{"id":37209,"date":"2021-10-07T16:27:50","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T16:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?post_type=articles&p=37209"},"modified":"2021-10-07T20:39:56","modified_gmt":"2021-10-07T20:39:56","slug":"five-questions-for-lashana-lynch","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/five-questions-for-lashana-lynch\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Questions For … Lashana Lynch"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Lashana Lynch attends the “No Time To Die” World Premiere at Royal Albert Hall on September 28, 2021 in London, England. (Photo by Samir Hussein\/WireImage)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lashana Lynch is having a moment.\u202f\u00a0She was there by Daniel Craig\u2019s side at the Royal Premiere of the new James Bond movie,\u00a0No Time to Die<\/i>, this week in London because she\u2019s the new 007.\u00a0 Her stunning performance at the Royal Court in\u00a0ear for eye<\/i>\u00a0has also been filmed and is part of the upcoming London Film Festival. This is all after having received raves\u00a0in the\u00a0worldwide hit\u00a0Captain Marvel<\/i>\u00a0in which she co-starred as Maria Rambeau, an Air Force pilot and best friend of the title character played by Brie Larson.\u202f\u00a0She\u00a0has also been seen\u00a0as Agent 355 in the\u00a0FX series\u00a0Y: The Last Man<\/i>.\u202f Producer and writer Shonda Rhimes spotted the actress early on when she cast her as the leading character, Rosaline Capulet,\u202fin the period drama\u00a0Still Star-Crossed<\/i>.\u202f\u00a0Lynch’s\u00a0other\u00a0stage work in England has included the title character in\u00a0Educating Rita<\/i>\u00a0at the Chichester Festival Theatre and Tybalt – yes, Tybalt – for The National Theatre’s production of\u00a0Romeo and Juliet<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I headed over to London this week for a two-month cultural sojourn where I will be doing reports back home here at Grazia<\/em>. During my last trip there, I wanted to meet Lynch because my cultural antennae were telling me that she was going to be a star. This was even before she had been cast as 007. \u00a0She accepted my invitation to meet up in\u00a0her Barbican neighborhood to talk about her career\u00a0and how a young\u00a0Black woman navigates it all – show business and her art and conversations such as the one below\u00a0– with a sense of grace even as she grapples with being representative of more than just herself.<\/p>\n

Are you aware of the two different kinds of roles that you play – those written for a\u00a0Black person and those not written for\u00a0a black\u00a0person\u00a0but you are cast in them?\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

You can\u2019t not be aware.\u00a0 Even as a young\u00a0Black performer,\u00a0you always hope to be just an actor amongst other actors and doing a job.\u00a0I\u00a0think the more you grow in your career – well, for me anyway – I do hope to be the\u00a0Black actor who is representing a\u00a0bBack\u00a0woman of our time – or that time when the film or the play is set in – because I always want my characters to be authentic and I want the\u00a0Black community to be proud of who is representing that person for them.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t like the awareness of it.\u00a0 I don\u2019t like the awareness of it on set or how much it can stand out sometimes unnecessarily or how much it is talked about unnecessarily.\u00a0 The only time I love to talk about it is when I\u2019m talking about change, which is what we\u2019re experiencing right now.<\/p>\n

Someone asked me that question the other day, whether I should be explaining or commenting on my being a\u00a0Black woman onscreen.\u00a0 I said, “Well, when I leave my\u00a0house\u00a0I don\u2019t shout to the rooftops,\u00a0\u2018I\u2019m a\u00a0Black woman!\u00a0 I\u2019m a\u00a0Black girl!\u2019”\u00a0 You can see onscreen – it is apparent in\u00a0Captain Marvel<\/i>\u00a0– that I am a\u00a0Black woman raising a black child.\u00a0 Or: She\u2019s a\u00a0Black Tybalt.\u00a0 Get over it. Then get involved in the story.\u00a0 That Shakespeare experience, that National Theatre experience, for me – because it was a half black and half an Asian cast – was amazing.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m\u00a0definitely not\u00a0the person at the forefront.\u00a0\u00a0D\u2019y\u2019know\u00a0what I mean?\u00a0 I am one of many who have a story to tell and who are representing, thankfully,\u00a0at this time.\u00a0 But I am talking about it so much because I\u2019m aiming not to talk about it.\u00a0 I want everybody to talk about it for us then to shift into a time when it\u2019s not even questioned or mentioned.<\/p>\n

Are you Jamaican?<\/i>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Both my parents are Jamaican.\u00a0 I\u2019m proudly Jamaican.\u202f\u00a0 There is a certain way I discovered with my upbringing that Jamaicans hold themselves.\u00a0 When I come into a room, I\u2019m very\u00a0present<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I think one\u2019s energy is highly important, and Jamaicans are people who let themselves be known.\u00a0 Not necessarily in the most brash way or the most excitable way, but you can feel their presence in the room.\u00a0 I like people to feel that I am having a positive effect on the room.\u00a0\u00a0You\u2019re southern, Kevin.\u00a0\u00a0I think that\u2019s what southerners do, too.\u00a0Southerners have a charm and a brightness and an air about them that is very light and very family-orientated and very open.<\/p>\n

They carry a history with them as well.\u00a0\u00a0 We do.\u00a0 There\u2019s no way I can shirk it.\u00a0 Once southern, always southern. But we carry a heavy history under all that lightness you mention.\u202f\u00a0\u00a0Because underneath all that positive energy you are describing is some real dark history.\u00a0\u00a0So\u00a0it gives us a little heft to go along with the lightness.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

In America we had eight years when we had a\u00a0Black\u00a0president\u00a0and we were told we were moving into a post-racial era in which people wouldn’t be talking about race so much.\u00a0 But as a reaction to that in many\u00a0ways,\u00a0\u00a0we\u00a0got\u00a0Trump\u00a0who rose to power by demonizing\u00a0\u201cthe other.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0So\u00a0keep talking about it, Lashana, because racists never go away.\u00a0 They just bide their time until they are given agency again.\u00a0 Does change ever really happen?\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

To me, change doesn\u2019t really happen until we\u2019ve had a good ten or fifteen years of something, when it doesn\u2019t come,\u00a0\u201cOh, yeah, I have to remind myself that the president is\u00a0Black.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Or,\u00a0\u201cOh, yes, I\u00a0have to\u00a0realize there is a\u00a0Black lead in this show.\u00a0 Okay, let me adjust my brain.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0When it\u00a0actually isn\u2019t\u00a0even in your self-consciousness\u202f\u00a0is, for me, when change has evolved – not when we\u2019re in a time when the general masses have gotten use to this one thing and hoped that other countries will follow suit or other industries will follow suit.\u202f\u00a0As an example, the conversation, say, about women in this industry or women across the board in other industries.\u00a0 That is a continued conversation.\u00a0 The suffragettes were working hard and thought now we can rest and pass the baton down and the next generation can continue our work and it\u2019s going to be great.\u00a0\u00a0But here we are still talking about this stuff.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0So\u00a0it makes me question whether concrete change is even going to happen while I am on this earth.\u00a0 And that makes me scared.\u202f\u00a0\u00a0Things can reverse.\u00a0 That\u2019s what\u2019s\u00a0scary.<\/p>\n

Could you ever have a Black person as Prime Minister? \u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

For me?\u00a0 Bring it yesteryear.\u00a0 I would have been very happy with that.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t know if the UK would have allowed that to happen.\u00a0 It is much easier – in my opinion – to have a woman in power in the UK than to have a\u00a0Black person in power. Let\u2019s hope that everything will change.\u00a0 Let us hope.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I read on your Twitter feed this morning a poem by Nikita Gill called\u00a0\u201cGirls of the Wild.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0It went like this:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cThey won\u2019t tell you fairytales\/ of how girls can be dangerous and still\u00a0win.\/\u00a0They will only tell you stories\/ where girls are sweet and kind\/ and reject all\u00a0sin.\/\u00a0I guess to them\/ it\u2019s a terrifying\u00a0thought,\/\u00a0a red riding hood\/ who knew exactly\/ what she was doing\/ when she invited the wild in.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Is being in touch with your own\u00a0\u201cwild\u201d\u00a0and\u00a0inviting it into your\u00a0life\u202f\u00a0important\u00a0to you? And how do you balance that\u00a0\u201cwild\u201d\u00a0and\u00a0the focus and calm that one finally has to have when acting – or even being an actress navigating a career with grace in this crazy business?\u00a0 Are you aware of maintaining that balance? Or am I just talking out of my ass?\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Oh, what\u2019s a bit of talking out of your ass between friends.\u00a0 I have been very aware of the different aspects of myself from a very young age.\u00a0 My aesthetics.\u00a0 My mind and how differently it works from my peers. My wanting to be a nonconformist at the best and worst of times.\u00a0 My speaking like an adult quite early on in my teens.\u00a0 My walking to school by myself at the age of eight and nine. These are all things that truthfully exist in\u00a0me\u00a0and it would be a shame for me to try and tame one or the other to fit someone\u2019s mold or to make someone else feel comfortable. For me, now that I\u2019m in my 30s, I quite enjoy making people feel uncomfortable because it makes me feel like I\u2019m probably doing something authentic within myself if you think there is a little bit of a problem.\u00a0\u00a0D\u2019y\u2019know\u00a0what I mean?\u00a0\u00a0So\u00a0in terms of being\u00a0\u201cwild,\u201d\u00a0there\u00a0are levels to that word.\u00a0 It is “wild” for people to wake up at 6 a.m. and go to the gym? For me, that\u2019s\u00a0absolutely perfect. Is it “wild” for me to stand at the train station with my earplugs in and dancing and singing away and not caring what people are saying.\u00a0\u00a0 To Sally on my left, she might think that is absurd and not “English” enough.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0\u00a0So\u00a0I don\u2019t enjoy taming any part of myself and, if I am, then it means that I might just have a little bit more growing to do. And then I\u2019ll appreciate that.<\/p>\n

Was it\u00a0\u201cwild of me to accept your invitation to talk today?\u00a0\u00a0No.\u00a0 It\u2019s not “wild.”\u00a0 I got an energy from your name.\u00a0 Because I like to look at people\u2019s names.\u00a0 I went,\u00a0\u201cMmmmm\u00a0.. yeah\u00a0\u2026\u00a0this one looks\u00a0cool.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0And I came and I was right.\u00a0 I had a great time.<\/p>\n

If we\u2019re not shaking things up, then why are we living?\u202f\u00a0I just find politeness and carefulness – and everything above and below – quite\u00a0boring actually.<\/p>\n

Listen, I was brought up well.\u00a0 I was brought up very disciplined.\u00a0 But I was also brought up to speak my mind.\u00a0So\u00a0if you\u2019re brought up well, you know how to respect people.\u00a0 And if you are brought up to speak your mind, you know how to speak your mind respectfully.\u00a0 It all comes\u00a0hand-in-hand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29575,"featured_media":37211,"template":"","format":"standard","categories":[23,16],"yoast_head":"\nFive Questions For ... Lashana Lynch - GRAZIA USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lashana Lynch is having a moment.\u202f\u00a0She was there by Daniel Craig\u2019s side at the Royal Premiere of the new James Bond movie,\u00a0No Time to Die, this week in London because she\u2019s the new 007.\u00a0 Her stunning performance at the Royal Court in\u00a0ear for eye\u00a0has also been filmed and is part of the upcoming London Film Festival.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/five-questions-for-lashana-lynch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Five Questions For ... Lashana Lynch\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lashana Lynch is having a moment.\u202f\u00a0She was there by Daniel Craig\u2019s side at the Royal Premiere of the new James Bond movie,\u00a0No Time to Die, this week in London because she\u2019s the new 007.\u00a0 Her stunning performance at the Royal Court in\u00a0ear for eye\u00a0has also been filmed and is part of the upcoming London Film Festival.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/five-questions-for-lashana-lynch\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grazia USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-10-07T20:39:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/10\/Lashana-feat.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/five-questions-for-lashana-lynch\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/five-questions-for-lashana-lynch\/\",\"name\":\"Five Questions For ... Lashana Lynch - GRAZIA USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-07T16:27:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-10-07T20:39:56+00:00\",\"description\":\"Lashana Lynch is having a moment.\u202f\u00a0She was there by Daniel Craig\u2019s side at the Royal Premiere of the new James Bond movie,\u00a0No Time to Die, this week in London because she\u2019s the new 007.\u00a0 Her stunning performance at the Royal Court in\u00a0ear for eye\u00a0has also been filmed and is part of the upcoming London Film Festival.\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/five-questions-for-lashana-lynch\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/five-questions-for-lashana-lynch\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/five-questions-for-lashana-lynch\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Five Questions For … Lashana Lynch\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/\",\"name\":\"Grazia USA\",\"description\":\"Driving tastemakers in Fashion, Beauty and Culture\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Five Questions For ... Lashana Lynch - GRAZIA USA","description":"Lashana Lynch is having a moment.\u202f\u00a0She was there by Daniel Craig\u2019s side at the Royal Premiere of the new James Bond movie,\u00a0No Time to Die, this week in London because she\u2019s the new 007.\u00a0 Her stunning performance at the Royal Court in\u00a0ear for eye\u00a0has also been filmed and is part of the upcoming London Film Festival.\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/five-questions-for-lashana-lynch\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Five Questions For ... Lashana Lynch","og_description":"Lashana Lynch is having a moment.\u202f\u00a0She was there by Daniel Craig\u2019s side at the Royal Premiere of the new James Bond movie,\u00a0No Time to Die, this week in London because she\u2019s the new 007.\u00a0 Her stunning performance at the Royal Court in\u00a0ear for eye\u00a0has also been filmed and is part of the upcoming London Film Festival.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/five-questions-for-lashana-lynch\/","og_site_name":"Grazia USA","article_modified_time":"2021-10-07T20:39:56+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2021\/10\/Lashana-feat.jpg","width":1024,"height":576,"type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/five-questions-for-lashana-lynch\/","url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/five-questions-for-lashana-lynch\/","name":"Five Questions For ... Lashana Lynch - GRAZIA USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-10-07T16:27:50+00:00","dateModified":"2021-10-07T20:39:56+00:00","description":"Lashana Lynch is having a moment.\u202f\u00a0She was there by Daniel Craig\u2019s side at the Royal Premiere of the new James Bond movie,\u00a0No Time to Die, this week in London because she\u2019s the new 007.\u00a0 Her stunning performance at the Royal Court in\u00a0ear for eye\u00a0has also been filmed and is part of the upcoming London Film Festival.\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/five-questions-for-lashana-lynch\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/five-questions-for-lashana-lynch\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/articles\/five-questions-for-lashana-lynch\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Five Questions For … Lashana Lynch"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/#website","url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/","name":"Grazia USA","description":"Driving tastemakers in Fashion, Beauty and Culture","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"Grazia USA","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/37209"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/graziamagazine.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}