Jacques Colimon Interview

“Nocturne” tells the story of two siblings sharing their love for music and the dream of getting their solo. Sadly, only one of the women can have the solo, which results into tough competition, rivalries in more than one way and rollercoaster of emotions. One of the people getting involved in their competition is one of the boyfriends, Max, played wonderfully by Jacques Colimon (“Friday’s Child”, “When We Burn Out”). We had a virtual chat with Jacques and talked about this dark but excellent movie, horror films and music.

Liselotte Vanophem: Hi Jacques, congratulations on the movie. What was it that drew you to the script of “Nocturne”?

Jacques Colimon: Well, I’ve been a musician most of my life. I’ve initially been drawn to horror movies because of my mother and our shared love for horror movies. In an interview, Jordan Peele (“Us”, “Get Out”) once said that we use horror to help us to deal with social demons. This movie deals with the social demons of a music academy and the really strict process of becoming a professional classical music player.

I’m self-taught on guitar and being able to teach yourself a musical instrument is a form of expression in a more free way than when learning it through musical school. I read the script of this movie, and I felt that element coming through. Even though my character is a musician himself, he took music classes for it and to me, it felt like ‘oh this is exactly how I don’t want to learn music if it would have been me’.

LV: Did you have to learn new instruments for this movie?

JC: I had to re-learn some cello for “Nocturne”. There are a couple of moments here and there that I get to play a little bit and demonstrate my musical craft. Portraying musicians has been a continuous trend throughout my career and I’m just rolling with it because I love it.

LV: When reading the script, what was the scene that stood out for you the most, and how did it look on set?

JC: The scene that stood out the most to me was the scene in which my character and Sidney’s character act on that dark tension. That moment when my character leaves is incredibly awkward, and the energy is just so discombobulated. I really liked that very vulnerable and emotional space of two people acting on that impulse and immediately having to step out of it.

LV: “Nocturne” is part of the “Welcome to the Blumehouse” series, four horror movies combined together. Have you seen one of the other three movies already?

JC: No, sadly, I haven’t.

LV: You mentioned that horror movies had been a big part of your life. Do you remember the first horror movie you saw?

JC: My answer was going to be “The Mummy”, but I have a pretty good story about one of the other first horror films I saw. When I was just a kid, I must have been eight or nine years old, I think, my dad had his television in his bedroom. The bedroom was right across the hallway from my room. One Saturday, he was outside gardening in the backyard, and I walked into the room, and I saw the television. There was a pastor on screen and some dark score being played as well, and I thought ‘well, this looks like a cool movie’. There’s this pastor walking around, and he’s solving this case. Well, the film ended up to be “The Exorcist”. After watching that, I had nightmares for weeks.

LV: If you would make your own horror movie, what would it be about?

JC: It would be one that would eliminate the white male gaze.

LV: Apart from “Nocturne”, do you already have other projects you’re working on?

JC: Yes, I’m working on something right now, but sadly, I can’t say what it is. I can say that I’m certainly continuing on this musical path because this trajectory is something that I love.

LV: Thanks a lot for the interview and good luck with your future projects.