Lena Waithe and Elle Lorraine speak on starring in hair-raising horror flick ‘Bad Hair’
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If you haven’t had a chance to treat yourself to Justin Simien’s latest project, Bad Hair, it’s time to hop onto Hulu and see what all the fuss is about. theGrio caught up with two of the film’s stars, Lena Waithe and Elle Lorraine, to find out what it was like to participate in the unconventional horror satire.
The film that stars Lorraine as the well-meaning wallflower Anna Bledsoe also features Waithe in the supporting role of Brook-Lynne, a VJ whose one-liners offer some levity from the blood-thirsty weaves that are wreaking havoc on the staff of their music network, Culture.
Read More: Kelly Rowland, Lena Waithe and more talk ‘Bad Hair’ film at Urbanworld Film Festival
The film boasts a long list of stars including Kelly Rowland, Vanessa Williams, Usher Raymond, Laverne Cox, Blair Underwood, Jay Pharaoh, Ashley Blaine-Featherson, and Chante Adams, among others.
“It felt like a family reunion for a lot of us. You know, we all hang out outside of like work and we really have grown up with each other and really gotten to know each other and been through some stuff with each other,” Waithe says of the star-studded set.
“It really just felt like a community of artists that wanted to do something cool and wanted to help Justin realize his vision and we all were just on board and in the trenches together, but also too, we got to stargaze a little bit with Laverne Cox or Vanessa Williams on set.”
Read More: Justin Simien on making horror flick ‘Bad Hair’ for Black women
According to Waithe, the good vibes came courtesy of the film’s writer/director Simien, and the environment he created on the set.
“What happened was we all were in the same boat and we all got to become friends with those folks and really connect with those people and bring them into the tribe in a way. We were all tribe when we were on set,” she continues. “I think that’s what was so fascinating about it and it all starts with Justin. He’s a person that creates that energy and that environment and it all starts from top down.”
While there’s tons of laughs in this campy ride, the film also tackles tough issues that have plagued our community since slavery, including the notion that Black women’s natural hair makes them less than desirable in corporate America. It also shines a light on the ways our customs and traditions have been erased and relegated to superstition, chipping away at our true history and identity.
Check out the full interview above.
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Published at Tue, 27 Oct 2020 16:30:00 +0000