Janelle Monae did not smile or laugh during our interview. There was hardly any of the energetic, carefree performer on display that you’ve seen in the singer/songwriter’s live performances or music videos. She was dressed to the nines in a signature black and white ensemble ready to hit the stage or avoid the paparazzi at a moment’s notice. She was in diva mode with a capital “D” and if you know this pundit that’s meant as a compliment. To be clear, this is not to insinuate that Monae was rude or unfriendly. Monae was simply there for business and to discuss, among other things, her role in Barry Jenkins’ masterful “Moonlight.”
READ MORE: Barry Jenkins’ Magnificent ‘Moonlight’ Will Transform Lives [Review]
The A24 and Plan B production is officially one of the most acclaimed films of the year garnering a staggering 99 grade on Metacritic after 28 reviews. It’s also a very auspicious start for an artist who waited a long time to make her big screen debut. Janelle plays Teresa, the wife/companion (we’re never quite sure) of Juan (Mahershala Ali), a Miami area drug dealer who has taken a young boy, Chiron (aka “Little” played by Alex Hibbert), under his wing. The Grammy nominee also stars alongside Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer in Theodore Melfi‘s “Hidden Figures” arriving just in time for awards season. In that film she plays Mary Jackson, a mathematician and aerospace engineer who was part of the team that allowed John Glenn to become the first American astronaut to complete a full orbit around the earth.
Clutching her jacket like a coat of armor, Monae discussed both movies with a steely and charismatic resolve that the printed form simply cannot do justice.
Gregory Ellwood: Congratulations on the movie.
Janelle Monae: Thank you.
You shot this before “Hidden Figures,” correct?
Uh huh. It’s my first movie.
How did you get involved? Did Barry come to you directly?
Well, my best friend introduced me to [Jenkins’ last film] “Medicine for Melancholy” and I was a fan. My agents would send me lots of scripts. People would want me to be a part of their movies, but I was always waiting for the right film. I studied acting at the American Musical and Dramatics Academy in New York City. You know, I’ve been very passionate about being in the movie world, but I was waiting on the right script. When Barry sent his script over, and he asked me to read for Teresa, when I read the script I had a visceral reaction. I just remember crying, at least two to three times. I felt so responsible to helping tell this powerful story. It was so important that we highlighted the young, black, poor, gay male experience. We hadn’t seen that in the way that Barry had written it. I was just overjoyed that finally some young kid, you know, some person from my generation would go into the theater and after seeing “Moonlight” not feel so alone. You know, if they had been struggling with loving themselves for who they were or accepting their sexual identity, they wouldn’t feel alone anymore because we had “Moonlight.” That’s why I took on the role.
I took on the role of Teresa who plays a young surrogate mom to Chiron because his mother Paula, played by Naomie Harris, who did an incredible job, cannot be there to emotionally support him. So Juan, my husband played by Mahershala Ali, the incredible Mahershala Ali, are surrogate parents to him and we don’t judge him. We allow him the space to just be. Even if he doesn’t know what he wants to identify with. We allow him that space to just be and make his own decisions and not make those decisions for him.
This is probably the first time you’ve acted with kids maybe since college. How daunting is that going in or was it easier to shoot than any of us would assume?
I had a great director. Barry’s incredible, man. I will say when I had flown down to Miami because that’s where we shot the movie and we shot my scenes, I was a little nervous because I was working with Mahershala and with Naomie. These are established actors. They’ve been in multiple films. This is my first movie. I’m naturally a little nervous and Barry pulled me to the side when I got to set and he said, “There’s no such thing as making a mistake. As long as you are truthful and honest and you speak from your heart, you’re making the right decision.” So I relaxed. I kept that in the back of my mind in my subconscious as I was making decisions and choices for Teresa. You didn’t really have to make it. I knew that I was her. I knew that she was in me. I knew that Chiron… to be able to nurture and be there for him emotionally, I connected back to my nephew. If this was my nephew or my future son or a little cousin that I had to coach throughout certain traumatic experiences that he had had, I was able to identify because I had been there before. I’ve been in these rooms before.
When you saw the film for the first time, what was your reaction?
Proud. This film is brave. The script was brave and I was a little concerned. I didn’t know if the film would live to how incredible the script was going to be. When you get lots of people involved … I know this because I’m in the entertainment industry and sometimes the people with money want to alter things or make characters more stereotypical or one dimensional. That wasn’t the case with everyone, with “Moonlight.” You know that they were all one voice and they were on board to make something brave and raw and honest and truthful. They kept the integrity of the script and that is what I was excited and most proud of.
I attended the sneak preview of footage from “Hidden Figures” at Toronto last month. I was in the back of the theater, but during the Q&A afterward it appeared like the film meant a lot to Octavia and Taraji in particular. I’m just curious what that experience was like working on that movie and is it important to you in a different way than “Moonlight” or not?
Well, it means a lot to be involved in “Hidden Figures.” As an African American woman, the fact that because these women were women and they were minorities, a lot of the brilliant work that they had done to help make “American Great Again,” was not acknowledged bothers me. I am very honored to play Mary Jackson, the first female African American engineer at NASA. She reminded me so much of myself. I would have made a lot of the choices that she made back then to fight a petition to take the courses to become an engineer. She was denied because of the color of her skin and because she was a woman to truly go after her dreams. She made it happen. She had support with her supervisor. She’s a fighter and so am I. I think the sexism and the racism that these women had to endure during a time where they were making our country make history is just appalling. They deserve to be apologized to every single day if you ask me.
It meant the world to be at the Toronto Film Festival and to be a part of this movie, to be a part of this film about true American heroes. These are heroes. If it were not for these women who were directly responsible for getting these astronauts into orbit and into space, we wouldn’t even know what it was like, what being a man on the moon was even like. We wouldn’t have the research about space in the way that we do if were not for them. They were directly responsible for doing the math and checking the numbers to get our astronauts into space.
Do you feel like having the “Moonlight” experience beforehand, helped you to tackle “Hidden Figures”? Or were they just such different projects it wouldn’t have mattered? You would have felt the same feelings, nervousness, whatever you did going into “Hidden Figures” anyway.
No, absolutely I agree with you, the earlier part of your sentence. It was very helpful. Because I knew what it was to be on set, I knew what it was to take direction from the director. Of course I’d done music videos and I know what that’s like. I’ve been in front of the camera and behind the camera before. It was great to just be fresh off the heels of being a part of a team and knowing, you know, what it means to have a crew and all those things in the film were. So I was prepared when I did “Hidden Figures.” I was little bit more prepared for what to expect.
How are you planning out this new acting career? Are you hoping to fit in a movie once a year? Or do you not think of your movie career in that way?
One, I think of myself not just as a musician or singer or actor but more so of storytelling. I’m an artist storyteller who wants to tell untold, unique, universal stories in unforgettable ways. It’s always about meaningful stories and both Moonlight and Hidden Figures are meaningful. They’re going to mean something to culture. They’re going to mean something to humanity. The world will be better because of these movies. I know that in my heart. I do want to be a part of that genre; meaningful, untold. There’s so many hidden stories out there that we don’t know about that are dying to be on screen. I’m not really interested, I may change my mind later, who knows. But I’m not interested in retelling the same stories. I’m just not. I’m ready for new, raw, stories that allow humanity to connect through empathy, and I’m ready for representation. More representation of black women being seen in a different light. We’re not all monolithic, we’re complex human beings. We have stories and stories for days that are dying to be told. We just need brave people like the moonlight folks and the hidden figures folks to tell.
Well you’re an artist beyond just being a storyteller. Are there any stories you want to tell as a director or a screenwriter?
Oh yes, absolutely. When the time is right, hopefully I will.
“Moonlight” is now playing in New York and Los Angeles. “Hidden Figures” opens in limited release on Dec. 25.