Actor Winston Duke would have done anything to star in Jordan Peele's new horror movie Us, even though he has never been a fan of scary movies.
The Black Panther star was first approached by the Get Out filmmaker about the project while they were both attending the 2018 Academy Awards, and Winston was thrilled when Jordan followed up on their chat with a phone call to further discuss the big screen collaboration.
"I met him at the Oscars, we had a great conversation," Winston recalled. "Three weeks later, he called and I'm like, 'I'll do whatever you want! I'll shine your shoes, if that's what we're doing...!'"
"He told me to read the script, 'Let me know if you want to do it...,'" the 32 year old continued. "I read it immediately, I had to jump in. He's a good guy."
Winston, who was born in Trinidad and Tobago, admits the movie is a bit of a departure for him as the horror genre never really appealed to him as an actor, because black characters rarely make it out alive.
"I was not a big fan of scary movies - black people always die! First five minutes...!" he laughed on U.S. breakfast show Today. "I was like, 'I'm never really gonna get in there and do anything!'"
However, he began reconsidering his stance after seeing what comedy star Jordan had done with his directorial debut: "And then Jordan Peele did Get Out and changed the whole genre," he said.
Winston reunites with his Black Panther co-star Lupita Nyong'o for Us, about a vacationing family terrorised by a group of demon doppelgangers, and they had to study a number of classic horror films to prepare for the project.
"He (Jordan) actually gave us a list of films to watch and research, so we'd get how the genre functions...," the actor shared. "I really was drawn to The Shining, one of the greats, but it had a family at the centre and they had a familiar villain, the father, that was turned into something else."
Us, which also features Elisabeth Moss, opens in the U.S. on Friday (22Mar19).
