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BGN interviews the cast and crew of the Prime Video series The Power.
Featured in the interviews are: Toni Collette (“Margot Cleary-Lopez”), John Leguizamo (“Rob Lopez”), Auli’i Cravalho (“Jos Cleary-Lopez”), Edwina Findley (“Helen”), Halle Bush (“Allie Montgomery”), Toheeb Jimoh (“Tunde Ojo”), Heather Agyepong (“Ndudi”), Ria Zmitrowicz (“Roxy Monke”), Eddie Marsan (“Bernie Monke”), Zrinka Cvitesic (“Tatiana Moskalev”), Raelle Tucker (Executive Producer / Showrunner), Jane Featherstone (Executive Producer), Naomi de Pear (Executive Producer), Naomi Alderman (Executive Producer & author of The Power novel) and Tim Bricknell (Co-Executive Producer).
The Power is an emotionally-driven global thriller, based on Naomi Alderman’s international award-winning novel. The Power is our world, but for one twist of nature. Suddenly, and without warning, teenage girls develop the power to electrocute people at will. The series features a cast of remarkable characters from London to Seattle, Nigeria to Eastern Europe, as the Power evolves from a tingle in teenagers’ collarbones to a complete reversal of the power balance of the world.
Interviewer: Jeandra LeBeauf
Video Editor: Jamie Broadnax
The Power is currently streaming on Prime Video.
Sheryl Lee Ralph’s DIVA 2.0: 12 Life Lessons from Me for You! is part memoir, part self-help sprinkled with motivation, encouragement, and downright cheerleading, which left me feeling like I could accomplish anything I put my mind to.
These days, it’s easy to feel discouraged by so many aspects of our culture. But reading DIVA 2.0 made me feel good. Reading this book is like sitting down to tea with your most beloved and glamorous mentor and getting the inspiration you need to take action. At less than 200 pages, DIVA 2.0 is a super quick read that you can devour at your favorite cafe. I can’t remember the last time I went out to a cafe on my own and read such a nourishing book. The author’s note redefines the word “diva” as an acronym. “More than big hair and an attitude, DIVA is an acronym for Divinely Inspired Victoriously Alive/Aware/Awesome and if it were Sunday, Anointed!”
Ralph shares the story of her upbringing in a middle class home in Hempstead, Long Island, with a Jamaican immigrant mother and a Black American father. It’s lovely to hear her talk about what it’s like being in a Black cross-cultural home. Ralph candidly talks about the challenges her mother faced from Black Americans, who at the time shunned and ridiculed Black immigrants from the West Indies. Through determination, grit, and finding love and marrying a Black doctor, she met working at Harlem Hospital, her mother created a strong foundation in which to raise little Sheryl with the resources to nurture her. At sixteen, Sheryl became the youngest student at Rutgers University, in the first class that allowed women as students. It was at Rutgers where she was able to develop her craft and become a working actor.
Saturday, March 18, 2023, was a cold sunny day in New York City, but the one hundred and twenty seat Billie Holiday Theatre was packed full of beautiful Black women who came out to support actor Sheryl Lee Ralph. The theater is celebrating its 50-year anniversary this year and is located in the iconic Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood in Brooklyn. The Billie Holiday Theatre is one of the last surviving Black theaters formed during the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1970’s. The non-profit theater opened in May 1972, and several iconic actors like Samuel L. Jackson and Debbie Allen have graced its stage. It was the perfect venue to experience the pure majesty of Emmy- and Tony-award winning actor, Sheryl Lee Ralph. Not only did BGN have the privilege of attending the sold-out book launch event, we had the opportunity to chat with the actor backstage in between events.
Even in a simple pink blazer and black pants, Sheryl Lee Ralph was the embodiment of glamor. Her bright smile, legendary dimples, and radiant energy lit up the stage. In the fifty-minute interview on stage Ralph wove bits of wisdom from DIVA 2.0 through anecdotes from her long career.
She also told the story of how as she was getting ready for the 2022 Emmys, everything that could possibly go wrong did, from a dress issue to the person who did her nails not having her kit with her, yet everything fell into place beautifully. She ended up with the perfect gown and ensemble to meet the life-changing moment when she was named best supporting female actor in a comedy series. The crowd roared as Ralph took on the persona and voice of her Jamaican mother, who said to her, “You can be a doctor or a lawyer or you can marry one!”
And she told behind the scenes stories about Abbott Elementary with love and adoration with her castmates and the entire creative team. The book launch event was an incredible experience that left us all just beaming. That’s the impact of positivity and good vibrations that Sheryl Lee Ralph leaves on you.
I waited for the actor backstage and had just ten minutes to ask her two questions. Sheryl Lee Ralph is an actor I’ve admired since I was a teenager. In 1985, she was in this TV show I loved, Code Name Foxfire, a spy series where three strong women kicked ass, and I just adored her and that show. But I contained myself and didn’t ask about that show from the 1980s and stayed focused on the present. I heard her directing the staff, moving them along through some photos to keep everyone on schedule, and there she was sitting right with me in the flesh just beaming. I didn’t have much time so I dove right in.
First, so much of an actor’s life is beyond your control. Talk to me about how faith and intuition have guided your inner diva throughout your career.
Faith is like a mustard seed. People don’t even know how tiny a mustard seed is. But you’ve got to have that kind of faith that keeps hope alive, that keeps you in this industry, knowing that you are a creative that you belong here.
I also tell people not to rely on just one talent. If you sing, then you need to act. If you act, then you need to dance. If you dance, then you need to move, and if you’re any of those things, you need to write, you need to develop, and you need to use your voice. There’s so many parts about being an actor and surviving and thriving in this industry that have to be discovered. Sometimes you need to step in front of the camera and move behind the camera, but you have to be open to finding your space in an industry that is full of no’s and full of rejection. Sometimes if you get a thousand no’s, you know that doggone yes is coming soon, and you’ve got to hang on for it. Hang on and believe that it’s coming. People talk about, “You and this ‘believe.’” I’m like, “Did you believe in Santa Claus? Yeah, you did. Did you believe in the tooth fairy? Did you believe in the Easter Bunny? Yeah, you did. So you’re gonna tell me you got a problem with believing in yourself? Come on now? Come on.
When I interviewed you back in 2021 you said, “Remember Diva, go where you are celebrated. Don’t stay where you are tolerated. Choose joy because the burden we have been carrying was heavy.” How has choosing joy factored into nourishing your resilience in the entertainment industry?
No matter what, I’m happy; no matter what, I’m thankful, no matter what, grateful through good and bad times. I know that there’s something to be so thankful for. I’m happy to be alive, and I choose joy. I choose happiness. I choose me.
Sheryl Lee Ralph’s DIVA 2.0:12 Life Lessons from Me for You! is available wherever you buy books.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is the second installment of the Puss in Boots franchise and is definitely long overdue and one we didn’t know we needed. Like the 90s cartoon theme songs, this film did not need to go this hard, but it did. This time around instead of flying through the air and playing all the local kitties, Puss is grappling with debilitating anxiety and commitment issues, all while dealing with the impermanence of life and literally facing his demons. Who knew Puss in Boots would have me leaving the theater wanting to sort my F-ing life out?
Estan cuidado spoilers por delante / spoilers ahead
Right out of the title credits (…and we won’t get into the extended Dreamworks intro – that’s for another time) the first thing you notice is an upgrade in animation. The graphics deviate from the first film some 12 years ago. At first, you don’t know what it is. But the fast-pace comic book feel gives you a familiar heart-racing feeling. With each frame dropped you realize, it’s Into the Spider-Verse! The new look really brings the storytelling element to life and elevates the folkloric experience. Watching Puss fly through the air with his sword drawn this time around feels like it’s jumping right off the page and through the screen. Aside from the new look, the movie brings us its well-known twist on folkloric storytelling with gravitas and humor. I’m talking “Goldilocks and the Three Bears” but make it Ocean’s. Jack Horner but make it Elon Musk’s Twitter.
Puss in Bargaining
The premise is simple. Puss (reprised by the iconic Antonio Banderas) is, of course, a household name in the thieving business. His ego is on 1000, and he’s wanted all over the land per yuushh. This time his days are numbered. While it’s true cats have nine lives, Puss has run out and is now on his last life. Knowing this he decides to retire to the grey havens where it is safe because he can no longer take the uncalculated risks he is known for. But whispers on the wind say that the location of the elusive wishing star has surfaced. The wishing star grants any wish to the person who finds it. The star fell to earth eons ago and has yet to be found. With Puss’s life on its last strand, he feels this is his chance to get his lives and his confidence back.
The story is solid with a band of characters all going through their own bouts of anxiety, loss, a lack of belonging, and some serious control issues. Jack Horner for one, (voiced by comedian extraordinaire John Mulaney.)
Now Jack Horner is giving – sadistic repressed boy man. The unhinged need to command more than just his destiny but all those around him is due to his childhood trauma (obviously). While he was the apple of his and his fan’s eyes as a child, the pressure to keep putting thumbs in pies and the ridicule turned him into a callous monster. While he is the keeper of the map to the wishing star, he does not care who he has to off to make sure he takes ownership of that star. Throughout the story, there are several people trying to control their situations by all means necessary. Except for newcomer Perrito (voiced by Harvey Guillén), he is really just along for the ride. (More on him soon). Even Kitty Soft Paws (Salma Hayek) who rejoins our protagonist Puss to steal her own wish. Kitty is hired to find the wishing star but obviously plans to double-cross her employer. You wonder why are Puss and Kitty not working together? You’d think she’s the one who got him to slow down and park his litter box. And she was! We learn later in the film he could not commit. (Contrary to his comment in the first Puss in Boots film).
Puss in Denial
While everyone has a right to this iron throne of the wishing star one of the people trying to change their storyline and take back control of their narrative is Goldilocks (voiced by the one and only Florence Pugh!) Goldi is running around with her adopted family – the three bears. We got Mama Bear (Oscar winning actor Olivia Coleman), Papa Bear (Ray Winstone), and Baby Bear (Samson Kayo.) They are a band of grifters, a con family if you will. Goldi is promising this wishing star is their last big job to change their lives, yet she has other ideas to get back to her “real” family. She knows her true family is out there, and she deserves to be loved by her real parents and live a normal fairytale life. When I tell you I almost cried when Goldi revealed her truth and Mama Bear, with tears in her eyes says, “if this will make you happy let’s go get your wish.” DONE. This woman said flat out you raised me, but you’re not my family – and a true mama said, your happiness is what a mama is for! My unfertilized eggs gasped. Coming to the realization of your reality and taking stock of what you have has always been a tough spot for me. Not that I am shaming my family and looking for some other family, but the idea of always looking towards the future. Being in complete disbelief that I have everything now that I need to succeed and have the life I want. What’s the saying: it’s hard to see the forest through the trees? Now, this was only the tip of the emotional iceberg in this film.
What takes The Last Wish over the top is the introduction of Puss’s true villain. Puss doesn’t just retire when he recounts all his deaths, a character arrives ready to take Puss to his final grave. Wolf, the classic big bad arrives red-eyed and ready, wielding chained sickles with skills well beyond Puss’s abilities. Plus, he has an entrance whistle that could freeze the blood in anyone’s veins. This chills Puss to his core. This mans is terrifying. I found myself with goosebumps on my forearms every time he arrived. And I kept asking myself why? This is just a cartoon fictional character. I’m watching Antonio Banderas as a cat in boots for Bast sake! Why is this character so menacing and inescapable? Why is this so close to home? When you realize through the metaphor of is all, he is the reaper – death himself… the final chapter. The one you cannot beat.
This is the day Puss learns the meaning of run.
I started to feel my heart rate rise and my breath quicken. I too have been struggling with the anxiety that comes with the thought of my final day on this earth. Death. It’s considered one of the five core fears in human existence. It’s “the fear of annihilation of ceasing to exist” – Best Self. We cannot evade death, and for me it isn’t necessarily not knowing what is on the other side. It’s facing that big bad wolf, it’s the whistle on the wind and knowing it’s coming no matter what. Whether we go to heaven or see our loved ones once again is the self-soothing part for some. But the anxiety of the end begins with the imagination of my final moments, then I lose my breath and hot tears begin to well up and fall. It’s a wild thought that I saw this right in front of my eyes in the sweet, animated face of Puss.
In my life, I have been searching for ways to handle the anxiety of it all. As the Virgo I am, I analyze and rationalize my thoughts until it no longer scares me, or at least until it makes more sense and I reach acceptance. Puss ran from it as if a crafty escape would provide the freedom of relief. But in inexplicable ways, that whistle would creep in and hood shadowed red eyes would show up. For me, it came in the form of the Third Rail Project’s production of Grand Paradise. In an immersive live theater experience, I was guided around a number of storylines based on the promise of eternal life. In one moment, I was thrust into my own wake. Yes, I was asked to lay down, given flowers as four box walls were formed around me and visitors invited to look upon my body. At that moment, I was given a chance to analyze my final chapter. A glimpse into my funeral did not hurl me into a massive panic attack. It was calm, it was surreal, a true out of body experience and one that didn’t have the answers sway – but let me peer through the veil into a universe unknown. I know that sounds epic compared to the Puss in Boots storyline, but it was one and the same. Puss was given the opportunity to truly understand and know the value of life itself and the value of the only life he has left.
Puss in Depression
Which brings me to Perrito. A small dog pretending to be a cat to make friends and get a hot meal. A loyal companion that even when cast aside finds a way to continue on and know what truly is best for those in need. An aspiring emotional support dog that teaches Puss and Kitty that running from emotions only gets you tangled in the vines. Literally, though there are a bunch of plants on his path that if you fight them become treacherous but if you let love in they give you all the support you need. Pretty on the nose if you ask me, but in moments of crisis no one really needs convoluted metaphors c’mon. He is bug-eyed and cute in unconventional ways. He has a way of cutting through the fear. He has the uncanny ability to imagine beauty, joy, and togetherness in all things. And yes, Puss in Boots gave us the quintessential TikTok of a cat with its doggie support animal, and I am here for it all.
So, Puss is walking through this labyrinth all the while pushing down and ignoring his anxieties. When those red eyes appear in the fray, Puss is hurdled into the clutches of death. At the final stretch when we’re so close to the star, Puss blacks out! He is running, just booking it. He’s trying to get away from something he knows he cannot escape. He’s hiding, he’s hyperventilating, and the hairs on his body are standing at attention. He’s gonna lose consciousness. Perrito comes running, and even he looks frazzled. He doesn’t know what to do. He just closes his eyes and lays his head on Puss’s chest. Puss pets him as his heart rate lowers, his breath regulates, and he comes back to reality. This almost made me cry. Like Toy Story 3 levels cry. It asked the question – what do we do when we are faced with our largest fears and self-soothing is not enough?
Puss in Acceptance
The wolf came to claim Puss because his only treasure was the fact that he felt invincible. That he could just figure it all out on his own and had all the time in the world. This is the crux of his issues. He could not accept death and truly appreciate his life. We only have this one life, and we cannot spend it running from death or trying to beat it. We have to see the forest, enjoy the leaves, and see how the sun shines through the canopy. One day yes, this will fade, and all we have are the memories. People are what make life worth being alive. No matter how many lives you have.
Ahh! It’s corny AF, but I care not! Puss in Boots is a teachable moment for all of us. Because even though all of the resources in the world are at our fingertips, we still find a way to ignore our needs and think we can do it all by ourselves. Now is Puss in Boots the reason I am able to get through panic attacks? No. Therapy and meditation is gonna have to come through too. But Puss in Boots telling this stories – right now brought a new level of acknowledgment to this Sh*t we’re all going through, and honestly, I’m thankful for that.
What a time we live in where our cartoon characters can give us the space to explore mental health and the importance of leaning on our community. All done with a double sickle wielding Judge Doom piercing eyes big bag villain.
You can watch Puss in Boots: The Last Wish streaming now on Peacock.
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The post ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ Taught Me How to Face Death appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.
By Désirée Guzzetta (Dezbot)
In “HouseBroken,” a group of neighborhood pets and strays get together to have therapy sessions with Honey (Lisa Kudrow), a standard poodle with issues of her own. The animated comedy was created by Gabrielle Allan, Jennifer Crittenden, and Clea DuVall. Its humorous look at the inner lives of animals was popular enough to secure a second season, which airs on Fox networks and replays on Hulu.
Some of the gang behind “HouseBroken” came to WonderCon 2023 to share behind-the-scenes stories and a peek at the new season. The panel was attended by co-creator/co-showrunner/executive producer Crittenden, as well as director Eric Koenig, writer and co-executive producer Elliott Kalan, and star Will Forte, who voices the ancient and pervy tortoise, Shel. The cast also includes co-creator DuVall as Elsa, the Corgi; Nat Faxon as Honey’s mate, Chief, the sweet-but-somewhat-dim St. Bernard; and, Timothy Simons (everyone’s favorite punching bag, Jonah, on “Veep”) as a sassy wild raccoon.
Among the fun tidbits shared at the panel: They all learned a lot about animal anatomy (“Don’t Google tortoise anatomy – it’s disgusting!” the panelists warned the attendees). Forte shared that sloths “crap out a third of their body weight a day,” and also noted that sloths can travel 14 miles an hour when motivated.
Koenig shared that aspiring animators should study silent films, including the Mary Pickford-starring classic, “Sparrows” (1926), because silent films have to communicate a great deal through images. Koenig’s first job was with storied animators Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble, and Jones, he said, was friends with silent film giants Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton.
The Nerd Element had a chance to speak at WonderCon with all four panelists, gathering intel on upcoming guest stars and episodes and…um…animal anatomy. We also had a chance to ask Forte a couple of questions on camera about Shel and MacGruber, which you can enjoy on our YouTube channel.
The first pair we spoke with is Koenig and Kalan, who followed up on their writing and directing processes mentioned during the panel, including Koenig’s storyboarding technique. We also got a little more detail on an upcoming episode that references the “Evil Dead” horror series. In addition to “HouseBroken,” Koenig has worked on “The Simpsons” and for Disney on various projects. Kalan’s credits include writing for “Mystery Science Theater 3000” and comic books such as “Spider-Man & The X-Men,” as well as hosting podcasts including “The Flop House.”
Second up was Crittenden and Forte, who, we have to admit, we sidetracked into a discussion of which animal’s anatomy was “worse,” the duck’s or the tortoise’s. In our defense, Crittenden and Forte’s ensuing discussion is delightful. Crittenden started out writing for David Letterman, and has written for “The Simpsons,” “Seinfeld,” and “Veep.” She also shares a 2012 Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series for “Veep.”
Forte is an alum of “Saturday Night Live,” where he created memorable characters such as MacGruber (star of film and TV and blowing up real good!). Forte also co-created and starred in television series “The Last Man on Earth,” has been nominated for three Emmys, and had a starring role in the Academy Award-nominated film, “Nebraska” (2013). He also voiced Lincoln in nerd favorite “The Lego Movie (2014), and currently voices Wolf on “The Great North,” also on Fox.
Listen and watch and enjoy!
“HouseBroken” airs on Fox Sundays at 9:30 p.m. Pacific.
The post “HouseBroken” at WonderCon2023 appeared first on The Nerd Element.