When The Quintessential Gentleman sat down with Kenric Green, the Walking Dead alum couldn’t stop reflecting on the magnitude of the story he’s helping tell in Sarah’s Oil.
The upcoming Amazon MGM drama, inspired by the true story of Sarah Rector, an 11-year-old Black girl who became one of America’s first millionaires in the early 1900s, struck a deep chord for Green both as an artist and as a father.
“I knew nothing about Sarah Rector, the Rector family, the story — everything,” Green shared. “It blew me away that this even was a story I’d never heard of. My wife and I talk about old money with Black folks, and we’re like, is that even a thing? Did we even have that?”
As Green immersed himself in the script, he found himself drawn to the bigger conversation about legacy, a theme that mirrored his own life.
“The biggest thing on my mind lately has been legacy and family and generational wealth, and how that’s done today,” he said. “Just before I even knew this was a story, I’d been studying that, to just understand the mechanics of it. So when the story came up, that was kind of like God nodding to me, saying, ‘Hey, look, there’s actual real history to this.’”
In the film, Green plays Joe Rector, Sarah’s father, a role he shares opposite his real-life wife, Sonequa Martin-Green, who portrays Sarah’s mother, Rose.
Having shared the screen before, this “was the first time we truly got to engage with each other in a way that other projects didn’t allow,” he said. “There’s obviously a built-in chemistry and intimacy there, but we’re also two different actors who prepare in different ways. This world, Oklahoma in 1914, is completely unfamiliar to both of us.”
That dynamic, he added, “was really beautiful. Because we were a real-life married couple, we were able to bring a level of intimacy off camera and in between takes that wouldn’t be appropriate if the woman playing Rose were just another actor. The boundaries were different.”
For Green, Joe’s arc, from skeptical father to fierce believer in his daughter’s faith, embodies the film’s message.
“Being a Black father in that time was dangerous,” he said. “We’re treading into oil and land, white folks’ territory. Initially, Joe’s like, ‘We gotta sell this land. Who do we think we are? We don’t even have money for taxes.’ But then he sees Sarah’s faith, and realizes he can’t be an impediment to that.”
Green continues, “He’s still the protector, still the father, but the brains are with his 11-year-old daughter. I might walk into one of these buildings and not come out, but I have to stand beside her. That’s what faith and fatherhood look like.”
Produced by Kingdom Story Company and Wonder Project, distributed by Amazon MGM Studios, and directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh, Sarah’s Oil shows the resilience and unity of the Rector family amid systemic injustice. It’s a story that bridges lost history with present-day purpose.
“For me,” Green said, “learning about this was tremendously impactful because it’s something I want to understand for the benefit of my own family… There’s a responsibility to tell the truth, because these are real people, real history, and we want to do right by that.”
When asked what he hopes audiences take away, Green’s answer was simple: “What faith in action looks like. Sticking to your convictions when almost everything would suggest give this up, let it go.”
As Sarah’s Oil prepares for its theatrical release on November 7, Green hopes the film will awaken conversations around legacy, love, and belief, both on screen and at home.
“My prayer,” he added, “is that it reaches something inside each person who watches the film, and that they are changed for the better.”
