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With writer-director Benjamin Cleary’s Swan Song now streaming on Apple TV+, I recently got to speak with Mahershala Ali about making the thought-provoking original drama with a sci-fi twist. If you haven’t seen the trailer, the film is set in a near future where a doctor (Glenn Close) has recently invented technology that allows someone dying (Ali) to transfer all their memories to a new cloned body without any medical issues. While their original body and consciousness will die, the new version will live on. But the price to do this is the person can never tell their friends and family about what they did. The film explores what Ali’s character, Cameron, is willing to do to shield his family from grief and how far we will go to make a happier life for the people we love. Swan Song also stars Naomie Harris, Awkwafina, and Adam Beach and is produced by Adam Shulman and Jacob Perlin of Anonymous Content, and Jonathan King of Concordia Studio. It also marks the debut of Ali as producer.
During the interview, Mahershala Ali talked about what drew him to the material, the smart script that asks thought provoking questions about life and what makes us human, if he ever thought about what he’d do if presented with the technology in the film, how it deals with things that aren't normally addressed in a clone story, how his character tries to find his own peace in the process, and more. In addition, he reveals the film someone should watch if they have never seen anything he’s done and how he appreciates everyone’s excitement about him joining the MCU in Blade.
Watch what he had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.
Mahershala Ali
- If someone has never seen anything he’s done what is the first thing they should watch and why?
- What did he love about the script and what the film is about?
- How the film doesn’t have a villain trying to steal the technology or characters having to deliver big exposition dumps.
- Did he ever think about the technology being used in the film and if he would choose to use it?
- How his own life has impacted his work.
- When are they filming Blade and what is he most excited for fans to see?
