Backrooms Interview with Chiwetel Ejiofor
The New Black Film Collective recently sat down with actor Chiwetel Ejiofor about his perfomance and participation in A24’s latest release Backrooms (2026) by Kane Parsons. Check out our exclusive interview where we explore Chiwetel’s introduction to Backrooms, his views on his character’s storyline, reflections on the theme of masculinity emerging from the film, as well as his upcoming projects such as Children of Blood and Bone (2027).
TNBFC: Hi Chiwetel! Nice to meet you. I'm Will from the New Black Film Collective. Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us. First of all, congratulations on a fantastic film. I thought your performance was brilliant in transmitting the angst and horror of the film, and also the subtle themes of self-reckoning. We just had a couple of questions about the film. First of all, what was your first reaction when you found out about Backrooms? Were you familiar with the YouTube series at all?
Chiwetel Ejiofor: I was not no. I didn't know anything about Backrooms. I was sent the script and the materials about it, just as sort of links to the web series. So that was my first sort of deep dive. I'd heard a little bit about liminal spaces, but not that much. And so I began in that order really. I sort of started with the web series, which I loved. I just absolutely loved it. And I just thought it was ingenious, you know. I just thought that what Kane had created was really spectacular and it didn't surprise me at all that it had become so popular and it really sparked something in the imagination. And then I read the script, which I equally thought was fantastic, and I just loved the combination of those elements.
TNBFC: For sure, and it's an absolutely brilliant script, I can imagine. And in fact, we did ask Kane what it was like to work with you, obviously he said that it was great, so all positive there! And he said that it was great to work with someone who was interested in the film's mechanics, but also who did not go necessarily too deep on that, as there still needed to be space for the inner psychology of a character such as Clark. So with that said, I was curious to ask what was your experience of building this sort of very complex psychological story of Clark's character, whilst in the background, there was this equally complex, but perhaps more well elaborated and pre-existent world and space emerging from the YouTube series?
Chiwetel Ejiofor: Well, I think it was sort of based for me on what the backrooms are, you know, and what they mean to Clark, and it felt like that was the point of connection for me, is like why is it important that this person ends up in this place, you know, and how is that communicated? So it always felt to me that he was somebody who was… well two things. First of all, it always felt to me that ‘The Backrooms’ had a kind of organic quality to it. That it can read and see and intuit people in a really sort of profound way. And that was obviously part of all of the series. So what are the things that it reads and sees and understands about Clark, and that he immediately also recognises that he is being understood on some sort of fundamental level, and why is that important to him? You know? If he had other elements, and other people in his life who he felt understood him or saw him, then obviously the draw of the backrooms wouldn't be as pronounced. But because he doesn't, and yet there is still something, to me anyway, that is optimistic or at least sort of cautiously optimistic about Clark. And there is, he does have these redeeming qualities, I think. He does demonstrate some elements of self-awareness and engagement, and there are moments of charisma, and there's things in him that I engage with. But those things might also be a trap for him slightly, in that he could be mistaken for believing that the backrooms recognises those positive qualities in him, and therefore wants to help him, as opposed to somebody who doesn't have any of those things, who is simply a kind of Ebenezer Scrooge-kind of character. So it doesn't feel that anything mystical would be positive for him. So yeah, I thought it was kind of interesting to try to build that sort of psychology for Clark. Somebody who has all of the complications that he has, some of the redeeming qualities that he has, and then interacts with a space that convinces him that he is being seen.
TNBFC: For sure. That's really interesting. And I was thinking of asking you this, you kind of touched a little bit on this already, but how do you then feel about Clark's fate? Do you think that the backrooms is a fitting ending for a character with that psychology?
Chiwetel Ejiofor: Yeah, I mean, I don't want to cast anybody into the backrooms as it's not the best ending for anybody. But it's, you know, I think the backrooms… It's difficult because I I don't want to dismiss it as being just a kind of malevolent force. But I do think that it does see people as they are, you know, and so for all of the ways in which we kind of try to hide the sort of recesses of our problematic natures, the backrooms exposes them, and there's just no hiding from it. At a certain point, it's like it is a judgment and to some degree, Clark does receive the judgment of this space. And so, whether one walks away thinking it was a deserved judgment or not, I think it was the judgment, you know what I mean? So yeah, you got to take that for what it is. It does seem appropriate.
TNBFC: Yeah, that's interesting that you talk about a non-malevolent space, because I also was quite drawn into it, just from the aesthetics of it, and the psychological nature of it. But I suppose, there is also a little bit of malignant force to it. I like that sort of balance there. Watching the film, and watching Clark navigate his struggles, his marriage, his problems with alcoholism, his career in decline, do you think that leaves you with any reflections on masculinity, particularly on how Clark then experiences the backrooms as a kind of safe space in the end of the film?
Chiwetel Ejiofor: Yeah, I definitely think that there's a kind of judgment about masculinity, and the sort of traps of masculinity in a way, the sort of ego traps of masculinity. That sort of capacity to flip just between silence and rage, and not really being able to process, or understand all of the kind of complex, emotional dynamics that one is going through. To stick on the moments when one is felt wronged, and utilise that as a way of wielding a sword against everything, against the world, railing against everything without processing it fully. To me, I think it's that disconnect from grace in a way, from just being able to operate under, I guess it's too simple to say, a kind of moral or ethical coding, but to really be able to rationalise and regulate one's emotions with other people, and interpersonal relationships from a position of grace and generosity, and empathy. I think once some of those elements have gone, or all of those elements have gone, then I think an individual, and men, can be quite susceptible to this, and become quite deregulated, and there is the capacity to feel quite disordered in a world that you can't control, or bend to your will with any success. And he feels those sorts of male pressures, you know, to be the provider, to be the leader, those are well-established pressures of masculinity, and the ways in which one deals with them, the ways in which one accepts some of them, and dismisses others, and maintains balance order, grace, empathy, and seeking help when needed, you know, in order to do those things, I do think has a kind of reflection on masculinity and in some ways contemporary masculinity, even though it's set in the 1990s. It’s like its conversation, I think, speaks very much to some of the complexity of masculinity today, you know, and also the way that they interact, reflects that as well. So yeah, that sort of gendered dynamic sits at the heart of the story obviously, and centers, I think, on masculinity, and technology, and the way that technology then sometimes offers this kind of balm, or this kind of promise of understanding all of these issues. And so people can kind of disconnect from real life, real emotion, and go into… You know we are at the beginning of what I suppose in the future will be called, ‘The Beginning of the Technological Age’, and the temptation would be that, if you are struggling to regulate all of these things, these pressures, and emotions and so on, what you can do is disconnect from people almost entirely, and just go to technology as your balm.
TNBFC: Absolutely. That was really interesting, and it is quite a current conversation actually, even though it's set in the 90’s, absolutely. So those are the questions for Backrooms. I also just wanted to briefly ask you if you could tell us about any upcoming projects? Perhaps, if you're excited to work on Children of Blood and Bone at all?
Chiwetel Ejiofor: For sure! I love Children of Blood and Bone, and I love the book, and love working with… And it's an exceptional cast you know, and Gina Prince-Bythewood is a phenomenal director, who I've had the pleasure of working with before, and I think it's a really spectacular film. I'm working on The Exorcist here in New York at the moment as well, with Mike Flanigan directing, and it's going to be very very special. So I'm very excited about both of those projects, and can't wait for people to to see them.
TNBFC: Fantastic! We're very excited as well. Well thank you so much for giving us your time. It was lovely to meet you, and all the best for the rest of the year.
Chiwetel Ejiofor: Thank you, thank you.
Backrooms out in UK cinemas from Friday, 29 May 2026.