How the ‘Nickel Boys’ Cast Adapted to Acting Directly to Camera: ‘I Had to Let Go and Let the Universe Handle It’

The making of “Nickel Boys” — a film that follows two young Black boys, Elwood (Ethan Herisse) and Turner (Brandon Wilson), as they navigate a brutal reform school — presented a unique set of circumstances for cinematographer Jomo Fray. While Fray always wants his camerawork to feel vulnerable, director RaMell Ross‘ vision of shooting the film with the camera’s first-person point of view blurred the usual roles on set, meaning that Fray would directly interact with the actors.

“It wasn’t just shooting Aunjanue [Ellis-Taylor] playing Hattie,” Fray told Variety at the film’s Los Angeles premiere on Monday night. “When the camera needed to imbue Elwood’s consciousness, if I was operating, it was about taking that in and seeing the image, not as Jomo, but as Elwood … Having that physical intimacy fundamentally changes the way you make images.”

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Before making the film, Ellis-Taylor, whose character Hattie is Elwood’s grandmother, never felt comfortable working with cameras.

“I had to let go and let the universe handle it … Hello cameras!” the Oscar-nominated actor explained on the red carpet at the DGA Theater. “[In the film], I had to make them as a proxy for my grandson. That was uncomfortable, difficult and frustrating but it was working, hopefully, because that’s what Hattie was feeling. She felt removed from the love of her life, so we had something in common.”

Throughout the film, based on Colson Whitehead’s 2020 Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Ross also uses archival footage to juxtapose Elwood and Turner’s abusive experience at Nickel Academy (which subs in for the real Dozier School for Boys in Florida, where more than 100 students died from abuse) with the social and technological advances of the ‘60s, like the Civil Rights Movement and the Space Race. As a filmmaker, Ross explained, his approach is to let the form emerge from the content.

“I think that gave us permission to use the Dozier School Boys images from that document, which then opens up the film to other archival footage,” Ross said. “It doesn’t let us hold steady to notions of fiction film that may close off possibilities and connection with the audience and the real world.”

While the film’s unique perspective required extensive rehearsal and camera tests, Wilson and Herisse were able to naturally develop their friendship outside of filming.

“It serviced what we were able to do on screen in such a beautiful way,” Herisse said of bonding before they arrived on set. “Because when it did get to exploring those characters, so much of it is already given to us, so all we have to do is to go in and explore and be open with each other.”

Fred Hechinger said that the experience of watching “Hale County This Morning, This Evening,” Ross’ Oscar-nominated 2018 documentary, changed the way he thought about an image’s power, so he was keen to sign on for “Nickel Boys.”

“When I read RaMell and Joslyn [Barnes, the film’s co-writer]’s script and talked with RaMell about it, I just felt adamant,” Hechinger said. “There are those experiences where you’re like, ‘I have to be a part of this.’ Where you can’t imagine a world where you’re not … You just feel that this is going to be the kind of creative experience that will change you.”