This interview is a part of “Pivotal,” a Q&A collection the place we spotlight the defining moments which have formed a star’s profession — from breakthrough roles to game-changing milestones to epic moments that catapult them into the highlight.
One factor about Lynn Whitfield: she’s not new to this; she’s true to this.
The 72-year-old Hollywood veteran could have simply joined the newest seasons of Lena Waithe’s ever-expanding South Aspect of Chicago avenue drama, “The Chi,” enjoying the elegant but intimidating, old-money grande dame Alicia. However Whitfield has been a staple within the performing world for fairly a while now, including increasingly more memorable roles to her repertoire with each gig she nabs.
From her Emmy-winning flip as Josephine Baker to enjoying a girl scorned by Martin Lawrence in “A Thin Line Between Love and Hate” to her quite a few unforgettable matriarchal roles in “Greenleaf,” “Eve’s Bayou,” “Madea’s Family Reunion,” “The Cheetah Girls” and extra, Whitfield has mastered the artwork of enjoying sturdy, complicated (and wealthy!) Black ladies onscreen. Her half in “The Chi” isn’t any totally different, though it’s a villainous persona we not often see from her.
For the previous two seasons, Whitfield, who went from recurring visitor star to collection common, has been stirring up all kinds of turmoil in “The Chi,” turning into the town’s newest terror after her son, Rob (Iman Shumpert), was gunned down on the street by one in all her many enemies. Her quest to search out her son’s killer and avenge his demise set a lot of Season 7’s occasions in movement, however in the end led to her premature demise.
Nonetheless, Whitfield is assured that Alicia (and her unconventional, prosperous way of life) has left an enduring impression on viewers that units her other than others who’ve come and gone from “The Chi.”
“A woman ready to go to bat and go to battle for what she wants, to avenge what happened to her and her family, I think that you haven’t seen that so much from women on the show,” mentioned Whitfield, “that they actually act it out and go for it.”
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Going for it’s what Whitfield has constructed a lot of her profession on. Not simply accepting the roles that Hollywood provided after her tv debut within the ’80s police procedural “Hill Street Blues,” however striving for leads which have put her within the middle of focus time and time once more — proper the place she belongs.
It’s a feat Whitfield doesn’t take calmly. She’s proud to have set a pattern of portraying main characters she believes mirror the world she is aware of. Regardless of how massive or small a task was — and really seldom does Whitfield play it small — every one has been pivotal to her storied success.
“Everything about this career is a stepping stone,” Whitfield emphasised. “The continuum of the work is why I’ve been in it so long, and I still love it.”
Few actors can declare a profession marked by constant roles in dozens of outstanding tasks because the very starting. However then once more, there aren’t many fairly like Whitfield, who sees her regular ascension as clear affirmation that she was all the time destined for this work.
“It’s a validation that what I thought I wanted to do at five years old, I was right. That I could do it,” she mentioned. “Sometimes in this business, you can doubt whether you’re appreciated or not… But [the fact] that I’m continuing to do [the work], I don’t have a lot of time to think about it. To look back on things, because I’m looking forward.”
For “Pivotal,” Whitfield spoke about her long-lasting Hollywood profession, the reward of bringing daring, multifaceted ladies to life onscreen and the enduring film position that made her courting life a little bit of a problem.
Penske Media by way of Getty Photographs
You’ve been performing longer than I’ve been alive, and I imply that as a praise, as a result of what an achievement to nonetheless be energetic and dealing on this trade after so a few years. What’s the key to having a long-standing profession like yours?
I don’t know. I actually nonetheless get pleasure from doing it. I get pleasure from telling tales. I get pleasure from deciphering characters. I attempt to preserve the work somewhat bit recent, in order that I don’t develop into a caricature of Lynn Whitfield performing, however every character is necessary and nuanced by itself. So, I believe my love of the work is one factor. It’s only a blessing that may’t be defined. I imply, I believe the great forces of God are on my facet, too, and that one thing will come alongside. It’d take a number of years, however one thing good comes.
The position you might have on “The Chi” is a type of good issues. You play a reasonably dynamic character, Alicia. She’s a mom, grieving the lack of her son, and she or he’s additionally a little bit of a villain this season. What do you get pleasure from most about enjoying her?
I get pleasure from leaping right into a psyche that isn’t my very own, as a result of I don’t reside by codes of the road. I don’t resolve my ache with vengeance. And I’m a horrible shot with a gun [laughs]. So, none of that’s me. However I very a lot get pleasure from experiencing the components of Alicia that aren’t like me.
Take me again to the start of your profession. You began performing again within the ’80s in “Hill Street Blues.”
Yeah. That was my first actual tv recurring position.
Is that the half that appeared like a pivotal level in your performing profession, or did that come somewhat later?
I believe the pivotal position in my performing profession was Josephine Baker. However the whole lot is a stepping stone, and the whole lot about this profession is a stepping stone. The continuum of the work is why I’ve been in it so lengthy, and I nonetheless adore it.
Ron Galella, Ltd. by way of Getty Photographs
“The Josephine Baker Story” earned you your first Emmy Award for Excellent Lead Actress In A Miniseries or Particular. You had been the second Black lady to ever win in that class after Cicely Tyson.
That’s proper, you’re doing all your analysis.
What did that historic accomplishment imply to you on the time?
Oh my gosh. It was so appreciated. I used to be very excited at that time. I had been performing and doing pretty good tasks, but it surely’s simply so uncommon {that a} lady is on the middle of just about each body of a present. And I simply was so grateful to be concerned, to check my dancing expertise and my growing old performing [skills] — to age as much as her on the finish of her life. That was the problem. Studying all of the dances, making all of the plans of handle the artwork of this lady, like getting from level A to level B, and have it’s plausible.
Solely a handful of Black ladies have received in that class because you. Do you suppose progress has been made in Hollywood?
Sure. Progress has been made. I imply, I’m in a present that Lena Waithe, a Black lady, created with a majority Black forged and plenty of, many ladies administrators; younger Black ladies who’ve directed lots of the episodes.
Your performing résumé is stuffed with memorable roles — Roz in “Eve’s Bayou,” Brandi in “A Thin Line Between Love and Hate,” Girl Mae in “Greenleaf,” and many others. Which one do folks speak about probably the most?
Isn’t it humorous? I believe it’s “A Thin Line Between Love and Hate.” That’s the most seen and in addition has probably the most replays, each by streaming and other people simply placing it up on their laptop. That’s undoubtedly one of many extra common motion pictures that I’ve executed.
New Line Cinema/Everett Assortment
And it’s arguably one of the crucial basic motion pictures, too. The premise nonetheless resonates as a result of it’s a timeless matter. Everybody can relate.
Yeah. There are such a lot of individuals who get upset in love and for a lot of causes, in dedicated relationships of all types. I felt like “Thin Line,” and Brandi Webb specifically, what she wanted, what she by no means bought, could be very attention-grabbing to discover and try. I didn’t comprehend it was gonna be a basic like it’s, however I knew that I used to be gonna put the work in, hoping it could be.
Did that position affect you personally? Like, did it change your perspective in any method, or did you’re taking something from that position that—
Oh my God, it made anyone who was contemplating courting me terrified, like shaking of their boots. I may simply be having a pleasant dinner, and any person would go, “But are you like that lady you played in ‘Thin Line’”?
Is {that a} query folks ask lots together with your roles generally?
Yeah. I play these complicated ladies who simply don’t take any stuff. They don’t endure fools gladly. And it’s a blessing that I get to play them, but it surely’s not good on your courting life. It makes me, Lynn Whitfield, need to stroll on some form of tightrope typically.
Effectively, to let folks know that [those characters] are simply folks, human beings, too. It’s like becoming a member of this forged of “The Chi” or simply going to work with folks. You need to make a concerted effort to allow them to know that you simply’re not that particular person.
Sandy Morris/Paramount+ with SHOWTIME
So lots of the characters you’ve performed, Alicia included, have one thing in frequent: they’re flawed, strong-willed, and deeply complicated Black ladies. Plenty of occasions, they’re additionally rich.
And that’s so enjoyable to play. Oh, it makes it a lot extra enjoyable.
Why are you so drawn to those sorts of main characters?
Effectively, to begin with, they’re main. In order that’s one factor. And second, most of my mates are complicated. They’ve issues that they’ve been by means of and can proceed to undergo. I don’t know very many people who find themselves simply glad on a regular basis, or don’t care that they management their very own setting, or don’t care in the event that they’re betrayed. I imply, who does that? So, these ladies are simply mirrors to what I believe a whole lot of the world is absolutely like.
It should even be releasing to have the ability to painting these characters. Like, if you happen to’re not in a position to discover sure dynamics in actual life, you get to take action onscreen.
Oh, it’s all the time good to. It’s a form of experiential, vicarious residing as a result of I get to expertise it by means of one other human being’s instincts. And I get to behave it out with out being held accountable for something aside from creating truthful moments and representing them properly.
Is that what attracted you to enjoying Alicia in “The Chi”? Have been you already a fan of the present earlier than this position took place?
Sure, I did watch the present. Thankfully, I’ve been working a lot myself, six seasons of “Greenleaf” and all that. You’ve bought to keep it up to maintain up with all of the characters, and now I do know all of them just like the again of my hand. After I first joined the forged, I used to be like, “What do you mean I had a second brother? It wasn’t just the one brother who got killed? Well, where is he?” So, simply catching up on all of the characters, all of the tales, realizing Douda’s total historical past. All of that. I had to return and take a look at it otherwise as a result of now I’m within the factor, so I wanted extra info.
What private reward do you get from enjoying Alicia that you simply haven’t gotten from different characters?
Effectively, right here’s the factor. Careers are ongoing. It doesn’t cease. It’s just like the waves of the ocean, the way in which it goes out and it comes again in. So, at this level in my life, it’s simply very validating to be embraced in a present that has established itself and to work with actors who’ve constructed characters that individuals have already come to like. For me to be accepted in that and given a spot to create inside an already established, profitable present, if I’m so blessed that that ever occurs once more to me, I imply, it’s simply such an honor, and it’s a enjoyable place to be.
What I get as any person who loves telling tales, who’s a thespian, is what I get pleasure from and what I’ve been purposed to do. It’s the continuum that makes me so glad. And icing on the cake is that I joined the present when it received one in all its first awards [an NAACP Image Award]. So all that’s simply validating. Lady, it’s validating that I nonetheless bought one thing happening.
Are you wanting ahead to doing anything in your profession, or do you suppose you’ve executed all of it?
Oh, completely not. I simply got here again from South Africa doing a thriller with Malcolm D. Lee. I used to be there for 2 and a half months.
I don’t suppose you’ve seen me in a romantic comedy. I don’t suppose you’ve seen me do a lot of comedic work. I don’t suppose you’ve seen me be a superhero of any type or an intergalactic form of [thing] — however I would love her to be badass if I do get to do it. There are such a lot of issues to do nonetheless. Have a look at all of the tales I haven’t been in.
This interview has been edited for brevity and readability.
