How Candyman Actor Approached Playing Her 1992 Character Nearly 30 Years Later

Candyman actress Vanessa Williams, who played Anne-Marie McCoy in 1992’s Candyman, talks about how she approached her character for the reboot/sequel.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Candyman

Vanessa Williams explains how she prepared for her return in the recently released Candyman reboot. Williams played Anne-Marie McCoy in Bernard Rose’s 1992 Candyman and reprised her role for Nia DaCosta’s movie. In the original, McCoy’s child named Anthony was kidnapped by Candyman. Helen Lyle then submits herself to Candyman in an attempt to save Anne-Marie’s baby and eventually dies in a fire saving Anthony’s life. 

While marketed as a Candyman reboot, DaCosta’s movie has several tie-ins to the original. The legend of Candyman and Helen Lyle is explained early on in the film by Brianna Cartwright’s (Teyonah Parris) brother. The movie’s big twist is when Yahya Abdul-Mateen II’s character finds out that he is the baby Lyle saved from Candyman nearly 30 years prior. Williams only has a small cameo in the film when Anthony finds out the truth about his past. Even though it was a short scene, Williams took her return very seriously.

Related: Candyman 2021 Ending Explained: The Return & Real Meaning

Speaking with Cinemablend about her role in Candyman, Williams explained how she approached stepping back into the role of Anne-Marie McCoy. The actress revealed that she and DaCosta had similar thoughts on how to approach the character before they even had time to discuss how Anne-Marie would have changed over 30 years. Williams’ full comment on her return as Anne-Marie can be read below:

What was wonderful was [to] be able to see that Nia [DaCosta] and I were both on the same page about Anne-Marie’s history. So I got there and we started talking about what her life was like. From the costume to, you know, what she’s doing now. We were in sync. And it was funny because we hadn’t talked about it at all. She was able to like move up socioeconomically ever so slightly, but beyond what she was doing before. Able to protect her child. And so it was very collaborative in terms of creating that.

Williams was briefly shown in the Candyman trailers, leading many to believe the new movie was a direct sequel to the original. Williams’ casting, in addition to the main character being named Anthony, allowed fans of the original Candyman to quickly predict the film’s big twist. That being said, the connections to the original are partly what made the new Candyman a worthwhile successor. Much like the original, DaCosta’s Candyman delved into racial injustice and other themes that feel very relevant in today’s political climate. The new movie cleverly used horrific instances of police brutality and discrimination to explain that there have been multiple versions of Candyman in the decades following Daniel Robitaille’s death.

Candyman took a similar approach as David Gordon Green’s Halloween, acting as a soft reboot and sequel to its predecessor. Tony Todd has become synonymous with Candyman, and while the movie didn’t feature him in a starring role, the writers still found a way to include his iconic character at the end of the film. Full-on reboots of iconic horror films don’t always go over well with audiences, so it’s possible Candyman would not have done as well with audiences if it wasn’t connected to the original. It’s too early to tell if Candyman 2 will happen, but the return of Williams and Todd no doubt helped this movie succeed.

More: Does Candyman Have A Post-Credits Scene?

Source: Cinemablend

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