The Hulu film explores the enduring bonds of friendship as three women navigate decades of love, family, and life’s challenges.
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00:00We're all going to go through ups and downs and trials and tribulations, you know, it's
00:05not the measure of a person on, you know, if they fall, it's how they get up.
00:11And you know, because everyone is going to fall, but not everyone gets up.
00:16And so, you know, to put love and trust and admiration and just, you know, all of those
00:29different traits at the forefront, I think, you know, helped James and Odette get through
00:35the things that they've gone through, not just in this, what you see on screen, but
00:39throughout the years in our backstory, at least in my mind.
00:44And so it took a certain strength and I love to see that there's a man, a black man in
00:53particular in this film that is a true support structure.
00:59And it doesn't make him weak.
01:01He's actually a stronger presence because of his support.
01:05Mama said I was born cursed with a life of fearlessness.
01:09Barbara Jean, your friends are here.
01:12If you don't want that hand broke, you better get it up off her.
01:16Go on and zip it.
01:17I want blood all over my dress.
01:18Come on.
01:19Fate might've put me on a one-way street, but I was destined to walk that street well
01:30loved with my girl Clarice and our best friend, Barbara Jean.
01:35Look at the three of y'all walking in here, all pretty and shiny.
01:39Remind me of the Supremes.
01:40Welcome to Earl's.
01:41All you can eat.
01:42We still look as good as we did back in the day, right?
01:47Come on.
01:48My first question is for you.
01:51Barbara Jean is one of the most complex characters in the film, and she went through a lot during
01:55the duration of the story.
01:56What initially drew you to the character of Barbara Jean?
02:00I just, I loved her resilience.
02:06I have had a lot of people in my family who have dealt with addiction, the disease of
02:12addiction and have seen their stories and their struggles.
02:17I've seen some people succumb to it, and I've seen some people triumph, and so that
02:22really resonated with me in terms of her journey, and yeah, I mean, I just love, she's a fighter.
02:29No matter how unlucky her life path has been, she's a fighter, and I admire that.
02:38Now, I just want to know, Odette is portrayed as a strong character, especially in the face
02:42of adversity.
02:44What was your process when preparing for the role in bringing the balance between her strength
02:48and her vulnerabilities?
02:49You know, I try to bring my well of personal experience to what I do, and then I had a
03:01wonderful director in Tina Mabry, and just brilliant, brilliant co-workers in Sanaa Lathan
03:10and Uzell and Makai and Russell, so that, honestly, that's 80% of the work, you know?
03:20And the rest of it is just me, you know, the patterns, looking at the patterns of women
03:27like that in my life and, you know, pulling from that.
03:31Now, the relationships in this film are deep and they're real complex too, and it's a lot
03:36of love and loss throughout the film.
03:38Makai, as an actor, what did you find most rewarding in portraying these difficult moments
03:44with your wife during a time of need?
03:47Well, you know, one of the things that, you know, was rewarding by playing in these difficult
03:54times is what also drew me to the script initially anyway, was that, you know, we're all going
04:03to go through ups and downs and trials and tribulations, you know?
04:08It's not the measure of a person on, you know, if they fall, it's how they get up and,
04:13you know, because everyone is going to fall, but not everyone gets up.
04:19And so, you know, to put love and trust and admiration and just, you know, all of those
04:31different traits at the forefront, I think, you know, helped James and Odette get through
04:37the things that they've gone through, not just in this, what you see on screen, but
04:42throughout the years in our backstory, at least in my mind.
04:47And so it took a certain strength and I love to see that there's a man, a black man in
04:55particular in this film, that is a true support structure and it doesn't make him weak.
05:03He's actually a stronger presence because of his support and to me, that's what drew
05:09me to it and what really got me excited about this film and this character in particular.
05:16So Russell, for you, my brother, I had a question about this because I've seen a lot of films
05:20that kind of like chronicle a person's lives for like a long period of time and this can
05:25actually be for the entire panel.
05:27Did you two do any dialogue with your younger selves in the film to kind of bring cohesion
05:31to the older roles and vice versa?
05:34Yes.
05:35And what was that conversation like, what were those dialogues like for you?
05:41For me, it was very simple.
05:43Xavier, who played my younger half, I actually just kind of tell it to him.
05:49I think it's about the character having fun and just kind of embracing that and embracing
05:54just the love of himself for himself, you know?
05:59And that's a dot that's connected throughout their journey, their story, until Richmond
06:06has an opportunity to redeem himself towards the end of the film.
06:12What about you, Sinai?
06:13Did you have any dialogue with your younger self as well?
06:16Yes.
06:17Tati Gabrielle, the wonderful young actress who shared Barbara Jean, it was great because
06:23we were all encouraged to get together with our younger counterparts and Tati and I talked
06:30about Barbara Jean's history.
06:32We kind of came up with things together.
06:34We came up with her arc, some little gestures, subtle things, and it was surprising when
06:42I finally saw the movie how it kind of was really seamless with all of the younger parts.
06:49I really think it paid off, but it was great to collaborate on a role like that, you know?
06:55Angelou, you've played in a couple of period pieces in your career, and I know that your
07:02role particularly, and this was in the 90s, but a lot of this story is set in the 60s
07:06and 70s, during a time of great political and social change.
07:10What resonates with you most about the 60s and 70s in America?
07:14I think if it were up to me, I would only do period films.
07:21I enjoy them.
07:24Just the experience of making a period film, the clothes, the culture of that kind of filmmaking
07:32is exciting, is really particularly exciting to me.
07:37And I think art, someone asked this question earlier, I think art is far more consequential
07:43than any policy, any political work that has ever been done.
07:48Art moves the needle in a much more profound and quicker way.
07:56And the reason why I'm always interested in doing period films, 60s or 70s, it is the
08:03act for me of giving voice, giving presence to figures that are actively now being redacted
08:13from history books.
08:14And it is my way of reclaiming that space.