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Even before she was offered a role in Black Mirror Season 7, Issa Rae says she was tuning into the Netflix drama for some of the more beautifully distressing episodes. Or perhaps “distressingly beautiful” is how it should be put.
During a recent round table conversation attended by Decider, Rae opened up about getting to make her own wholly-original Black Mirror love story, “Hotel Reverie,” one that she hopes will be regarded by fans up there on the same level as one of her own favorites, “San Junipero.”
In that Season 4 installment, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Mackenzie Davis star as two visitors to a beach town who visit the fictional seaside location for an escape. There, they form an unlikely relationship that spans time and space and technology.
For that reason, comparisons between “San Junipero” and “Hotel Reverie” were imminent, especially due to the queer love aspect of each episode. In the ladder, it’s Rae whose character has been digitally dropped into an old Hollywood film and falls in love with the main actress, Dorothy (Emma Corrin). The actress and creator said she could not help but sign on for the project.
“It’s very now,” the Insecure creator explained of her episode. “I read it [the script] right after the strike ended, so a lot of the themes were relevant to things actors and writers were fighting for and about, and so that appealed to me in addition to the love story.”
In the episode, modern-day actress Brandy Friday (Rae) ends up trapped in the movie she is meant to be digitally recreating with the help of AI, leading to a love story playing out as the film is remade with Brandy at the helm, with some minor complications back at the studio for Awkwafina and Harriet Walters’ characters.
“It reminded me of some of my favorite episodes,” she added. “There is an element that reminded me of that in addition to my favorite episodes, ‘San Junipero’ and ‘Striking Vipers.’ Like my favorite Black Mirror episodes, where it was almost self-referential in so many ways, down to The Nubbin. I just, I was excited about that.”
It did not come without its challenges, as the role required her to be seen as a white male actor in the 1940s. It provided a unique and multilayered experience for Rae as an actress, writer, and creator who has previously worked primarily in comedy. With shows and movies like Insecure, Barbie, and Little under her belt, Black Mirror gave her the chance to play in a new sandbox.
“I was scared most about stepping into this 1940s world and like the extent of embodying this actor. And I felt like Brandy where it was just like, ‘okay, so I’m not British, I’m a Black woman just rolling up into the 1940s into this film. Like, what adjustments are being made, if any? And how much am I leaning into this?’” she said of her character’s mindset.
She added of working with director Haolu Wang, “She was more focused on establishing this romance and this connection and having Brandy be a fish out of water in this environment and it being an adventure.”
Black Mirror Season 7 is currently streaming on Netflix.
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