Actress DeWanda Wise has that face that makes you think you’ve seen her somewhere before. And chances are you probably have; that’s because this gifted, smart and theater-trained actress has starred in some of your favorite television shows like "The Good Wife" and "Boardwalk Empire" plus the Baltimore native also appeared in 2009’s critically acclaimed and Oscar winning film "Precious".
However it is her powerful performance as the incarcerated Terry in Hallmark’s inspirational movie "Firelight" that’s putting this rising star on the radar of many movie fans. Examiner.com spoke with the jovial actress about the film, working with an Oscar winner, her promising career and what makes the Hallmark brand so special.
BME: There’s been a lot of interest in "Firelight" which is based on a true story. Tell me what it is you believe viewers are responding to or relating to?
DW: I think that it does come from the power that true stories and that kind of art based on things that really happened, has. I think they carry a weight that something fictionalized just doesn’t, it could never quite compare. Just like they always say that fact is stranger than fiction, I think there are things like that for a reason because if you know that folks have really endured some things like the women have and like D.J. has in this situation, you feel empowered. You feel like I can do that too. I’ve gotten feedback on how real Terry felt.
Related Article: "Firelight" is available on DV
BME: That leads me to my next question; tell us about playing Terry. What drew you to the part?
DW: I always as an actress like to do a lot and Terry is honestly kind of a dream role for me. She has to go to a lot of different places emotionally but she doesn’t really like to show her emotions, which is very human and very common I think. Then also she just came with a lot of sort of physically demanding challenges. So for me that was it in a nutshell.
BME: You work with youth in schools in the New York and New Jersey area. Did any of that work aid you in preparing for your Firelight role?
DW: I think so. My husband and I, we always talk about keeping your ears to the street. It’s like a saying that we have. He’s from Orlando and I’m from Baltimore. I love movies. But It’s always like you sit there and you watch movies and you wonder, Does anybody have to work? (Laughs) Does anybody have a job in this romantic comedy? (Laughs) So for me, I’m really attracted to work that I feel reflects people that I meet and I know and I love. A lot of what makes Terry feel current and real; absolutely has a direct correlation between the work that I do and the people that I meet; their habits and their defense mechanisms, all those behaviors.
BME: What was it like working with Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr?
DW: He was great. I really couldn’t imagine anybody else playing that role. As soon as I heard that he had accepted the offer, I was ecstatic because I knew that the energy on set and the atmosphere was going to be great. Cuba just set the tone. It was the kind of thing that there was enough heavy material, there was enough weight that he brought brevity and a light that only he could bring. We just had a ball.
BME: "Firelight" was helmed by Darnell Martin ("Cadillac Records", "Their Eyes Were Watching God"). Your thoughts on being under her direction.
DW: There are times when you work with a director and it's fine and it’s great. Darnell is one of my soul-mate directors. You know the relationship between Tim Burton and Johnny Depp; they work together all the time. I think that Darnell and I are going to work together a lot. We just have the same sort of on-set mentality, like let’s get this movie made. But she describes it as more of a filmmaker mentality. And I’ve worked with a lot of young filmmakers that require a lot of getting your hands dirty and just being around and being available and so Darnell never sat in her chair once. We just kind of have the same work ethic, I think.
BME: Grammy winning singer Alicia Keys is an executive producer for "Firelight", how cool was that and did you see her on set?
DW: She was on set. I didn’t see her. What I think is remarkable about it is during the same time we were filming she was producing on Broadway. She was producing "Stick Fly". I just think it’s so remarkable and so selfless of her to continue to like produce for other people. It really is the mark of selflessness to be like hey these are great stories and these opportunities for these young artists, how about I have the power, I have the ability, I have the connections, I have everything I need to you know be apart of it and make it happen and I’m going to make it happen. We talk about people speaking truth to power and it’s like that’s what it is.
BME: Hallmark Hall of Fame movies have been around for a long time. Why do you think they’ve been able to endure as long as they have? What do you think the appeal is of Hallmark movies?
DW: There are things that are just intrinsic in people, things that will always be true of people and those are things that Hallmark embodies. I think it’s just that simple. There’s not a single person who doesn’t need to be encouraged on this face of the earth. So I think they’ve shifted a little in the way they do what they do but when you watch a Hallmark movie you know you’re going to be encouraged and inspired. You might learn something. There are certain things that are just true that will always be sort of culturally and spiritually necessary.
BME: I’ve asked this of other actors and actresses who have the same skill set as you do, they can do television, film, and theater. Do you favor one more than the other?
DW: I used to say no, I love them equally like they were my kids. (Laughs) but that’s not true. I’ve realized the last couple of years that I definitely favor film and movies more than anything and that’s just a reflection of my, I don’t want to say of my attention span. But when I was kid, I used to quit things. Like my mother, I would be like I want to play the violin and she would buy me a violin and then a month later I would be over it. And she would be livid. (We both laugh) All of that to say, with film you can pick up a character for a couple of months, you train, you rehearse, everyday is different, every day of filming brings us new challenges. There’s never a moment where you don’t have this feeling like can I pull this off today? Can I consistently believe in this other person’s life?
BME: You have such a presence on screen. Where does that come from? Do you think it’s the theater training?
DW: Man, that’s so hard to qualify right? (Laughs) I want to say this but I don’t want it to sound like a brag but my agent gave me this compliment the other day, he said DeWanda the thing about you is you have talent but a lot of people have talent, but what is different about you is that you have depth. That’s not something you can learn or teach. So I think I learned a lot of things based on my theater training and in my film training about how to allow the camera to capture that depth. There a lot of technical things that actors learn and know, just about allowing the moment to be captured. But at the end of the day, you have to just go there. What’s so remarkable in studying about film is, at its best you get to watch people go where maybe you wouldn’t want to go or where you wouldn’t allow anybody to witness you go, that’s where I’m at when I’m filming I’m not thinking about anything technical, I’m just kind of there and it's not always pretty.
BME: Do you have a dream role you want to play or is there a dream director you want to work with in the future?
DW: Right now I want to work with Steve McQueen, very badly just because he directs those grounded and not so pretty stories. There are a lot of my friends coming up and they’re really, really remarkable filmmakers. I lot of them I want to work with, Terence Nance. But I’m more of a project person so it just depends on what the story is.
BME: Where do you see your career going?
DW: That’s a good question. We’re in New York now and we’re going to L.A. in the upcoming months and there are a number of ideas floating around in my head right now. But I want to do something very physically demanding. My theatrical work has always been a little more active than my emotional work. I’m always really collaborative and so I always just try to stay open to whatever I find or that kind of comes across my email or comes across my manager’s desk. I take it one day at a time. You just never know. You never know where Gods going to take you and you just got to be open to wherever that’s going to be.
"Firelight" will re-air Saturday March 5 at 8 p.m ET on Hallmark Birmingham channel 41 for Bright House Networks cable subscribers and again on Sunday March 6 at 4 p.m. ET
You can learn more about Actress DeWanda Wise at her website
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