A ‘privilege’ to step into the pressure of making Mufasa

Aaron Pierre knew he had big shoes to fill when he took on the role of Mufasa in Barry Jenkins’ American musical drama, Mufasa: The Lion King.

James Earl Jones, the Academy Award-nominated American actor, who died in September aged 93, originated the voice of King Mufasa in the 1994 Oscar-winning animated feature The Lion King, its direct-to-video sequels and the 2019 live-action remake.

But it was also a chance to seize the moment and do something truly great.

“It’s certainly a part that I was over the moon to be given the opportunity to play,” says English actor Pierre, 30. “And so far as inspiration that I’ve taken from James Earl Jones, he’s a hero of mine, so I’ve been inspired by him from way before I even turned professional.

“I’m currently, and will continue to be, inspired by him — his legacy, his artistry, and everything that is. So I’m very, very grateful and still pinching myself that I had this moment to contribute in a small way to the legacy of a character that he originated and built.”

Pierre previously starred in the period drama miniseries The Underground Railroad, Netflix’s Rebel Ridge, and the biographical miniseries Genius, in which he portrayed Malcolm X.

The pressure that comes with taking on such a beloved Disney franchise, that embraces new technology and can stand on its own, was also something that had to be acknowledged by Academy Award-winning American filmmaker and director Jenkins, 45.

“I mean, you acknowledge that [pressure] maybe at some point, just to be honest, and then you sort of do away with it,” says Jenkins, who also created Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk and The Underground Railroad.

“I think it was Billie Jean King who said pressure is a privilege — and it was a privilege to step into this pressure, only because there’s just so much legacy, and that legacy is earned. The characters are very rich, the world is very rich, the sounds are very rich — and we get to go in and play with those things in our voices. That’s kind of how I look at the process of making the film.”

This is echoed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, 44, the Grammy Award-winning American songwriter known for Broadway musicals Hamilton and In the Heights, who created a range of original songs for the movie.

“I mean the joy of getting to write in the same sort of space, in the same kind of genre, as Elton John and Tim Rice and Beyoncé and Hans Zimmer – what a cool club to be in. I hope I can make something that feels like it sits on the same shelf as these songs,” says Miranda.

Mufasa: The Lion King — dedicated to the memory of Jones — is a photo-realistic animation about the origin story of two lions, Mufasa and Taka (who later becomes known as Scar), played by the Screen Actors Guild Award-winning American actor Kelvin Harrison Jr, 30.

Pop icon and actress Beyoncé plays Nala, while her real-life daughter Blue Ivy Carter, 12, also a Grammy Award-winning actress, plays Kiara — the granddaughter of Mufasa and daughter of Simba. American singer, actor and writer Donald Glover, meanwhile, who created and starred in Atlanta, plays Simba.

The story follows the orphaned Mufasa, who is befriended by the young prince Taka and adopted by Taka’s family; the pair become as close as brothers.

Meerkat Timon, played by American actor and comedian Billy Eichner, 46 (of American Horror Story fame), and Warthog Pumbaa, played by Primetime Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning Canadian actor and comedian Seth Rogen, 42, add colour, commentary and also voiced the characters in Disney’s 2019 live-action remake of The Lion King.

“It was very flattering to be asked back and to get to work with Barry Jenkins and the cast, and to get to work with Seth again, it was awesome. And because we did it in 2019, I think we felt we knew where to start this time, we were a bit more confident going into it. So it was great,” says Eichner.

Rogen adds: “Yeah, we spent a lot of time developing the dynamic and the rhythms the first time, five years ago. And now, coming back to this, it felt much more natural, as we had kind of established a thing that people seemed to respond to and that we thought was fun to perform. It was great.”

But for Harrison Jr and American actress Tiffany Boone, 37, who stars as Sarabi and is best known for her roles as Roxy Jones in Hunters, who were playing their roles for the first time, it was an entirely different experience, especially performing songs written by Miranda.

“I felt a lot of pressure,” Harrison Jr its. “But he [Lin-Manuel Miranda] was really kind, and just gave us the space to have fun and play and bring our own personality to it.”

Boone says: “I have a real phobia of singing in front of people, so it was a journey to get me to the point where I was in the booth and singing. I feel like working with my vocal coach and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s team really helped.

“But one thing people say about musicals is that the music comes when talking can’t hold the emotions that you’re feeling anymore. So in a musical, that’s how you know it’s a good musical, because the music comes out of a conversation, and then you’re singing because you can’t hold it in anymore.

“I had to find why my character was compelled to sing at every given moment.”

‘Mufasa: The Lion King’ is in cinemas now.