After winning a Special Jury Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Charm City Kings is coming to HBO Max on October 8. The film, with a story written in part by Moonlight‘s Barry Jenkins, follows the fourteen-year-old Mouse (Jahi Di’Allo Winston) in his quest to join the local dirt biking clique in Baltimore.

What starts as a summertime hobby with his young friends soon grows dangerous, as the mentorship he receives from the Midnight Clique’s leader, Blax (Meek Mill) threatens to veer him off the path previously laid out for him.  Shot on the streets of West Baltimore, and incorporating actual dirt bikers from the area, the movie is an authentic portrayal of the experiences of many young boys in the area.

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Winston, most recently known for Queen & Slim, spoke to Screen Rant about the catharsis he experienced stepping into the role of Mouse. He also praised his castmates and discussed the theme of toxic masculinity within the story.

How much research did you do when you went into the role, and how much did you know about the 12 O’Clock Boys?

Jahi Di’Allo Winston: I did quite a bit of research. I didn’t know a lot about the 12 O’Clock Boys at all, actually. I didn’t know that it was such a prominent thing in Baltimore City until I watch the film that our film is inspired by, 12 O’Clock Boys by Lofty Nathan, and then I was able to see. I knew from the first frame, and I was like, “Oh, this is different. This is something interesting that I would love to be attached to in some way.”

Studying the culture before, during, and a little bit after filming was really important to me. I remember after filming, I was like, “Okay, I’m trying to peel the layers of Mouse off, because I was immersed into character for so long.”

One of the layers that I found really fascinating was the family dynamic, especially with Mouse’s mother, because so much of it is wrapped up in what happened before the movie started with your brother. How did you approach that as an actor, and how did you and Teyonah Parris create that warm and yet tense dynamic?

Jahi Di’Allo Winston: Well, I have to credit her so much because she’s an incredible, incredible actress. And she’s so giving; she gives [so much], and I think she is probably responsible – she will never let me say this. She’s always like, “Don’t say it like that. Just let them [compliment you.]” But I’m like, “No, I have to credit you.” Because I think you’re only as good as your scene partner. She just gives so much of herself, and she’s an incredible actress.

I’m so excited to see her in WandaVision; that’s gonna be so cool. Shoutout to Teyonah. She’s an incredible actress.

Two other incredible artists that you work with, Meek Mill and William Catlett, played your two would-be mentors. How was it working with both of them, and then also playing off the angel and devil on your shoulder without demonizing one or idolizing the other?

Jahi Di’Allo Winston: Right. It’s polar opposites, for sure. I think that dynamic was cool, because actually, offscreen was sort of polar opposites as well. Whereas I spent a lot more time with Will, Meek has an incredible work ethic. So, he was working on his album, doing shows, and doing the film at the same time. Meek was a lot more hesitant and shy coming in, and Will wasn’t. I valued both experiences, and all of my time that I spent with both of them.

It was really cool to get fully immersed in it and really work with both of them, and see their different eccentricities of how both of them work. I think that the dynamic of seeing young kid have two mentors – most of us are fortunate enough to have one, but he has two and still he makes terrible decisions. Like, what is this film about? It’s about a little black boy who makes terrible decisions. No, I’m just kidding. It’s a lot more than that. But I loved working with both of them.

Speaking of those terrible decisions, a lot of Mouse’s dilemma is wrapped up in toxic masculinity. it’s the idea of how a man should behave, and even when people mean well, they still put that on him. A man doesn’t cry, or a man would get this job, etc. So how do you process what he’s dealing with as an actor, and did you learn anything from it as well?

Jahi Di’Allo Winston: Yeah, for sure. It was extremely – I don’t want to say healing, but it was really awesome for me, being an actor and also being someone who has dealt with themes of toxic masculinity in my own life, to bring that story and those things to the fore.

The way that we talk about it is really cool, too. We’re not preaching; we’re not stamping this political message on the film. We’re just telling a story, and you can’t tell a story about black boyhood without some theme of toxic masculinity being forced on to their existence. Because that’s just the truth and the honesty of the experience of going up black in this country. I think that all those things are really appreciated by us, and hopefully the audience receives them well and understands them and is able to digest and comprehend them really well.

Charm City Kings is set to premiere October 8 on HBO Max.

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Tatiana Hullender
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Tatiana Hullender is a writer at Screen Rant, focusing on film and television, as well as a co-host of several podcasts. In the interviews she conducts for Screen Rant, she seeks to learn what drives each creative mind and how different experiences influence the same narrative. As a graduate of Columbia University in New York City, Tatiana studied theater and comparative literature. She has been passionate about all manner of storytelling since being exposed to Jane Austen and BBC adaptations of her work all at once. But Regency satire of manners isn’t the only genre she loves, as a love of comic books naturally developed into a love of cinematic universes and their superheroes. So long as a story has heart and humor, there’s a chance of finding something to enjoy in the telling of it.
Visit @myrcellasear on Twitter to follow Tatiana’s articles, interviews and podcasts including: The Flash Podcast, Pop A La Carte and Ladies With Gumption. Subscribe to them on the Podcast app, or contact her directly at painted(dot)out(at)gmail.com.

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