Exclusive: Mamoudou Athie On Blumhouse Thriller ‘Black Box’

Now playing on Amazon Prime Video is the thriller Black Box, which is one of first four of eight films in the Welcome to the Blumhouse series.

Welcome to the Blumhouse is a program of eight unsettling, genre movies produced by Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Television and Amazon Studios. Sharing the spine-tingling suspense that’s a Blumhouse signature, each film presents a distinctive vision and unique perspective on common themes centered around family and love as redemptive or destructive forces.

Directed by Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr. (Born With It) and script by Osei-Kuffour Jr. and Stephen Herman, Black Box (October 6 on Amazon Prime) stars Mamoudou Athie (Jurassic World 3, The Circle), Phylicia Rashad (Creed), Amanda Christine (Colony), Tosin Morohunfola (The Chi, The 24th), Charmaine Bingwa (Trees of Peace, Little Sista), and Troy James (The Flash, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark).

After losing his wife and his memory in a car accident, a single father undergoes an agonizing experimental treatment that causes him to question who he really is.

For Athie, he’s starting to break out in leading roles. Earlier this year, the Mauritanian-American actor had an amazing role in Prentice Penny’s feature directorial debut, Uncorked. Including his performances in films such as Patti Cake$, Unicorn Store and The Front Runner, Athie recently earned his first Emmy nomination for short-form series Oh Jerome, No.

BlackFilmandTV.com recently spoke with Athie about his role in Black Box.

What attracted you to this project?

Mamoudou Athie: It was Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour Jr., the director. First I read the script and then we spoke. There was a real sense of understanding. It was like kismet. I got to work with this guy and I’m really glad I did because I learned a lot on this film. 

Without giving spoilers, how would you best describe your character?

Mamoudou Athie: He’s a searching lost soul I would say

In your last few films, you’ve taken on bigger roles because you're pretty much on every page. What does that do for you and your confidence as an actor?

Mamoudou Athie: Great. Well, the best thing about working with good actors is how much you learn. No matter what age they are, like Amanda Christine. She's a fairly young person. There are scenes in the movie where I was like, “How old is Amanda really? It felt like she’s 25 masquerading as a young girl because she's just so on point. And then there's Ms. Phylicia Rashad, who's just rightfully a legend. She's just a wonderful person and I learned so much from her on camera. My respect for her, if it's possible, grew after working with her. It's a gift to just to be there. Just being there every day, and working every day, you just get sharper. That's one of the best things about being on set every day. I’m starting to understand how we work together as a unit. We meet the director and the DP and the crew and just finding that sweet spot was exciting. 

On your last film, Uncorked, you had to learn about wines with this one, how much research did you do for your character?

Mamoudou Athie: Not a lot. He’s a photographer and I know a little bit about that because of the industry that I'm in. Hopefully you can't help but to learn it. But then I do have an interest in the technology and also how the DP set up the shots to get some ideas, but it wasn't necessary. This is not a spoiler, but it wasn't necessary for me to dig into that deeply because he can't remember. So my main focus, in terms of the work, was the script and finding it out and talking with Emmanuel and then deciding and making decisions based on what happens later, and what we find out later and making that make sense all the way through. I didn't want to restrict myself to interviewing amnesiacs, or things like that. This is completely a different set of circumstances. 

Are you a fan of this genre? I was amazed when I spoke to Phylicia about the movie she's watched. Usually actors say they haven't had time to watch this or that. Have you have found time to watch movies of this genre?

Mamoudou Athie: I'm also surprised what Ms. Rashad watches as well. She gave me some great recommendations and you'll be surprised by her every time. No, I don't have like a particular genre that I'm a fan of. I’m a fan of certain filmmakers. I'm certainly a fan of the writing that is very centered and leads to something that feels useful. As far as like, I'm gonna watch this because it's like part of the drama that I'm interested in, not so much.

What did you get from Emmanuel on this film, that you can take on to your next project that was different from other directors you've worked with in the past?

Mamoudou Athie: I don't know if it was necessarily different because I think as a director, you have to be relentless. I love Emmanuel’s quiet patience. We didn't have any time. We had 19 days to shoot what felt like a mammoth script with a whole lot going on. This was his first rodeo as a feature film director. He had this insane amount of patience and poise, I was truly impressed by that because there was so many things going on, and the lack of time that we had. He never lost any sense of composure and I was really impressed by that.