Jordan Peele has a knack for turning everyday horrors into art, and with HIM opening in theatres today, the Oscar-winning filmmaker and his Monkeypaw production company have done it again.
Executive produced by Peele and directed by Justin Tipping, HIM follows a young football phenom (Tyriq Withers) whose dream mentorship with his football idol (Marlon Wayans) curdles into something far more sinister.
During a recent press junket that SWAGGER attended, the cast reflected on the film’s deeper themes and their own transformations.
For Marlon Wayans (Scary Movie, White Chicks), the role of Isaiah, a charismatic yet quietly menacing mentor, became an unexpected mirror. “It works on many levels because it’s not just the gory stuff; it’s the simple stuff,” Wayans shared. “It’s being locked inside that pressure, the claustrophobia… going in that cold-water plunge and you don’t know something’s going to pull you down. It works on a visceral level, but a mental level too.”
Wayans didn’t just play Isaiah; he mined something of himself. “I’m a lot more secure than Isaiah,” he explained, “but I dove in this pool to find him, and I looked up and saw a broken Marlon. I was like, wait, you’re not done yet. Now Marlon is going to have his best years because the two of us found each other.”
The timing feels serendipitous: this fall, Wayans will return to his comedy-horror roots when he begins filming Scary Movie 6. But first, HIM marks a career pivot, proving he can deliver menace as deftly as he delivers laughs.
Despite the intensity between characters, the bond between the two actors was anything but bleak. “The real work was when I’m knocking his door down during lunch to bother him,” Withers laughed. “That rapport made the relationship feel authentic.”
The iconic Julia Fox (Uncut Gems), as the enigmatic Elsie, brings a different voltage to the screen. “Your dreams can very quickly become your nightmares,” she reflected. “We see things the way we want to see them, not for what they really are. When it doesn’t feel good anymore, it’s okay to let it go. That doesn’t mean you’re a failure.”
Fox credited Tipping’s trust for giving her the freedom to push deeper. “He wouldn’t call cut at the end of a scene—he’d just linger and see what we’d come up with. He really trusts his cast to take risks.”
Wayans tipped his hat to the production team that made the whole fever dream possible. “Only Jordan Peele and Monkeypaw could bring you a psychological horror movie set in the world of football and make it a crazy yet super exciting experience,” he said, grinning. Withers agreed: “Monkeypaw delivers important cinema in an organic, digestible way. You can watch this film once for pure enjoyment, then again for the sound design, and again for a different theme.”
From its claustrophobic architecture to its unnerving score, HIM doesn’t just scare—it lingers. A must-see, the film burrows under your skin and refuses to leave. It’s a showcase for three performers meeting the moment, and for Peele’s production company once again proving that the scariest stories are the ones that feel uncomfortably real.
HIM is now playing exclusively in theatres nationwide.