Uncorked mixes wine-tasting with family drama when its protagonist Elijah butts heads with his family over his chosen career as a sommelier despite his father’s wish that he pursue the business of barbecue. The foodie-friendly film hits Netflix on March 27 after being pulled from the South by Southwest festival line-up due to recent COVID-19 pandemic.
Rising star Mamoudou Athie plays the ambitious Elijah, and he shared his experience with Screen Rant in a recent interview. The actor reminisced about how he learned the language of wine and explained how writer-director Prentice Penny (Insecure) brought his ability as a showrunner to the filming process, while also revealing what has him most excited about his upcoming role in Jurassic World: Dominion.
Your parents in the film are played by Courtney Vance and Niecy Nash, a comedic pairing that almost writes itself. Talk to me about the dynamic between the two of them.
Mamoudou Athie: Oh, they're hilarious. It's one of those things where you just kind of watch and listen. They're truly hysterical. I can't imagine living with them in that scenario day to day, because I was ruining takes laughing. They're wonderful; they're really warmhearted and just genuinely good people. And Prentice is also equally funny, so the three of them altogether was a problem - I'd have to walk away.
Is there any element of class identification in Uncorked, with your father's barbecue business in contrast to Elijah's passion for wine culture?
Mamoudou Athie: I mean, I can tell you how we approached the movie. The thing is, it's just about how this is my interest, and I'm going to go after this because it is my interest. The family has more of an issue with - yeah, they're unfamiliar with the specifics of wine in general. Particularly Louis, my dad, his issue is that I have not stuck with anything. And so this will be another thing that I don't stick to. Not so much it being wine.
I think people have some preconceived notions, and there are some class things about wine. But it's made up, you know what I mean? It's not real, so we didn't engage with it in that way.
Courtney B. Vance is an icon in Hollywood. He's even the president of the Screen Actors Guild. Does his stature in the real world help inform his portrayal as your father?
Mamoudou Athie: I mean, I've admired him since before I was really an actor. I kind of credit him with a lot of the games that I'm able to make as an actor, so yeah, I was intimidated. When I met him on set, I was nervous and very deferential. He cuts a huge figure. I studied plays that he originated, like Fences and Six Degrees of Separation, as parts that would be good for me. So, I kind of looked up to him as a role model.
I still do, but the thing about Courtney is he's one of the funniest people on the planet. So, it very soon came to a point where I was just asking him for stories. "What happened on this project," or "What is this about? Tell me about this." He was just telling me these hilarious stories about his life and his career, and I'm just very grateful to him.
Prentice Penny both wrote and directed Uncorked. How much does having the same writer and director affect an actor's performance?
Mamoudou Athie: It depends. It depends. With Prentice, he's a writer first, so he knows language and he knows what he wants. But he's also a wonderful director; he's a great director. I love working with writer- directors, because the buck stops there in terms of what's going on. Like, they know what they're doing, you know what I mean?
Especially somebody like Prentice, who has worked in TV for so long and knows how to tell a story. I just had complete and full trust in him. When you have that kind of trust in a director who also wrote the thing, it avails you to go down whatever path without having any doubts. I just trusted him.
This is such a dynamic and diverse cast of up-and-comers. Besides yourself, of course, who should viewers be on the lookout for in the future?
Mamoudou Athie: Oh, every single one of them. Wonderful cast. I don't want to single anyone out, because I think everyone is wonderful - actually, I will single everyone out. Gil Ozeri, Sasha Compere, Matt McGorry, Bernard David Jones - who is just a lovely presence to be in a film with. Everyone... They're all great.
I feel like I worked the most with Gil out of everyone outside of the family, and Sasha, obviously. But they're just wonderful actors, and they're really game and just good people.
For many actors, there's something that hooks you into a given role or story. What was it about Uncorked that hooked you?
Mamoudou Athie: Well, honestly, it was a story about a black family that had nothing to do with any kind of trauma. It was just a story about this black family trying to make it through in this very middle class background. What I'm really trying to say is that it didn't have the specter of white supremacy over it. It was just a very good story about something that you don't see a lot of black people involved in, and that's wine.
And there are black people involved in wine, who have their own vineyards. It's a completely undiscovered subject, and honestly, I was unaware. But more than that, it's a love story of a family. It's a father-son love story. And I think it's really important to share that, as well. Because when I look at a lot of things that are celebrated - not being made only, but celebrated - sometimes I'm like, "We have other stories," and I want them to be portrayed. And that's what makes me proud of this movie.
There was a new language of wine that you had to master. How did you get so proficient at it?
Mamoudou Athie: It's actually really fun. I mean, I had two amazing sommeliers I was working with. Dlynn Proctor - who was in that documentary Somm, which was also on Netflix - and Ryan Radish, who taught me in Memphis and was on set every day, anytime there was anything to do with wine. Those two guys made it so accessible and made it so fun and so exciting, that it was just like, "Oh, I'm interested in this now for myself, not just for this movie."
I have a newfound interest in wine, so I'm grateful to those guys. They just broke it down, because when you look at what these sommeliers have to do, they have to break down a wine by sniffing and tasting it and looking at it. And they have to tell you what year it was made, what region it's from specifically, what kind of grape it is, and all the notes that are in it. It sounds impossible.
Uncorked has a lot of underlying themes, including the tension between family expectations and Elijah's pursuit of his dream. Can you relate to being distracted from your dreams when you're pursuing your goals?
Mamoudou Athie: I've certainly allowed myself to get distracted while pursuing my goals. But that's why you have good people surrounding you; to remind you, "Hey, man. You're not doing the thing you're supposed to be doing, or the thing that you actually want to be doing." And why is that? It's not like, "Don't do that." It's, "Why are you avoiding that thing that you've been working towards your entire life? What's that about?"
I've been very fortunate to be surrounded by good people all of my life. I look at Eliza, and I think his family is [good people]. They might have some reservations - his father in particular - and maybe with good reason. Because you don't see it in the movie so much, but he's had a history of bailing on things. Actually, you do see it in the movie. There's a moment where I'm thinking maybe it's just not for me, but his family loves him no matter what. And they support him by helping him go to Paris. They helped him pay for that whole trip and that whole class.
I'm familiar with that, because my family has always been hyper-supportive of me being an actor - to the point that it's ridiculous. So, I've been very fortunate in that way, and it's worked out so they get to share that with me. It's wonderful.
Another thing you have coming up, or were probably in the process of shooting before it got shut down, is Jurassic World: Dominion. How's that project going? There are so many great actors and legends in that. Who are you excited to share the screen with?
Mamoudou Athie: I mean, I love Justice Smith so much. I think our first time being recognized in any kind of capacity is because of The Get Down. And I just loved working with him because I think he's a good, smart, hard-working talented kid. I can't even call him a kid anymore. He was a kid when we were shooting, but he's not a kid anymore. I love that kid.
But the original three I grew up watching - I'm talking about Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern, and Sam O'Neill - I'm very much looking forward to working with them. Because that movie, the first one, had an indelible impression on my childhood and my life. I was huge into dinosaurs as a kid. I grew up in the DC area and always went to the Museum of Natural History. To be able to do this movie is like a dream come true. And working with the people that helped create the whole thing is amazing.
You and Jeff Goldblum both studied at the prestigious William Esper Studio in New York. Have you had a chance yet to sit down and connect with him about stories from the school or anything like that?
Mamoudou Athie: Not yet. I'm not in London yet, and I won't be for a little while, for obvious reasons. But as soon as I am, you best believe I'm hitting all those guys up for stories. I love hearing actor stories. You learn so much, and they're so fun. It's great.