Jeymes Samuel is writing — and directing and singing — his own Hollywood gospel

Filmmaker Jeymes Samuel, photographed at the London West Hollywood in December. “I think there’s a child in Jeymes that’s very alive, that you can see,” says actor LaKeith Stanfield, who plays both Clarence and his twin brother, Thomas, in the new film. And to create from that place is a special thing.” LaKeith Stanfield in the movie “The Book of Clarence.” “Clarence” takes several pages out of Hollywood’s Golden Age epics like “Ben-Hur” and “Samson and Delilah,” blatantly opening with cards printed in a nostalgic typeface on scrolls and Samuel’s regal orchestral music harking back to the scores of Miklós Rózsa. It’s also the story of the Jesus era told through a prism of modern-day Black identity — a movie in which two friends, minding their own business, are suddenly harassed by a Roman stop-and-search, and where a mother, watching her son get crucified, wails: “They always take our babies!” “The reason I have so much fun in there,” says Samuel, “is because the ’hood is fun. It’s like you’re hearing someone’s dreams and it’s manifesting right in front of you.” LaKeith Stanfield, left, and director Jeymes Samuel on the set of “The Book of Clarence.” Stanfield, who also starred in “The Harder They Fall,” says he’s never once seen Samuel’s energy dip.