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Miss Juneteenth, the debut feature of writer/director Channing Godfrey Peoples, is a film of simple beauty.
By far, the reason to watch the film is Nicole Beharies anchoring performance as Turquoise.
Memorable is her grace in films like42and TV episodes likeBlack Mirrors Striking Vipers.
She also opened up about her experience makingSleepy Hollowand navigating Hollywood as a Black actress.
How are you managing?Im doing all right.
How are you today?
You know, every day is a different story under quarantine and with everything going on in the world.Yeah.
Im definitely feeling the mood swings and the energy shifts for sure.
Its a surreal time to be living.Im nodding.
You cant hear it.
You get to see the bad parts and the good parts.
You get to see the longing and the desire whether its for a better life or validation or whatever.
I just really appreciated that nobody was a throwaway.
They were 3D people and that doesnt always happen.
And its hard to do in such a short amount of time to give everyone a moment.
Even though they make mistakes, everyone in the movie, theyre all flawed but theyre all beautiful.
It was about her hometown.
So I thought that would be fun.
It would be kind of like an immersion process and it was.
I was like, Okay, I got it.
We got down there and, you know, a lot of the cast was local.
Theyre all people that actually exist in those spaces.
I got there a few weeks early to work on my dialect and also to work at the bar.
The community really was so supportive of the picture that they were in, and also supportive of me.
I felt I got to receive and feel that kind of love of a tight-knit environment.
But itwasa small production.
A floorboard broke in one of the houses we were working in and I sprained my ankle.
Oh no!Its funny, things like that happen and it affects your approach.
You work with what your reality is.
Thats really beautifully put.
I was not fully aware of Juneteenth.
That was a big, big part in the immersion, realizing,wow.
I feel like Im super aware and woke and all that stuff.
Thats a good point.
I thought it was a beautiful moment that really kind of showed the importance of this.
Ive lived in the South.
I really loved the music of it.
I went with a lighter choice than initially expected.
Its funny making movies, because you make a choice and then its there forever.
And youre like,Oh, thats interesting how that plays or how that affects the entire thing.
We all know that, the code switch.
I know that very well.
One thing I really loved about the movie was the mother and daughter relationship between Turquoise and Kai.
And to the future, especially if their dreams were deferred in some way.
People dont want to admit to that, but I think it happens.
I just kind of stepped into that.
So, I used that.
Its her [Alexis Chikaezes] first movie.
Im just like a character trying to navigate how much you do and dont do to protect your child.
Turquoise is really trying to reconcile and figure it out in the moment.
Because, she didnt necessarily get the best example, but it was fun.
Like right now …. well, sorry, I was about to go off on a tangent.
And every day something new happens.
Right now were saying Black lives matter, but does every Black life matter?
Like, just as a Black woman, it feels like Turquoise is disregarded.
Its striking another nerve with me, where Im realizing that it speaks to a whole other conversation.
Turquoise is faced with these two men that are offering her some kind of happily ever after.
And, she gets a different happily ever after, right?
She does.It feels empowering.
It feels like she figured out who she is, or that theres more potential.
Im just Im really thinking about women today.
Its just a lot right now.
And it behooves people in the arts to also really think about the stories that are told.
I think that sort of consideration is really important right now.
Theres some interesting conversations going on about racism in Hollywood, especially anti-Black racism.
Ive had some amazing experiences.
You navigate that with as much grace as you’re free to.
But I have, in the last few years, really kind of put myself together.
But there would definitely times when like,Im just the Black person here.
But you do your negotiations, you show up, youre on time.
You just do everything you’ve got the option to to keep the boat above water.
So, I feel like people are now having that conversation.
I was discarded, but Im still here.
You are still here.
I feel like I could write a book about it, theres so many specifics.
Its just enough to say yes, its real.
Lets do something about it.
I totally get you.
Its definitely the kind of conversation that deserves more time than a brief interview.
But thank you for sharing that with me.
I wanted to ask about a very specific moment in the film.
There feels like an ocean of emotion in that moment.
And its just a small moment, but it just feels very powerful.
[Laughs] That wasnt even a scene.
That was like an improvised bit, I think.
I feel like I cant put words to it.
Sometimes youre a dancer, right?
I understand.I dont know if thats a good answer.
I hope people can see it, and just feel it, because some things words just cant do.
