Candyman‘s Vanessa Estelle Williams on Her Character’s Tough, Terrifying Journey

Nia DaCosta ’s Candymanis a sequel to the1992 original , but most of its characters are new to the story . The big exception , of grade , is the McCoy household : creative person Anthony — just a baby during the issue of the first film — and his fiercely protective mother , Anne - Marie . Vanessa Estelle Williams reprize her function as Anne - Marie in the 2021 motion picture , which hits Blu - ray today — and in a recent interview over video , io9 got a prospect to ask her about it .

It ’s been nearly 30 year since audiences saw Anne - Marie dramatically reuniting with her babe son after he was kidnap from her Chicago flat byTony Todd ’s sinister Candyman . From an actor ’s item of scene , Williams say foot back up with a character she last play three decades ago was a unique experience .

“ It ’s a rare chance to be able to investigate where your character is today . It was really fulfilling and marvelous , especially because of who the creative team was , to see where we were go to take the character and how we were going to make [ the story ] relevant for the day , ” Williams said . “ It was so keenly wield in terms of speaking with such limpidity aboutwhat gentrification really means , and who it affects and how it affect them , and what violence in the community of interests really means for a little son — and what happens to that little boy ? Colman Domingo ’s character is totally traumatized and it becomes , you have a go at it , wildness begets violence and is an ongoing thing . The story , now in the hands of [ these blackened creators ] , became more authentic and more relatable in terms of like , yeah , this is what would in reality encounter — the point of view , and who ’s tell the narration , greatly matters . ”

Thirty years later, Anne-Marie McCoy (Vanessa Estelle Williams) is still haunted by the past.

Thirty years later, Anne-Marie McCoy (Vanessa Estelle Williams) is still haunted by the past.Image: Universal Pictures

Anne - Marie ’s presence is feel throughout the film ; Anthony , played as an adult byYahya Abdul - Mateen II , sees his mother ’s name flash on his earphone projection screen , and she ’s mentioned in conversation he has with his girlfriend , Brianna ( Teyonah Parris ) . But though Williams is only onscreen for one pivotal scene , the role player still took the time to flesh out the tale of what Anne - Marie ’s been up to since 1992 . “ You know , she strike on up ever so much , give way her limitations in terms of education . But she ’s hold a humble - middle - class , working - course of instruction living as a nanny ’s assistant . She ’s get noesis , she ’s able to move her child singlehandedly without , needs , a ordered man in her life . I ’d wish to think that she ’s had some relationships , some healthy relationship , ” Williams say . “ But certainly when we meet her in the ‘ 90s , she ’s a single mom trying to make it . She ’s brave enough as a parent to allow her child to not have to , like , be an engine driver or an lawyer or something like that ; [ rather , he ’s process ] in this uncertain variety of sphere , being an artist , and that he is able to be a successful creative person is mind - blowing , against all of these odds , against all of their humble beginnings . ”

While it might seem to the witness that Anthony and Anne - Marie are somewhat estranged in DaCosta ’s motion picture — he hedge her calls and “ forgets ” to show up when they have plans — Williams has a more nuanced linear perspective on their family relationship . “ I think that when we adjoin Anthony , he ’s in sort of an esthetic crisis , which is the reason why the Candyman gets summoned , ” Williams allege . “ I did n’t get the gumption that they were estranged . I just think that he did n’t see her as much as she need him to . Like , if you consider about him being her whole world , certainly the star of her public — and he ’s got this new woman . This large , big , magnanimous life . So it ’s gentle for a ma to find sort of outside of that : ‘ Those are n’t my the great unwashed . I ’m not at all fancy like you are now . ’ So that was more my take on it , not that he was alien inevitably , but that he did n’t see her enough or as much as she would have wanted to . Certainly , he was couch her off in this especial clip that we assemble him in the movie because of what was going on in term of the Candyman being summoned and all that he was propel through in full term of what ’s going on with his consistence and his life . ”

Williams is fond of her character , a subsister not just of supernatural evilness but also a liveliness that has n’t been very well-to-do , to say the least . “ Anne - Marie is the dud . She ’s my hero . The inauspicious thing for her and many mothers in this case — and that ’s all dim mothers , no matter what your socio - frugal standing is — is that we as ma can not protect our child from these systems , these Candymen , these evils that are set up to kill our boy and our girls . That ’s the trajectory that Anne - Marie live on through , ” Williams say , “ In that heartrending setting between the two of them where [ Anthony ] asks , ‘ So why did you rest to me ? ’ Well , she ’s been lying to protect him , and she ’s been hoping never to have this conversation , never to have to address to this — and the monster returns . That ’s the sort of metaphor that ’s so impactful for me , for the Black community , that we talk about the metaphor of what the horror of Candyman really is . They talk to that inLovecraft Country[too ] . We can tell this horror story where people are dying , but the revulsion that we ca n’t walk away from when we get out the theater is a sustaining matter that is really off-white - shuddery . ”

Anthony (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) and his mother (Vanessa Estelle Williams)