Everything you need to know about how brilliant a casting director Kim Coleman is can be boiled down to this: Spike Lee won’t make a movie without her. Neither will Tyler Perry, for that matter. But through more than 200 films on her resume, it’s Coleman’s collaboration with Lee that is such an enormous part of her considerable legacy.
Take their latest work together, Highest 2 Lowest, which hit theaters in September, and is now available for streaming on Apple TV. Starring Denzel Washington as a music mogul who is targeted with a ransom plot and becomes embroiled in a life-or-death moral dilemma, it also features Jeffrey Wright, rapper A$AP Rocky, Ice Spice, Ilfenesh Hadera, Wendell Pierce, Nicholas Turturro, and newcomers Aubrey Joseph and Elijah Wright. She spoke to us from her home office in LA.
Key Insights
- Kim Coleman’s long-standing collaboration with Spike Lee is rooted in trust, honesty, and a shared commitment to casting actors who feel authentic to the world of the film.
- Highest 2 Lowest balances marquee talent with emerging actors, proving that chemistry, not star power alone, drives great ensemble casting.
- From Denzel Washington sitting in on auditions to A$AP Rocky’s layered performance, the casting process emphasized preparation, range, and emotional truth.
I’m curious how you and Spike hooked up the first place, because you’ve worked with him over and over through the years.
God, I think it was in the early 90s I interviewed with Spike. His previous casting director took an executive position and recommended me. I mean, I was a fan of his work for years, and we met and hit it off. It was funny. He said, “Let me ask you a question. The end of the movie Barbershop, they had some jokes about Rosa Parks or something. Did you think that was funny?”
I just sat there, and I said, “Excuse me?” He said, “Excuse me. Huh? You hear what I said?” So then I looked at him, and I said, “You know what? I love the movie. I was at the movie theater. I had my popcorn. I enjoyed it, and yes, I did laugh. I thought the jokes were funny. Yes, I did.” Then he just smiled. He said, “Okay.” I said, “Yeah, I’m always going to be honest. This is who I am. I’m not trying to play any games or whatever.” So we hit it off from then.
I know Denzel brought the script to Spike and was attached before Spike was, but what about Jeffrey Wright? Did you get him, or did Spike get him?
Jeffrey was someone that Spike has been wanting to work with. I think we had a previous project that he was attached to that didn’t work out, so it was like, “Yeah, hey, Jeffrey would be great. Let’s see if it can happen.” And it did.
There are a lot of people in this movie who I had not necessarily seen before, like Ilfenesh Hedera.
Wow, I’ve known her for so many years. I first met her doing a TV show for HBO called Sucker Free City. It was supposed to go straight to series, and it didn’t happen. That’s when I first met her and auditioned her. She’s just became a part of the Spike Lee camp.
We always bring her in, and obviously I would audition her for other projects, but yeah, I’ve been on Ilfenesh for a long time, and she’s been doing great on the show Godfather of Harlem, and look, she auditioned. It was such a blessing to be in the room with the great Spike Lee and the great Denzel Washington, because for the role of his wife and the role of his son, Denzel was there.
Really?
Oh, yeah. He auditioned with everyone, and it was like a master class for all of us.
That’s a great segue to Aubrey Joseph, who plays their son. What was it about him that made him the right fit?
I think we had about five young actors, and they were all great. We wanted them to be from New York or at least have an East Coast vibe. It was tricky, because he was a character who grew up in privilege — his father is who he is. He’s an athlete, but he has aspirations and dreams of his own.
So we needed someone that came off very natural and who could keep up with Denzel. He was really throwing so much at the young actors, and they felt like father and son. The three of them just felt like a family, and that was very, very important to Spike and to Denzel. Aubrey just connected.
Meanwhile, is Elijah Wright, who plays Jeffrey’s son, actually his son in real life?
Yeah. Okay. (Laughs) Now this is funny, because I love this story. Someone will see Elijah Wright and say, “Oh, Jeffrey Wright’s son. Nepotism.” But uh-uh, none of that. I’m casting a TV show called The Greatest, which hopefully will be out next year, about young Muhammad Ali, and I auditioned every young actor everywhere. Elijah was one of them.
We ultimately went with someone else, but when we were talking about the sons, I mentioned that Jeffrey has a son who’s an actor. I auditioned him, and Jeffrey didn’t even know anything about it. Spike loved him, so we brought him in for a live audition with Denzel reading opposite him. It was amazing. So I want to be clear, Elijah did it on his own.
It had nothing to do with his dad. I was really happy, especially from a casting standpoint, because that’s what we do. We see so many actors, and I always tell actors, “You may not be right for this role, but we keep you in mind for other roles.” That’s exactly what happened in this case.
Let’s talk about A$AP Rocky, who was stunning as the villain. How did you and Spike come to cast him?
I first met A$AP when I cast Dope years ago. That was his first acting gig. I was auditioning an actress, and he was reading opposite her on tape. As we were looking at her audition, we were like, “Oh, who’s reading with her? He sounds interesting.”
We had him audition and he was a natural. Music was his love, but he did all the acting classes and took it seriously. He wanted to be in it 100%. A true thespian. Spike knew about him because he was in Monster, which Spike’s wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, produced. He is not a fly-by-night guy. He has talent, and even though he’s playing a musician, it’s not a one-note performance.
Ha! Nice pun. A musician not being one note.
Oh my God, I didn’t even realize that! (Laughs) There’s layers to his performance. Colors. To be able to go toe to toe with Denzel Washington is actually incredible. Even at the table read, it was there.
Meanwhile, there are a ton of great actors who appear in much smaller roles. Some of them glorified cameos, like Wendell Pierce, Dean Winters, Nicholas Turturro, even Rosie Perez shows up briefly. How did those come together?
I’ve said it before, but this is the great thing about working with Spike. He knows lot of actors, and we always have discussions about who and where they fit in, and does it feel right? Even if Spike says, “Hey, what about Wendell?” It’s, “Okay, but is this the right place for him?”
Dean is another one. I love Dean. I think we auditioned him for BlacKkKlansman and something else. We go back and forth, and we talk about a whole list of actors, and then we come full circle. That’s kind of how we do it. Putting the right actors in the right place.
Wendell is amazing, but it would have been different if Wendell Pierce was in the Michael Potts role, you know what I mean?
It’s a puzzle. You’ve got to put the right piece in the right place.
Exactly, exactly. And that’s where all the collaboration comes in. That’s why I always like working with Spike, because he gives you that. It’s not, “Hey, this is who I want.” He always listens. He also says, “I don’t need you to tell me to hire Denzel Washington. I need everyone else to fill out their world.” And that’s what we do.
When you put together something like this, a cast and a film you’re proud of, do you allow yourself to appreciate the job you’ve done and give yourself a pat on the back? Or do you just kind of say, “Okay, done. On to the next?”
No, I think for me, and every film or show is different, I know the work it takes to make it go. And yeah, I am personally very, very proud of it. I felt like I personally accomplished so much to make it feel authentic and real. So, yes, at home, with my husband, I tell myself, “Good job, Kim.”
I am proud of the cast, and, I’m being honest, I’m just so thankful that I get to do what I love every day. I’m blessed. So it’s all good, but yes, every now and then, I’ll raise a glass to myself.
Key Takeaways
- Strong casting comes from long-term relationships and a willingness to revisit actors for the right role at the right time.
- Auditions still matter at every level, with even top-tier actors participating to build genuine on-screen dynamics.
- Great casting directors don’t just fill roles — they build worlds by placing each actor exactly where they belong.
