Shameik Moore Talks ‘Across The Spider-Verse’ And Why It Resonates With Fans
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Shameik Moore believes authenticity is why fans resonate with Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. Moore spoke exclusively with VIBE about his time playing the 15-year-old Spider-person and how he injected himself into the character. The actor also spoke to Stan Lee’s mission of everyone’s ability to see themselves in a hero like Spider-Man and believing that they, too, can wear the mask.
“I embrace who I am while taking on this character. I believe that’s why it resonates as Miles the way that it does,” he passionately explained. “Putting on the mask for me is an honor. It’s something I feel like I’m reminded of every day.
“The way it reaches different walks of life in a way that no other project I’ve done is doing, it’s an honor to be —It’s like the spider bit me. So I’m taking that and applying it to my reality and everyday life.”
The Atlanta native also touched on jumping from Wu-Tang: An American Saga to Across the Spider-Verse. Moore, 28, admitted that transitioning from playing Raekwon back to Miles required him to make an “adjustment.”
“I think they bring out my … While doing the second round, I was working on Wu-Tang. And the demeanor, how I was carrying myself, I really spiritually go to wherever my character is. So when I got the call that we’re doing the first session for Across the Spider-Verse, I was excited. I’m ready. I’m like, ‘Okay, here we go,’ boom, boom, boom. And I went in there, and I’m reading the lines, and I noticed that I might have been maybe right here with my voice, and it’s just a little bit of an adjustment.
“Now I’m a little bit closer back to Miles. Here I am. And instead of talking like [this] because, as Raekwon, you come in like this and all that. So now, I got to—Miles is from Brooklyn, but I can’t speak that way, per se. It’s still clean. So even when he’s being assertive, where it comes from in his heart is from a lighter place, I had to make a voice and [tone] adjustment for real.”
According to Variety, the film snagged 2023’s second-biggest opening weekend — with a record-breaking $120.5 million. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse opened on June 2, 2023, to critical acclaim and featured an ensemble cast.
Along with Moore, the movie stars Daniel Kaluuya as Spider-Punk, Oscar Isaac as Miguel O’Hara aka Spider-Man 2099, Issa Rae as Jessica Drew, aka Spider-Woman, Jake Johnson as Peter B. Parker, Hailee Steinfeld as Gwen Stacy, and Brian Tyree Henry as Miles’ dad Jefferson Davis, with Luna Lauren Velez as Miles’ mom Rio Morales.
See our interview with Moore and co-stars Hailee Steinfeld and Jake Johnson below.
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