What the Scream movies have done for horror cinema, I believe that director Tim Story’s latest film, The Blackening — which comes out today — is also destined to do for Black horror cinema, specifically. However, not only does this soon-to-be classic horror-comedy movie cleverly poke fun at common horror tropes, such as killing off Black characters early — despite the many who have survived in the past — it also serves as a thoroughly funny send-up of Black culture in general.
Yet, the key to its charm and hilarity lies mostly in its talented ensemble. So, before you head to the theater to experience one of the best new horror movies and one of the funniest 2023 movies so far, take a look who plays who in The Blackening cast and what else you may recognize them from.
Grace Byers (Allison)
As Allison — one of the several friends reuniting for an ill-fated Juneteenth weekend in The Blackening — we have Grace Byers, who broke out as Anika Calhoun on Empire (who shockingly died after four seasons) before demonstrating her exceptional vocal talents in a more unusual way as X-Men character Reeva Payge on the short-lived Marvel series, The Gifted.
The actor and author — who read her own children’s book, I Am Enough, on Netflix’s Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices — made her feature film debut with the 2018 crime drama, Bent; led an episode of the BET anthology series, Tales; and stars on The Blackening co-writer Tracy Oliver’s Amazon Prime original comedy series, Harlem.
Jermaine Fowler (Clifton)
Despite playing a nerdy guy whom the other characters do not know very well named Clifton, Jermaine Fowler is actually one of the better known faces in the cast, having starred in Boots Riley’s surreal 2018 satire, Sorry to Bother You, played Eddie Murphy’s son in Coming 2 America, and co-led the short-lived CBS sitcom, Superior Donuts, with Judd Hirsch, most notably.
The actor, comedian and producer also starred in 2019’s Buffaloed with Zoey Deutch, was the lead of Hulu’s dark comedy, The Drop, in 2022; was in a Netflix original thriller called Weathering from 2023, and also had an uncredited appearance in the Oscar-winning Judas and the Black Messiah as Mark Clark.
Melvin Gregg (King)
Starring as King is Melvin Gregg, who is already no stranger to horror (having starred on one of the best horror TV shows on Hulu, Freakish), comedy (he appeared in Netflix’s mockumentary style teen show, American Vandal, and landed a small role alongside the new House Party cast), and horror-comedy (he starred in the third of the Sharknado movies, subtitled Oh Hell No!).
Other notable highlights of the actor’s versatile career include the Ben Affleck-led sports drama, The Way Back; Hulu’s Oscar-nominated music biopic, The People vs. Billie Holiday; playing Ben Chandler in the Nine Perfect Strangers cast and, a recurring role on FX’s Snowfall.
X Mayo (Shanika)
As the hilariously boisterous Shanika, we have X Mayo, who received an Emmy nomination as a Daily Show writer before being recognized as an actor with roles in the Facebook Watch dramedy series, Strangers; 2019’s A24-produced dramedy movie, The Farewell; and Netflix’s family adventure movie, Finding Ohana, in 2021. She went on to land a starring role in NBC’s American Auto cast, appeared in an episodes of Amazon Prime’s dark analysis of fan obsession, Swarm, and will be seen next in an upcoming, untitled movie written by and starring a trio of SNL writers known as Please Don’t Destroy.
Dewayne Perkins (Dewayne)
Dewayne Perkins — who co-wrote The Blackening with Tracy Oliver — also plays a character named Dewayne in the film, which is, just about, his biggest role to date following his recurring roles on Netflix’s The Upshaws, Peacock’s revival of Saved by the Bell (which he was also a consulting producer for), and the time he played Beyoncé on The Break with Michelle Wolf (which he also wrote for).
His other notable writing credits include Peacock’s The Amber Ruffin Show (for which he received an Emmy nomination), Disney+’s holiday musical special, The Hip Hop Nutcracker; and an upcoming reboot of Clue starring Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman.
Antoinette Robertson (Lisa)
Dewayne’s best friend, Lisa, is played by Antoinette Robertson, who is likely best known from Netflix’s series adaptation of Dear White People as Coco, which she landed following a recurring role on Tyler Perry’s OWN original soap, The Haves and the Have Nots, and a guest spot on an episode of Atlanta’s first season. She also appeared on 10 episodes of The CW’s Hart of Dixie and recently starred in and produced the BET+ original ensemble comedy, Block Party.
Sinqua Walls (Nnamdi)
Lisa’s on-and-off-again boyfriend, Nnamdi, is played by Sinqua Walls, whose many previous horror roles include a recurring spot on MTV’s Teen Wolf series, the 2022 Amazon Prime original movie, Nanny, and 2011’s Shark Night — in which his character, Malik, subverts expectations by being the first attack victim, but not the first to die. He is also known for his brief stint on Friday Nights Lights Season 3, playing Soul Train creator Don Cornelius on BET’s biographical series, American Soul, and teaming up with rapper Jack Harlow for Hulu’s remake of the basketball comedy, White Men Can’t Jump.
Yvonne Orji (Morgan)
As Morgan — the organizer of the Juneteenth weekend reunion — we have Yvonne Orji, who last played one-half of a couple whose holiday plans take a dramatic turn when she starred in Hulu’s Vacation Friends cast as Emily, but was previously best know for her Emmy-nominated role as Molly on creator and star Issa Rae’s acclaimed HBO comedy, Insecure. The comedian also appeared opposite Kevin Hart and Tiffany Haddish in 2018’s Night School, had a big part in 2020’s sci-fi coming-of-age romance, Spontaneous, and lent her voice to Mindy’s Kaling’s Max original Scooby-Doo reboot, Velma, as Gigi.
Jay Pharoah (Shawn)
As Morgan’s beau, Shawn, we have former SNL cast member Jay Pharaoh, who previously worked with Tim Story when he appeared in Ride Along and when Story directed a few episodes of his short-lived Showtime series, White Famous, also and last tried horror-comedy with Justin Simien’s Hulu original satirical thriller, Bad Hair, in 2020. He also tried his hand at real horror by starring in Steven Soderbergh’s Unsane, has led a pretty good voice acting career (including his appearance alongside the Mitchells vs the Machines cast), and recently starred in Spinning Gold as real-life music producer, Cecil Holmes.
Diedrich Bader (Ranger White)
Appearing as Ranger White — who comes to the friends’ aid, but also arouses their suspicions — is Diedrich Bader, who is best known for starring in sitcoms like The Drew Carey Show and American Housewife, and classic comedy movies like Office Space and Napoleon Dynamite. He more recently made an appearance in the new DC movie Shazam! Fury of the Gods and stars opposite Bob Odenkirk in AMC’s Lucky Hank cast, but some people may better recognize him by his voice, which he has used to play various comic book characters (most notably Batman) or narrate Roku’s “Weird Al” biopic, to name just a couple.
This ensemble really kills it in The Blackening, which I highly recommend seeing with an audience in a movie theater now!
