If you’re into Canadian music, then the name Peter Dreimanis may be familiar to you. Peter is the front man of Canadian band July Talk which has won several JUNO Awards. As a creative, Dreimanis has produced music videos and films, but his biggest acting break has just hit theatres in Ryan Coogler’s latest film Sinners.
Sinners tells the story of twins Smoke and Stack, played by Michael B. Jordan who want to create a juke joint for the Black community of their hometown in the Deep South. The twins don’t know how much evil lurks in their home town. While they do know about the racism that is still prevalent, they didn’t know what monsters are hiding under the cover of darkness. Dreimanis plays Bert, a husband with traditional values who gets taken over by darkness.
Dreimanis was sought out by film director Ryan Coogler because of his cover of “Bad Moon Rising” which has been featured in Teen Wolf and the Walking Dead. Dreimanis tells us, “One of [the songs features] was for the trailer for a film called Green Room. This film was like a huge reference point for Ryan in the script. He heard my voice on the song and looked into [July Talk]. So I got a call back in February of last year that, that they wanted me to audition. The audition process took a few months really. I didn’t know whether it was going to happen or not. There was like radio silence for weeks and then it I got the call and there it was. We went down to New Orleans for three months and, and it was just this like completely inspiring experience.”
Dreimanis feels that his grandmother, who had recently passed away, was looking out for him when he received the call. He describes her as being the musical vein of his family, the person who taught her piano and someone who would have been a teenager during the era the film is set in. For Dreimanis to have a hand in the soundtrack made this casting feel extra special.
With such a stacked cast including Hailee Steinfield, Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Dreimanis felt that welcomed into the circle of friends he found himself working with. “It was like being brought into a community all centred around ultimately Ryan and his vision. On one side he has Michael B. Jordan, who he’s made five films with and they have an unbelievably welcoming friendship.They want everybody to be a part of it and they love talking about film history, talking about films that influence them. The music side is headed by Ludwig Göransson, who they met in film school and came up with together. So all of this feels like you’re just at a beautiful dinner party with really talented folks.”
Bert, Dreimanis’ character, could be described as a stereotypical white southerner during Jim Crow era south which is quite different to how Dreimanis carries himself from day to day, He says Coogler encouraged him bring depth to the role, even though it’s quite the ensemble cast. “[Coogler] does an incredible job at making every character more than a good or an evil person. His whole work is sort of based on evil, not being totally villainous and good not being totally heroic.” Coogler had Dreimanis look into the history of the racism that occurred during this era, and they listed to the White Lies podcast together. The podcast explored the murder of James Reeb, a clergyman from Boston who visited the South during the Civil Rights Movement and was murdered by Klansman. The podcast interviewed the descendants of both the priest and the descendants of the Klansmen to touch on the generational trauma that was experienced on both sides. For Coogler this exemplified how each person can be a paradox and not be 100% good or evil. This theme is shown throughout the movie as you learn the intentions of those who may be seen as stereotypically villainous, but are given depth, understanding an even empathy through Coogler’s direction. Dreimanis shared with us that some of the makeup artists and crew that were local to New Orleans and a majority Black crew felt that Sinners touched on Jim Crow era racism and these heavy topics in a way that avoided glorifying or trauma mining but did so in a more tasteful way.
Working on the soundtrack was a special experience for Dreimanis. The studio for recording was held in an old church which allowed the musicians to record dozens of versions of each song. “The team would take those versions to Ryan, to Ludwig, Serena -Ludwig’s partner. She would have binders of all kinds of academic texts about the blues and about the history of the characters that we were exploring. There was such a freedom to explore within the studio and just do whatever felt right in the moment. Then you’d go back, you’d listen and we’d find our way to what it wanted to be. Usually that path was starting from like a glossy, beautiful, pretty place and finding its way to like the grit and the dirt and the bayou of what it wanted to sound like, look like, and be like, you know? That was so inspiring too. In the studio, things can get prettier and prettier as you get there and they lose their soul. I think that working with Ludwig, who’s a legend and just seeing them value that palpable, tactile grit, was unbelievably inspiring.
Sinners is out NOW in theatres across the world. Check out Peter Dreimanis as Bert in this gripping and intriguing story unlike any other.
Hillary LeBlanc
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