Mahershala Ali was joined by ‚Swan Song‘ co-star Awkwafina and director Benjamin Cleary for the AFI Fest debut of the Apple original movie.
Two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali celebrated a major milestone on Friday night with the AFI Fest debut of “Swan Song,” which marks his first film project in a leading role and first narrative feature as a producer. “It was an emotional day, for me, I gotta say,” Ali told Variety on the red carpet outside the TCL Chinese Theatre. “I went on a nice long walk trying to calm myself a bit, and really take in the moment.” “It’s been a long time coming, but, in some ways, it went by very quickly. In a larger sense, I think I feel prepared for the moment as best I can,” he added. “I could have done it a year or two earlier, but with a lesser film probably, so to get to do it with this film that just feels so rich and [have] the characters and the supporting cast [be] phenomenal, I’m just really grateful.” Ali does double duty in the near-futuristic family drama — playing both a terminally ill man named Cameron Turner and his clone, crafted through experimental technology to take his place and spare his family the grief of losing him. It’s an existential (and ethical) conundrum, but with his pregnant wife Poppy (Ali’s “Moonlight” co-star Oscar nominee Naomie Harris) and son Hugo (Dax Rey) to consider, the real question is, what choice can Cameron’s family survive? The story comes from the mind of writer-director Benjamin Cleary, who tinkered with the project for a decade before Ali came on board. Explaining why he decided to take on the challenging role with the added pressure of filming amid the pandemic, Ali said, “It was a perfect film to do during this time.” “It’s a great place for me to put my energies; it’s the healthiest place that I’ve found thus far creatively,” Ali explained. “[Filming] during COVID, it was just a gift to finally get to go back to work.
