Clarence Maclin's powerful performance in the film inspired by Sing Sing's Rehabilitation Through the Arts program has earned him critical acclaim and awards recognition. Actor Jon Bernthal discusses Maclin's transformation, finding freedom on stage, redefining masculinity, and the enduring power of second chances.
Clarence Maclin wasn’t supposed to be here. After serving 17 years in Sing Sing, he transformed his life through the prison’s Rehabilitation Through the Art s program, where men who are incarcerated collaborated to write, direct, and perform original plays. That experience—of creating something meaningful within the confines of prison—comes full circle in, a film inspired by the program.
MACLIN: That’s exactly what it is for me, because you get to pour so much into a particular message, a particular story. It’s like the potter’s wheel, you know what I mean? You get to shape this thing. You get to create and craft it so that when it’s dried and hardened, you present it, because the creation is never for the creator.
MACLIN: Listen, in this society, we grew up thinking that manhood means to be tough, to be rude, to be oppressive. I don’t know where we get this from, but we associate these things with manhood.MACLIN: Men don’t cry. You know what I mean? Those types of ideologies seep into our character and begin to define us.
MACLIN: Yeah, man. That was the intent, to bring us back to the reason why this thing called theater was created. The reason was for healing. Because there was no TV, no internet, none of that. You had to come to the theater to get your news, your gossip, everything. In those ancient theaters is where the populace learned that you’re not the only one going through whatever it is you’re going through.
MACLIN: Well, service has always been the guiding light because, once again, these are the skills that we learned from the program that we created in prison. Giving back. It’s like going back to your own foundation and fortifying it. That’s what you get from service, from helping others. When I worked with these at-risk teens through my program, which is Successful Steps, what I learned is when you go in, you’re thinking that you’re going to help the community. You’re going to be of service.
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