
Smollett started facing the camera at 10 months old but started acting more seriously at five in sitcoms such as “Full House” and “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper.” After that, Smollett appeared as Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Smallest Freedom Fighter” (Sheyann Webb at eight) on a 1999 TV film called Selma, Lord Selma; the only female debater in a black college in Texas during 1935 in The Great Debaters of 2007; a slave who runs away from bondage in Underground; and last year’s Lovecraft Country, HBO’s critically acclaimed science fiction drama where she played a passionate civil rights activist who fights both societal and supernatural monsters earning her first Emmy nomination.
In her latest movie called “The Order,” Smollett takes up the character of an FBI agent named Joanne Carney which is a composite name handling Bob Mathews the white supremacist leader of a pro-Carolina group during Pacific Northwest US government which planned to overthrow government of United States is based on true events.
Smollett says with a laugh, “It is no surprise to anyone that I am very interested in our history,” as we sat down to discuss the project in mid-November. ‘It’s such an honor to be a vessel for different characters, voices and stories coming alive. It seems like people are really grateful for having been part of such a story which felt so immediate and urgent to be told. At this moment, more than ever before, we need arts.’
It’s about one week since Donald Trump retook the White House; and due to the prevailing political situation; Smollett, Jude Law and Tye Sheridan – who also act as police officers – were discussing how “relevant” is “The Order” throughout most of their day yesterday with Nicholas Hoult (as Mathews) and director Justin Kurzel. She argues: “When would it not have been relevant?”
According to Smollett, “But it’s no longer something you can hide or keep in dark corners because we’re grappling with the desire to dominate other human beings.” Stories like this do show us some of the sides of humanity that a lot of us want nothing to do with.
This kind of bigotry, hatred, racism, anti-Semitism is not new whether it’s apartheid in South Africa, the Reconstruction Era or the Jim Crow South. Bob Mathews never created this level of bigotry and hate neither did his death end it unfortunately. So, what brought us here and how do we avoid these very dangerous paths that could lead our other human beings to death?”
She knew some parts of the plot she had heard about The Turner Diaries which is a 1978 novel by William Pierce who was the founder of National Alliance which is a neo-Nazi organization consisting of violent revolution eventually culminating in a race war whose aim is to annihilate blacks and Jews. It influenced white nationalism and its depiction as an attack on Capitol has been likened to Jan.6 incident . However, she didn’t fully understand how Matthews incited domestic terrorists afterwards such as Timothy McVeigh who perpetrated Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.
According to Smollett, “One of the things the film does so well is it explores how this ideology preys on the weak and vulnerable and how this propaganda is bred at a very early age, in small doses,” she says of the way “The Order” threads that needle. “More than that, as far as I’m concerned, it’s domestic terrorism. Trying to dominate other human beings, taking arms against the American government. I mean, what are those steps in ‘The Turner Diaries,’ if not treason?”
What really gets Smollett excited as an artist are these truths and their connections. A journalist during a press junket told her that she had looked into the real story after watching the film and she was thrilled about that during the press day. She has gotten used to hearing things like this over time with Lovecraft Country for instance, people were compelled to look up more about 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre or sundown towns after watching episodes and it is something that’s important to her.
There are several guiding principles for her work. “Nina Simone talks about it being the job of the artist to reflect the times that’s my North star,” Smollett says, then paraphrases James Baldwin’s musings about the artist’s relationship to integrity. “He says, ‘It’s force you didn’t ask for. It’s a responsibility which you must accept. And if you don’t lie, if you don’t cheat, it’s not only your glory, your achievement, it’s almost our only hope. Because only artists, since the beginning of time, have known and been able to communicate what it’s like to survive being human.’”
Her takeaway from their words is this: “To hold a mirror up to society and reflect it back is essential storytelling. Unfortunately, we are in a time where folks want to ban certain books and literally erase our history, so art will be more essential than ever to tell the truth.”
And speaking of the election in the days leading up to contest, X started buzzing with posts suggesting Smollett should add portraying Kamala Harris to her resume of real-life film roles. Judging from confounded look that crosses her face when I mention the posts, it’s not something Smollett was aware of.
“Could be,” Smollett laughs nervously. “It’s no secret that I’ve had her back since she ran for senator. If the conditions were right and it wasn’t like the janky version…”
Perhaps it may even become one of her next projects with long-time collaborator Misha Green (“Underground,” “Lovecraft Country”)? She brightens some at this suggestion, before adding about Harris: “What an amazing story what her beginnings used to be and how far she has come.”
To play Carney was to look for a part of my brain that allows you to become someone who chooses to run into danger because your faith in the cause is so strong that you can give up everything for it your mind, body and soul. Not someone who runs away from danger. It forced me to ask myself, “Who am I?”
I would like to think I would run into the blaze but at the same time, I don’t want the universe testing me. My bravery has had many chances to manifest itself, but it hasn’t been put on trial because of my privileged position. We all have our issues and as we go through them we develop the courage and strength needed in order to fight that demon which is haunting us. However, wanting just this: “I’m running into it” is another matter.
Here’s a pushback because I think that you’re somebody who tends to jump into fire with regards to your roles that mirror society’s views regarding experiences of women and Black individuals.
I do like scary stories. I do prefer to read stories that are not conventional. I do look for things that feel dangerous and that I’m totally scared of doing. I do look for those and it takes a lot of artistic courage to find them. But that’s different, and I sit in a place of privilege to recognize the difference. However, yeah, I love disrupting shit.
What did you fear her?
Firstly, she was portrayed as a man. It happened again recently with Mame Downs in “The Burial” played by Jamie Foxx. Basically, you want these situations to be true accounts in order to get justice for real people who went through such things before. Although my character is imaginary, there were special agents who actually tracked down Bob Mathews; hence capturing their essence or doing justice to the spirit of someone on such positions was an uncharted territory until then
It wasn’t that I was scared of the subject, but I knew we would have to go deep into various corners. There’s a side of our history which sometimes you just don’t want to access. It is on this cross road with multiple identities that one of my [acting] coaches often discusses “blood memory” and the visceral connection that exists between us and our ancestors, their triumphs as well as tragedies. So I am always drawn towards the roles that activate my blood memory.
I find it striking when you a black woman with Jewish heritage look at such pictures in Carney’s house while FBI raids the headquarters of “The Order” filled with racist and anti-Semitic images.
This is why it is important to enter that bunker so that one can understand what it actually means to be in there. How does this case affect her or her selfhood being a Black woman who held power which not many were able to hold during those days?
Because she still has to do her job at the end of the day. That’s what happens when you wipe away a tear.
Then the exposure appears. You are a human being, therefore this will affect you. And how does she suppress it? That turns into anger. Besides, images can be extremely persuasive.
You also made up another instantaneous scene in the movie when Carney asks Huck if it was all worth it having had a wonderful career but without any contact with his family. It’s that conversation which reveals so many things about their relationship and starts to suggest their past lives to us as readers. What did you invent for Carney?
I’m an actor who likes to know what sheets my character sleeps on and what they have for breakfast because it helps me draw from reality. This is when you start making choices before you step onto set. All the invisible work is done before you ever get there…
This concept was something I came up with once that describes part of her backstory with Husk as siblings and close friends like Jude and me. She used to be his student but now the tables have turned; he is not the big fish anymore, rather he seeks her for confidential information. This situation pleases her and her pride in being able to turn things around. However, she also relies on him because we share a lot of things. Work is everything for us! It is never outside our lives. We give up everything for this career mind, body and soul included. All she wants to hear from him is that it’s worth every effort since at end of the day, there must be an explanation why she has to sacrifice herself all through this time in vain.
What happened on the set at that time?
We were in a race with time and against sunset, and Justin said, “Jurnee let’s go ahead. You just drive one way then return; keep driving up and down while we video shoot.” He had cameras in the back seat, he was talking through a walkie talkie, and Jude and I were talking. We did several takes of the scripted scene before we began conversing. When you have a lot of things that happened to your character before this point in the story, it helps you think like her/him. That’s how you do it.
That is a kind of magic trick. What other things were on your mind as you added Carney to the line-up of characters in your library?
I look at all those who have gone before us, whether it’s the Hepburns, or Alfre Woodard and Angela Bassett or Denzel Washington and Al Pacino. I watch their first star turns again and say, “Well maybe they couldn’t have done that role without doing that role.”
Certain characters seem to come to me because there is something about myself that I need to get rid of by playing them. Moreover, they guide me toward acquiring certain abilities which will later be employed for other purposes. That thing in my head when I interviewed those special agents with Carney; provided me the basis for my further research of Apple TV show two completely different women from different walks of life, but it is funny how life finds its ways. What are your plans for the future?
Moving to the other side of the camera comes naturally as my artistic talent evolves. I’ve been in front of a camera since I was ten months old. I have worked on set myself for so long that I know what everyone’s job is and it is something that gets me so much at heart because, from our previous ancestors down to this time, storytelling has always been our greatest desire either to listen or tell them. It’s just about being an artist for me and I love collaborating with others, so if you look at any official title either producer or eventually director, just think of it as playing a part in telling the story better.
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