOTAL FILM | APRIL 2020