Tessa Thompson has always portrayed strong and powerful female roles, and the actress in real life is very much the same. The Westworld actress spoke to Porter magazine to talk about her voice and influence, as well as working on a new film.
While appearing on the magazine's cover, Thompson is addressing the many ways in which she utilizes her female power for good, and how the latest project she is a part of stands out among the others.
Tessa Thompson shows her feminine power
If there's one thing Tessa Thompson proves good at, activism and acting are at the top of the list! The Westworld star opens up about how she uses her voice for good and shares how important it is to speak up.
"I don’t think any artist necessarily has a responsibility to try being an agent of change. But, for me, it’s always been something that feels compelling," she said. "And if there’s a risk in speaking up, it’s always felt worth it. I’m just continuing to try to learn how to show up in those spaces and to pass the mic to folks who know a lot more than me."
When asked if she had ever faced the risk of losing a job from speaking up, and whether or not that ever deterred her from sharing her voice, the actress responded, "Anyone who wouldn’t want to work with me because I’m a person at this time fighting the value and dignity of Black lives needing to be protected… I really don’t want to work with them. It’s my life and it’s important that my core values line up with my creative ecosystem."
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Thompson then shares the love she felt for her project, Sylvie's Love, which she not only stars in but also produces.
"When I first heard about Sylvie’s Love and had conversations with Nnamdi [Asomugha] about making it, it reminded me of The Notebook. I remember seeing that way back in the day and thinking, 'I’d love to be in a film like this,'" she said.
Thompson also revealed the significance she feels in making a movie like that adding, "To make a film that centres around two Black people falling in love felt really impactful to me."
She continued, "I think even in these moments of peril and pain, it shows we’re still having dinner, we’re still celebrating, we’re still singing songs, we’re still making love and doing all the other things that we do as humans to sustain us."
Sylvie's Love racked up a whopping 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Test your knowledge!
Which African American actor starred as rap legend Rudy Ray Moore in 2019's 'Dolemite Is My Name'?
