Amirah Vann- Underground

By starrymag | April 4, 2017

By: Kelly Kearney

 

Q) “Underground” is a hit with fans, congrats! Did you think it would resonate with the public like it has or was it a complete surprise?

Amirah: I’ll speak for myself here and say I knew the writing was great so I was hopeful that people would think our version was something that we had never seen and was about celebrating the beautiful legacy we have that was born out of such a horrendous time. That’s what I read on the page and that’s what I was excited about and I was hoping people would see that and not be turned off by the title or the idea of the piece.

Q) How did the role of Ernestine come to you and what was your audition process like?

Amirah: I put myself on tape months before I got a call back. You know you put these things on tape and forget about them. I was at Baltimore Center Stage, under the director Kwame Kwei-Armah, and he was directing a Bob Marley musical. While I was in rehearsals for that, I got a call back and put myself on tape again, after speaking with Anthony Hemingway on the phone. I got off the phone with him and thought, “This man is extraordinary and one of the loveliest people I’ve ever spoken, too.” I was really excited to work with him. So, after putting myself on tape, I got the call that I booked it.

Q) Did you have to do any preparation or research for the role when you were cast?

Amirah: Oh, most definitely! I did the research I always like to do. I was reading things like Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl and worked on locking down the dialect so that was great to get into that world and learn a little more detail about the women in this period and what it was like to be a mother during this time.

Q) Can you tease what’s in store for your character in Season Two?

Amirah: Let’s see, I’ll give you a morsel and say sometimes the only way to get to a person is to get to a family member. So, I’ll say that… getting to Miss Ernestine or getting to Rosalee (Jurnee Smollett-Bell) you are going to have to use one of us.

Q) Most everyone has some knowledge of The Underground Railroad and what was happening in our history at the time. Was there anything you learned from working on this show that you were maybe unaware of before?

Amirah: Definitely about the courage and the amount of revolts that happened at the times. Often in the history books they start with us already here and already enslaved but we don’t hear much about how they were sought after for their skills and their trades they were mastering in West Africa, sought out for those skills to help develop the land here in America. It’s such a different way to look at it and actually something to be proud of – not proud to be enslaved, but proud of the skill set and the legacy that is covered by the atrocities of enslavement, and how that was the foundation of the American economy. So, when you look at that and look at all we have contributed and how important we are to the fabric of this nation shouldn’t be a negative thing. The beauty of America is how many people come from different countries all over the world and what their contributions are and what it meant for the development of this country. It’s a way to honor our lineage and heritage and say, “They might have mistreated us, but that didn’t define who we were.” They were well skilled in their trades and were family people, they were fighters that rebelled against injustices and that’s a beautiful legacy that I think makes you walk a certain way and that is the dignity I see in sisters and brothers and friends now, because that’s where we came from. People often tell me that I carry Miss Ernestine with such dignity like that is a choice, but my answer is always, “I don’t know any other way to play it,” because all the women I have known through my years, grandparents and extended family, they’ve all weathered similar storms and always carried themselves with a bit of dignity.

Q) The show is set in the 1850’s in the Antebellum south. What process do you go through to get into the character of Ernestine? Is there something that you rely on to help you get into her mindset?

Amirah: I think because I am a musical person, getting back to her voice register helped. Her register is a lot lower than mine and that helped as well as rereading books to prepare my mind for that period. Rewatching Season One to remind myself of that world and I started Season Two with post-its in a closet that kind of made me look like a crazy person [laughing]. So, I had these post its everywhere about her journey because I have to dip myself back into the water and remind myself of all the details of her life so that the stakes can be appropriate. I had to remind myself of Ernestine’s story, about how they hung her son and the guilt of sacrificing her youngest and the guilt of killing Pearly Mae. All of that you have to feel and you don’t always play it in every scene, the character might be fighting to overcome that, but it does not leave you. We are all a sum of our own experiences. For me, I go in to the closet and say, “Ok, let’s put this history with what’s on the page.”

Q) What has been the most difficult scene you’ve done and what has been the most light-hearted and fun?

Amirah: Oh, I love that! The most difficult scene, I guess I’ll pick two. One was watching Rosalee get whipped, that was a very difficult scene and a difficult day for everyone. It was one of those times I realized, “Oh this is the show we are on.” And no matter how nice the actors that play Tom Macon (Reed Diamond) and Miss Suzanna (Andrea Frankle) are, when you are in that scene and can’t speak up and protect your child from getting terribly whipped the emotions can be challenging. That feeling of being powerless is a concept the show has covered from the beginning. I think also killing Pearly Mae (Adina Porter) was extremely difficult because as an audience member I thought it was horrific. I was like, “This can’t be the only option to protect your children and other runaways, to kill someone who’s basically a friend and the matriarch in the fields.” So, that was difficult for me. The things that she had to overcome, she had to smother and push down her spirit and her soul to be able to protect her children and we are seeing now, in Season Two, that eventually bubbles back to the surface and you have to deal with it. As for the most lighthearted and fun scene, (by the way I love that question) I would say was in Season One when I was chasing my youngest James around the kitchen table. It’s a random scene and I remember I had an instinct and I kind of covered it and Anthony Hemmingway who is our EP and wonderful director said, “Here, you want to chase him?” I totally did so he said, “then chase him!” It was so great because it gave me permission to be a human being on that set so it was great and made me realize that this is not what we are used to seeing and I knew that and it was funny because instinctually my body was like, “No, that can’t be. We never show this side. We never show the side where a mother tries to have some levity in the house for her kids.” You know what I mean? That’s true in life, you know if your mother is really going through something awful, they put on a happy face for their children. It was my instinct to be a mother and hide the pain from the children, it’s what mothers do. So, the chase around the kitchen and that brief moment of where she loves her son and he gets to be a child, that was a lot of fun to film. This season though, honey [laughs]…I haven’t gotten a chance to laugh yet! Not with this season!

Q) “Underground” has such a large and amazing cast. Is there someone you haven’t worked with much or at all, that you would like to have more scenes with?

Amirah: oh, oh, oh…gosh that’s hard there are so many… you know Chris Chalk the actor who plays William Still and probably Jessica De Gouw who plays Elizabeth. The female roles are so great on this show and Jessica’s character has evolved so far that I think gosh we have to find something we can do together because that would be dope. Chris Chalk too because he’s you know, really an actor and his performance on this show is so subtle, but very specific that for me. That’s intoxicating work. It’s like my theater background, some of my favorite scenes, whether it be my own or someone else’s, are when two people are just talking, I am captivated by that and Chris does that well.

Q) Since you mentioned your theater background, before “Underground” you were mostly known for your roles in the theater world. How does working on a television show differ from working on the stage?

Amirah: Get out! It was such a learning experience! Gosh, it moved so much faster than I thought. With your theater company you get to sit with a piece for weeks and decide together, as a company, what your offering is going to be. You are in rehearsals every day and as a community you talk about it, the dramaturge is there and you all go into the history and then rehearse some more until you say, “this is it, this is going to be our offering.” So, it’s about consistency and digging deeper into the choices you’ve already made. I kind of think of it like an exercise in grad school, like this is why you go to grad school because TV goes so quickly and you are like, “Oh my God! Thank God I have all my tools in this bag because they want me to sing a song that they just sent me yesterday that I’m supposed to sing tomorrow so let me just pull that out of my bag.” Everything moves way quicker in TV which is great because it really oils the acting machine because you can’t sleep on it like you do in theater. There’s no time for anyone to massage your soul, you just have to go for it. You have to tell yourself that you’re going there and the stakes are high so you better get out of your own way. It takes a maturity in acting to be able to do TV and film because it’s like let’s go you have to be able to go there. I feel much stronger as an actress because this work demands that you trust yourself and trust the skills you bring to the role. In TV, there is no time for doubt.

Q) Ernestine is such a string female character, especially for the time this show was set in and her struggles seem timeless. Do you find that women relate to her and have you heard that from fans?

Amirah: I totally have and that’s the thing, she is really respected. I’ve called her Miss Ernestine from the beginning. There was no way I would ever call this mother, this woman anything but Miss Ernestine. That comes natural I guess. My dad is from New York, but his family is from Georgia and that is something that just commands respect; women and mothers, and I feel like that legacy has always been there and its exciting and it’s an honor for it to be represented. For me it’s not a shock and for most women it isn’t either, they recognize themselves in that character. They think, “She’s me…I know her, she’s my mother or she’s my aunt,” and that’s why maybe audiences are so excited because they have always known this and now they get to see it.

Q) What is it about this show that sets it apart from the rest and makes fans want to watch it?

Amirah: I think it has to do with Misha Green and Joe Pokaski (show creators) and their boldness and their nonconformity and their love of truth and history, that makes for really great work. They’re great artists and I have such respect for them. Not only are they skilled with the pen but not feeling the need to present what we’ve always seen and not rely on what is safe or easy. Their words from the very beginning was always to be bold and I think when you are bold you are a true artist and people are always attracted to that. People want to watch TV not to see what they could produce, but to see artists create something new. That is what people are drawn to, they’re drawn to truth. You know, whenever you see something told the same way, over and over again, you start missing the color because there is no narrative that’s the same. This is such a tangent but it’s like how I can watch My Big Fat Greek Wedding with my family and laugh. My family is Puerto Rican and black, you know what I mean?  I sit there and watch that and think “that’s my family!” When you come from a place of truth, it can actually be a great unifier. No one is completely guilty no one is completely innocent, everyone is flawed and everyone has secrets and everyone is just trying to do their best. So, when we see Miss Ernestine killing people and then we see Elizabeth say she’s not sure about putting herself and her family on the line for anyone else – can you fault her for that? The reason she gets on the front lines is because of her experience because of her exposure to people and her being like, “Now I see you and I know you and I understand your experience and you have become human to me. I can’t turn my back on you anymore.” That’s a big problem in this country when often our biases come from lack of information and experience, lack of exposure and understanding where we all come from. So, getting a two-page wash on history doesn’t really delve into who these people were. Where they came from, how they got here, what’s their background and when you go deeper into the actual stories – we are all searching for the same dream.

Q) Your character really goes through a lot of trauma. From losing her children to rapes by her slave owner. How do you decompress from those scenes and not let them affect your everyday life?

Amirah: Awe, I love that! What a good question! Girl, let me tell you I love massages! I am so addicted. [laughing] I just love a great massage, so that is one thing I utilize. Another is I kept my prep room in my closet which was very strategic because I just wanted to be able to close the door. I wanted to be able to go home and if I was working, I could open it and go into that world but I did not want to be cooking in my kitchen, trying to have a moment of levity while I’m on the phone with my nephew and see Miss Ernestine is raped at 9pm tonight. So, being able to commit one hundred percent when it was time to work and then just kind of really release. I found I was trying to do research at night, but I couldn’t because I couldn’t spend all day with her and then all night with the true history. That was weighing on my spirit because I wasn’t letting her go. So, I realized when it’s time to work that’s when I read the books and isolate myself for hours. But when I wasn’t working I needed a place where I could get away from the images and the history and really find time for a release all of that. I felt that when I did ADR [Automatic Dialogue Replacement or Looping] because when you are filming you are kind of locked in to the history and the emotions of it all. Then, when you are away from it for so long and they call you in to do ADR, and for me the toughest scene I did this season I had to go there.  For folks who don’t know, with ADR you have to match it as closely as possible both vocally and the actual performance. So, I had to immediately thrust myself back into that pain and afterwards I did feel a bit toxic. When I got out of that room I needed to kind of sing or read The Bible or meet up with a girlfriend and have a glass of wine, anything to move away from being thrusted into that mindset. I had to love on myself and do all things that make Amirah happy because those things do affect the soul.

Q) Are there any recent projects you are working on and do you have anything you would like to say to your fans and supporters who love your work?

Amirah: Well, right now I am doing a press push for the show. I’m still auditioning and pushing ahead looking for those great roles that mean something. Not everything is going to be deep, but something with fantastic writing where you feel like you are contributing to society that’s what I’m focusing on. As for the fans, I just thank them for being open minded. For bringing their family members and using “Underground” as a teaching tool. There are actually some teachers that are using it in their classrooms as part of their curriculum. We get all the credit but the fans are the ones who are bringing their families and friends to the show and that’s the real work. So, thanks to the fans for doing the real work at keeping the conversation going and really helping their communities find pride in our history. Life is hard, keep building each other up and keep digging for the truth that unifies us.