One of the elements that will blow you away in Netflix’s new sci-fi comedy They Cloned Tyrone is John Boyega’s performance. The British actor became known internationally for his role as Finn in the recent Star Wars trilogy, so his deadpan performance of lead character Fontaine comes as a bit of a surprise for those who haven’t been following his career. The performance is so compelling that Netflix decided to bring Fontaine along to promote the movie with Boyega.
In a new video, Boyega is put side by side with his onscreen counterpart, and they interview each other in a conversation that is meta on many levels. The first layer plays with the movie’s theme in which Boyega’s character gets cloned and tries to discover why that happened and who did it. Then there’s the more complicated layer in which Boyega the actor and Boyega the character confront each other about who they are, and it can get quite philosophical.
The video then plays up how Boyega and his character have wildly different personalities on camera: While the actor is thoroughly composed and British to the bone – he even asks for a tea break — Fontaine has no patience to work with that upper-class fellow and can’t wait for the interview to be over. And he’s never watched Star Wars, not even a trailer. Then it gets confusing for both of them as they try to figure out what’s real, who’s playing who, and what the heck is going on in that video anyway.
Foxx, Parris, Boyega, Boyega and Boyega
There’s also room for Boyega to praise his co-stars Jamie Foxx (Spider-Man: No Way Home) and Teyonah Parris (The Marvels), but Fontaine also is not too interested in what the actor has to say about them. The only thing they seem to agree is on Foxx’s talent. After all, the Academy Award winner was nominated for acting prizes twice in the same year at the Oscars.
They Cloned Tyrone is directed by Juel Taylor, who makes his feature film directing debut after helming short films and TV projects. Taylor co-wrote the screenplay with Tony Rettenmaier (Space Jam: A New Legacy). The title of the Netflix movie is pretty self-explanatory, and the movie has been praised by the way it helps revive blaxpoitation cinema in a new and better way.
You can stream They Cloned Tyrone on Netflix now.
Check out the unusual interview below:
