SEATTLE — New movie "They Cloned Tyrone" is an R-rated sci-fi/thriller/action/comedy with so many layers, it almost defies definition.
Set in the present with imagery from the past, the story follows Jamie Foxx, John Boyega and Teyonah Parris as a trio of amateur detectives unraveling an eerie conspiracy where members of their community are controlled and cloned by the government.
Entertainment reporter Kim Holcomb talked with the cast and writer/director Juel Taylor about making the mind-bending movie.
HOLCOMB: "For me, it was this crazy dystopian-type mystery that also references Nancy Drew and Bill Nye the Science Guy.”
PARRIS AND BOYEGA: (laughter) “Yes.”
HOLCOMB: “How are you guys talking to people about this and trying to encapsulate what this movie is?"
BOYEGA: "Try to keep it as simple as possible.”
PARRIS: “Because it is so complicated. It’s so enmeshed in different genres and eras."
HOLCOMB: “There is no chance we can actually unpack this film in five minutes… what was the beginning inspiration for this film?”
TAYLOR: "It came from kind of a thematic question: is there a difference between blame and responsibility? That, plus I wanted to make like a bootleg Scooby Doo movie. (laughter)"
HOLCOMB: "Are you the unlikeliest of heroes or are you the likeliest? Given what they've experienced in life, does it make perfect sense they would get to the bottom of this?"
PARRIS: "I think to them, and to those in their community, it makes sense. But not without working through some brainwashing that tells them, you don't make sense, you're not capable of processing what's happening to you."
HOLCOMB: "It seems like chemistry can be a tricky thing when you're acting with a partner. A trio seems even more tricky, and it is so good in this movie between the three of you. Was that natural, was there a key to unlocking it?"
BOYEGA: "Natural…”
PARRIS: “We did do a five hour yoga session - I'm joking. (laughter)"
HOLCOMB: “Can you talk a little bit about the choice (to make it feel) like a dichotomy of periods… I was like, ‘Is this modern day, is this the 70’s, what’s happening?’ Why was that choice important?”
JUEL: "Places I grew up as a kid haven't been necessarily updated in certain areas. A lot of places, at least growing up, felt kind of lost in time and it's like a kind of timelessness to it, to the neighborhood. And I think creating a mystery movie and wanting to have some sense of temporal dissonance in this neighborhood that feels like archetypal and lost in time, so I had the anachronisms kind of play into that."
HOLCOMB: "When (John’s character) Fontaine sees himself and is like, ‘That's not me,’ have you experienced that in your career? Felt misrepresented in some way?”
BOYEGA: "Not really, I’ve done all right. I guess if you have one of those weird looking action figures? (laughter) Like, I didn't send them a mold or a head shot, or something?"
HOLCOMB: "How many times should someone watch this film to get all the stuff?"
BOYEGA: "Maybe a cool 7."
“They Cloned Tyrone” is rated R and opens at Landmark Crest Cinema Center in Shoreline and iPic in Redmond on July 14. It begins streaming on Netflix July 21.
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