Clarence Maclin on becoming a breakout star in ‘Sing Sing’ and what ‘turned that artist back on in me’
Clarence Maclin has been hailed as one of 2024’s top breakouts for his critically acclaimed debut performance in Sing Sing — but as the burgeoning actor sees it, the public is merely catching up. “It feels like they’re just getting to know me,” the 58-year-old tells Gold Derby, “because I’ve always been a star.”
That’s exactly how director Greg Kwedar felt when he decided to cast Maclin, a Rehabilitation Through the Arts (RTA) participant, who was incarcerated for 15 years. Maclin, who is often referred to as “Divine Eye,” was approached to help Kwedar and Sing Sing‘s cowriter, Clint Bentley, flesh out the script. With Colman Domingo already cast as John “Divine G” Whitfield, Maclin was asked to portray a version of himself opposite the Oscar nominee.
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“Greg asked me, did I really want to use my name as a character, did I really want to play myself? And I was like, who else are you going to get to do it?” Maclin recounts. He reveals that before he and Divine G met with Kwedar and Bentley, other filmmakers had already approached them. “It didn’t seem like they were genuine about keeping the integrity of our story. At some point they were going to change it and add violence where there was no violence — add things that distract from the message that we try to get out in this story.”
Eventually it was Kwedar and Bentley who earned their trust, asking them to help with the writing process. “When we started to put pen to paper for the script, they would be in a room with us as we told stories about what we did in the art program and create scenarios about things that took place while we were there,” Maclin explains. “They would take that information, go back home, create a script, and come back with it. In transition, the script began to lose something. It didn’t have that feel that we had in the room while we were discussing it. What Greg and Clint did, they said, ‘Well, listen, write some of the things out.’ There’s no place for civilians to go get a lesson in prison jargon or understand how prisoners communicate with each other. Once we started adding those elements to the script, the authenticity started coming through. Before that, we didn’t have a steady line going through the whole story. Once me and Divine G became integral in the writing process, it became apparent that this was the storyline — the friendship between Divine G and Divine Eye.”
Sing Sing tells the true story Divine G and Divine Eye, two formerly imprisoned men who found purpose by acting in the RTA theater group. Maclin, who was known as an intimidating presence in the yard, initially had no interest in the program. “I had heard about the theater program, however, I felt like it was a pity party for prisoners,” he explains. “I didn’t want to be a part of that. I didn’t want anybody to come in and use my story to say, ‘Look what I’ve done for prisoners,’ or pat themselves on the back. What happened was, I went down to the chapel one night (where the performances take place), and once you get in you can’t get out. You’ve got to stay for the whole show. I start seeing guys on the stage that I recognize from different parts of the jail. I didn’t know them for this. Once I started seeing the beautiful art they created — I always was an artist when I was younger. I liked to draw, paint, and be creative with my hands. However, I shut that part of my life down because I wanted to be in with the in crowd. Seeing this art being created with my bros, it turned that artist back on in me.”
Maclin describes the profound impact the program had on his life, saying, “It gave me a better way of communicating with other people. It helped give me vocabulary. It helped give me the tools that I needed to express the things I really wanted to say. Before that, there was a limit to my vocabulary so there was a limit to the expression that I was allowed. After I reached my limit, it becomes vulgarity, it becomes vulgar, because now I don’t want to talk. I used all my words.”
“I recognized that a lot of people were going through the same things that I’m going through,” he continues. “All through the ages! Like the play Oedipus. I played Oedipus. I recognized that Oedipus liked to run from his problems. Rather than stand up and face that problem, he ran. That was reflective of my life as well. When you say run, you think you actually put foot to ground. You’ve got to physically run. That’s not true. A lot of times we run from problems that we don’t want to face by pointing the finger at somebody else and saying it’s their fault, or something made me do it, or circumstances made me. That’s running instead of being accountable. These things helped me realize exactly what I needed to do in my life.”
While Maclin plays a version of himself in the film, he also drew from the experiences of others he was incarcerated with. “I infused them all into this character, who was a younger version of me,” the actor describes. “It’s a representation of a lot of the things I saw in prison at the time. I rolled them all up into one character and gave it to you in a way that was suitable for the screen. I also needed to create that arc, so you could see me going from one mindset to another. Those are the things that I had to put in the character so you can see this is a shift.”
The RTA program uses theater to guide its members, but Maclin is quick to point out it’s not an acting school. His recent Gothams win and Critics Choice Awards nomination are specific to him because he’s admittedly “just a ham.” He explains, “RTA is not in the business of making actors. RTA is a program that wants you to focus on being a better you so that you can fit in with the rest of society when you get out — and use these transferrable life skills. The skills that we learn in creating a play or any piece of art. We learned how to become a community in RTA. If you put a spotlight on the ground, I’m jumping in it. That’s what I was, but this is not what RTA was designed for.”
Maclin says he formed a quick bond with Domingo, whom he initially met on Zoom during the pandemic. “He was so genuine,” Maclin recounts. “There’d be times when I’d be going through some lines and I couldn’t get it right and I needed to call him. One time he was driving down the street and he pulled over — he would go out of his way so that we could get this right, right now. That kind of commitment and dedication had to be met. I had to meet that equally. Plus, he’s born a day before me. He’s the 28th, I’m the 29th of November. Sagittarius’ — me and him clicking was inevitable. We finish each others’ sentences, it was a no-brainer. That type of camaraderie comes from genuineness. He didn’t come in trying to be big, bad Colman Domingo, Oscar nominated. He just folded himself into the group and the community that we already created and just became one of us.”
While pondering his future, Maclin says his “horizons have broadened” and he’d love to be in a romantic comedy or a sci-fi project — particularly Star Trek. Topping his list of dream costars are Regina King, Nia Long, Guy Pearce, and Jude Law.
Sing Sing, which was initially released last July, will be released back in theaters nationwide on Jan. 17, 2025.
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