Tessa Thompson doesn’t worry about her activism affecting her work opportunities.
The 36-year-old actress is an outspoken supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, launched the #4PercentChallenge from Time’s Up and the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, asking Hollywood to hire more female directors, and has taken part in the Pass The Mic challenge on Instagram but Tessa doesn’t care if people think she is too outspoken.
She told PORTER magazine: "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. 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.
"Anyone who wouldn’t want to work with me because I’m a person at this time fighting [that] the value and dignity of Black lives need 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."
Tessa stars in Eugene Ashe’s upcoming ‘Sylvie’s Love’, which follows a young woman Sylvie, who falls in love with a gifted saxophonist Robert (played by Nnamdi Asomugha) and Tessa is excited to show a Black love story on screen.
She explained: "When I first heard about Sylvie’s Love and had conversations with Nnamdi 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’.
"To make a film around two Black people falling in love felt really impactful to me. 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."
For the full interview, go to https://www.net-a-porter.com/porter/article-fd0eeeb3ca1f563e or download the NET-A-PORTER app for iPhone, iPad and Android.