Searching for the soul of ‘Nine Days’
In “Nine Days,” Winston Duke plays Will, a man who spends his lonely days and nights in some otherworldly outpost, monitoring the lives of humans through their own eyes on a wall of vintage TV sets inside his home.
When one of his favorites dies suddenly, Will is shaken even as his work requires him to screen unborn souls, as personified by the adult men and women who come to his door, to fill the new vacancy on Earth.
The candidates for this strange sort of soul-placement service include good-time jokester Alexander (Tony Hale), somewhat cruel Kane (Bill Skarsgard) and free spirit Emma (Zazie Beetz).
They, and the other souls, have nine days to pass the tests and questions thrown at them by Will. One will advance to be born on Earth with no memory of what came before. The others will return to nothingness, though not before Will grants them a wish, a chance to experience what it might have felt to be human for a moment.
Duke, whose credits include films such as “Us” and “Black Panther,” and Beetz, whose work includes “Joker” and the TV series “Atlanta,” talked together via video call about the feature film debut from writerdirector Edson Oda, which opens today in Los Angeles and New York City before going wider a week later.
Q
What convinced you this was a movie you needed to do?
DUKE >> When I first read the script, I immediately was awestruck, and sat there for a while just ruminating on what it meant. And then I saw all these opportunities. I thought, I don’t really see guys that look like me play roles like this. A lot of guys who look like me play roles that are dominated by the narrative of their body — you know, size, height, shape. And this story really wasn’t.
So I said, “Wow, what an opportunity for a tall, muscular Black man to play a character that’s more driven by intellect. That’s driven by more of an internal world than an external one.” That’s a really great opportunity. So I loved it for that, first off, and after speaking to Edson I was sold even more.
BEETZ >> I just really liked that it was sort of this life-affirming story. And although existential to a degree, I hope you’re left where I was left, with an appreciation for the things that I do have. And, I think, a reflection on how to live in duality with everything, which is what I try to do in my personal life, being OK with pain and joy at the same time. That all those things like at the same time.
And I think particularly, Emma and Will’s relationship, mine and Winston’s, really underscores that it’s important to let everything in and to let everything be as it is and to find your comfort in that.
Q
How did you find your way into these unusual characters in this intimate, thoughtful film? BEETZ >> I think for me, I had an interesting challenge in that all of the kind of souls are sort of spirit people. None of them have a backstory. And it’s very rare to have a character that is truly a blank slate. I think the openness for Emma came from a place of just continuous discovery. Everything was new, and she wanted to experience and receive it all.
Honestly, for me, it was an interesting exercise in trying to remain interested in and fresh in things that are mundane. Like this cup of tea, which is sort of, you know, the kind of theme in the movie. That this tea is special and enjoyable even if I’ve had it 1,000 times. I can still take pleasure in it.
And for Emma, she was just receiving everything, and it was stimulating, and so she was in a place of exploration. And I think also exploring Will and receiving Will and trying to figure him out as she was trying to figure everything out.
DUKE >> For me, it was really not falling into a trap of playing a dead guy. Like the idea of like he’s just dead. So I was really working on a person who wants a new start as something that won’t hurt him, so he’s really trying very hard to not be human.
So he doesn’t sleep, he doesn’t eat, he doesn’t want. You know, he doesn’t want to be anything like his past. But holding that all in comes at a cost.
And he’s working through what felt like smiling depression. Something that allows him to be functional, allows him to be present, but he’s not very happy. Being in that space for a month to two months was a pretty hard thing to do. Having the right support, having people like Zazie who showed up every day to, like, throw a ball and catch a ball in every scene was important.
Q
Did making ‘Nine Days’ affect the way you think about human nature or the soul?
BEETZ >> Yeah, I think it’s an interesting kind of exercise to think of. You know, we always kind of think of what happens to us after we die, but again, what has happened to us before we were chosen? My mom always says, “Thank you for choosing me to be your mom,” and I think there’s something really special about that.
I like this idea of exploring the lives that our souls have potentially already had. And that with each life we’re learning more, and our soul is growing more, and we just don’t quite remember.