It’s a cliché, but sometimes one moment can alter everything. For Aaron Pierre, that arrived as a direct message from Barry Jenkins. The Academy Award- winning filmmaker had watched Pierre on stage, loved it, and then slid into his DMs with an invitation to work together. This became a creative relationship – and friendship – that shaped Pierre’s formative years, providing the actor with the master world building to dive deeper. In Golden Globe-winning miniseries, The Underground Railroad, Pierre took on the harrowing realities of American slavery, in Rebel Ridge he played an ex-marine confronting police corruption, and voicing the titular role in Mufasa: The Lion King saw him inherit one of cinema’s most enduring roles.

If you’ve seen Pierre in full flow, you’d recognise why Jenkins felt so compelled to reach out – he possesses that coveted instinct to read a scene’s rhythm: when to push and when to retreat, when to fill the frame, and when to create space for others. It’s the mark of an actor fully committed to serving the story. Next comes a series of projects that propel him further. First, Rachel Morrison’s Love of Your Life, starring alongside Margaret Qualley and Patrick Schwarzenegger in a story that examines love at its most exposed. After that, Pierre steps into altogether different worlds, joining the sprawling mythologies of Lanterns, Superman: Man of Tomorrow and Star Wars: Starfighter. Nearly a decade on, Pierre and Jenkins pick up where that first DM left off.

Barry Jenkins: What’s up, man?
Aaron Pierre: Hey, big bro.

Barry: Where are you in the world?
Aaron: I’m in Atlanta. How about you?

Barry: I’m in Greece. This is where I come to hide out in the summer to try and get some writing done.
Aaron: Beautiful.

Barry: So how you doing, man?
Aaron: I’m doing great, brother. I feel like every day for the last, I don’t know, nine or so years, has been filled with pinch-me moments. Filled with moments of gratitude, joy, and a deep understanding and appreciation of the blessing that is the opportunity to do what I love on the highest level, with other individuals who are doing the same. I’m feeling blessed, and I’m feeling inspired. Really, I have blinkers on. You know, I’ve never seen myself in competition with any other individual, but I have always been fiercely competitive with myself, and I am always trying to outdo, outgrow myself, and it’ll always be that way, man.

Barry: But you can’t outgrow yourself. It’s a physical impossibility. You can evolve, mutate, and all those different things, but you can’t outgrow yourself.
Aaron: Evolution, you’re right.

Barry: It’s funny you mentioned nine years. I was thinking back to the moment that we met. Well, I say ‘met’, because I saw you, but you didn’t see me. That would have been maybe eight years ago, when you were doing Othello [Aaron Pierre starred in the 2018 production of Othello at Shakespeare’s Globe in London]. I was thinking about that in preparation for this because, would you say, stage-wise, that was a big break for you?
Aaron: That was my first ever professional theatre opportunity. Of course, you know, I had studied classical acting for, at that point, I think four years, so I had done an immense amount of theatre, but that was my first professional engagement with it. Man, I was really nervous.

Barry: You were nervous when the opportunity came?
Aaron: Yes, I was really nervous when the opportunity presented itself because, I mean, Shakespeare’s Globe – that stage has so much history. So many titans of the thespian storytelling world have graced that stage. Also, just from an architectural standpoint, as a player on that stage, it makes you feel tiny. You have 1,500 people seeing you from the very extremities of your periphery all the way into the very centre of your vision – you can literally see their eyeballs. Then you’re also contending with it being a theatre with no roof, so you’re dealing with whatever is happening in the sky, whether that’s a helicopter, an aeroplane, whatever is going on in the South Bank, whether that’s sirens, parties, who knows. I remember the first time I went on that stage, I just felt so small, and I didn’t know how I was going to be able to navigate that space in a way that didn’t look out of place and awkward. But, as you know, I have a history of doing things that intimidate me, that I question my capacity to do, because I feel like, as you very articulately put it, that’s where the opportunities for evolution are. That’s why I did that. That’s why I did King Hedley II [in the 2019 production at Theatre Royal Stratford East], which is one of August Wilson’s greatest plays. August Wilson is a titan. That’s why I repeatedly collaborate with you. That’s why I collaborate with the filmmakers I collaborate with, because I know that those opportunities give me no other option but evolution.

“What a joy it is to collaborate with a director, a filmmaker, who trusts their judgement, and trusts that you can achieve what the script requires. Just as you did, you made the decision to cast me, and you trusted your decision.”

Barry: Well, I think I’ve told you this story in the past. I wrapped production on If Beale Street Could Talk in December 2017, and I always take a trip to clear my head when I’m done filming. It was in the wake of Moonlight, the Oscars, all that, and I ended up in London. My good friend André Holland was in the show [Othello], so I went to watch it. And like you said, you’re competing against all these different things. You know, you have Mark Rylance, André Holland, Sheila Atim, the helicopters, the South Bank, and I just see you devouring the stage in the best way. Not being big, but devouring the stage. I don’t know if I DM’d you right then, but I sent you a DM on Twitter. I was like, “Hey, I saw you in this play. I would love to work with you someday.” What was your reaction when you got that DM?
Aaron: Bro, I thought I was being catfished. [laughs] It was such a unique experience. I very sporadically engage with social media, and I’ve always been that way. When I do engage, it’s very intentional and, more often than not, it’s work-related. I remember I was coming out of Earl’s Court Underground Station, up the escalator, and my signal returns to my phone. And, you know, bing, bing, bing – whatever notifications on my phone – and I see one Twitter notification. And, of course, it says Barry Jenkins, and I’m like, “This has got to be a joke someone’s playing on me.” But then I read the message, and where your name is there’s the verified blue tick.

Barry: Back when that meant something. [both laugh]
Aaron: So I paused, read the message, and I was like, “That’s really Barry. He’s really seen me in a play, and he’s really said, ‘Listen, I’d love to work with you on something someday. Hit me up.’” [laughs] It was so informal as well, so there was a lot going on. I remember standing as still as a statue and just taking in the exact moment that someone I respected so greatly, someone whose work I had the utmost respect for, and someone whose approach to their work I had the utmost respect for, had reciprocated that energy to me. I didn’t know if we were going to work together. I was just so grateful for that moment – I was over the moon.

Barry: You know what’s cool about that is, you were very balanced about that exchange. It wasn’t, “Oh, I’m coming to LA. Let’s meet.” It was respect, and that really solidified your energy and the energy of our exchange. Such that when The Underground Railroad came around, I remembered you. I was writing a sort of pilot, doing all these different things, and I just thought, “I’m pretty sure this guy is my Caesar,” which is a very important part in that series. I want to talk a little bit about working together on The Underground Railroad in particular but, before that, I want to tell you something I’ve never told you before: I didn’t love your tape for Caesar. I remember you taped, and I didn’t love it. I was like, “You know what? Fuck it. He’s got the role anyway.” [laughs] Did I ever tell you that?
Aaron: Do you know what, you’ve never told me that, but you didn’t need to, because you made me tape about five times. [both laugh] That’s how I knew.

Barry: It wasn’t five, it might have been three. [both laugh]
Aaron: Alright, maybe that was hyperbole. [laughs] But I remember sending off the first tape, and then receiving the news that you wanted to see an alternative take on the dialogue. Then I remember a third time you wanted to see an alternative take on the dialogue. But for me, I’ve always had the approach with auditioning of, it’s really an opportunity for me to share with the filmmaker the resources that I currently have. What I loved about what you did was, you understood that and acknowledged that, and I think you saw that – I mean, correct me if I’m wrong – as an artist, I was open enough, I was collaborative enough, I was open to being malleable enough, to realise your vision once we got there.

Barry: I think part of it was that every time we asked for another tape, it was different – every time. What was dope about that was that we got to see different facets of Caesar. Other tapes were coming in at the time, and nobody was outpacing you. We’ll say outgrow – [Aaron laughs] – nobody was outgrowing your performance of the character. Do you remember the process of making that show? You’ve done so much since then.
Aaron: It’s such a formative time in my journey – I remember it very vividly. Why, is there a specific moment you’re thinking about?

Barry: I’m curious if you could feel… I did ten hours of commentary for the Criterion release, so I’ve talked about this pretty openly, but it’s not a very sexy thing so it doesn’t really gain traction. I want to ask you, from your own experience, did you feel the tension about the budget, the this and that, all the crises with the show? I remember when you got to Savannah [Georgia], y’all were just waiting and waiting for us to start shooting. Did you feel any of that energy, or were you just completely inoculated from it?
Aaron: For me, I personally didn’t feel any monetary budget tensions, but what I did feel, from the very beginning of the process of me reading for Caesar, was the enormity of the weight of this production for everybody involved, and the spoken and unspoken refusal to have this be anything other than the most powerful telling of this story. So by the time I arrived in Savannah, I had already – from the first moment that I was asked to read – been totally, totally ready to serve this story and this character. I very intentionally choose every single character that I portray. And the result of that is that I don’t half-heart anything. I know I give my entire self. That was exactly the case with Caesar.

Barry: It’s interesting. It’s lovely to hear you say that you didn’t feel the external…
Aaron: But that’s testament, though, Barry. As the single individual who was helming that…

Barry: I want to cut that statement off – I don’t do well with praise. [both laugh]
Aaron: It drips down, that’s what I’m saying to you, brother. If there was ever a reason that it didn’t reach us, it was because you were managing it and navigating it exemplarily.

“I very intentionally choose every single character that I portray. And the result of that is that I don’t half-heart anything. I know I give my entire self.”

Barry: Appreciate it. In the budget madness, all these different things, did you ever understand that there were meant to be two South Carolina episodes, and only one Tennessee episode, and there was an episode called Genesis? South Carolina was meant to be the first story told from Cora’s [Thuso Mbedu’s character] point of view. Then there was an entire second episode told from Caesar’s point of view. When the whole budget calamity happened, that got axed. And because of that, your role theoretically got condensed. But I recognised right away you and Thuso had connected so deeply – the character [Caesar] was just resonating and vibrating so intensely. I was like, “I’m gonna need more of this character. I don’t even know what episodes I’m going to be able to afford to make, but I’m going to need more.” It’s why you’re in the series for so long, because you’re only meant to be in there one-and-a-half episodes, and yet you keep recurring.
Aaron: I recall that so vividly. The total amount of work that I was initially there to accomplish was achieved fairly quickly, and then these moments kept appearing, and I didn’t question it. I was just thrilled to be a part of this family, this unit, and deeply honoured to be telling this story. Anything that was presented to me, I just gave it my heart, which is everything I can give. I learned an enormous amount on that production. I still tell this story to this day because it’s so formative. We worked together on The Underground Railroad in 2018?

Barry: It was 2019 into 2020.
Aaron: That’s right. So this is about seven years ago. At that time I was 25, and at the earliest moments of my journey. There was a formative experience that happened while working with you on The Underground Railroad that has resulted in me being almost unshakable on every other set, and I’ll tell you what it was. This was one of our earliest days, and as can be your nature, you had a very specific frame that you wanted to achieve, and it was a beautiful frame – it involved the sun coming down at a certain time and this shot being part of that. On top of that, you had other things to do that day in terms of shooting. We did the first take, and it just wasn’t it, largely because I was nervous. You have to remember, at this time today, as we sit here having known each other for eight or so years, we have a relationship now. We have a friendship, a brotherhood. You know, I refer to you as my big brother, which I only do for two people. But at that time, we were just learning one another as artists, as professionals, and as people. So I was a little bit nervous, and that’s why I didn’t hit it that first time. You were like, “OK, let’s go again.” I didn’t hit it the second time. Now the clock is starting to tick a little bit because how many more times is this going to happen before we miss the sun? It must have been maybe two or three times where I didn’t hit it at all. I wasn’t even in the ballpark – not even close. You approached me out of earshot of everybody, and I’m paraphrasing now, but you essentially said to me – it was so real – “Look, brother, this is the shot that I need to achieve today. This is the timeframe I need to achieve this shot in. It must happen here.” Then you accompanied that by saying, “And you should not be worried about achieving that, because all of this is in you.” Then you just walked away. You said, “Roll the cameras, let’s go.”

Barry: And you hit that shit! [both laugh]
Aaron: After you said that, there was this calm that covered me. That was the moment where I was like, “Yeah, that’s big bro, for real.” Ever since then, I’ve described that moment as, for want of a better phrase, a dive straight into the deep end. I’m 25, I’m on this production that has an enormous weight and importance, and I’m also collaborating with someone I have the utmost respect for. There was a lot going on for me. So for you to hit me with those words, and for me to then do exactly what you said I could do, and what I knew in my heart I could do. Ever since then, I’ve been on sets with other excellent filmmakers and we’ve needed to get a shot, and everyone’s running around, they’re like, “Why is Aaron so chill?” I’m like, “Because I got this.” Of course there will be times in my career – hopefully not too many – where, “Ah shit, didn’t hit it.” But I know that the vast majority of the time, I know I’ve got this, because if I could do it then, I can do it now.

Barry: Let me just say, if you didn’t hit it that day, it would have been just fine.
Aaron: It was a learning moment, though. [both laugh] It almost felt like you knew that this was a pivotal moment for me.

“Every day for the last, I don’t know, nine or so years, has been filled with pinch-me moments. Filled with moments of gratitude, joy, and a deep understanding and appreciation of the blessing that is the opportunity to do what I love on the highest level.”

Barry: I want to talk about what’s currently going on with you. You’ve got this movie, Love of Your Life, made with our mutual friend Rachel Morrison, coming pretty soon. Tell me about that.
Aaron: Yeah, man. I did this picture with Rachel Morrison – shout out Rachel – and the key theme is love, but not in an idealistic sense, very much love in all of its imperfections and truest realities. There are moments of levity, there are moments of humour, there are moments of joy, but there are also moments where we address the realities of what love is. We don’t present answers, we present questions of how best to navigate something so simple and so complex at the same time. We also present a statement of reflection, which is not to be frustrated at yourself for not knowing something sooner that only time could have taught you. We’re going to be world premiering at TIFF [Toronto International Film Festival] this year, which is super exciting. I love TIFF.

Barry: Same.
Aaron: TIFF is where Brother premiered, which was directed by Clement Virgo. Shout out to Clement Virgo. In addition to that, Lanterns on HBO is about to come out, in which I have the great privilege of portraying John Stewart, Green Lantern, and I’ll be appearing at Comic-Con in San Diego ahead of the world premiere in LA. I also just completed filming on Star Wars: Starfighter with Shawn Levy. Shout out Shawn. Ryan Gosling is leading that film, who is also a producer on Love of Your Life. That was a cool connection Ryan and I had. I’ll also be appearing in Superman: Man of Tomorrow as well. So I’ve been busy, brother.

Barry: There are so many different films in there. It’s dope to hear you shout out Brother, which is one of the films in your filmography that stands apart, working with the great Clement Virgo and Lamar [Johnson], who I almost, almost worked with once. Talk briefly about the experience of making that piece. That was pre-Rebel Ridge, after The Underground Railroad. It was in that little sweet spot.
Aaron: Exactly right. Clement and I connected while we were both in California, and he let me know that he had this script he had adapted from the novel by David Chariandy – a beautiful novel. It was one of those films where everybody involved was doing it solely for the love of the film and for the love of the novel. What a joy it is to collaborate with a director, a filmmaker, who trusts their judgement, and trusts that you can achieve what the script requires. Just as you did, you made the decision to cast me, and you trusted your decision. Clement and I developed a real rapport on set where… As you know, when I need to hit continuity, I hit continuity damn near perfect because I’m mildly OCD, but when I am not required to hit continuity…

Barry: I do know this. [both laugh]
Aaron: When I’m not required to hit that continuity, anything can happen. There were times where I would say to Clement, “I’m going to go back there. I just need you to give me the nod and make sure that your guys are with me. The DP is with me. Because maybe my original path was to stay on the sidewalk and walk into the barber shop, but because my character’s just been under enormous physical duress, I might stumble into the road. I might try and walk back home and have my brother change me back in the direction of the barber shop. I was like, “Just have them roll with me.” We would do that a lot. Not every day, because not every day do you have the luxury of time. But on the days where we had it, we would do that. What a joy it was to be trusted enough to be guided by your instincts in a way that didn’t have a time restriction, so long as they didn’t derail the narrative of the story.

Barry: It’s a beautiful picture. You don’t always feel the energy in a movie, but that’s a movie where you can feel that energy of the making – the ethos. I give this quote sometimes where I talk about how Moonlight is so fortunate because I have friends who’ve made things that are just as worthy as this film, just as beautiful, but they somehow don’t catch the same zeitgeist. It has nothing to do with the film, it’s just a matter of timing, happenstance, all these different things. So I really wanted to give you a chance to spotlight that film. It’s interesting, because I imagine right now the scale of projects can be anything that you desire. I’m sure that the roles you’re being offered have changed. We started out by talking about this idea of you outgrowing yourself, which I counted as an evolution of yourself. But how do you feel right now in the opportunities that I’m sure a previous version of yourself would have just been falling off the bus to try to get? Now you almost have to be the opposite, to be as considerate and as thoughtful as you ever could be. What’s it like being Aaron Pierre right now, with the scope of roles you’re being offered? How are you choosing the characters that you want to embody?
Aaron: Honestly, I feel I’m now required – and full disclaimer: this requirement is put on myself – to be more intentional and specific than I’ve ever been in my career. I’ve now entered into chapter two [in my career], where I am abundantly grateful, and couldn’t be more grateful for the opportunities that are presenting themselves to me. These opportunities have the weight to characterise the next chapter of my journey, and what I mean by that is, you can say yes to everything and that will characterise the next chapter of your journey, or you can continue to be very intentional and specific as best as you can – that will also characterise your journey.

Barry: You can also say no to everything, and that will also characterise the next chapter of your journey. The grass ain’t always greener.
Aaron: Exactly.

Barry: You have to be thoughtful. It’s cool to hear you say that because, as I was prepping for this call, I just thought, what if I’d never got in the damn car and gone to see this show [Othello]? We’ve done two pictures together, and maybe neither of those things would have happened if I hadn’t gone to see that show. I’m very glad that we did cross paths.
Aaron: Me too. Love you, man. Truly.

all clothing and accessories worn throughout by BOSS FW26

grooming DAMEZ THE BARBER; make-up LIZ TAW at THE WALL GROUP using IS CLINICAL; photography assistants CONNIE WHITHAM, DANYAL RAHATI