In A Thousand and One, Inez (Teyana Taylor) reconnects with an old boyfriend, Lucky, but he hardly seems like the best choice for a single mother on the run from the law. He’s just been released from prison, he’s a womaniser, and he’s initially uninterested in co-parenting her son, Terry.
But A.V. Rockwell’s fierce yet delicate drama continually subverts clichés and expectations in ways large and small, and Will Catlett’s quietly magnetic portrayal of Lucky breathes life into both his tempestuous romance with Inez and his evolving bond with Terry. “I was struck by his original interpretation and the intensity of his presence,” Rockwell, directing her first feature, recalls of Catlett’s audition. “Inez is a powerful woman, so we needed someone who was truly masculine – he is so hardened by what a man is supposed to be, but also not afraid to show his vulnerable side.and had a capacity for nurturing”.
Catlett’s riveting portrayal was inspired by his own father, who grew up watching James Cagney and Edward G. Robinson in the movies and wanted to be an actor; instead, he forged a career in the military and government to provide for his family. The first time his father saw him act, he gave him notes. “He said, ‘You’re doing too much,'” Catlett recalls. “Just relax and find the rhythm. ”
The actor, who looks for films “that connect me spiritually to the role,” responded to the way Lucky, trying to find himself, “feels like he gets a second chance with his younger self through Terry.”
But there were challenges. For starters, while Catlett is from Alexandria, Va., Lucky is a New Yorker through and through. So Catlett hired a coach to nail the accent, learned the swagger – “that Harlem bounce” – and how to ride Lucky’s motorcycle. He spent time in Harlem, stopping at local delis and walking the streets.
“New York has such a high sexual energy in the summer, but there’s also garbage in the streets and all these smells, so I just had to embrace it all,” he says.
It also took a minute to find Rockwell’s rhythm. There were so many notes from the writer-director that one day Catlett felt he was being “micromanaged”, so they talked it over. “What she wanted from me needed more real estate – if you want more beats, we need more time to run, because you have to hit the mark at a certain time,” he recalls, adding that he also had to let go of his ego. “Once we found our rhythm, we were locked in”.
He also found ways to lock in with each actor. With Taylor, “whose life has always been a struggle,” Catlett would “try to poke her” to create the sparks that fuelled their characters’ passion and struggles. In one memorable near-brawl, he decided to be “as soft as you can be, but also as hard as you can be.can be,” until Inez pushes Lucky into the oven. “Then I let myself get emotional.”
With three actors playing Terry at different stages of his childhood, Catlett looked for different ways to connect. “Aaron [Kingsley Adetola, as the boy at 6] admired his own father, so I connected with him through that,” says Catlett. “Aven [Courtney] was a bit rough around the edges, trying to figure himself out, so there was a lot of pushing and hugging. Josiah [Cross] plays basketball, so we bonded over that. You just have to find those real moments and then everything will resonate on screen.
The chemistry with all three actors was important to Catlett. Having mentored children through his church for years, he felt that Lucky’s relationship with Terry “could reach other kids growing up without a father figure. I think I’m the man to tell something truthful that will resonate across generations.
