Latest news with #Caton
San Francisco Chronicle
29-04-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
This Bay Area singer encouraged a ‘Sinners' breakout star to audition
A certain Bay Area musician is to thank for Miles Caton's breakout role in ' Sinners.' Vallejo R&B singer H.E.R alerted Caton, a Brooklyn musician, about the role in Oakland director Ryan Cooglers ' latest project while they were touring together. 'She called me one day after we got back from tour, and she was like, 'Bro, somebody was in the crowd watching you, and they want you to audition for this role. I think you'll be dope,'' he recalled during an interview with Variety earlier this month. 'I was like, 'OK,' not really knowing what to expect.' Within a few weeks of auditioning, getting a call back and sending in a few videos, the role was his — marking his first acting gig. Caton has been singing since he was 3 years old and joined H.E.R. on her 'Back of My Mind' tour in 2022 when he was still in high school. He also performed alongside her when she opened for Coldplay's 'Music of the Spheres' world tour. After the trek, he returned to school and graduated in 2023. The 20-year-old actor plays Sammie Moore, the son of a local preacher and the teenage cousin of identical twins Smoke and Stack (Michael B. Jordan), in Coogler's latest box office hit. The film folds the supernatural into an allegory about racism in the Jim Crow South and has been embraced by moviegoers since its release on April 18. 'When I first got the script, it was like a tiny side (role about) a kid playing the guitar and I read a couple of lines. I didn't know everything I do now, but I was like, I'm just gonna try and see where it goes,' he said. 'Then actually getting the whole script was just like, wow.' The horror film made $63 million globally during its opening weekend, setting the record for the highest-grossing debut of an original movie not based on existing material in the 2020s.
Business Insider
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
20-year-old Miles Caton was the surprise star of breakout hit "Sinners." Here are 5 things to know about the actor.
Caton is the son of a gospel singer Like his character Sammie, Caton's family is very involved in church. Caton's grandfather Archbishop Eric Figueroa Sr. is a working pastor in the Pentecostal church, and his mother and aunt are both gospel singers. Caton told Variety in April that he has been singing since he was 3 years old. Caton appeared in a short film by Jay-Z Caton has been building his career in music from a young age. In 2017, a video of 11-year-old Caton singing Nina Simone's "Feeling Good" went viral. Jay-Z later included a clip of the video at the start of his music video for "4:44," the titular single of his 13th album. A year later, at 12, Caton appeared on the third season of NBC's "Little Big Shots," a children's talent show. In 2019, the pre-teen sang during a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King on "The View" with Grammy-winning singer Yolanda Adams. Caton supported H.E.R. on her recent tour While still in high school, Caton joined H.E.R. as a background singer on her "Back of My Mind" tour in 2022. He also joined the singer while she supported Coldplay on their "Music of the Spheres" world tour. As part of the show, Caton would perform H.E.R.'s " Best Part" single as a duet with the Grammy-winning singer. The newcomer told Variety this put him on the "Sinners" casting team's radar. "We got close — she became like a big sister to me — and she called me one day after we got back from tour, and she was like, 'Bro, somebody was in the crowd watching you, and they want you to audition for this role. I think you'll be dope,' Caton said, referring to H.E.R. After the tour, Caton returned to high school and graduated at 18 in 2023. Caton learned how to play guitar in two months for "Sinners" "Sinners" director Coogler told Variety they picked Caton after seeing audition tapes from around the world because of his "once in a lifetime voice." "He was just in the dark — like he didn't turn his lights on. Something about that was, like, so intriguing," the filmmaker said. After getting the role, Caton had to learn how to play guitar, since his character Sammie is both a vocalist and a guitarist. Caton told Vanity Fair he spent two months learning the instrument's fundamentals before filming began. He received lessons from Randy Bowland, a Philadelphia-based guitarist who has worked with legendary artists like Sting and Luther Vandross. Caton has his sights set on music and acting Caton is building his career in film and music simultaneously. He released a single "This Ain't It" in 2023. He also cowrote an original song for "Sinners," titled "Last Time (I Seen the Sun)," with Alice Smith and the film's composer Ludwig Göransson. "Before, my main thing was music and just being an artist. But now, having this under my belt, I feel like I don't have to limit myself to just one thing. I feel like I can accomplish whatever I want to. So, I'm looking to get into some more acting roles." In the interview with Variety, Caton suggested he'd love to be cast in a Marvel film. Coogler also directed "Black Panther," a standout film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
CNBC
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CNBC
Teen prodigy cast in 'Sinners' shares No. 1 lesson he learned from Michael B. Jordan
Miles Caton was already living the dream before he was cast in Ryan Coogler's blockbuster hit "Sinners." The 20-year-old music prodigy has been performing since he was a child, and by the age of 16 was touring with the Grammy-winning artist H.E.R. Indeed, Caton recently told Variety that it was because of his performance at one of H.E.R.'s concerts that he was first approached about making his Hollywood acting debut. "She called me one day after we got back from tour, and she was like, 'Bro, somebody was in the crowd watching you, and they want you to audition for this role. I think you'll be dope,'" he said. "I did the audition, got a call back, and then sent in a couple of videos of me playing. A couple weeks later, I got the call, and that was it." In 'Sinners," Caton plays a gifted young guitarist whose music sets into action the film's bloody chain of events. Coogler, who directed Caton through his debut performance, said he knew right away that he was the right person for the role. "You could just tell the kid was special," Coogler told Variety. "He was a good enough singer that he didn't have to finish high school, but he did anyway. There was something to that. I was like, 'Oh, man, we've gotta bring this kid in.'" Caton enjoyed his first experience on a film set. He said that working with so many talented actors — the cast includes Hailee Steinfeld, Delroy Lindo and Jack O'Connell in addition to start Michael B. Jordan — made him feel like "I gotta bring my A-game." "One thing that I learned was that you can't be afraid to make mistakes," he said. "[Michael B. Jordan] taught me that it's about being present and having a conversation within the scene." With 'Sinners' poised to have a second strong weekend at the box office following its huge $63 million global debut, Caton is already looking forward. He told Vanity Fair that on top of new music, he's hoping to continue acting. "I'm so excited," he said. "This is an incredible moment right now, and I'm just soaking it all in."
USA Today
22-04-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Meet Miles Caton, the 'Sinners' breakout having an 'unreal' moment
Meet Miles Caton, the 'Sinners' breakout having an 'unreal' moment Show Caption Hide Caption 'Sinners': A vampire wants to crash Michael B. Jordan's party Cornbread (Omar Miller) isn't acting like his old self when trying to re-enter the party in Ryan Coogler's period horror movie "Sinners." Miles Caton has toured the world with a Grammy-winning artist and tussled with vampires, all before turning drinking age. In director Ryan Coogler's genre-smashing horror movie 'Sinners,' the 20-year-old musician/actor makes his film debut surrounded by booze and blood. From being part of the movie to walking red carpets for the first time, 'I'm still processing it, but it's been really an unreal experience, man,' says Caton, a New York City native. 'Sinners' (in theaters now) centers on Smoke and Stack, 1930s gangster twins played by Michael B. Jordan who return to their Mississippi hometown and run afoul of bloodsuckers. Just as key to the narrative is Sammie (Caton), the brothers' young sharecropping cousin – and son of a preacher – with a gift for blues guitar and a mesmerizing voice. Join our Watch Party! Sign up to receive USA TODAY's movie and TV recommendations right in your inbox The movie has proven a success so far, with a $48 million opening weekend, 98% fresh reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and an A CinemaScore grade (a horror movie first). Here's what new fans need to know about Caton: 'Sinners' star Miles Caton toured with H.E.R. as a teen The son of gospel singer Timiney Figueroa, Caton started singing with his family in church at age 3. The first tune he learned was Sam Cooke's 'A Change Is Gonna Come,' taught to him by his aunt. 'That's a song I've sung probably more times than I can remember,' he says. Caton spent his childhood 'building up my own resume': When he was a tween, a video of him singing Nina Simone's 'Feeling Good' went viral and ended up in Jay-Z's '4:44' short film, and Caton also appeared on the NBC competition show 'Little Big Shots.' When he turned 16, Caton snagged the opportunity to become a background singer for H.E.R., and juggled going on tour with his studies. He completed high school online, and two years ago, Caton came home from a Global Citizen show in Paris the same day he attended his graduation. That week "was lit, for sure,' he says. Miles Caton got an acting masterclass from Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo While music was his 'main thing,' Caton grew up watching movies – his uncle turned him on to everything from comedy to horror – and acting was "something that always piqued my interest, just being like the family clown,' he says. 'As a kid, that was something that I subconsciously wanted to do, but I didn't really know how.' When he got the script for 'Sinners' and learned Coogler was directing, Caton enthusiastically sent in an audition tape: 'I said, 'Hey, maybe this is my chance.' ' Caton could relate to Sammie 'in so many different ways,' he says. 'We both had such a strong ambition, especially in music, just to pursue it and to be great.' The fledgling actor also learned to play blues guitar because his instrument means so much to Sammie: 'When everything around you in the world is going crazy, the guitar was something that he could really hold onto that was kind of safety for him, and also his first love.' Even though it was his first role, Caton had plenty of role models around him. Watching Jordan develop his twins was 'really inspiring,' Caton says, while Delroy Lindo's performance (as aging blues man Delta Slim) made the youngster 'want to dive deeper into acting and just learn more about it.' 'Sinners' youngster seeks to be both actor and singer Caton is a Marvel superhero fan, and he gets a big grin when asked if Coogler has hit him up about 'Black Panther 3' yet. 'Man, that would be crazy. We've got to see,' Caton says. But he's also fostering his other career, and a sound influenced by Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder. He would like to bounce between the music and movie worlds, a la Jennifer Lopez or Will Smith. 'I'm looking forward to seeing what the future holds, but I'm a musician at heart,' he says. 'I'm definitely excited to work on some more acting roles, for sure, and just see where everything goes.'
Telegraph
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Sinners: Michael B Jordan's wild Southern Gothic horror is an utterly thrilling oddity
Ryan Coogler's career has always been teetering on the brink of prestige. Fruitvale Station, Creed, Black Panther: none of these films behaved like classic Oscar bait, exactly, but all three came bundled with enough topicality and substance to ensure that numerous beards were liberally stroked. Wonderfully, his latest film rocket-blasts his career in the other direction at a million miles an hour: more wonderfully still, it initially has you scrambling to work out what sort of film you're even watching, before finally lighting the ignition with a wink. At first it resembles a handsome period drama – shot on IMAX cameras, no less! – and set in the Prohibition-era Deep South, where candy-floss clouds scud lazily above the sprawling cotton fields. This apparently ordinary corner of rural Mississippi is where two twin-brother mobsters, both played by Coogler's regular leading man Michael B Jordan, are trying to get a new hustle underway. Using their liquor-running connections from a turbulent spell in Chicago, this effortlessly slick pair, Smoke and Stack, are opening a juke joint in a derelict barn near the home town of their cousin Sammie (newcomer Miles Caton). This wide-eyed youngster is a gifted blues guitarist, and therefore an ideal act for the brothers' opening night. But his preacher father views secular music with suspicion: it's how the devil gets in. Viewers whose brains just lit up with the name 'Robert Johnson' will not leave short-changed. For a while, we watch the brothers piecing together their venture, with help from a feisty ex-lover (Hailee Steinfeld), the town's shopkeeper Grace (Li Jun Li), a silvering local worthy (Delroy Lindo), and more vibrantly drawn supporting characters. In lieu of monologues and soul-baring, Coogler crams the film with proper movie-star performances at every level: by turns glowingly charismatic, sparklingly funny and silkily seductive. And then – in more than one sense – the stakes are abruptly raised. It's not quite a spoiler to say that what comes next involves Riverdancing vampires and the most outrageous blood sprays since Toshiro Mifune last unsheathed a samurai sword. But that's because the pleasure of Sinners isn't in watching its plot unfold so much as the visceral experience of feeling it swing from side to side, as it thwangs you round one insane corner and into the next. As the craziness climbs, Coogler keeps finding ways to squeeze startlingly original ideas into his chosen Southern Gothic format, with its obvious overtones of Salem's Lot. There's an extraordinary moment in which Caton's Sammie takes to the stage and his blues melodies and rhythms somehow pry apart spacetime itself: black musicians from other nations and eras start to drift through the scene, from prog rockers to hip-hoppers and beyond. To experience this level of off-the-wall metaphysical gamesmanship and elevated craft in a film that's primarily a bit of fun is utterly thrilling – as well as (outside of South Korea and Japan, at least) tragically rare. Does Hollywood know that popular films are allowed to behave like this? Given it almost certainly doesn't, it's all too easy to imagine an alternate version of Sinners in which a blunt racism allegory was mapped onto the plot. But as Jack O'Connell 's Remmick and his fellow-travellers keep insisting, skin colour doesn't really concern them: all that matters is recruiting more souls for the undead revolution, and thereby building a new heaven (albeit a pretty hellish one) right here on earth. Sinners is such a joyous oddity it's easy to wonder if its own revolutionary instincts stand any chance of catching on, but you can't help but wish it every success. 15 cert, 138 min. In cinemas from April 18
