full look. Louis Vuitton
It’s the day of his avant-premiere and Melvin Boomer is in great spirits. He’s bang on time to his Schön! shoot, bringing his vibrant energy to the set. Boomer humbly asks to be directed and tells the team that he’s more than willing to try out new moves, proclaiming he doesn’t know how to move in front of the camera. He certainly is new, we can concede that: in the handful of years he’s been working, the 24-year-old French actor has already reached impressive heights.
From his debut playing Joey Starr in the 2022 series Reign Supreme – a series about the famous rap band made up of rappers JoeyStarr and Kool Shen – to a film about the life of a young man starting out in midwifery, Melvin Boomer is rapidly conquering screens, and now rings, with his latest role as Taylor in Netflix’s La Cage (which could be translated as “The Cage”), directed by Franck Gastambide. The five-episode series takes a deep dive into the world of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts), with the lead character Taylor, played by Melvin Boomer, struggling to find a path as a fighter, until an unexpected, but career-changing fight, arises. It’s an inspirational and aspirational story, both gritty and real, with IRL stars of the world of MMA such as Georges Saint Pierre, Ciryl Gane and Jon Jones starring in the series.
As the shoot gets underway, Melvin Boomer quickly dispels his own myths about not being able to move in front of the camera by, well, simply nailing it. It becomes evident, at this point, that the young actor has years of training as a dancer until his belt. Post-shoot, he sits down with Schön! to divulge what preparing for such a role as physical as this one entails, his family ties to the world of MMA, and getting in and out of character.
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jacket + necklace. Louis Vuitton
tank top. Dolce & Gabbana
trousers. Kenzo
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jumper. Kenzo
trousers + scarf. Marine Serre
shoes. Amiri
What does a premiere day like today feel like?
It’s great. This is the moment when I show my family the final piece of work. My hard labour! In this series, La Cage, I don’t feel like I’ve added pressure on myself because I feel like I couldn’t really have done any better or worse. I’m just super proud of what I’ve done, and my mother always says, that as long as you give your everything, that’s all there is to it.
There is a direct link between MMA and your family…
There certainly is – my father is an MMA fighter. Nowadays, he does Brazilian jiu-jitsu, but for a long time, he was an MMA fighter, even before it was legal in France. I followed him a bit all over, to Belgium, Portugal… It was never my aim to become a professional fighter like him, even though I did make my way through several practices, from Capoeira, and Parkours, to Break dancing, which I did for a very long time. So, it wasn’t really my father to show me the way to this role, but it gave me incredible insight into the behind-the-scenes, to know what goes on before a fight in the changing rooms, the mindset of a fighter…
How does your father feel about the series?
My father is very, very proud. What’s beautiful in this story is the fact that I embody, in a way, the fighter he couldn’t be. He began when he was super young, and at a time when MMA weren’t as accessible as they are nowadays. Now, with social media, if you’re a young fighter, you can get ahead. He started in 2010 or 2011, but the whole scene has transformed since then.
There have been films about MMA – one with Tom Hardy, and a series called Kingdom, but it’s not really a series on MMA. This is the first series based around MMA, around the leagues that really exist, like KSW or UFC, with a storyline around a fighter that isn’t one that we’re used to seeing.
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jacket, cardigan, tank top + scarf. Amiri
trousers. LGN Louis Gabriel Nouchi
shoes. Louis Vuitton X Timberland
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jumper. Sandro
trousers + necktie. Louis Vuitton
How would you describe the character arc of Taylor, the young man you play?
He’s an outsider. The series, for me, is really a David against Goliath scenario. It’s about this young amateur fighter, who struggles at the beginning. He’s an antihero – not a bad guy, just not a superhero – and he isn’t this crazy prodigious fighter. This makes the character relatable because he just jumps on the opportunities as they come up.
Do you relate to the character?
Definitely! The image we have an image of MMA fighters as these big muscly, bad guys is so limited. We never hear of the fighters who are kind, and discreet. Taylor has his own fears, his weaknesses, his limits – and that’s super cool. He stays the same guy throughout, he’s just someone who learns how to build on the difficulties that he encounters. You don’t utterly change, you just get harder, when you’re faced with the challenges of life. Wow, is this poetic or what… [laughs].
jumper. Karl Lagerfeld
skirt + trousers. Kenzo
shoes. Christian Louboutin
necklace. Louis Vuitton
How did you prepare for the role?
I had 6 months of prep for the role, I ate 7 meals a day, and I was accompanied by great nutritionists. Alongside that, I was training 3 times a day, every day of the week, because I was training with my father at the weekend. I wanted to nail it, because I told myself if I were to see a film about breaking with someone who doesn’t know how to break, it would just hurt so bad… that was my motivation to put on a credible performance and respect the art.
Do you feel like your background in dance helped?
The mental headspace I already had thanks to dance really did. You can only get into that state by doing sports. If you’ve never done a discipline, you can only really access that extreme head space that you find in MMA. Ballet and Jazz, as well as contemporary, all helped me. I did a dance called Graham – it’s really particular, all based on breathing techniques. You should look it up, it’s really something [laughs] It helps me to move in space. I have a huge issue with dealing with situating myself in space, due to my dyslexia. I never know where I am in space, but because I’ve worked on my body for years, I can project to understand how someone else would figure it out.
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coat + rollneck. Lanvin
jacket. Kenzo
trousers. Marine Serre
shoes + jewellery. Louis Vuitton
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cardigan. Lanvin
top + trousers. LGN Louis Gabriel Nouchi
shoes. Christian Louboutin
How did you make the transition from dance to acting?
It happened quite naturally. I received a message on Instagram for a casting session that was being organised to find an actor to play Joey Starr. They were looking in the peripheries of Paris, they came looking in Montreuil. They looked at the hip-hop scene, and that’s when they found me. I then went on to do Sage-Homme, and one project led to the next, and here I am. I love taking on challenges and jumping from pillar to post. La Cage was one of those challenges.
In terms of the filming process, how was it?
I displaced a tooth from a bad blow, just for the anecdote. It was tricky, because to ensure that the film was realistic, we couldn’t choreograph everything. It couldn’t all be stunts. Some of the shots were sparring, which are fights, but where you try to not land the shots as hard as you would in a real fight. We were also shooting rounds, in real life, so that’s 3 to 5 minutes at a time. It was all day. The more you shoot, the more tired you get. When you’re tired, you land some blows. It was super difficult to keep my physique too, because I was sweating so much. After 4 weeks of filming pure fighting scenes later, my body was fading, like a plant with no water basically. Looking back, I have such a positive outlook on it, though. I switched my mindset. I was totally into it.
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jumper. Karl Lagerfeld
skirt + trousers. Kenzo
shoes. Christian Louboutin
necklace. Louis Vuitton
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full look. Amiri
Did any aspects of the character stay with you after filming wrapped?
No, I try to lose the characters now. With my role as Joey Starr, I lost myself in him. For a long time after the shoot, I had this rage, I wasn’t nice to people around me, I tested people. Joey is a character. I’m not. Now I try to switch, 100%, to come back to who I am. With the help of my family and friends, mostly.
How does dyslexia impact your career, if at all?
I don’t think I’m any worse or better than someone without dyslexia. It’s just who I am. Taylor’s trajectory is one I know very well – that position of being bad in school, of getting all those humiliations – but once you’re through those obstacles, and that you’ve accepted that school just isn’t for you, you’ll find yourself in an environment that you thrive in. Just like Taylor does.
jacket. Dolce & Gabbana
How would you describe your trajectory in French cinema so far?
My career… I’m so young still! [laughs] I think I’ve evolved a lot, I’m more aware and study more, in terms of directors and films. I have a real passion for it. That being said, I’m very young, and I know I am, and I’ve got to keep my head screwed on solidly. I know La Cage is mainstream, popular, and will get a wide reach. I accept the time it takes, I accept the opportunities I have and dive in when I get them, but I’m going my own pace too.
What would you really like to work on?
Everything I haven’t done yet! I want to be able to walk in the street and not be recognised just because I’m always someone entirely different in front of the camera. That’s my objective. That’s the metaphor I want to apply to my (very young) career in cinema. Being someone else, so that Melvin can exist. I want to play psychopaths, baddies, historical dramas… I would love to touch on all those roles.
What comes next?
I’m working on a film with Fanny Ardant, as a duo, which will be crazy. I’ll be playing a gutter punk. It’s a road trip style film, I’ll be the skinny punk — I’m aiming for 58kg. I’ve gone from seven meals a day to one. First I have some downtime though. I want to go to visit my family in London to improve my English.
La Cage is out now on Netflix.
photography. Mehdi Sef
fashion + interview. Patrick Clark
talent. Melvin Boomer
grooming. Joris Ebong
special thanks. Ulysses Parada @ Agence Contact + Alix Taccardo
