Teyonah Parris on Transforming Into a ‘Hood Superhero’ for Netflix’s ‘They Cloned Tyrone’
Teyonah Parris has stepped into plenty of shoes in her career — from “Dear White People” and “Mad Men” to “If Beale Street Could Talk” and, more recently, as Marvel superhero Monica Rambeau. But no shoes quite compare to the mustard yellow, thigh-high boots and chaps she wore as Yo-Yo in Netflix’s new pulpy conspiracy caper “They Cloned Tyrone.”
“The minute I put on all those elements, I felt Yo-Yo,” Parris told Variety at a press junket for the film in late June.
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Parris laughed brightly as she recalls slipping into the role — a working girl who teams up with Fontaine (John Boyega), a local dope boy, and her pimp, Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx), to expose a government conspiracy that touches every corner of their community, from the barbershop and the beauty salon to the local fried chicken joint.
In addition to the “chap-boots,” Yo-Yo’s signature look also features a cropped orange fur coat and leopard pants, capped by her voluminous, curly hairdo. It’s “the bow on the package,” Parris explained. “I walked a different way because of the heels and the thigh-high boots. You carry your face and how you communicate with people differently when you have on green lipstick.”
“They Cloned Tyrone” launched in select theaters on July 14 and debuted on Netflix on July 21, where it currently ranks as the No. 1 movie in the U.S. (The movie ranks as the No. 3 movie globally, with 13.1 million hours viewed). Co-written by Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier, with Taylor making his directorial debut, “They Cloned Tyrone” is mashup of action, comedy and drama with a modern take on the Blaxploitation genre.
“We’re doing everything,” Parris said, describing the tone. “And being able to slip into Yo-Yo has been a wild ride.”
Yo-Yo can best be described as Nancy Drew by way of Pam Grier’s Foxy Brown, with Parris hitting Grier’s power lunge poses on set to prove it. “I was like ‘Juel is definitely gonna come over here and say, ‘Okay, that’s a little too much.’ But he didn’t,” Parris recalled, laughing again.
Another quirk: Yo-Yo is also a little obsessed with Kevin Bacon’s 2000 thriller “Hollow Man.” She said: “I had seen it, but that’s one of Yo-Yo’s joints. That was not something I would reference in my own life, but she loves Kevin Bacon honey.”
It was a lengthy process to get the movie made, with nearly five years going by between Parris receiving the script, filming (which took place amid the COVID-19 pandemic) and the finished product. The first public screening took place as the opening night selection of the American Black Film Festival in June, with the crowd roaring generously in recognition of the movie’s subtle nods to varied authenticities of Black communities.
“I was so excited that folks were engaged with the film and talking to the screen,” Parris recalls. “This is a film for the culture by the culture and ABFF is also for the culture by the culture. So it was the perfect place for our first screening. They laughed at things that I didn’t know were funny and they responded very viscerally to things that I was like, “Oh, yeah, they put that together!” It was an exciting ride watching it with an audience for the first time.”
Read on as Parris details her experience of donning a new type of superhero suit for the mystery caper.
What first attracted you to Yo-Yo?
I saw this script almost five years ago. It was just so fun, smart, wild and weird that I wanted to be a part of it. I also knew that Juel was a first-time director, so I’m imagining, “If this is what he’s got to say [in the script], his vision overall is going to be out of this world.” Once I spoke to him about it, that solidified for me like, “Nah, I want to be a part of this, for sure.”
Was there any part that you viscerally responded to, because the second I saw Mount Zion Church on the funeral flyer, I was like, “This is quite close to home.”
To everybody’s home! That’s what’s so fun about this movie: not only does it span across so many different genres and eras, but, because it’s so general, it’s also so very specific to our own experiences, our own neighborhoods within the diaspora. We share a lot, but we also differ in a lot of places as well.
Were you a Nancy Drew girl? “The Hidden Staircase” is featured on Yo-Yo’s bookcase.
That was hilarious and a bit of a full circle, funny nod to my childhood. I definitely read Nancy Drew growing up and watched “Scooby Doo.” I love how Juel refers to this movie as a “bootleg Scooby Doo.” It’s just really fun in that way, all those little nuggets and easter eggs about cultural references that we pull from all different eras and genres.
Were you good at figuring out the mysteries? Did you have that natural instinct like Yo-Yo does?
No, child! No, no. And it’s crazy because as many true crime shows and mystery shows and murder shows as I watch, I just let it wash over me. Sometimes I can guess immediately, like, “Oh, I know who it is.” But, with “They Cloned Tyrone,” I really enjoyed being taken on the journey and figuring it out with them and turning my brain off.
What was it like getting a chance to insert yourself into this mystery? Did you find yourself re-watching some of the classic Blaxploitation movies?
I didn’t. They’re a part of my existence anyway — films that I have already watched and absorbed and admired, so I didn’t go back to re-watch them specifically for this, because we are pulling from so many different places and spaces. I was like, “I know what this is, and I know what part of it I want to lean into. And the parts I don’t know, I’ll rely on Juel.”
What did you want to lean into?
With a film like this, you have to be willing to lean into the stereotype. We start with these three characters, these unlikely heroes — but in our communities, they’re people you see and you have experiences with — who oftentimes are marginalized by the greater society. In order to truthfully and honestly tell their stories, I had to lean into the stereotype — the thing that people immediately associate with this woman or with these characters — in order to later unravel all of that and really show you this woman’s heart, this woman’s intelligence, her ambition, her love and care for her community. I had to lean into a lot of the stuff we would generally be like, “Oh, gosh, I’m not gonna do that. I’m not putting that image out in the world. Why would I do that?” It’s a satire, so you need to.
That’s real because there is that question: “Do I want to play a sex worker?” Because, yes, she’s referred to as a “ho” in the film, but in the movie’s promotional materials, she’s referred to as a “pro.” What is it like being able to bring a full humanity to Yo-Yo and it not just being a stereotypical character.
To be able to play a sex worker and someone who’s very comfortable with who she is and some of the choices she’s had to make in life and will share that with anyone and also doesn’t let society’s ideas of who she should be stop her once she realizes what’s happening, I take that as a special opportunity because everyone’s voices should be heard. It’s not like you have to be a certain type of person, or held in a certain respect or esteem or regarded in a certain way by the larger community in order for your story to be told. I don’t think that’s fair. Being able to step into Yo-Yo’s shoes is an honor for me, truly. I hope that people see her and see Fontaine and Slick and find pieces of them that may resonate with themselves.
And you see the ways in which she’s underestimated and uses that to her advantage as they unravel this mystery. Everybody in “Scooby Doo” or Nancy Drew has things that they are particularly good at — what did you want to make sure she was particularly good at?
Yo-Yo is good at a lot of things. She’s not a lone wolf — because she has Slick Charles, who’s always annoying her, but they very much love each other — but she’s very self-sufficient. While he is there, she does not need him; she chooses to be in his presence or let him be in her presence.
I wanted to make sure that I showed that aspect of her: that she chooses these people that are around her, and she wants to mobilize her community to affect change and to “bust the lid off of this thing.” That was fun to work on and important for me.
She is a different type of superhero. You’re quite familiar with that world…
Yes, Yo-Yo, Slick and Fontaine are superheroes in their own right. Once they realize what’s happening and say, “You know what? This is not okay. And if don’t nobody else come to save us, we’ll save ourselves,” they are superheroes. They’re hood superheroes — saving the world one hood at a time.
This interview was conducted before the SAG-AFTRA strike began.
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