00:00I want to start by talking about your creative and your working relationship with Tyler Perry,
00:05because this is your fourth film with him.
00:07Yes, correct.
00:08How has that relationship evolved over the years?
00:10Well, I think it starts with such a mutual respect for each other.
00:15We both are Virgos as well, so we know how we think.
00:19We know how we're wired.
00:21And because we've worked with each other for so long and on so many projects,
00:27like he said today, we can complete each other's sentences.
00:30Like he'll be across the room and I'm across the room and I'm like, I get it.
00:33I know exactly what you're looking for.
00:35Like there's an ebb and flow that we have with each other.
00:39And I think that's why we make the art that we make.
00:44And what I really appreciate about him is that he's consistently raising the bar for himself.
00:50And then he will also do that for me.
00:52I feel like every script that he sent me, he ups it.
00:55He ups the game just another notch, you know, and I really respect that.
01:00He challenges me and I respect that.
01:02Totally.
01:03And for this particular collaboration on Straw,
01:05tell me how the two of you work together to build this character, Janiah Wilkinson.
01:09He really knows these characters that he's writing.
01:12Literally, it was all on the page, to be quite honest.
01:15And then I come and do what I do and I do my backstory and my whys.
01:20And I think what he appreciates is that, this is what he says, is that a lot of times I will show him parts of the character that he didn't even see.
01:30So I think that's what makes our collaboration so good.
01:33What I'm hearing is that he keeps giving you more and more traumatized characters over the years.
01:38You know, the only way you heal trauma is to deal with it and talk about it.
01:42You know, I hear a lot of people giving them flack like, it's more black trauma.
01:45Well, we have a lot of it.
01:47And the only way to heal is to talk about it.
01:50And that's our problem in the black community.
01:52You want them to ignore, pretend like things didn't happen.
01:54But it's the only way you heal.
01:56You don't get over it.
01:57You go through it.
01:58Absolutely.
01:58And Janaya does feel a little bit more of a timid character than audiences are used to seeing you play, even though, you know, she literally murders a man and robs a bank.
02:06But it felt like a little more fear was coming in this performance than I've often seen your character.
02:12So how did you connect with her in that and your more timid?
02:15Because it's like I said, it was it was on the page.
02:19She's a woman who doesn't feel seen.
02:21People who don't feel seen, I try to equate them to like an animal and she's very mousy, you know, like she doesn't take up for herself.
02:33She doesn't speak out for herself, but she finds herself in these horrible situations.
02:37And one thing leads to another situation that's much worse than the first situation, you know.
02:44And as humans, we all have a breaking point.
02:47We all have a breaking point.
02:49And you will break if you don't have a support group or a support system.
02:53And it's unfortunate that she had to go through all of this in one day to finally be seen.
02:59Absolutely.
03:00And my absolute favorite scene in the film is is her big speech on the phone that gets broadcast live where she talks about no one ever helping her.
03:08I promise you, no one will hurt you.
03:11Just please come on out and let's talk about this.
03:15I can't come out there so they can shoot me.
03:19I needed my money to get my daughter's medicine.
03:23She's sick.
03:25And I read that it was a very quick shoot.
03:26So can you walk me through filming that speech?
03:28How did you approach it leading up to it?
03:30You know, was there pressure to get it in in just a few takes?
03:33Tell me about filming that that big speech.
03:35One thing about Tyler's set is you're never going to feel pressure.
03:39You will feel safe.
03:41He's very nurturing.
03:43He gives you all the space in the room you need.
03:46One, how I work with my instrument is like if I can't remember a line or if I drop a line or if I get where I am in these big monologues.
03:56What I love about him and the way I work is that I let it breathe.
04:00I don't go cut.
04:01I forgot the line.
04:02You know what I mean?
04:03I stay in the moment and no one's rushing me through this monologue because I supposedly have hostages so where are they going?
04:15You know what I mean?
04:15All we have is time.
04:17So I take my time and I stay in the moment and I let the words find me.
04:21And oftentimes when somebody is broken, sometimes they can't find the words.
04:28So I rely on that.
04:29You know, I just allow myself to be in the moment and I just drop in.
04:35So tell me about, yeah, your reaction reading the script and then how you incorporated that into your performance that Janiah's daughter had actually died the night before.
04:43Janiah.
04:44What?
04:45She died.
04:49She had a seizure last night.
04:51And we took it to the hospital.
04:56She died.
04:57Janiah.
04:59Well, reading the script, I just was like blown away.
05:02But then it made sense in her actions because what it showed me was that she snapped a long time ago.
05:10She snapped the day before.
05:12She was just on automatic.
05:14So she wasn't even in her body, to be quite honest.
05:17And so that's, that's how I, I just played the honesty of her living the life as if nothing happened.
05:25Totally.
05:26And I was so relieved that she did not die at the end.
05:29They totally faked me out.
05:30Yeah.
05:31Was there ever a version where that was the ending, where she did die or it wasn't an option?
05:37It was.
05:38And then he said, I can't do that to her and the audience because this will just kill him.
05:43So that's why he ended it the way he did, which I thought was, was great.
05:48Yeah.
05:49I'm so glad that's the direction it went in.
05:51So it feels like you've done so much in your career, drama, comedy, musicals.
05:56I'm wondering, is there any kind of role or genre that you haven't gotten a chance to try yet or would like to do more of?
06:02I haven't played a villain.
06:05I'm dying to play a villain.
06:07So if you have any connections.
06:11Well, we'll put it out into the universe.
06:13Yes.
06:13Yes.
06:14For sure.
06:16Before I let you go, I really wanted to tell you that I absolutely thought you deserved the Oscar for The Color Purple.
06:22And I was angry on your behalf that you did not even get the nomination.
06:26I'm wondering, does that kind of thing ever get to you, this lack of recognition from certain Hollywood institutions?
06:33No, I've gotten used to that.
06:34I think my first hard pill to swallow was Hidden Figures when I didn't get nominated.
06:39So I let it go after that.
06:41And for me, it's about the audience and how I'm affecting them in a positive way.
06:47So, you know, I feel like my fans take it harder than I do.
06:51So I let you guys do.
06:53But when a person like yourself, you know, says it for me, it's like, well, somebody sees it.
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