DCOM The Luck of the Irish + Sinners
At Deadline’s Contenders Film in November, Ryan Coogler had a conversation about his original film Sinners.
During the interview, reporter Mike Fleming wanted to know:
"Even though you made the Irish guy Satan, you did provide an understanding of the hard road for Irish immigrants, and you were quite taken with the music and the dance. Tell me about that for a moment."
The millennial director answered with what he called a deep cut:
"There's a Disney Channel Movie called The Luck of the Irish... in Oakland, California we used to watch that movie like crazy. That was our first introduction to some of the similarities in Irish folk music to basically our music and the obsession with the movements."
Coogler went on to add, "That movie was kind of a touch point for us to jump off of."
You can hear Coogler's words below:
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As luck (of the Irish) would have it, the woman who pitched the movie concept to Disney was in the audience and Coogler responded with a "God bless you!"
(Unfortunately it's difficult to decipher what her full name was. I tried to find her in the film credits but came up empty. Even the Deadline article written about the Luck of the Irish + Sinners connection didn't give a name. So if anyone can figure it out and has a source to back it up, please share so we can give her proper credit.)
You can watch the full Deadline interview here. The Luck of the Irish mention happens at 12:32 and Coogler goes on to discuss other Irish influences within his family, with his colleagues, and in Sinners.
Sinners will be featured prominently at this year's Academy Awards Ceremony. The movie has already made Oscars history as the most nominated film of all time with its cast and crew in 16 categories.
DCOM fan and director Ryan Coogler is personally nominated in Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Original Screenplay.
Congratulations on the nominations, Mr. Coogler, and good luck!