Currently streaming on Netflix is the romantic comedy “Juanita,” starring Alfre Woodard, Blair Underwood, Adam Beach, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Marcus Henderson, Gil Birmingham, and Ashlie Atkinson.
Clark Johnson (S.W.A.T) directed the film from a script written by Roderick M. Spencer (Ms. Woodward’s husband).
Based on the novel “Dancing on the Edge of the Roof” by Sheila Williams, Woodard will play Juanita, a hard-working nursemaid from Columbus, Ohio, whose grown kids still depend on her for everything. Underwood appears as himself as a fantasy in her dreams — and when he asks for a loan, she hops on a Greyhound Bus and heads into the mountains of Montana, where she reinvents herself with a new job, a new circle of friends, and an unexpected new love.
Recently, Blackfilm.com caught up with Woodard as she spoke about not only starring in the film but working behind the camera as an executive producer.
What attracted you to the film?
Alfre Woodard: What attracted me was that I read Sheila Williams’ book, Dancing on the Edge of the Roof, and she sent it to me and said that while she writes she keeps a person in mind for different characters and she had always imagined me as Juanita. So I read it and fell in love with Juanita. I’m a believer in books but I also love film, the cinema, and I wanted to bring her to the screen. We got the rights from Sheila and I enlisted Roderick. I made him a deal that he couldn’t turn down to get him to write the film for me.
As this is his first screenplay, at least officially according to IMDB, what entrusted you for him to write it?
Alfre Woodard: Because he’s the most brilliant writer I know. This is his sixth film that he has written for me that we tried to get financed through the years. Starting 25 years ago, we were told by people who had access, who were in position of power in the studios and production companies, that “This is so great, but we can’t have a Black woman in the lead of a film,” and that it wouldn’t sell in Japan or in Germany. Well, Netflix has blown that BS out of the water. Not only does Roderick write screenplays, but he writes essays, and I knew he was the person I wanted to write the story for me. I know a lot of writers, but he is an exceptional writer.
In terms of Juanita, how did you get into character?
Alfre Woodard: Building character happens over weeks and months. I never had a character so close and familiar to me that the process was natural. It was a matter of dressing up and knowing which way to turn and what to do. He gave me this playground to play on that I was very prepared on everything I could do. He knows me and knows what I can do. He wrote it so that I would have that intense of a workout. Juanita is so familiar to me that most people would overlook. They overlook her on the bus, on the train. They overlook her while she’s coming through and passing out medicine. The camera usually go to the doctor or some important patient or some money person bringing some donation to a medical center. I know Juanitas and I wanted the world to know how complex and wonderful and witty and sensual that person is.
How was working behind the camera as a producer?
Alfre Woodard: I have executive produced other things and I decided to start putting my name on it because throughout my career when I have been on set, I don’t just find a character, learn my character, stand up and walk away. If my face is in it, I am responsible for whatever goes out into the world. That’s why I talk to directors and writers whenever I’m on a project about what other people are doing. I watching that other statements that the film is making, consciously or inadvertently,
It’s rare to see you play a romantic character…
Alfre Woodard: Honestly, if you look back at my background, my characters have had romantic liaisons. Maybe you hadn’t seen them in the act, but whatever is going on, we need to know there is a sexuality that is evident or one that is being suppressed for a particular reason. Another reason I wanted to play Juanita is to remind people or school young people in that whatever it is that they think they know when they, “Oh Ma, you have nothing to do tonight so I’m taking the car and watch the kids while I go out,” they don’t know what her desires were. She’s been doing things for decades or probably knows how to do it better. Also, in real life, people are still catching each other’s eye at 70 and 80 years old. They’re grabbing each other by the hip at that age. We have this obsession with youth and it’s almost creepy o how we are obsessed with young people of athletic build.
What advice do you give people when asked how to stay in the business as an artist?
Alfre Woodard: I tell people to not to look at the size of a project or a role because what you always want to do is fill out the position that you are stepping into. People shouldn’t count their lines, count their pages or count their budget. If you work honestly, you don’t work for other people’s recognition of you and you don’t work for the money. You keep your motives pure to tell stories, to touch them, to tickle them, to piss them off and to move your audience. If you do that and not judge yourself by what’s going on with other people, then you’ll have a good run at it as an artist.
Loading…