Jurnee smollett birds of prey7/19/2023 The goal is to truly make it intersectional. That's never happened in our history before. I think what's so powerful about #MeToo and about Time's Up is that you have women of color right in the center. I think in the past we've seen how the women's movement can be so splintered. Working with Time's Up to really make sure that women of all kinds are the nucleus of this movement has been a real passion of mine. I focus a lot of my work within Time's Up on WOC, which stands for Women of Color. They've just said, 'I'm going to go and build my own table.' I very much feel a part of the Time's Up Movement, and have worked closely with the organization since the beginning. So many have stopped asking for a seat at the table. I think what we're witnessing right now is a real shift in the balance of power within the industry. You grew up in Hollywood, starting your career as a child star in Full House. How have you seen the industry evolve over the years? How has the balance of power shifted? MC: That ownership of power can be channeled in so many ways. I realized, if I have a gift, how dare I not use it? It took these artists and the art that they had created, and to come to the village and to see how all these people were so impacted-it blew my mind. Putting a well inside the village could impact it greatly. They were walking five kilometers one way, five kilometers back, just to get water. Children who had lost both parents to HIV/AIDS. You had children who were raising their siblings. The local people there were so beautiful and so kind and so humble. We would go to these small villages and walk inside a hut where the roof was made of tin. I saw how my mentors could use their art to manifest tangible change. What I saw on the ground was the power of art. They were all taking a delegation to South Africa to build a well. Jackson and his wife, LaTanya Richardson, Alfre Woodard and Blair Underwood. This organization was made up of all these artists I had grown up with, who were mentors of mine, like Samuel L. I was a part of an organization called Artists For A New South Africa, and I was broke. I had it in my head that I was going to become more of an activist and not as much an actor or an artist. One of the moments was I was just on a flight, on my 20th birthday, to South Africa. Black Canary was just so second nature to me. I think I ended up doing this one scene over 30 times because there were so many different pairings. They were mixing and matching all of us girls into different pairings to see what the best chemistry was. Then, they asked for me to screen test at Warner Bros., which was a grueling day. They asked for me to do a chemistry read with Margot. I'm going to do this, but they're never going to cast me. Then, I sent the tape in and they responded to it very enthusiastically and asked if I could come to L.A. Honestly, when I did the audition, I just thought All right. I knew her from Injustice 2, the video game, which I played once in a while with my husband. I went to my manager and my agents and said, ‘Listen, Misha said I should go for it and that there's a chance they actually won't be shooting during that time.’ I did a self-tape in Chicago while I was shooting the pilot for Lovecraft Country they weren't telling us what the character was, but we had assumed it was Black Canary. They won't even let me audition for it because I'm not going to be available.' She said, 'Bitch, go after it!' Then, Misha said to me ‘Aren't they casting for Birds of Prey?’ I talked to her about it. Initially, they weren't so interested in me even auditioning because I wasn't available-I was shooting Lovecraft Country for HBO, which was a direct conflict. JSB: It was a role my manager actually had first mentioned to me. MC: What was the audition and casting process for Black Canary like? (Image credit: Claudette Barius/ & © DC Comic)
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