By The Way, Meet Vera StarkAn Exclusive Interview with Sanaa Lathan
By Wilson Morales
May 16, 2011
Currently playing Off-Broadway is the latest play from Pulitzer Prize winner Lynn Nottage, ‘By The Way, Meet Vera Stark,’ which stars Sanaa Lathan in the title role.
Directed by Jo Bonney, the plays also stars Stephanie J. Block, Daniel Breaker, Kimberly Hebert Gregory, Kevin Isola and Tony Award-winner Karen Olivo.
The comedy draws upon the screwball films of the 1930s to take a funny and irreverent look at racial stereotypes in Hollywood through the life of Stark, a headstrong African American maid and budding actress, and her tangled relationship with her boss, a white Hollywood star (Stephanie J. Block) desperately grasping to hold on to her career.
For Lathan, whose previous theater credits included a Tony-nominated performance in the Broadway revival of ‘A Raisin in the Sun,’ which also starred Phylicia Rashad, Sean Combs, and Audra McDonald, and as Maggie in the London all-black production of ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,’ the role of Vera Stark offers a star making turn for the New York native.
Although Lathan has done numerous films that included ‘The Best Man,’ ‘Love and Basketball,’ ‘Brown Sugar, ‘Alien Vs. Predator,’ ‘Something New,’ ‘The Family That Preys,’ and ‘Wonderful World,’ being on stage again is almost like coming home again considering she studied drama at Yale and perform on stage there.
With the recent renewal of her animated TV series ‘The Cleveland Show,’ and the upcoming Steven Soderbergh’s film ‘Contagion,’ Lathan is a jack-of-all-trades as her presence is everywhere.
In speaking with Blackfilm.com, Lathan goes over her role as ‘Vera Stark,’ and her love for theater, and future projects.
How happy are you about the good reviews the show has received so far?
Sanaa Lathan: I don’t read them. I don’t read them but I’m so happy. I mean people have been telling me that they’re good, but I learned a long time ago that when you read reviews that are bad, I mean even if it’s a good review sometimes they can say one little thing and it’ll just kind of make you self conscious and it’ll- I just learned my lesson a long time ago. So if I read them at all, usually I don’t, but if I read them at all it will be after we close. But I’m thrilled that they are good.
This is not your first time around the block doing theatre, but this is the one where you’re the focal point of the show. What was the appeal to taking on the role?
SL: I’ve known Lynn Nottage since I got out of drama school because I did a play of hers years ago. I knew her then. She’s really one of the greatest American playwrights. She really is a genius. She won the Pulitzer Prize last year for ‘Ruined.’ I saw her when she was doing a production in London while I was there for ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.’ She then sent me this script. When I read the script, it was just so delicious and just so fresh. It was so funny and moving and was a great role for an actor. To be able to have a period piece where the character ages from twenty something to sixty-eight. It’s just all the elements were there for a dream role in terms of what I aspire to do. I just had to do it.
How would you describe Vera? Is she a comedian? Is she a dramatic actress? What do we expect when we see that performance?
SL: One of the great things about life is that within the tragedy of life there’s always comedy and humor. They go hand in hand. Vera is a maid for a big, White Hollywood starlet. She’s an aspiring actress. And then she makes a career off of playing maids. It’s definitely kind of tragic as well as funny in that whole scenario. I just think that the women that Lynn was inspired by, like the Nina Mae McKinneys, the Theresa Harris’s, the Hattie McDaniels, the older black women of the ’30s who were kind of in the background. All of those women, we haven’t really heard their story. In a way Vera is brining light to these women who were a huge part of Black or just cinema history. I just feel really great about that, too, as well; that we’re educating a whole aspect of our history that really hasn’t been talked about.
For anybody who’s in the entertainment world, especially Black actresses, when they see this they see a lot of what the past had to go through. Do you think what Vera Stark is still happening today in some element?
SL: I feel like it’s obviously a lot better. I can’t complain because I’ve such a charmed career so far. It’s been really wonderful. I’ve been able to star in movies and TV and theatre and play such a wide range of characters. I definitely think it’s getting better. Yet I would like to see more roles for actors of color. I would like to see that. That would be great.
Is there any characteristic of Vera Stark in you?
SL: Yeah, I think that the whole love of performing, she loves to perform, and her passion and desire to make it. I definitely feel like I have that. She dreamed to have a great career. And I have that in me.
Part of what makes this show good is that you have a good talent around you from Stephanie (J. Block) to Daniel (Breaker). How was it working with all of them and just getting that chemistry to work together on stage?
SL: When we did the first read through of the play I was just blown away. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve got to really do my homework.’ These people are the real deal. Every single one of them! They’re very accomplished theater actors and they were bringing it and brought it every day. When you’re working with people like that it only just elevates you. I feel really lucky that we have this cast. We actually happen to really like each other and it was such a relief for me because when you’re dealing with all these personalities sometimes it doesn’t always go smooth. But with this, we really like each other. We hang out after the play. The four girls share a dressing room, which was, I think for all of us we couldn’t believe that we had to share a dressing room because there’s not that many rooms in the theater for individual dressing rooms. We had so much fun in there. Sometimes, they’re like, ‘Can you please come down to the stage?’ Because we’re in there talking and laughing and telling stories. So it’s been really fun.
In the second act of the play where Vera, in her old age, is a guest on a Mike Douglas like talk show. There have been so many references as far as which person you’re channeling. Who would you think you’re channeling?
SL: I’m channeling Vera. There are a lot of people that I watched. And there’s no particular person. I watched everybody from Betty Davis to Lucille Ball. There were a lot of these women who were being interviewed in the latter part of their careers. I watched them on those ‘Ed Sullivan’ type shows. I watched Pearl Bailey. Judy Garland. Nancy Wilson. Eartha Kitt. When I’m creating something I’m not about imitating anybody. It’s just I take the information and then I just go to rehearsal and whatever comes out. Vera is an amalgamation of those references as well as my own interacting with women over the years.
Although you played Maggie in the London version of ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,’ you are the focal point of the play. Did you feel any pressure as far as being the one to carry the show?
SL: It’s funny because it is the first time I’ve done it professionally onstage. I did a lot when I went to drama school and I was very fortunate to be able to play a lot of leads. So it doesn’t particularly feel foreign to me. I wasn’t really intimidated by that. I did a lot of plays when I was the leading lady. That’s the benefit of having experience.
From ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ to ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’ to this one, you’re not just a film actress anymore. You’re a theater actress with a newfound audience. So is this your true calling?
SL: I think it all is my true calling. I don’t think you have to choose. I love that I’m able to go back and forth. I want to continue to commit to the theater. I want to continue to make more movies. Back in the day people used to do that more. They would choose theater. You hear about Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh and all of these amazing movie stars who would do Broadway and then make movies. So I love it. I love the variety of it.
Congratulations on ‘The Cleveland Show’ being renewed for another season. It must be great that you’re able to do the show from anywhere.
SL: Thank you. Yes, anywhere. It’s so great. I go in once a week while I’m in New York and just lay down my vocals. When I was in London I went in and did the same thing. I mean you can do it anywhere in the world. All they need is a booth. So it’s great. The flexibility that, that gives is wonderful.
You then have Steven Soderbergh’s film ‘Contagion’ coming up in the fall.
SL: Yes, which I’m excited about. It’s a thriller. It’s basically about a disease that travels the world and if you get exposed to this disease you die in three days. It has an amazing group of actors in it. People who I really admire. I play Laurence Fishburne’s fiancé. I haven’t seen the film yet. Ironically, I’m not a really big scary movie person because it spooks me, so I’ll be a little scared.
A few months back, you and the cast of Malcolm Lee’s ‘The Best Man’ reunited for a small dinner in LA and internet buzz were wondering if a sequel was in the making. In today’s market where every studio is looking for a product that already has a built in audience so a sequel, though 10 or more years later, wouldn’t be farfetched. So if it were to happen where would you see your character going?
SL: I don’t know. You’d have to talk to Malcolm about that. I’ll stay out of that conversation because I think Malcolm has specific ideas, but I would love for that. I love him.
After performing eight times a week on stage, what keeps you grounded?
SL: Trying to get lots of sleep. I’m on the athlete kind of regimen right now. I have to eat right, work out. It’s very important to get a massage for stressing. I’m just trying to really take care of myself and treat myself like I’m running a marathon. Because it is a little bit like that.
At the end of the day why should anyone go see ‘By the Way, Meet Vera Stark’?
SL: It’s a story you’ve never seen before. It’s funny. You will laugh your ass off. You’ll be enlightened about a whole era of performers. You’ll be moved. And it’s a great night of entertainment.
