With Get Out, Jordan Peele proved he had a firm grasp on the horror genre, delivering a truly memorable film that resonated on a variety of levels. Now, Peele is readying his sophomore effort, which looks to be even creepier than the first. Us, which features Winston Duke, Lupita Nyong'o, and more, arrives on March 22nd. In honor of the upcoming film, Jordan Peele spoke with Rolling Stone about filmmaking, the horror genre, and blending social commentary with genuine scares.
“It’s important to me that we can tell black stories without it being about race,” Peele explains. “I realized I had never seen a horror movie of this kind, where there’s an African-American family at the center that just is. After you get over the initial realization that you’re watching a black family in a horror film, you’re just watching a movie. You’re just watching people. I feel like it proves a very valid and different point than Get Out, which is, not everything is about race. Get Out proved the point that everything is about race. I’ve proved both points!”
The interview itself is deep and wide-ranging, with Peele opening up about a variety of topics. As a horror film fan, however, certain tidbits leap from the page. On Lupita Nyong'o's dual-natured turn as herself and her "shadow-self," Peele compares her to one of the genre's most storied performances. "She carried this anticipatory gravity in that scene where you just know,” says Peele, on the anticipated home-invasion scene, as viewed in the trailer. “I feel like her performance is on par with Hannibal Lecter gravitas in this movie.”
For much more from Peele, be sure to check out the informative cover story over at Rolling Stone.