Meet the face of the future
As she’s nominated for a BAFTA this week, Tessa Thompson talks feminism, film-making and Jane Fonda…
‘ MILDLY TERRIFIED’ is how 33-yearold actor Tessa Thompson likes to feel when she’s filming. ‘I’m looking for projects that scare me,’ she says. After a decade of not-so-inspiring parts, ‘I promised myself I would break new ground with my next role.’ First came racial satire Dear White People, then a critically acclaimed performance in Creed with Michael B Jordan. And then the daunting task of joining a well-established superhero franchise, playing the booze-soaked, bisexual and all-round badass warrior goddess Valkeyrie in 2017’s Thor: Ragnorak.
Her decision to stop playing it safe paid off: she’s nominated for the A-list-launching EE Rising Star Award at this week’s BAFTAS ( Tom Hardy and Kristen Stewart were once recipients). ‘I’m blown away by the other nominees [which include Oscar-hopeful Timothée Chalamet] – it’s inspiring just to be included.’
Award nominations aside, Tessa is feeling fired up: as a member of the Time’s Up campaign, she’s proud of the impact it’s made. ‘ The Time’s Up movement exists with or without us actors now; it’s gone from Capitol Hill here in America to Pakistan, to Ghana… It’s evolved into a conversation about real, systemic change outside of the entertainment industry.’
It’s important to ‘show up, keep doing the work’ she says, if momentum is to continue – and that includes shutting down distractions from the real issues. Following attempts to whip up a story of feminist in-fighting over a comment she made about Lena Dunham not being ‘present’ in the run-up to the Golden Globes blackout, Tessa clarified: ‘I, in no way, want to diminish Lena Dunham [...] The Time’s Up campaign is for everyone, in all capacities, contributions big and small. It doesn’t belong to anyone. It is for us all.’
Although she feels the industry is run by ‘cis white men who ignore voices that aren’t cis, white and male’, Tessa bigs up the male allies she’s encountered – like Westworld director Jonathan Nolan ( Tessa plays ruthless corporate suit Charlotte in the HBO series). ‘ There’s a lot of nudity on that set, and he’s created the most respectful environment’. When she first met the director of her upcoming film Annihilation – Alex Garland – she raised the claims of misogyny levelled at his previous film, Ex Machina: : ‘He bristled and looked uncomfortable but we ended up having a fascinating discussion about feminism and film-making.’
Annihilation, , due to land on Netflix next month, follows a group of female scientists trying to save humanity (Natalie Portman co-stars), but Tessa isn’t keen on the ‘strong female character’ label. ‘I want well-written, finely drawn characters. Vulnerable and flawed is fine – it’s about a strong presence.’
Unashamedly ambitious, she says, ‘I’m gluttonous – I want to do everything. Produce. Direct. I’m not precious in what I succeed and fail at.’ Grazia previously reported how she and her fellow Marvel superheroines even ‘soft-pitched’ an all-female film to the studio at a party (‘ They didn’t say no’). The ultimate goal? ‘I want to be Jane Fonda. I want to be 80 and still working, still getting involved in interesting projects, still wearing amazing outfits! That’s the dream.’