In a recent interview with Refinery29, Zoë Kravitz discussed her upcoming role in The Road Within, as well as her experience in the industry.
In the interview, Zoe Kravitz mentions how she was initially nervous to take on the role of anorexic Marie in The Road Within, as she has personal experience with eating disorders. However, she felt that her experience could help inform her role: “I felt like I could put all that terrible energy into something positive.”
Not only can we expect an amazing performance from her in The Road Within, she’s also taken on projects like Dope, starring Shameik Moore and A$AP Rocky.
Kravitz dished on how Dope pushes barriers that exist within society: “This film is pushing the limits on so many things, racism or classism or sexism or whatever it is. It wraps up all these really great ideas, pushes those boundaries. And then on top of that it’s really funny… it was worth it, either way, you never know, especially doing black films like that.”
She elaborates by explaining how these social barriers prevent certain films and actors from achieving the recognition they deserve. Kravitz is called for more general awareness of this issue, saying, ““I think as black women in Hollywood, or brown or whatever you want to call me, we’ve been hyper aware of the imbalance.”
She also mentions this under-representaiton is not as intentional as people might think: “What I’ve found, though, is that it’s not like someone doesn’t want to hire a person because she’s black…You cast a movie, and they don’t cast a black person, and it wasn’t necessarily on purpose. Writers, directors, they just don’t think about it. Because it’s not their struggle.”
Along with racial equality, Kravitz is also advocating for more female representation: ““I don’t want anyone to get too comfortable…I hope more and more women feel represented and make themselves represented. We don’t get to be like, ‘Oh, everything’s cool because Patricia Arquette gave a great speech at the Oscars…now we have to do it.”
We can only hope that these powerful words from this powerful women will have an impact on the industry.
-Nishat Baig
