Across a mere handful of roles, Yahya Adbul-Mateen II has made a major dent on the screen landscape in recent years. Most audiences will recognise him as Black Manta from James Wan’s Aquaman (of which he’s currently shooting the sequel, Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom). A year later, he followed up that film with an astonishing performance in HBO’s Watchmen series – in a role that played into one of the series’ biggest twists (no spoilers here) and gave a fascinating new dimension to a mythology we all thought we knew. That’s precisely what he does, too, in Candyman – Nia DaCosta and Jordan Peele’s sequel-reboot to the ‘90s horror classic, which reimagines and recontextualises the original in fascinating, thought-provoking ways.

In support of the film, Adbul-Mateen II joined us on the Empire Podcast for an interview delving into his central role of artist Anthony McCoy in Candyman, the horror legends he grew up with, and the “really special” talent that is writer-director Nia DaCosta. Listen to the full interview here.

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