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Naomie Ackie’s biggest regret in life is that she did not get to be part of the Harry Potter movies.
“I’m still desperate to be part of the franchise in some way! Growing up, I was such a huge Potter fan and I was so jealous of all the kids who were cast in the movies. I really wanted to be Hermoine (Granger), but obviously that part was already taken and played beautifully by Emma Watson. When I was 15, I auditioned to play Lavender Brown and got to the second round… but unfortunately it didn’t work out. Ah well, maybe they’ll let me audition for them once more,” she sighs.
The Londoner may not have gotten to wear cloaks or cast spells (just yet), but she has not fared too badly since. After breaking out with films like Lady Macbeth and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, her roles on two hit television shows — The End of the F***ing World and Master of None — truly announced Naomie’s arrival in Hollywood. She followed that up by being cast as Whitney Houston in the legendary singer’s biopic I Wanna Dance with Somebody, which led to universal critical acclaim for the rising British actor.
Naomie Ackie as as Whitney Houston in ‘I Wanna Dance with Somebody’
And it is only getting better; next up, she stars as the lead in Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut Blink Twice (releasing this week), and then will be seen in Parasite filmmaker and Oscar-winner Bong Joon-ho’s long-awaited sci-fi thriller Mickey 17.
Resonating with female filmmakers
Blink Twice will be her second outing with a Black female filmmaker (the Houston biopic was directed by Kasi Lemmons), and Naomie has earlier spoken about how when it is a Black woman helming a project, “there’s almost an unspoken understanding” of what is expected from her as an actor.
She elaborates, “When you have something deeply in common in terms of identity with the person who is leading you through a story, you naturally know that there is nothing you can’t talk about. There are no sensitive buttons when it comes to discussing those things, and it becomes a really open conversation. Luckily, I’ve dealt with many directors who don’t share the same identity as me, but still have been able to find that with me. But there is an ease I have found, and a joy more than anything, to work with people who know my experience and have lived my experience.”
Channing Tatum, director, writer and producer Zoë Kravitz and Naomi Ackie at the European premiere of ‘Blink Twice’
| Photo Credit:
JOHN PHILLIPS
She adds, “There is something quite special about it. And you know, there aren’t a huge amount of female directors anyway, let alone female directors of colour, not even just Black, but all around the world. So when I do get to engage with directors who are away from the norm, I do naturally just go, ‘oh wow, this is going to be different and it’s going to be fun’. I can maybe tap into something else, and explore other avenues of performing.”
Zoë Kravitz’s psychological thriller follows a cocktail waitress (Naomie) who crosses paths with a billionaire tech mogul (Channing Tatum) and is whisked away by him and his fancy friends to a private island for a dream vacation; naturally, the paradise is not what it seems, and soon things spiral out of control.
Initially titled Pussy Island, the movie was rechristened Blink Twice after running into controversy. “There were a lot of roadblocks along the way, whether it be the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) not wanting to put it on a poster, or a billboard, or a kiosk; movie theatres not wanting to put it on a ticket,” director Zoë explained ruefully earlier.
Naomi Ackie attends the photocall for ‘Blink Twice’ at IET London
| Photo Credit:
NICKY J SIMS
“Interestingly enough, after researching it, women were offended by the word, and women seeing the title were saying, ‘I don’t want to see that movie,’ which is part of the reason I wanted to try and use the word, which is trying to reclaim the word, and not make it something that we’re so uncomfortable using,” she said.
Naomie, who was a big fan of the earlier title, remarks, “It was such a grabbing title and was there to catch people’s attention. It felt taboo, naughty and cheeky, and really hit home on what the story is. But at the same time, we had to concede to the point that for some people, that word isn’t necessarily freeing and it’s offensive. And we want as many people to feel connected to this piece of work.”
The actor elaborates, “There is an amazing line in the trailer from the film, where her character goes, ‘Blink twice if I’m in danger!’ “So there is still that element of the new title linking to the story; it’s just a different angle. We were okay with whatever we needed to do to make sure that everyone feels included and no one feels isolated from it.”
Naomi Ackie attends the premiere of ‘Blink Twice’ at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles
| Photo Credit:
MARIO ANZUONI
Collaborating with Zoë Kravitz
The film was written in a pre-#MeToo era, and then went through multiple changes as the climate in Hollywood shifted after the Harvey Weinstein trials. Did Naomie, who is known to collaborate with her directors often on the screenplays, offer any inputs on how the narrative should shape out?
Naomi muses, “Zoe, as a writer, is always receptive to dialogue. If I told her about a personal experience I went through, she’d be like, ‘Oh, that’s amazing. Let’s use that!’ I come from a theatre background, so a lot of that world is just like throwing out ideas. If it works, it works; if it doesn’t, fine, let’s find something new. So getting into that really collaborative space with Zoë was a real gift, because even if the ideas didn’t necessarily work, knowing that she was always open to it meant that there was a freedom when it came to performing and portraying the character.”
The 31-year-old went through a whirlwind summer in 2022 when she was straddling the worlds of three different filmmakers and three very different characters for 12 to 14 hours a day; after filming Blink Twice, she jumped on a plane to do reshoots for I Wanna Dance with Somebody, and then was dropped straight onto Joon-ho’s sets for Mickey 17.
“Phew! That was very hectic,” she grins. “I remember my agent being like, ‘Okay, so at the end of this year, you’re gonna be absolutely exhausted’. But I was ready to roll with the punches; I’m very lucky as an actor, because they make it as easy as possible to transition from one space to another. You are given the privileges of travel and seeing new places, and then you just make it work. What made it easier for me was the fact that all three were vastly different characters and weren’t connected in any way. More than anything, I just had whiplash being thrust from one world to another: from Blink Twice in Mexico, bam, I’m in L.A doing Whitney again, and then bam, I’m back in London, doing Mickey 17.”
Robert Pattinson in the first look of Bong Joon-ho’s ‘Mickey 17’
Entering the magical world of Bong Joon-ho
Her eyes light up at the mention of working with Bong Joon-ho, not to mention the stacked ensemble cast featuring names such as Robert Pattinson, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette and Mark Ruffalo. “Mickey 17 was the longest one; we shot that over five months and it was a true honour. There are things in life that you don’t even think about hoping for, you know? Like, I never ever imagined I’d be in a Bong Joon-ho film. The first one I watched of his was Parasite, and I blinked a year or two, and here I was, suddenly exchanging ideas with this man who is so incredibly kind and funny.”
Adapted from the 2002 novel of the same name by Edward Ashton, the film is scheduled to be theatrically released on January 31, 2025; Naomie says she cannot wait to watch the full feature: “He (Joon-ho) has got a wild brain and an incredible imagination, and the way he chooses to communicate… it was a real privilege to be a part of. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I am so beyond excited to see what it was. It’s also so long ago that I don’t even remember what he did, honestly.”
Finally, the trailer of Blink Twice has stirred up discourse on the film being inspired by Hollywood’s famous wild private parties; can Naomie settle the claim?
She laughs, “You know what, I must confess, I am a bit of a homebody and don’t really party at all. I have been to some amazing ones — not like Blink Twice (laughs) — especially after the night of an award show, and you’re walking around, and going, oh my God! that’s so and so, and totally freaking out. So I have been lucky enough to go to a few, but mostly I’m much happier just chilling at home.”
