Mind matters
Rashad powers sci-fi thriller ‘Black Box’
You can’t put Phylicia Rashad into a box.
In the Amazon sci-fi horror “Black Box,” dropping Tuesday, the Tony winner plays Lillian, a doctor using an experimental treatment to tap into the dormant memories of Nolan (Mamoudou Athie), who is suffering from amnesia after a car accident that killed his wife.
“You don’t see women written as these great, accomplished women in fields of science and research. You don’t see that often,” Rashad, 72, told the Daily News, pointing to the authority of her character. “She’s very well respected. I liked that.”
The technology so central to the film, part of the streamer’s “Welcome to the Blumhouse” slate, evokes an air usually reserved for the likes of “Black Mirror” or “The Twilight Zone.”
“Black Box” also explores much more human and relatable quandaries, namely loss — of both loved ones and identity — and coping with the ramifications.
“That’s what makes it terrifying to me is that it is something that is so human and therefore so plausible,” the “Cosby Show” alumnus laughed.
Nolan finds himself asking for Lillian’s help after multiple doctors have been unable to restore the recollections of his life before the crash. With his young daughter all but running the house as she helps him play catch-up, Nolan is left without many other options.
“It’s more than just being lost,” said Rashad. “That’s a frightening place at which to bebe, in which you have no memories of who you are. … There’s ambivalence in every aspect of his life, in every choice that he makes. There’s no clear direction because there’s no clear understanding of who he is.”
For those who grew up watching Rashad in nearly 200 episodes of “The Cosby Show,” Lillian is certainly a departure, though the threetime Emmy nominee made a point not to judge her character, nor her journey — which is impossible to reveal without spoilers.
“One of the things we learn in our early acting training is not to judge the character. Because if we do … we limit our understanding and that’s going to limit our experience and expression,” explained Rashad.
“We see it everyday,” she said. “We see it all the time, how a very personal agenda can color your thoughts, your words, your actions, in ways that leave you incapable of understanding anything else or any other way,” which applies both to the stage director’s methodology and that of Lillian’s.
Yet the Broadway veteran knows the message she wants viewers to take away: “Responsibility is a key issue. You know, our actions have consequences. And we gotta be responsible.”
And how would Rashad, who also stars in Disney’s upcoming animated feature “Soul,” fare in a scenario like Nolan’s?
“Ugh, I can’t imagine it,” she said. “And if I were in such a position, I can’t imagine what I would do. I just don’t know.”
“Black Box” hits Prime Tuesday.