Erika Alexander talks to THR on the Oscars 2024 red carpet and shares why she thinks it's important for films like 'American Fiction' to be made. Plus, she dishes on this awards season celebrating the film.
00:00When I've spoken to so many actors this awards season, they often cite American Fiction as their favorite movie of the season.
00:06What has it been like to receive so much support from other actors?
00:09It feels good. You know, support from your peers. It matters.
00:13They know what it takes and how hard it is to break through.
00:16And so those are your first cheerleaders.
00:18They're also cheerleading because many of these actors on here have been working for decades.
00:22And they've been doing good, consistent work.
00:24So it's a wonderful feeling.
00:26What's been the highlight of your awards season journey with American Fiction?
00:30Well, obviously, here is wonderful.
00:33But we got supported early on by interesting critics who thought that this could be a winner.
00:40And they predicted it.
00:42And then I think along the way, they made sure that it was talked about and seen.
00:46And we had really great support from Amazon and MGM and Orion, no doubt, and our separate representation.
00:53So I think I get now why people are so overwhelmed when they get here, because you're just so grateful.
00:59And it does take a village.
01:00It really took a lot of people to get me here today.
01:03So I'm glad.
01:05You look amazing today.
01:06I love your dress.
01:07What inspired your Oscars look tonight?
01:09Well, this is Kristen Siriano.
01:11He famously won Project Runway and has become this amazing designer.
01:15But he also has a legacy of dressing untraditional women.
01:22And he dressed black women when nobody would, because we don't necessarily have the size six body and all the stuff that, you know, a designer might like.
01:32And he did it beautifully.
01:33And I always remembered what he did.
01:34And so when they said he called and he would love to make you a dress, I said, that to me is a blessing.
01:40He's giving me something as a garment that to me speaks to what American fiction is about.
01:46No marginalization, no stereotypes, breaking through borders, and also being available to yourself, your best self, to reach out and bring the community in.
01:55That's what this dress is.
01:56I love it.
01:57And it was such an amazing movie.
01:59And one of the themes is about also the importance of family and family relationships.
02:02How did doing this movie and being a part of it affect your relationship with your own family and how you think about family?
02:08Well, family is tough.
02:10It's dysfunctional, inherently.
02:11It doesn't matter who you are.
02:13And I think that seeing a family like this, a black family, who was being marginalized in stereotypes, whether it was Cliff, who was dealing with his gender and felt like he couldn't tell his family the truth as a black man.
02:25And then, of course, Monk, played by the great Jeffrey Wright, writing these stories that he said really had very little to do with what his skin looked like, but then suddenly breaking through with something that was more stereotypical.
02:37What we're talking about is the marginalization of people.
02:40It happens to everybody.
02:41Women know about it.
02:42Certainly people who are differently gendered, ageism, all that stuff.
02:46Geography, people think people from the South are dumber.
02:49Those types of things go on and on.
02:51And I think in America it challenges us to look at the types of stereotypes that move the market and say, is this an authentic representation of who we are?
02:59And the answer often is no.
03:01This new generation will have to attack those types of storytelling tropes, and they will do it very well.
03:08Why do you think it's important for movies like American fiction to get made?
03:11For that one reason, because we need new voices.
03:15We need new Shakespeare's.
03:16We need new people who think differently.
03:19We need all these different executives that are coming in.
03:21They're expecting to see the world that they grew up in, and it is a diverse world.
03:25It's also a global world.
03:26We're speaking different languages, thinking about the idea of Afro, that music coming in, and the Korean.
03:34We've got all this great love for the new types of filmmakers that are making different stories.
03:40But this is America.
03:41This is exactly what we're supposed to do.
03:43So people should get excited.
03:45Your exciting journey with this film has all led to tonight.
03:48What are you going to do tomorrow when this is all over?
03:50Tomorrow I'm soaking my feet.
03:52My feet hurt.
03:52They went to sleep three times.
03:54You hear me?
03:55Yes.
03:55I mean, people had to nearly push me and walk me down.
03:58I mean, carry me down the carpet.
04:00Not today, though.
04:01I've used some Bengay on my feet, so we'll see what happens.
04:04And then also rest a bit and just sit down and gather myself.
04:12Because my life didn't necessarily change because of this, but my future did.
04:17And there's life in that.
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