Issa Rae, Erika Alexander, And Tracee Ellis Ross Speak On The Challenges Of Being A Black Actress: “It Is Not Easy As An Actress…”

Issa Rae, Tracee Ellis Ross, and Erika Alexander delve into the challenges and truths associated with being a Black actress.

In a featured article by ESSENCE, the trio drew connections between the film and their personal experiences, exploring the conceptualization, portrayal, and observation of Black womanhood.

“I think the three of us are people who’ve made choices in our careers and have played roles in our careers where we do have a whole life and a whole story,” Ross said. “It is not easy as an actress — as a woman and as a Black actress — to find roles where you are not written in the context of something else.”

Ross continued, “Where your identity is not because of something, or you’re just the setup for someone else, or you establish something, and then you’re gone, and just used in that way.”

Alexander added her perspective to the conversation, stating, “Black women do a lot to thrive, but first, they have to survive. They have to survive society’s expectations and then their own ambition.”

Addressing her character Sintara Golden in the “American Fiction,” film starring Ross and Alexander, Rae expressed  “I think that so much of being a Black woman is sometimes like that — like, ‘You’re going to try to play me, but I will overcome, and I’ll play the game better.’ And I honestly love that part of it.”

“American Fiction,” Jeffrey Wright’s latest film, premiered in select theaters earlier this week. The storyline revolves around Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, a discontented author and college professor who is frustrated with his works being pigeonholed as African-American fiction. Noteworthy is the casting of Rae, Ross, and Alexander as the leading ladies in this comedy-drama.