ComingSoon’s Jonathan Sim recently sat down with actors Aaron Pierre (Rebel Ridge, Old), Kelvin Harrison Jr. (It Comes at Night, Chevalier), and Tiffany Boone (A Madea Family Funeral, The Midnight Sky) for their roles as Mufasa, Taka (who would become Scar), and Sarabi in Disney’s Mufasa: The Lion King.
“Lost and alone, orphaned cub Mufasa meets a sympathetic lion named Taka, the heir to a royal bloodline,” reads the official synopsis. “The chance meeting sets in motion an expansive journey of an extraordinary group of misfits searching for their destinies.”
Mufasa: The Lion King roars into theaters on December 20.
Jonathan Sim: Aaron, I’m gonna start with you. Your work in Mufasa is excellent, and I mean, I also loved your work earlier this year in Rebel Ridge.
Aaron Pierre: Thank you, brother. Thank you.
You got to play a character that’s played by the late great James Earl Jones. Did you ever get to meet James Earl Jones and talk to him at all before he passed? And if he could see your work in this film, how do you hope he’d respond to it?
Aaron: Thank you for that question, man. So as, as you know James Earl Jones is one of my greatest inspirations. And he’s a hero of mine, not only in the context of Mufasa, but in the context of his entire career and the entirety of his artistry. His filmography, his theater work, his voice work is elite. It’s, for me, it’s the top of the mountain. And even way before I became professional, that was my inspiration. That’s what I got inspiration from.
I was of course tremendously nervous to be, be hired to contribute in a small way to the legacy of the character that he originated. But hopefully I served him and I served and character. And hopefully it resonates with people, you know.
I believe you did.
Aaron: Thank you, man.
Kelvin, I want to take this back a little bit ’cause I saw you for the first time back in 2019 when you were in a movie called Luce. And then I was like, “This guy is good.” Then, a couple of months later, I saw you in a film called Waves, and I was just like, “Who is this guy? This guy is really good!” And then getting to see your work grow and stuff like Cyrano and Chevalier, it’s been amazing because you always seem like such a very prepared actor. I wanted to ask how you prepared for taking on the role of Scar. Did you draw any inspirations from anyone? Did you ever look back at Jeremy Irons and Chiwetel Ejiofor’s performances for any inspiration?
Kelvin: Yes, I did. Thank you for saying that, by the way. I don’t prepare at all. I really just jump into it and just hope that the spirit of the acting comes through me. Just kidding. Because, you know, everyone has an acting God, and I’m just kidding. I really have to stop joking. I did, I did look at the vintage work of Jeremy Irons, and Chiwetel, it was my reference point. It was like the thing that made me most excited, it was like, you know, it was that that was how Scar was created. I wanted to make sure we were referencing all of them because it’s a combination of the ’94 that people fell in love with. And then the 2019 for the new fans and trying to create Taka. I was like, I started with their sound and then I slowly started to peel it back and there was a certainty that I heard in their voices that made Scar Scar.
I was like, well, if I strip away the certainty, then suddenly it sounds a little bit uncertain like an adolescent, but with some of the same like, (in Scar voice) “well and,” you know what I mean, it’s that same cadence and dragging and you just kind of raise it a little bit and then suddenly it becomes Taka. You know what I mean? So you just play. You just play and you try it and yeah, I do my little script notes, all that boring actor stuff, but ultimately, you know, it’s just a little bit of your game.
I think I could hear it especially towards the latter half of the film. I could definitely hear some of that.
Tiffany, I wanted to ask you a similar question. Obviously, your work is fantastic in stuff like Hunters and The Following, and your work here is also really exceptional. But I want to see how do you combine the work of Alfre Woodard and Madge Sinclair while providing your own emotional gravitas to the character?
Tiffany: Yeah, thank you. You know, I think both of their voices are like very majestic and deep and feel very mature and in a way that even though I’m old enough to feel mature, I still feel like a child, you know what I mean? And I think I still wanted to maintain some of the reality that they had in their performances. But she’s learning who she is. So there’s the confidence, there’s some insecurity, kind of similar to what Kelvin was saying. It’s just playing with the uncertainty of it all. And how do you get to become a woman, right? You have to try on some different voices and some different feelings. So that’s kind of how I played with it.
The original 1994 Lion King. When did you guys first see it, and what impact did that have on your lives, and how did that inform your decision to appear in this prequel?
Aaron: That’s such a beautiful question. I’m probably about to make myself sound vintage here, but I remember the VHS and having to, whenever I wanted to rewind it, run up to the box and press it and it would go (makes a VCR noise). So that, that was my first memories of like experiencing The Lion King, you know, on that VHS and loving that VHS and any sitting and viewing of The Lion King lasted about three to three and a half hours. ‘Cause I was always constantly rewinding it ’cause I was so deeply in love with it and deeply in love with all of the characters. So it has such a treasured and special place in my heart.
Kelvin: Oh my God. I mean, listen, I’m obsessed with The Lion King. The ’94 version was on repeat. I played the video game on Genesis Sega. I was Simba, I was Scar, I was all the characters. I was in an acapella group. We used to sing medleys of the songs. I mean, I don’t know a bigger fan of the Lion King.
Tiffany: I mean, I am, because I was still watching it through the years. It’s like a vintage wine. It gets better with time. You understand? And so I would just keep watching it and watching it. And so by the time it came across my desk, I was like, well, I have to do this. Like what can I do? How can I bribe Barry [Jenkins]? Right. How do I get to be a part of it?
You were like, “I will pay YOU to be in this, you don’t have to pay me.”
Tiffany: Well, I wouldn’t take it that far. I’d still like the money (laughs).
