00:00You're watching Essence Live.
00:05I'm your host, Makon Jovu, and that was a clip from the hit show, Underground, where
00:09Aisha Hines plays Harriet Tubman.
00:11Now, we have Aisha in the studio with us.
00:13Welcome to Essence Live, Aisha.
00:15Thank you so much.
00:16I'm so honored to be here.
00:17It's truly a pleasure and honor to have you here.
00:20Now, before we even get started, we have to clear this rumor, because our hearts are
00:23just racist.
00:24There's rumors that Underground is not going to be on WGN, that potentially there might
00:29be something else happening.
00:30Can you confirm?
00:31Can you let us know what's going on with that?
00:33I wish that I knew.
00:34What I do know is that Underground is a very powerful narrative, and I know that we have
00:40audiences who want to hear more, and I know that there is so much more to talk about.
00:46You know, there's so much more history to sort of delve into, and so by no means is this story
00:52complete, you know?
00:53And so if WGN is not the home, I'm sure we'll find Aisha.
00:56Oh my gosh, listen, because it just cannot end like that.
00:59Like, it just, this cannot be the end.
01:01We have to keep going.
01:03It's true.
01:03It's true.
01:04It's true.
01:04And thankfully, you know, we have a vibrant, you know, following that, you know, will either
01:09stay with us or follow us where we go.
01:11Absolutely.
01:11And you play such an amazing role.
01:13As I mentioned, playing Harriet Tubman, and the way that you just transform into her.
01:17Slavery is such a powerful, heavy thing.
01:19How do you take care of yourself mentally on and off the set?
01:23The beautiful thing about Underground is that it dealt with this narrative from the perspective
01:28of, of, of not the occupation, but the revolution.
01:32And so it celebrated the heroes within this thing that, you know, we've been talking about.
01:37There were several people, you know, always talking about, you know, they didn't want to
01:41tune in for yet another slave narrative.
01:43That's exactly right.
01:44We don't really have the luxury to say that we don't want to tune in for another slave
01:48narrative.
01:49You know, when we live in a country that's built on the foundations of slavery, it's
01:52important to have a context for it so that we understand where we're living now and why
01:57we are living that way, you know.
01:59And so there wasn't a huge amount of self-care that I had to do for this.
02:04You know, I had to honestly be open, you know, avail myself for this story, avail myself
02:09for this narrative, avail myself for the, for the powerful spirit of Harriet Tubman and
02:13truly tell her, allow her story to be told through me.
02:16And she is one of our heroes.
02:18And so I was ecstatic to give voice to a hero.
02:21And boy, did you ever, that mentee episode, oh Lord, that's a whole nother segment on its
02:26own.
02:27But switching gears, so you're also on another show called Shots Fired.
02:30Were you shooting both at the same time?
02:32I wasn't.
02:32I actually, it lined up divinely.
02:34I shot Shots Fired in the early months of summer last year and then quickly followed
02:39behind shooting underground from like maybe August until the early months of, early days
02:45of December.
02:46And it worked out in such a beautiful way because I felt like Pastor Janae was, you know,
02:50a role that invited me to sort of dig into the depths of my spirituality and sort of put
02:56it, you know, on display by playing this pastor and this community activist and assuming
03:01responsibility for a world outside of oneself.
03:05And so it was a natural progression to move into someone as major and big and beautiful
03:09as, and selfless as Harriet Tubman.
03:12And so I always, you know, am grateful to Gina and Reggie for, you know, giving me this,
03:17this, this, this sort of masterclass, you know, to prepare me, I think unknowingly for
03:22what was to come.
03:23So let's talk about Pastor Janae.
03:25Yes.
03:25Was it based on anyone in real life?
03:27Do you know anyone who's like Pastor Janae?
03:29I don't.
03:30You know, the funny thing about it is that I didn't have a reference for her, you know,
03:35they initially wrote it for a man because I think probably there are more people in the
03:39world that they can look at who are men that probably are more of a composite for her.
03:44And so for me, I've just, I've researched pastors that I knew, pastors that I grew up
03:49with, sisters that I knew that I was involved in youth ministry here in New York with, and
03:54just sort of brought all of their voices together.
03:56the women of the Black Lives Movement, just, you know, brought all of their perspectives,
04:01their voices, their desires to sort of help community, put them all sort of together and
04:06created the voice of Pastor Janae.
04:08Hello.
04:09Hi.
04:10Hi.
04:13Hi.
04:15Hi.
04:15Hi.
04:16Hi.
04:20Hi.
04:21Hi.
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