“892,”This premiered at the 2022 Sundance U.S. Dramatic Competition. It tells the true story of Brian Browneasley (John Boyega), an ex-Marine who held up an Atlanta bank after he failed to receive $892 from his monthly disability payment. The film almost exclusively takes place during the heated standoff between Browneasley and his family, as well as bank employees and law enforcers trying to talk him down.
As one of Michael K. Williams’ last projects and his first posthumous film role, the late actor’s presence looms large. Williams portrays Eli Bernard, the soft-spoken leader but firm of the law enforcement agencies gathering outside the bank.
In a conversation at ’s Sundance studio, Boyega along with co-stars Nicole Beharie and Olivia Washington, writer Kwame Kewi-Armah and writer-director Abi Damaris Corbin, talked about what it was like to collaborate with one of his screen heroes.
“It’s brilliant, because obviously I’ve been a big fan of Michael’s since I started watching ‘The Wire,’ and then I started watching ‘Boardwalk Empire.’”
As soon as Williams’ name came up in early talks about casting the part of Bernard, it was a no-brainer, he said.
“What’s the point of mentioning anyone after that?”Boyega said it to Corbin, who agreed.
He also remembered his first encounter with Williams when he accidentally entered his trailer. They struck up a conversation about Williams’ work. Williams, who was a former actor, is humbled by the recognition. “such an iconic role in my artistic inspiration, as well as many others,”Boyega. “It was great to connect.”
Since the majority of the film’s dialogue is conducted over the phone, the cast met up outside of rehearsal time to work on building rapport.
“Michael would still come in, Olivia would still come in on her day off, and we would do the same for each other, just to read those off-lines to build that chemistry, so these phone calls weren’t too hollow,” Boyega recalled.
These extra efforts were well worth it when the cameras started rolling, and the actors were comfortable trying new things with their delivery.
“Sometimes as an actor, you’re like, okay, let’s try it several different ways, let’s be softer, let’s be more engaged, let’s be more stern, that’s the art of what we do,”He stated. “So we were able to just play with those things and come to a clean conclusion on that.”
Check out the video interview.
’s Sundance Studio is presented by NFP and National Geographic Documentary Films.