Fendi Red Chain
Cashmere Knit
Sweater ($2,690,
fendi.com); Dolce &
Gabbana White Tank
Top ($215, dolce
gabbana.com); MSGM
Pants ($445, msgm.it);
Converse Chuck 70
High Top ($80,
converse.com).
he says, “the teacher told me,
‘You know, you’re pretty
good. You should take some
more classes,’” He did.
So the man can act. And he
wears the hell out of some
retro-inspired clothes. They
reflect his own just-over-the-
top style. “In college, before
a party,” he says, “I’d ask my
roommates, ‘How does this
look?’ They’d say, ‘Stupid.’ I’d
say, ‘Good.’”
Abdul-Mateen II wears two
silver rings, one encircled
by fleurs-de-lis, the symbol
of New Orleans. He grew up
there, before his family
moved to the Bay Area.
He has with him two
duffels. Those, and photos of
his mother and late father,
constitute the bulk of his
immediate possessions.
Abdul-Mateen II is a nomad,
living on location or crashing
among five older siblings.
Abdul-Mateen II’s family,
and a few close friends, help
him navigate his career. “I
have to be careful,” he says.
“Right now there are plenty
of opportunities to say yes.
I can get offered a role I
should turn down, but think,
‘I can make that into some-
thing.’” He’s choosy about
who he works with, like Jordan
Peele, his director in Us and
producer of Candyman,
which Abdul-Mateen II is set
to star in next year. Also indie
filmmaker Zeresenay Mehari,
who directed him and Dakota
Fanning in the upcoming
Sweetness in the Belly.
And Abdul-Mateen II is
also writing a ton. It started
on the set of Aquaman. He
was scheduled to shoot at the
very start of production and
at the tail end. The middle
three months was a slog of
lifting weights just to stay in
bad-guy shape. During lonely
hours at the gym, he started
dreaming up stories. “I lay out
a blueprint,” he says, “with
pictures on a board, lines
connecting them, taking
advantage of the fact that I
think three-dimensionally.”
He’s an architect, after all.