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| Zoë Kravitz: ‘Why do stories happen to white people and everyone else is a punchline?’ | Zoë Kravitz: ‘Why do stories happen to white people and everyone else is a punchline?’ |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| On her first day shooting her first feature, Zoë Kravitz wasn’t allowed to work. Cast as a goth babysitter in the Catherine Zeta-Jones romcom No Reservations, the teenager couldn’t go on set until her designated guardian had signed in. But Lenny Kravitz was running late, and when he eventually arrived, the rock star caused such a stir that the delays simmered on. The film’s director, Scott Hicks, had no idea Zoë was Lenny’s daughter when he cast her; he wasn’t expecting the fuss. So Zoë took control. “She told her dad off,” says Hicks. “He wasn’t late again.” | On her first day shooting her first feature, Zoë Kravitz wasn’t allowed to work. Cast as a goth babysitter in the Catherine Zeta-Jones romcom No Reservations, the teenager couldn’t go on set until her designated guardian had signed in. But Lenny Kravitz was running late, and when he eventually arrived, the rock star caused such a stir that the delays simmered on. The film’s director, Scott Hicks, had no idea Zoë was Lenny’s daughter when he cast her; he wasn’t expecting the fuss. So Zoë took control. “She told her dad off,” says Hicks. “He wasn’t late again.” |
| Kravitz, now 26, doesn’t take any nonsense. She can’t afford to. If her celebrity parents (Lenny – Grammy award-winning musician and Hunger Games actor – and Lisa Bonet, film actor and former star of The Cosby Show) didn’t invite Hollywood bigwigs to make assumptions, her gender, heritage (African-American and Ashkenazi Jewish) or appearance (septum piercing, multiple tattoos: feather, anchor, hawk) would. In an industry that rarely shows black women as anything but, in her words, “best friend of the white girl”, Kravitz works hard to give weight to her flimsy blockbuster roles. There’s often not a lot to work with. In the Divergent series, she played Shailene Woodley’s plucky ally, Christina. In X-Men:First Class, she was Angel Salvadore, an insect-winged mutant who moonlights as a stripper. | Kravitz, now 26, doesn’t take any nonsense. She can’t afford to. If her celebrity parents (Lenny – Grammy award-winning musician and Hunger Games actor – and Lisa Bonet, film actor and former star of The Cosby Show) didn’t invite Hollywood bigwigs to make assumptions, her gender, heritage (African-American and Ashkenazi Jewish) or appearance (septum piercing, multiple tattoos: feather, anchor, hawk) would. In an industry that rarely shows black women as anything but, in her words, “best friend of the white girl”, Kravitz works hard to give weight to her flimsy blockbuster roles. There’s often not a lot to work with. In the Divergent series, she played Shailene Woodley’s plucky ally, Christina. In X-Men:First Class, she was Angel Salvadore, an insect-winged mutant who moonlights as a stripper. |
| Related: Crush of the week: Zoë Kravitz | Related: Crush of the week: Zoë Kravitz |
| “I ask writers and producers: ‘Why don’t you have any black people in your film?’, ‘Why do stories happen to white people and everyone else is a punchline?’,” she says. “What I’m finding is that a lot of people don’t see it’s an issue because it’s not their story, unless they’re black or a minority.” | “I ask writers and producers: ‘Why don’t you have any black people in your film?’, ‘Why do stories happen to white people and everyone else is a punchline?’,” she says. “What I’m finding is that a lot of people don’t see it’s an issue because it’s not their story, unless they’re black or a minority.” |
| Recently, she said she was blocked from auditioning for Christopher Nolan’s Batman film The Dark Knight Rises, because the film-makers “weren’t going urban”. And when there is a role on offer, it’s often written with a dunderheaded take on race. “There are certain roles where I know what they are asking for,” she says. “They want me to talk like I’m not an educated person. But if my character’s not educated, you have to tell me why. It can’t just be because I’m black.” | Recently, she said she was blocked from auditioning for Christopher Nolan’s Batman film The Dark Knight Rises, because the film-makers “weren’t going urban”. And when there is a role on offer, it’s often written with a dunderheaded take on race. “There are certain roles where I know what they are asking for,” she says. “They want me to talk like I’m not an educated person. But if my character’s not educated, you have to tell me why. It can’t just be because I’m black.” |
| Her new film, Dope, wowed critics at the Sundance film festival by riffing on the stereotypes that she has fallen victim to. Written and directed by Rick Famuyiwa, the comedy stars newcomer Shameik Moore as Malcolm, a geeky black teenager trying to navigate the rougher areas of the Californian city of Inglewood without gang members stealing his vintage Nike Airs or touching his hi-top haircut. You could label Malcolm a hipster. He’s obsessed with 90s hip-hop, rides a bright orange BMX and plays in a punk-rap-pop trio called Awreeoh (pronounced like the biscuit). These – along with “Donald Glover, TV on the Radio, good grades” – are all, apparently, “white shit”: stuff that Malcolm, as a black man from Inglewood, should not be into. Dope’s plot spins on the premise that there’s no escape from expectation. When a nightclub shooting leaves him in possession of a bag full of drugs, Malcolm the geek is forced to play gangster. | Her new film, Dope, wowed critics at the Sundance film festival by riffing on the stereotypes that she has fallen victim to. Written and directed by Rick Famuyiwa, the comedy stars newcomer Shameik Moore as Malcolm, a geeky black teenager trying to navigate the rougher areas of the Californian city of Inglewood without gang members stealing his vintage Nike Airs or touching his hi-top haircut. You could label Malcolm a hipster. He’s obsessed with 90s hip-hop, rides a bright orange BMX and plays in a punk-rap-pop trio called Awreeoh (pronounced like the biscuit). These – along with “Donald Glover, TV on the Radio, good grades” – are all, apparently, “white shit”: stuff that Malcolm, as a black man from Inglewood, should not be into. Dope’s plot spins on the premise that there’s no escape from expectation. When a nightclub shooting leaves him in possession of a bag full of drugs, Malcolm the geek is forced to play gangster. |
| Dope is a cool comedy that denies it is cool. A polemic about pigeonholing that breaks its characters out of the box, only to ease them into smaller boxes. Kravitz’s character, Nakia, is emblematic of the film’s issues. She’s a checklist hottie, bounced between her gangland beau (played by rapper A$AP Rocky) and bumbling, nebbish Malcolm. The part is underwritten. Nakia has smarts, but no wit. Looks, but no sex appeal. She’s a sexy-saviour stereotype in a film that makes a big deal of being seen to subvert them. | Dope is a cool comedy that denies it is cool. A polemic about pigeonholing that breaks its characters out of the box, only to ease them into smaller boxes. Kravitz’s character, Nakia, is emblematic of the film’s issues. She’s a checklist hottie, bounced between her gangland beau (played by rapper A$AP Rocky) and bumbling, nebbish Malcolm. The part is underwritten. Nakia has smarts, but no wit. Looks, but no sex appeal. She’s a sexy-saviour stereotype in a film that makes a big deal of being seen to subvert them. |
| Ahead of meeting Kravitz, I’d made some assumptions of my own. I thought she’d be trendy and vacant, stylish, but bland. Her Instagram is clogged with selfies of her and her celeb mates – Cara Delevingne, Miley Cyrus, Drake – pouting into the void. When her dad’s recent very public wardrobe malfunction unleashed little Lenny on to the internet, Kravitz responded by sharing her text conversation with Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler’s daughter, Chelsea, under the hashtag #rockoutwithyourcockout. I’d assumed the comfortable upbringing and the showbiz coterie would lead to complacency, but I was totally wrong. She’s switched-on and tough, and way more forthright than I expected. | Ahead of meeting Kravitz, I’d made some assumptions of my own. I thought she’d be trendy and vacant, stylish, but bland. Her Instagram is clogged with selfies of her and her celeb mates – Cara Delevingne, Miley Cyrus, Drake – pouting into the void. When her dad’s recent very public wardrobe malfunction unleashed little Lenny on to the internet, Kravitz responded by sharing her text conversation with Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler’s daughter, Chelsea, under the hashtag #rockoutwithyourcockout. I’d assumed the comfortable upbringing and the showbiz coterie would lead to complacency, but I was totally wrong. She’s switched-on and tough, and way more forthright than I expected. |
| “I think a lot of films now are really, really boring because no one’s willing to offend anyone,” she says. “Everything’s become so PC. If you watch any movie that was made before the mid-90s, there are things that are being said and done that no one would dare do now, because they’d get criticised on a blog.” | “I think a lot of films now are really, really boring because no one’s willing to offend anyone,” she says. “Everything’s become so PC. If you watch any movie that was made before the mid-90s, there are things that are being said and done that no one would dare do now, because they’d get criticised on a blog.” |
| She talks about being attacked online by some fans for calling comedian Amy Schumer her “woman crush”. Schumer’s comedy – particularly lines such as “Nothing works 100% of the time ... except Mexicans” – has been challenged by some people for being racist. They saw Kravitz’s endorsement as a betrayal. Her response? “Calm the fuck down.” | She talks about being attacked online by some fans for calling comedian Amy Schumer her “woman crush”. Schumer’s comedy – particularly lines such as “Nothing works 100% of the time ... except Mexicans” – has been challenged by some people for being racist. They saw Kravitz’s endorsement as a betrayal. Her response? “Calm the fuck down.” |
| “People are just waiting for something to get mad at,” she says. “But you’re not mad because I talked about something you’re uncomfortable with. You’re mad because of something else. [Perhaps] because there’s this dreamworld of celebrity that’s fed to you through the internet? You’re being told you’ll never have this and you’re angry.” | “People are just waiting for something to get mad at,” she says. “But you’re not mad because I talked about something you’re uncomfortable with. You’re mad because of something else. [Perhaps] because there’s this dreamworld of celebrity that’s fed to you through the internet? You’re being told you’ll never have this and you’re angry.” |
| It’s the internet’s fault, she says. It’s made us more conservative and much more quick to anger. “Amy’s a comedian. She’s the first person who’s going to offend you,” she says. “If she’s says something that has anything to do with race, it’s like, ‘Oh, great – I have something to get angry at.’ When she’s clearly commenting on the fact that there is a problem. People – white, privileged people – act like this. | It’s the internet’s fault, she says. It’s made us more conservative and much more quick to anger. “Amy’s a comedian. She’s the first person who’s going to offend you,” she says. “If she’s says something that has anything to do with race, it’s like, ‘Oh, great – I have something to get angry at.’ When she’s clearly commenting on the fact that there is a problem. People – white, privileged people – act like this. |
| “Art should be offensive to an extent. That’s what gets a reaction out of people – someone’s opinion that’s different from yours ... It’s amazing to me that no one takes the time to try and see what someone’s trying to say because they’d rather just post an inane comment. They’re missing out on good art.” | “Art should be offensive to an extent. That’s what gets a reaction out of people – someone’s opinion that’s different from yours ... It’s amazing to me that no one takes the time to try and see what someone’s trying to say because they’d rather just post an inane comment. They’re missing out on good art.” |
| Kravitz’s paternal grandparents were Sy Kravitz, an NBC news producer, and Roxie Roker, star of The Jeffersons, a gentle, political sitcom about an affluent black couple living in New York that ran for 11 seasons from 1975-82. Zoë’s parents bonded over their shared heritage (Bonet’s white Jewish mother, Arlene Litman, was married to black opera singer Allen Bonet) and in 1987 they eloped to Las Vegas to get married. Lenny was 23 and Bonet was 20. Zoë was born a year later. By the time she was five, mum and dad had divorced. | Kravitz’s paternal grandparents were Sy Kravitz, an NBC news producer, and Roxie Roker, star of The Jeffersons, a gentle, political sitcom about an affluent black couple living in New York that ran for 11 seasons from 1975-82. Zoë’s parents bonded over their shared heritage (Bonet’s white Jewish mother, Arlene Litman, was married to black opera singer Allen Bonet) and in 1987 they eloped to Las Vegas to get married. Lenny was 23 and Bonet was 20. Zoë was born a year later. By the time she was five, mum and dad had divorced. |
| “I don’t remember them being together,” she says. “But it’s been interesting watching them get older. I’ve been able to witness a lot more of their lives than a lot of kids get to witness. I remember my mum’s 30th birthday very well, and I’m going to be 30 soon, so it’s kind of a trippy ride.” | “I don’t remember them being together,” she says. “But it’s been interesting watching them get older. I’ve been able to witness a lot more of their lives than a lot of kids get to witness. I remember my mum’s 30th birthday very well, and I’m going to be 30 soon, so it’s kind of a trippy ride.” |
| When Zoë was born, Bonet was still a regular on The Cosby Show. She played Denise Huxtable, daughter of Dr Cliff Huxtable, played by Bill Cosby. Cosby has since been accused by more than 40 women of sexual assault and harassment, with some alleging that the actor drugged and raped them. The comedian has said that any extramarital affairs were consensual. He is facing a criminal investigation by the LAPD, but has not been charged. | When Zoë was born, Bonet was still a regular on The Cosby Show. She played Denise Huxtable, daughter of Dr Cliff Huxtable, played by Bill Cosby. Cosby has since been accused by more than 40 women of sexual assault and harassment, with some alleging that the actor drugged and raped them. The comedian has said that any extramarital affairs were consensual. He is facing a criminal investigation by the LAPD, but has not been charged. |
| Bonet and Cosby had a testy relationship during the show’s run. Cosby apparently disapproved of Bonet’s relationship with Kravitz, her pregnancy (with Zoë) and her appearance in Angel Heart, a horror film in which Bonet romped around naked and bloody in a nightmarish sex scene with Mickey Rourke. | Bonet and Cosby had a testy relationship during the show’s run. Cosby apparently disapproved of Bonet’s relationship with Kravitz, her pregnancy (with Zoë) and her appearance in Angel Heart, a horror film in which Bonet romped around naked and bloody in a nightmarish sex scene with Mickey Rourke. |
| I ask Zoë if her mother had talked to her about the allegations. “She hasn’t, she really hasn’t,” she says. “She’d plead the fifth, even to me. I think she’s just staying out of it. She’s just as disgusted and concerned as everyone else is, but I don’t think she has any insight. It’s news to her as well.” | I ask Zoë if her mother had talked to her about the allegations. “She hasn’t, she really hasn’t,” she says. “She’d plead the fifth, even to me. I think she’s just staying out of it. She’s just as disgusted and concerned as everyone else is, but I don’t think she has any insight. It’s news to her as well.” |
| But you understand why people would think she knows something? | But you understand why people would think she knows something? |
| “Of course,” she says. “She was on the show for a long time. She’s also a beautiful woman. It makes people wonder. She’s a very straightforward person. If there was something she felt the world needed to know that would help this case or help any women who had been abused, she would say something.” | “Of course,” she says. “She was on the show for a long time. She’s also a beautiful woman. It makes people wonder. She’s a very straightforward person. If there was something she felt the world needed to know that would help this case or help any women who had been abused, she would say something.” |
| Aged 11, Kravitz moved to Miami to live with her dad, before heading to New York to attend the Rudolph Steiner school in Manhattan. She was a geek: heavily into musicals, staying after school to practice Grease songs. Back then, she says, the theatre kids were never the cool kids. Now, with geek culture dominant, that outsider status has weakened. | Aged 11, Kravitz moved to Miami to live with her dad, before heading to New York to attend the Rudolph Steiner school in Manhattan. She was a geek: heavily into musicals, staying after school to practice Grease songs. Back then, she says, the theatre kids were never the cool kids. Now, with geek culture dominant, that outsider status has weakened. |
| “Geeks were always just people that were into what was different,” she says. “Culturally now, we’re very attracted to that. Everything that was obvious? Obviously beautiful, obviously interesting? We got bored of it.” | “Geeks were always just people that were into what was different,” she says. “Culturally now, we’re very attracted to that. Everything that was obvious? Obviously beautiful, obviously interesting? We got bored of it.” |
| Still, Hollywood hasn’t worked out where to make Kravitz fit. Her best performances are buried in patchy indie dramas (Yelling to the Sky, in which she played a teen bullied mercilessly by Empire star Gabourey Sidibe) or obliterated by the crash and roar of even the best blockbusters (Kravitz’s character, a concubine called Toast the Knowing, is one of the few weaknesses of Mad Max: Fury Road – she gets to show more flesh than acting skill). | |
| Jimmy Giannopoulos, her bandmate in the Brooklyn electro trio LolaWolf (named after Zoë’s half-siblings, Lola Iolani Momoa and Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa – the children of Bonet and Game of Thrones actor Jason Momoa), reckons she needs a director to take a risk on her before she can really shine. | Jimmy Giannopoulos, her bandmate in the Brooklyn electro trio LolaWolf (named after Zoë’s half-siblings, Lola Iolani Momoa and Nakoa-Wolf Manakauapo Namakaeha Momoa – the children of Bonet and Game of Thrones actor Jason Momoa), reckons she needs a director to take a risk on her before she can really shine. |
| “I always thought Mark Wahlberg got the role of a lifetime when he got Boogie Nights, because he really got to do what the fuck he wanted,” he says. “I’m always telling her, ‘You got to get that Boogie Nights role!’ Something where you literally get to do everything.” | “I always thought Mark Wahlberg got the role of a lifetime when he got Boogie Nights, because he really got to do what the fuck he wanted,” he says. “I’m always telling her, ‘You got to get that Boogie Nights role!’ Something where you literally get to do everything.” |
| “I guess what makes Boogie Nights special is the beautiful combination of comedy and irony,” says Kravitz. “Wahlberg plays that role perfectly. Sometimes I wonder if he didn’t get what was so funny about it?” | “I guess what makes Boogie Nights special is the beautiful combination of comedy and irony,” says Kravitz. “Wahlberg plays that role perfectly. Sometimes I wonder if he didn’t get what was so funny about it?” |
| It’s ironic that Dope, a film about the fallacy of stereotyping, gives Kravitz one of her most quantifiable roles to date. The Ghetto Beauty is beneath her. The Sidekick and the Best Friend, too. | It’s ironic that Dope, a film about the fallacy of stereotyping, gives Kravitz one of her most quantifiable roles to date. The Ghetto Beauty is beneath her. The Sidekick and the Best Friend, too. |
| Perhaps her problem is that she’s one of the few actors willing to talk about the film business as it is. I ask her about women in Hollywood, about this vision of the post-Bridesmaids world, where women can be seen to be sexy and funny and disgusting and, even, human. It doesn’t square with an industry that gives women fewer than a third of mainstream speaking roles. | Perhaps her problem is that she’s one of the few actors willing to talk about the film business as it is. I ask her about women in Hollywood, about this vision of the post-Bridesmaids world, where women can be seen to be sexy and funny and disgusting and, even, human. It doesn’t square with an industry that gives women fewer than a third of mainstream speaking roles. |
| “There’s a shift happening, but I don’t think we should get too excited yet,” says Kravitz. “We have to make sure it doesn’t become a fad: ‘Bridesmaids! Oh! That’s funny. It’s funny to get a bunch of girls doing crude shit.’ | “There’s a shift happening, but I don’t think we should get too excited yet,” says Kravitz. “We have to make sure it doesn’t become a fad: ‘Bridesmaids! Oh! That’s funny. It’s funny to get a bunch of girls doing crude shit.’ |
| “I don’t want it to become: ‘This is the female version, because that sells now.’ That’s how this industry works: they find what sells and they turn it into a gimmick. They take all of the soul out of it.” | “I don’t want it to become: ‘This is the female version, because that sells now.’ That’s how this industry works: they find what sells and they turn it into a gimmick. They take all of the soul out of it.” |
| There are plenty of labels you can try and attach to Zoë Kravitz. But vacant? Bland? They won’t stick. | There are plenty of labels you can try and attach to Zoë Kravitz. But vacant? Bland? They won’t stick. |
| • Dope is released in the UK on 4 September. | • Dope is released in the UK on 4 September. |