CHARLOTTESVILLE (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — Speaking and performing in front of a sold-out Paramount Theater in downtown Charlottesville, Miles Caton, co-star of the hit movie “Sinners,” was on hand to receive the festival’s Achievement in Music Award prior to a special screening of the film.

“When I first learned about this film, I had no idea that it would have this type of impact and mean so much to people,” Caton said upon receiving the award prior to the screening. “So I thank y’all so much for watching the film. If y’all haven’t seen the film, you’re in for one tonight.”

After the screening, Caton sat down for a discussion with Vulture and New York Magazine critic Roxana Hadadi, followed by a brief blues performance on guitar.

The event came on the heels of the movie’s critical and cultural success upon its release in April. The film now ranks as the second-highest grossing horror film domestically, according to “The Numbers,” an online database for movie business information, and is set to return to eight select IMAX theaters across the country for one week starting on Oct. 30.

The film was also Caton’s acting debut, a fact that festival Advisory Board member and actor Jason George joked about before he presented Caton with his award.

“I’m actually kind of mad that this is his acting debut,” he said. “It’s the dude’s first film, and this is what he gets. My first gig was garbage, my first gig was trash.”

George went on to go into Caton’s background as a musician who has been performing since the age of 2. But for “Sinners,” Caton not only had to learn how to be an actor, but also had to learn and master blues-style guitar. To perfect the latter, director Ryan Coogler sent Caton a playlist of essential blues artists to listen to, like Charley Patton and Buddy Guy, who makes an appearance at the end the film.

Caton then worked with guitarist Randy Bowland to learn the fundamentals of the blues, practicing five to six hours a day to prepare for the role.

“We had two months before we went out to film the movie in New Orleans to practice and lock everything in,” Caton said during the discussion. “So I worked every day on guitar.”

Caton showed off his skills after the discussion, grabbing a guitar that resembled the one in the movie and playing “I Lied to You,” an original song written for “Sinners.”

The film has become a breakout for Caton, but the actor and musician shared during the discussion that when he took the part, he didn’t even know what the film was about.

“I thought it was like a Sam Cooke biopic,” he said.

It wasn’t until Caton finally received and read the full script, well after accepting the part, that he discovered the horror elements of the period piece.

“When I got the whole script and I read it from top to bottom, I was like, ‘Oh this is different,'” he said. “But I was like, ‘Man, this is gonna be special.'”