Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, and Erika Alexander Talk ‘American Fiction’ With ESSENCE
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Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, and Erika Alexander share the new cover of ESSENCE, detailing their experience as Black actresses in a sometimes unfair industry as it relates to their new film, American Fiction.
Directed by Cord Jefferson, the film — set to hit theaters nationwide January 2024 — features Ross, Alexander, and Rae leading in complex roles. The story is based on the 2001 novel Erasure by Percival Everett.
“I think the three of us are people who’ve made choices in our careers and have played roles in our careers, where we do have a whole life and a whole story,” detailed Ross.
She continued, “It is not easy as an actress—as a woman and as a Black actress—to find roles where you are not written in the context of something else—where your identity is not because of something, or you’re just the setup for someone else, or you establish something and then you’re gone, and just used in that way. And what Cord Jefferson did in these split seconds, in these moments that we appear on the screen, is ensure that we are whole people. And it was on the page—and I think it’s why we were drawn to the script, because that is a spectacular thing, and it’s rare.”
Alexander shared similar sentiments about the fictional characters portrayed in American Fiction under Jefferson’s direction.
“I just keep hearing messages of survival,” she says about the roles the women play in the film. “Black women do a lot to thrive, but first they have to survive. They have to survive society’s expectations, and then their own ambition—because obviously you’re looking at three very accomplished women in this film. That’s what Cord did.”
Rae also discussed her perspective on her role in the film.
“She saw the games being played,” shared the Insecure creator of her character. “She knows that she’s an excellent writer, and she was like, f**k it, I’ll play the game, too. And I think that so much of being a Black woman is sometimes like that—like, ‘You’re going to try to play me, but I will overcome, and I’ll play the game better.’ And I honestly love that part of it.”
American Fiction also stars Jeffery Wright, John Ortiz, Leslie Uggams, Adam Brody, and Sterling K. Brown. The film is described as confronting “our culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes.“
Watch the trailer for American Fiction below.
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