Exclusive: Tika Sumpter Talks ‘Southside With You’Posted by Wilson Morales
August 25, 2016
Coming out this week from Miramax and Roadside Attractions is the romantic drama ‘Southside With You,’ which made its world premiere at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and stars Parker Sawyers as the young Barack Obama and Tika Sumpter as Michelle Robinson.
Written by Richard Tanne, who also makes his directorial debut, the film covers the eventful date in 1989 when a young associate named Barack Obama was trying to woo lawyer Michelle Robinson on a summer afternoon and evening, that took them from the Art Institute of Chicago to a screening of Spike Lee’s Do The Right Thing to the site of their first kiss outside of an ice cream parlor.
For Sumpter, she finally has a role that not only has received rave reviews but will hopefully leading roles and more film work. After starting out on the soap One Life to Live, where she played Layla Williamson from 2005-2010, the New York native made the transition to primetime TV and then films, with roles in Stomp the Yard: Homecoming, Gossip Girl, Sparkle, A Madea Christmas, and both Ride Along films with Kevin Hart.
Currently, she plays the lead role of Candace Young on Tyler Perry’s The Haves and the Have Nots, which airs on OWN.
Blackfilm.com recently spoke with Sumpter, who is also pregnant with her child, about her role in ‘Southside,’ preparing to play Michelle Robinson before she became the First Lady and her upcoming project Black Wall Street with John Legend.
With a role like this, was this something that you auditioned for or did they come to you for it?
Tika Sumpter: I was given the synopsis by a friend of Richard Tanne and it was one page and I read it. I was really intrigued by the prospective of it and I wanted to meet Richard. We met for lunch. We talked for a while and he explained his vision. I basically urged him to please write the script. At the time he was writing something else. Regardless of time, I thought it should be made. I thought it was that good.
When you are playing who is living, how much preparation did you?
TS: The book that really helped me was Craig Robinson’s ‘A Game of Character: A Family Journey from Chicagos Southside to the Ivy League.’ He explained his family dynamics. He explained his dad in different situations and his mom in different situations and also Michelle Robinson at the time. It just showed the relationships she had at the time with all of them. It also showed how it was for her going to school at that time, so there were more personal accounts that helped me prepare. Obviously, I looked at some tapes on the way she speaks but we also hired a dialect coach to help me with that. I also put some mannerisms that she uses now into that as well. I just wanted to embody her essence rather than imitate her. I got to make up who I thought she was given all the research that I did.
Can you talk about working with Parker Sawyers, who will be a new face to many, and Richard?
TS: Working with Parker was awesome. From the moment we did the screen test to the moment we hired him, he was easy to get along with; and it was also a really easy relationship. We had an organic banter already. He’s also fun and relaxed and chill. He’s very thoughtful and smart. It was simple to collaborate with him. With Rich, he was the maestro and orchestrator when either of us needed to pull back on the dialect or the Obama or Michelle of it all or lean into it more. To be honest, this was one of the most organized sets that I have ever been on, big or small. It was just cohesive. It was easy to work with the both of them.
What are some of your favorite romantic films and what do you look when you do see them?
TS: Some of my favorite romantic films include Romeo and Juliet, obviously the classic Love and Basketball is another, An Officer and a Gentleman, and Love Jones. I think it’s the characters first. You have to love the characters. Everyone loves a love story. That’s the one thing that everyone can agree on is that they want to be in love with somebody and have that person be there for them for whatever is going. The romantically side of it is different setups, which anyone would want to be in, whether it’s “Pretty Woman,” where someone is being taken from one to another and being a princess all of a sudden. I think it’s that closeness and that connection I think that we see on screen. The connection just drives the whole thing. For me, it’s the connection between the two characters, the love interests that really make a love story work for me.
When folks go see this film, some will be reminded of their own first date. Do you remember yours first date or at least the tension or nervousness of that date?
TS: Well, this film was an epic first date. As for me, and I’ve been trying to answer this question, but I just don’t remember. I don’t have really big first dates unless I just blocked it out because they were so bad. Usually it’s a drink and conversation. I’m very simple. If we have a drink and an amazing conversation and I want to see continue that, then that was a great date for me. Usually, it’s very spontaneous for me. It’s like “Let’s go hang out.” Life just happens and you go from one place to another. I can’t remember a specific time but the times where I have had first dates, the guy is a gentleman where he picks me up, takes me out to dinner and hopefully the conversation goes well. Mostly of the times if asked what I want to do, I’m usually like, “Let’s have drinks,” and we’ll see from there.
You’ve worked a number of years on TV and films, but with this film, you are getting rave reviews and the film hasn’t hit theaters yet. What does this do for you as an actress?
TS: For me it was about putting myself in a situation where I am able to show different variations of my performance. I am able to be different from what someone sees me as or saw me as. Show more range. I don’t always get the leading roles or get a chance to show that side and you want to grow as an actor. Many actors want to play complex roles and not because it’s a lead but actually because it’s a really good script. Hopefully the film does well but I’m not in control of that obviously but I am in control of my performance and I’m grateful that people are interested in it and liking it.
If you took out the two names involved, what do say to folks as far as seeing the film?
TS: I think what they will get is that you don’t often see two African American leads in love stories but take that out as well and they will still get a lot of themes. It’s a great date movie and it’s also a great love story. It’s about a lot of things. It’s seeing yourself through someone’s else eyes and walking in someone’s else shoes. There are a lot of themes that run through the course of the film was but I never like to tell people what they should take away from it. I hope it’s refreshing for a lot of people.
What can we expect from Black Wall Street?
TS: We’re already jumping into figuring writers and things like that. I’ve been researching for a minute and just intrigued that this autonomous community was able to thrive on it own because it had to and all the amazing characters that will come out of that. I’m really excited to collaborate with John Legend and WGN America on this project. People always say that they want to see a different side of Black people and their mobility but I think this is a topic for the right time but it’s the perfect way to show all the amazing things that we are able to create out of necessity.
