IR Interview: Ashleigh Murray For ”The Other Black Girl” [Hulu]
Actress Ashleigh Murray talks to The Inside Reel about approach, perspective, psyche, context and the notion of “grooming” in regards to her new thriller series on Hulu: “The Other Black Girl”
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TVTranscript
00:00 [screaming]
00:02 [music playing]
00:04 [gunshots]
00:06 [music playing]
00:08 [gunshots]
00:10 [music playing]
00:12 [music playing]
00:14 [music playing]
00:16 [music playing]
00:18 Have you noticed Vanella acting weird lately?
00:20 She just seemed a bit off.
00:22 [music playing]
00:24 This has been driving me crazy.
00:26 Crazy. Crazy. Crazy. Crazy.
00:28 [music playing]
00:30 [music playing]
00:32 [music playing]
00:34 [music playing]
00:36 [music playing]
00:38 I know that this sounds like a
00:40 conspiracy theory. Yeah, but every
00:42 conspiracy about white people being
00:44 Wackens have been true in like 20 years.
00:46 This character, there's so many different layers
00:48 going on with her and you sort of have to
00:50 build them out as
00:52 time goes on and then reveal them.
00:54 Could you talk about approaching it
00:56 in that way? Because it's a physical thing,
00:58 it's a mental thing, all together.
01:00 Yeah,
01:02 actually, approaching
01:04 it was very interesting because
01:06 when we shot the show, we actually
01:08 were shooting two episodes at once.
01:10 So
01:12 trying to stay
01:14 on track of where she is
01:16 and what her goal
01:18 is was very, very important.
01:20 It was also,
01:22 I honestly just had to
01:24 lean into who
01:26 I felt this character was
01:28 and who
01:30 Nella was to her.
01:32 That was really so much of what
01:34 it was about is how did
01:36 she really feel about Nella
01:38 and the things that
01:40 Nella did.
01:42 I won't go any further than that because I don't want to
01:44 give anything away. That's probably the most difficult
01:46 thing to do is to talk about a show without
01:48 revealing things.
01:52 I just wanted to make sure that
01:54 I understood
01:56 the relationship between the two
01:58 of them and the depth at which that
02:00 relationship actually reached
02:02 for Hazel.
02:04 Have your books. Hello, yes.
02:08 Nella, will you get me another coffee?
02:10 Nella! Will you get Advil for me?
02:12 Nella, where's your coffee? Nella, Nella!
02:14 Nella!
02:16 Nella!
02:18 You're someone you have to meet.
02:20 Hazel Mae McCall, my new assistant.
02:22 Really?
02:24 Hi!
02:26 It's just really nice
02:30 that you're here.
02:32 Right back at you.
02:34 You know that hall of white people they have here?
02:38 Welcome to Wagner.
02:42 Wagner's just...
02:44 You'll see.
02:46 It's about motivation,
02:48 ambition, and reasoning.
02:50 Because everything has an
02:52 equal and opposite reaction.
02:54 Every action that
02:56 obviously Hazel does
02:58 has a reaction
03:00 on Nella. This is because of
03:02 the "grease"
03:04 and certain elements of that.
03:06 Which is an interesting use of
03:08 a detail. But can you talk
03:10 about
03:12 saying one thing,
03:14 meaning another, that kind of acting
03:16 because it's so layered
03:18 that it really works very well?
03:20 You know...
03:22 And hearing
03:24 you say that, saying one thing and meaning another,
03:26 it makes me
03:28 think about the moments in which
03:30 that took place.
03:32 And the
03:34 beauty of it is
03:36 I never meant anything
03:38 other than what I said for this character.
03:40 Everything that she said
03:42 she meant, and it really was up to
03:44 how it was interpreted.
03:46 That someone might think,
03:48 "Oh, well of course she
03:50 meant this when she said that." And it was like, "No,
03:52 I meant exactly what I said."
03:54 And if you had really taken the time
03:56 to listen to it and understand
03:58 where I was coming from, you wouldn't
04:00 have mistaken it. That's...
04:02 That was really
04:04 pretty much like the helm that I
04:06 stayed in with Hazel.
04:08 It's a one-person job.
04:10 Look, come to a party with me tonight.
04:12 What? What party? Isn't it like a Wednesday?
04:14 Girl, my friend who works at Condé Nast
04:16 said that there's a huge fundraiser for MoMA
04:18 uptown somewhere. You gonna invite it?
04:20 No!
04:22 So you're just gonna crash?
04:24 Tell people you belong and they'll believe it.
04:26 Now look, this is the kind of thing
04:28 that cultural elites go to,
04:30 okay, aka people who want to write books.
04:32 Right? Maybe Anna Wintour
04:34 has a book about under-seasoning chicken
04:36 in a tea bag she just can't wait to write.
04:38 She's waiting at this party
04:40 for an up-and-coming editor
04:42 to coax it out of her.
04:44 But we gotta get there by like six so we can roll in.
04:48 Okay, well that's never gonna happen
04:50 because Vera has never let me out of here before six.
04:52 When her grandmother died, she made me go
04:54 sit Shiva with her.
04:56 I'm just saying it's an interesting thing because
04:58 you would have thought Nella would have
05:00 caught on a little earlier,
05:02 but, you know, it's also...
05:04 But it's also about, you know,
05:06 seeing the good in people but seeing
05:08 what you think people want.
05:10 It's about those wants and needs and
05:12 obviously the whole thing behind this is
05:14 talking to the fact of, okay,
05:16 what does society want me to do?
05:18 What do I need to do?
05:20 How do I get ahead?
05:22 You know, I honestly have to give a lot of that
05:24 over to the writers.
05:26 It's my job to breathe life into
05:28 what I'm reading and
05:30 they have to provide that verbiage for me.
05:32 So much...
05:34 Excuse me.
05:36 So much of that
05:38 nuancing of being able to address
05:40 something but not kind of beat it
05:42 into the ground where
05:44 it's really accepted
05:46 had so much to do with how it was written
05:48 and given to us and I did the best
05:50 I could to relay that
05:52 message in the way that they intended it to be.
05:54 I need to warn you about something.
05:56 You stay away from me.
05:58 Okay, you seem really heat up right now.
06:00 Uh, yes.
06:02 Alright, this might not be the best time but I thought you should know from a friend.
06:04 Are you kidding me?
06:06 You're not my friend!
06:08 Who even are you?
06:10 I think you know.
06:12 You're Richard's puppet.
06:14 You think Richard is in charge?
06:16 Girl, you are so close to figuring it out.
06:18 What are you talking about?
06:20 Now, none of this
06:22 would be possible without the
06:24 hard work of two up and coming editors
06:26 Nella Rogers and Hazel Maricone.
06:28 Nella!
06:30 Hazel, where are you?
06:32 That's our cue. Come on, Nella.
06:34 You want to know who's in charge?
06:36 It's right in front of you.
06:38 Your physicality sort of
06:40 informs that emotionality.
06:42 The way that she moves.
06:44 The way she comes into a scene is very important.
06:46 I mean, obviously costume and everything
06:48 helps that but, you know, even when
06:50 you're just sort of like doing that, there's a
06:52 movement of the head and it's almost like
06:54 she's a serpent at certain points.
06:56 And that's cool.
06:58 Could you talk about that?
07:00 Was that something that developed
07:02 instinctually as you... because you said
07:04 you were shooting two episodes at once.
07:06 You had to know where she was at that
07:08 specific point.
07:10 Yes. You know,
07:12 it's very interesting.
07:14 I would say that
07:16 I had
07:18 to figure out what
07:20 confidence looked like on me.
07:22 Typically in any other
07:24 job that I've had as an actor
07:26 or even just as myself,
07:28 you know, I present
07:30 very young. I have a very youthful
07:32 face. I have a high voice. I have a petite
07:34 frame. You know, those things
07:36 when people receive
07:38 them, they prejudge my
07:40 capability. So I had to figure
07:42 out how am I going to show up
07:44 as this person that I don't
07:46 feel like innately.
07:48 And that's where I definitely chose
07:50 how I wanted to walk into a room,
07:52 how I wanted to stand, how long
07:54 I wanted to hold eye contact
07:56 with someone versus not holding eye contact
07:58 to dictate
08:00 who had the power in that moment.
08:02 So, yeah, I definitely
08:04 had to be very specific and cautious
08:06 about the way that I showed up.
08:08 A long time ago, I...
08:10 I created
08:12 a sisterhood with the brightest
08:14 Black women I know.
08:16 The Boston Chapter is having a dinner tomorrow.
08:18 I would love it
08:20 if you would come.
08:22 I... I...
08:26 I eat ramen for breakfast. I don't
08:28 think... I don't think I'm who you're looking for.
08:30 I have something for you.
08:32 Chantal,
08:36 I came from nothing.
08:38 It took the right people
08:40 to get me to where I am today.
08:42 Here.
08:44 I will see you tomorrow night,
08:48 8 p.m., at the Special Collections
08:50 Library. Yes?
08:52 Yes.
08:54 Okay. But also, obviously,
08:56 there's so many things going on
08:58 because it can function as a thriller.
09:00 It can function almost as a horror film.
09:02 It can form a social
09:04 context and social commentary.
09:06 There's so many things going on. Can you talk
09:08 about how you had to look at...
09:10 I... I... Because I don't want to give too much away.
09:12 Looking at where your psyche
09:14 needed to be and
09:16 how you started to try to interpret
09:18 what she was doing versus
09:20 what we eventually see. I know you can't
09:22 give away too much. It is a very specific
09:24 progression, and I only took
09:26 as much as what was right in front of me.
09:28 That was the best that I could do.
09:30 I didn't want... We didn't know where the story
09:32 was going to end fully as we were shooting
09:34 it, so I
09:36 didn't want to make too many assumptions
09:38 about where we were heading.
09:40 I just always checked in with
09:42 the writers to make sure the choices
09:44 that I was making in the
09:46 relationship between Nella and
09:48 Hazel with the material we had
09:50 stood true for
09:52 that moment. And then once we
09:54 were able to nail
09:56 down what the end of the story
09:58 was going to be, it ended up working out
10:00 that all of the choices I had
10:02 made led perfectly to
10:04 where we ended up.
10:06 I am ready to recommend your promotion to assistant
10:08 editor. I lit
10:10 so many intention candles for this.
10:12 [Music]
10:14 [Music]
10:16 [Music]
10:18 What the...
10:20 [Music]
10:22 [Music]
10:24 [Music]
10:26 [Music]
10:28 [Music]
10:30 [Music]
10:32 [Music]
10:34 [Music]
10:36 You have a lot of potential.
10:38 It's almost like grooming.
10:40 They're grooming people back and forth.
10:42 And that's where the...
10:44 And that's why this whole thing with the hair is so interesting.
10:46 Can you talk about those
10:48 metaphors real quick and I'll let you go.
10:50 If I understand correctly
10:52 your question,
10:54 I know that when it comes to
10:56 speaking about grooming specifically
10:58 around taking care of yourself...
11:00 How we present ourselves.
11:02 How we present ourselves.
11:04 Hair in our
11:06 community as Black women is
11:08 very, very important.
11:10 Historically,
11:12 we talk about it as a crown.
11:14 Because it is our crown.
11:16 We are adorned with our hair.
11:18 And we share so much of ourselves
11:20 and our expression through that.
11:22 It's a very malleable,
11:24 delicate form of hair.
11:26 So, showing
11:28 up as yourself
11:30 versus having
11:32 to groom some of that away
11:34 and soften those
11:36 edges so that you can
11:38 succeed in wherever you're heading
11:40 can be a very difficult task.
11:42 And it's actually very interesting
11:44 even me making
11:46 that comment and
11:48 realizing that Hazel
11:50 got to show up to work with dreadlocks
11:52 and Nella
11:54 has her afro out.
11:56 And as someone who worked in corporate America,
11:58 my hair
12:00 was slicked back.
12:02 Even if it was curly like it is now,
12:04 I had it slicked back because I was so afraid
12:06 that I wouldn't get the job if I showed up
12:08 with my hair the way that I typically wear it.
12:10 And then once I got the job,
12:12 then I would kind of test the waters and see
12:14 how much more I could kind of let my
12:16 hair down, literally, until
12:18 I came to work with my hair just out in an
12:20 afro.
12:22 So,
12:24 I'm not certain that I'm answering
12:26 your question fully because
12:28 I want to actually ask this question.
12:30 But it is very interesting to think about the dynamics
12:32 that we portray in that show
12:34 versus what we get to experience
12:36 in real life.
12:38 Something really strange
12:40 happened.
12:42 I told you
12:44 that company was a hellhole.
12:46 I feel sorry for anyone who was unfortunate
12:48 enough to be in our way.
12:50 Did you come to my apartment last night?
12:52 What are you talking about?
12:56 I feel like I'm completely losing my mind.
13:00 Hazel?
13:02 Hazel?
13:06 Girl,
13:08 I told you!
13:10 [Screaming]
13:12 [Music]
13:14 [Music]
13:16 ♪♪