Barbarella explores the character of THE ANGRY BLACK GIRL AND HER MONSTER with the cast and writer/director

Hi guys, this is Barbarella. THE ANGRY BLACK GIRL AND HER MONSTER, an urban retelling of a classic Mary Shelley tale, will be released in theaters on June 9, 2023. It will be on demand and digital on June 23, 2023. It will also stream on ALLBlk and on Shudder at a later date. When teenage Vicaria loses too much, she posits that maybe death is a disease, and if so, it can be cured. She begins her experiments to find such a cure in a neighborhood where drug dealers hang out on a couch in the park, and an abandoned building makes an excellent lab. Although this movie has a lot of social commentary, it weaves together beautifully throughout the story. I never felt like I got my face buried in a pile of stares—which doesn't go with everything, but I definitely get the intended messages. Full of interesting perspectives and characters, the film resuscitates the creature feature with a social conscience.

I had the opportunity to meet the cast and writer/director while they were in Austin recently. Although I was exhausted when I arrived to meet them, the delightful conversation I had with Bomani J. Story, Laya DeLeon Hayes (Doc McStuffins), Chad Coleman (The Wireem>), and Denzel Whitaker (Black Panther) made me feel a lot more awake. (Good company does wonders for a person's energy level!)

Barbara: Denzel, I love your character. I just think it's very nuanced. Would you describe how you built your character and developed it?

Denzel:Oh my God. Yeah, absolutely. We were discussing this last night. I never really told Bomani, but when I got the roles for the audition, the character didn't necessarily move me. It was something personal in my career. I was adamant about not necessarily playing the same stereotype. So often, especially as a black male, you either have someone from the neighborhood struggling or you play the main white character's best friend, and those are two things I didn't want to do anymore because I had done them enough. When I got the material, I look at the sides, and it took me maybe like an hour to really find the humanity in the character. Even when I auditioned for that, I was like, 'Okay, well, if I have to put aside the role of Kango, what's the nuance behind it?'

Denzel (continued):Yes, sure, he might be intimidating on paper, but he says a lot here. Why does he say that? And for me, what really clicked was the reminder, where I was able to be on Zoom with Bomani for the time, because it's still post-pandemic. Being called back with Bomani was very reassuring as he challenged me every step of the way. Every time we watched a Kango line, we were both like, "Okay, why is he saying that?" And I'd say, "Bomani, I don't know," and he'd say, "No, take the same line and apply the same persona, apply the same dynamic that we've already created. You know this community. You've been here since the you've probably seen your OGs, your dad, your grandpa leading this community so now when you basically have your boys around you not only are you providing job opportunities but you are also looking for them if anyone was trying to infiltrate the community. Now play from that headspace. If Jamaal, who is on your side, is supposed to be this big, intimidating guy, you obviously can't fight him with your bare hands. So , how do you really get a Jamaal like that on your side? It's with your mind."

Denzel (continued): And these are the different things things we really wanted to crack the code with the character, Kango. And I'll give Chad some credit here. This was my first time watching The Wire, but I thought to myself during what I was doing t...