A troubled Olivia Colman refuses to give up in Empire of Light trailer
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In the England-set Empire of Light, Oscar winner Olivia Colman plays a cinema employee named Hilary who begins a romance with a new colleague, Stephen, portrayed by Micheal Ward.
Searchlight Pictures Empire of Light
"It's a beautiful relationship to explore," says Ward, "because it's rare you get to see that with a young Black man and then an older white woman, especially when there's an exchange of energies and love and lightness."
Ward's credits include the 2019 musical Blue Story and a Drake-produced revival of the U.K. crime show Top Boy, but the actor was taken aback by watching Colman work.
"It's like she was spitting fire," says the actor. "Every take, you get a raw energy. For me, as a young Black actor that's not used to being around thespians, it was a great experience."
Empire of Light is written and directed by Sam Mendes and is set at the start of the 1980s. Ward's Stephen must negotiate the rising tide of racism that blighted the U.K. at the time. One scene depicts a lack of support from his white co-workers when a patron refuses to finish his chips before seeing a film.
"That scene was quite traumatic to film, really," says the Jamaica-born, London-raised Ward, whose Empire co-stars also include Colin Firth and Toby Jones. "It became less about acting, and it became real. I wanted to deliver a really authentic performance, so Black people that walked in that time can say, 'Yeah, these are real things that we used to go through.'"
Empire of Light hits cinemas on Dec. 9. Watch the film's new trailer (and see its poster) below.
Searchlight Pictures Empire of Light poster
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