Over a Zoom from London, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II admits he hesitated before saying yes to the first Candyman film in over 20 years. “I think the story of Candyman is so iconic. Everyone knows it in my household,” the Oakland-raised actor explains to EBONY. “In order to step into [this role], I had to make sure we had a good reason to be messing with it.”
Abdul-Mateen II’s reverence and respect for the film is certainly warranted. When the very first Candyman premiered in 1992, it became an instant classic. Because so few horror films had any Black people at all in them during that era, Candyman’s success was even more noteworthy. Being an actual killer is not exactly why Candyman hit so hard. Instead, the serious backstory acknowledging the racial trauma Black people have endured in this country also played a major role. As the legend goes, Candyman, played by Tony Todd, was once a well-educated man who found success as a portrait artist for wealthy white people in post-Civil War America. When he had an affair with one of his subjects producing a child, her father sent a lynch mob after him that sawed off his hand, placing a hook in the stump before smearing honey on him and leaving him for bees to sting him to death.
Read More at Ebony.com: Yahya Abdul Mateen II Reveals Why ‘Candyman’ Will Hit A Nerve With Black Folks • EBONY
