How Tessa Thompson Learned ‘Acting In Silence’ From Her On-screen Hearing Impaired Daughter, Mila Davis-Kent

Interview with Tessa Thompson and Mila Davis-Kent

Transcript

00:00I've always thought you had the hardest job because in all three films, a lot of your gig is reacting silently, right?

00:08You're reacting to watching this man fight for his life.

00:12I was wondering if you could take me through what that process is like, and is there anything you tap into?

00:16I really appreciate, I think, the idea of getting to act in silences.

00:22Like, I always really loved that challenge, what you can communicate without words.

00:29And I think something that felt particularly interesting this go-around is also to work inside of ASL.

00:37I think the way that that also changed my idea of performance and getting to work with Mila.

00:44This is her first time acting, and she's remarkable.

00:48But I learned a lot from her in terms of everything that you can express without words

00:56in the way that I have always known how to express myself.

00:59So I think that was an exciting new thing to find at this point in playing this character.

01:07How does that feel, that your first time out the gate, you're serving as an example?

01:11Yeah, well, I feel really happy about that statement.

01:14But I want to say, okay, I did teach her some things.

01:18You know, I did show her how to express herself, but she also taught me a lot, too.

01:24So really, I think it was her mostly teaching me, not the other way around.

01:28I would look at her facial expressions, I would look at how she showed emotions,

01:32how she expressed herself, how she showed her character's reaction, how things looked so real.

01:38And actually, I learned so much from her on this film.

01:41So I just want to thank her for teaching me all those things.

01:44And she made it easier for me to feel comfortable during this whole process.

01:48Because, you know, sometimes you can feel like it might be hard and it's challenging if you've never done it before.

01:53But having someone with her, like her on my team, she would come over and explain things to me,

01:57tell me about the characters, and then I would say, okay, I feel a lot more comfortable.

02:01And it's easier for me to go ahead and do it and know how to react.

02:05So thank you, Tessa.

02:07Aww. This is so much more wholesome than I planned on it being this way.