Throughout Hollywood history, Black actors have played a limited role in onscreen explorations of the past, often serving in small supporting roles or simply not appearing at all. And, as such, Bla…
Throughout Hollywood history, Black actors have played a limited role in onscreen explorations of the past, often serving in small supporting roles or simply not appearing at all. And, as such, Black people’s place in history often goes unnoticed off-screen and the context necessary to understand the racial tensions of the current moment is lost.
“This is a very bold reimagining of our story [as Black people] because it’s placing it directly in the center of a genre that we’ve been shut out from for so long,” Smollett says of “Lovecraft Country,” in which she plays Letitia “Leti” Lewis.” “Every time I was on set, it was when ‘Maisel’ got really Black,” Brown recalls. “I was like, ‘Look at all these beautiful Black people, just dressed to the nines, looking sharp as a tack.’ It did something for my soul to be like ‘Yeah, this is who we are.’”
Although Reggie experienced a different amount of access to power than Brown enjoys today — with the character using a white man to pose as Baldwin’s manager in certain professional negotiations — the actor emphasizes that times haven’t changed completely. “I have a unique level of privilege in the industry. And still, I live with the idea that could all be taken away with relative ease.”
“Television, in its capitalist form, drives the American economy, ideas and choices. So, when you see Black people coming forward more and you’re seeing different images of them on TV, that helps to drive this idea that we see Blackness in every space and that helps to inform the citizen,” he continues. “The existence of the characters like that make it clear: you can’t have any of these shows focused on America without Black characters, because there is no America without Black people.
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