00:04Lupita, you've worked with Jordan Peele, Steve McQueen, Mira Nair. I think a lot of filmmakers
00:10who have been underrepresented in the past in Hollywood. Are you making these choices
00:15specifically to work with, you know, directors like that? Or is it just the roles you've been
00:21drawn to? I think these are all directors who have offered me the most interesting roles.
00:25And I've taken them. And I haven't really thought, I don't, yeah, I haven't really thought about
00:33the demographic of the director I've been working with. I think because I am, I mean, I am a black
00:41woman. And so, you know, this industry, this time, this Me Too time, this Time's Up time is about
00:51allowing for more equitable representation. And I am, I am benefiting from the efforts of a lot of
01:01other women who have come before me, other black women who have come before me, who have had it
01:06a lot rougher than I have. And I'm aware of that. It's a time when directors like Steve McQueen and
01:15Jordan Peele are being given chances to make work. And so they are able to then, you know,
01:21in Jordan's case, write with someone like me in mind for their next film. And for me, I think
01:32there it's, this is a time where there is a concerted effort to consider diversity and inclusion.
01:40What I really want is for it to not be a fad, not be a trend, you know, where right
01:47now it's really
01:47dope and cool and on trend to work with women and underrepresented groups. But I think the moment
01:56of maturity in the industry is when it is just the norm, you know, when, when you no longer need
02:03to ask that question. Right. Yeah. When were you most afraid or intimidated by a role and how did
02:14you overcome it? I would say that the last film, Us, terrified me quite a bit. And like Renee said,
02:23like Renee said, I feel the same way. Every time I work, I wonder whether I have what it takes
02:30to do
02:30that particular role. Because, you know, we're in a business where we're always starting again,
02:35you know, you have to, you start with ignorance with every role. And the preparation is about moving
02:41from that ignorance to hopefully a sense of, you know, expertise by the time the film wraps.
02:48Right.
02:49But with Us, I had to play two characters in one movie. And I had the time, it usually takes
02:54me to
02:54prepare for one. And these two characters are diametrically opposed to each other. They are
03:00individual, but they're also two entities that ultimately are one. So that was a challenge just
03:09in terms of how to organize it in my head, you know, and how to, how to make them distinct
03:20and yet feel
03:22like two parts of one entity.
03:30I'm curious if you've ever had an experience where the actor you had to work across from
03:36wasn't giving you what you needed, or it just wasn't really vibing the way it needed to.
03:42You don't have to name names.
03:45If you've had to, you know, work with an actor and it just wasn't working.
03:50Yeah, it's interesting. For me, I was trained in the theater. And so that's where I feel
03:55like most at home. And film is something that I've been working on for the last, what, six
04:03years. And what's interesting about film is that you are at risk, I think, more often of
04:09having an actor that doesn't respond. Because on stage, it is the performers who are in charge
04:18of the magic. Whereas on film, there's other people in charge of the magic. You know, yes,
04:24the performers do their thing, but then there's the editor, who ultimately is the one that puts
04:28the performance together. Then it's the take, you know, you just have to do this, yeah, the camera,
04:34you know, all these weird things where you can't look at the person you're acting with,
04:37you have to look at the X or something like that. So all those things get in the way or
04:43make just human
04:45exchange a little bit more challenging. And therefore, I think it's you are more likely
04:50to find moments with an actor where things are not gelling, because there's so many other things
04:57to deal with. So for me, that working on this on us was a lesson in how effective being self
05:08-reliant
05:09can be. It's almost like you have to control what you can and then just let go and trust that
05:18your
05:18scene partner, the editor, will do the gluing.
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