The Emmy winner plays a football hero turned screen star.
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is one of the most magnetic actors of his generation and in “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth,” directed by David Fincher, he plays Roderick “Hot Rod” Harrison, a pro football champion turned screen star.
The film is set in 1977, eight years after Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) crossed paths with the Manson family in Tarantino’s parallel history of 1969, “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” and is from a new script by Quentin Tarantino.
Abdul-Mateen II is no stranger to big moments. He won an Emmy for “Watchmen,” menaced Aquaman as Black Manta, led the 2021 reimagining of “Candyman,” earned a Golden Globe nomination for “The Trial of the Chicago 7” and starred alongside Mark Wahlberg In “Any Means.”
Now he steps into a new kind of spotlight as Roderick “Hot Rod” Harrison in the upcoming Netflix film.
Having conquered one arena, Hot Rod is chasing success in another, a journey familiar to anyone who has watched athletes try to make the leap to the big screen. He fits right in among the strivers, fading stars and bruised egos of Hollywood.
Directed by David Fincher, the film follows Cliff who works as a fixer for Hollywood’s great and, occasionally, not so good. His newest job starts with a call from talent agent Karen Crosby (Elizabeth Debicki), who represents TV megastar Charlie Peters (Scott Caan), famous for performing his own stunts. Cliff is soon pulled deeper into Charlie’s circle, meeting his knowing wife, Toni (Carla Gugino), and, of course, Hot Rod.
For Fincher, that was the attraction. He saw the chance to tell an LA crime story with one of his favorite LA characters. “Part of the attraction was we wanted to push on with our understanding of this character,” he says. “See where he goes — eight years later.”
In a 1977 Los Angeles where everyone is hiding something, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II stands right at the center of the action.
The film hits theaters on Nov. 25 in IMAX, and on Dec. 23 on Netflix.
