Issa Rae & Stella Meghie In Conversation with Roxane Gay at 92Y in NYC
I had the pleasure last week to witness some amazingly talented women in conversation at 92Y in NYC (Thanks to Carrie!) surrounding the February 14th release of the new film, The Photograph, starring Issa Rae and written & directed by Stella Meghie in conversation with writer extraordinaire Roxane Gay! As a film grad, writer and all-around creator, this was such an inspirational and informative lesson on creation and the ins and outs of the process of not only this film but for the overall journey of story-telling!
Roxane Gay, Issa Rae and Stella Meghie at 92Y. Photo Credit: Maricela Magana / Michael Priest Photography
Roxane had the perfect blend of questions and the conversation was so at ease and flowed with lots of gems along the way:
Roxane asked Stella what the inspiration or the background to create this unique multi-generational story
Stella Meghie: I wanted to write a script that was bigger in scope than what I had done previously, and at the time my grandmother was being reunited with a daughter that she had given up when she was a teenage and I didn’t know about it. .. I was getting to know her as a woman in a way I hadn’t known my grandmother and I was like what don’t we know about our mothers and I wanted to do something that had a big backstory like that.
Roxane asked Issa about the script, this role and playing against type
Issa Rae: When I got the script, a few months after working with Stella on Insecure, I was just so excited to read it and saw it was a love story, a black love story and immediately was (flipping through the pages laughing) what best friend does she want me to play and was so honored that she was thinking of me for the lead and I fell in love with the writing, I fell in love with the story …I tried not to get into my head about it and I just tried to embody the character, who she was, I asked Stella a ton of questions about Mae, I tried to understand her intention, who she was, what her story was and focus more on getting into the root of who she was and where she was supposed to end up.
Roxane asked Stella what makes a good love story to her
SM: A good love story for me is one where the lead is also on a journey to love herself. I think this is why some rom-coms have gone out of fashion because it just can’t be about getting a guy.If a women is the lead then I need her to have a journey in arc and be somewhat of a coming of age.
Roxane asked Stella about casting the male lead with LaKeith Stanfield and him also playing against type
SM: I didn’t talk to him for awhile because I did think oh he’s quirky, he’s not this guy and he’s not going to want to play this role and I don’t think he’s right and then we spoke via Skype and when we started talking he was so in tune with character and he was so kind of honest about how he related to Michael because of personal experiences and those eyes you see up there (on screen) that was coming through the Skype at me and I felt it(laughs and smiles)! So me and him got on a plane and went to Lousiana where Issa was filming and to read the date scene and as soon as he opened his mouth, I was like this is it!
An audience question asking what informed Stella’s writing of the black men in the Photograph as they seemed so in touch with vulnerability
SM: I’m probably way too easy on my father and my exes (laughs). I always write men with the benefit of the doubt from a woman’s perspective. I just try to not think of myself as a woman’s perspective when I’m a man as more and write them from a human perspective of how I fell like I would deal with something in their situation so I feel like Michael(LaKeith Stanfield character) has a lot of me in him and I want to show Black men as loving, there are loving Black men.
Roxane asked Issa where her sense of humor comes from
IR:My sense of humor comes from my mother for sure she’s hilarious, she’s really goofy a lot of people meet her and I crack up cuz they’re like your mom’s so elegant and so refined, it’s like no she’s not (laughs) she’s so clumsy, extremely goofy and ridiculous for no reason and I loved that she raised us that way you know there are five of us and she used to prioritize us spending time together and there was a game that we used to play at the dinner table because we could not turn the TV on at the dinner table, we had to talk and we used to play the don’t laugh and smile game…I wold always be the first one out because I just used to find my siblings to be the most hilarious people on earth but it just helped me to hone my comedic voice.
Roxane asked Stella how do you know when something (like a script) is ready and you made it as good as it’s going to get
SM:I just really bounce it in my head am I happy, it’s never going to be perfect but like do I love the shaggy bits and I just weigh out the pros and cons is it worth you know what more is gonna come from it if I keep cutting into it.
Roxane asked Issa if she is a perfectionist
IR:I’m a regretionist (laughs) I release and regret! I feel like if I hold on to it too dearly then it will never go out there so I would almost rather put it out there and then be like oh I know what I’m gonna do next time because I do stress and I overthink a lot about things but I know that I’ll let that cripple or hinder me in a way and I just refuse to let that happen.
Roxane Gay, Issa Rae and Stella Meghie at 92Y. Photo Credit: Maricela Magana / Michael Priest Photography
Stella Meghie and Issa Rae at 92Y. Photo Credit: Maricela Magana / Michael Priest Photography
For more of the conversation hit the link for the full video of the talk!
