Okay, let's talk
about the movie.In "The First Purge,"
you play Nya.Yes.
She's a community activist.Mm-hmm.
She doesn't believethat the Purge is at all
good for the community,and she does
everything in her powerto save her brother, right?
what are the similaritiesand differences
between the characterthat you play
and who you are?Nya and Lex.I think the...
the main difference...is... is just where
we're from, you know.I'm from Baltimore.
New York.I definitely use
an accent with this one,just so I can relate
to-- to the peopleof New York
who will watch it.But for the most part,
everything elseis pretty similar.
Mm-hmm.In terms of how we think.Maybe not the exact
situation she is in...which is extremely
unfortunate,but the...the innate wantto protect
and to nurture,specifically the men
around her, but everyone,but the men is important.She... she, like I, believe
that kings need their queens.Absolutely, mm-hmm.And she... she's strong.
Mm-hmm.She knows that she can play
on the same playing fieldwith the men,
and so the size,and yeah, she's small
and you know,she's like, little and--
but she also has the same gritas the Dmitri character
played by Y'lan.Would you consider yourself
an activist in real life?A community activist?I believe so.
Yeah?I just-- since I was
a very little girl,and as my name means--
my full name is Alexis,and "Alexis" means
helper of mankind.Mm-hmm?
And that is something
I just always did,just take up
for the person who needed help,um, and-- and who was alone.So, in that regard, yes,
I am a community activist.I want everyone
to feel included.
Mm-hmm.No matter what the battle
or the topic is at the time.You want everybody
to feel included.You know, what's interesting
about this movie,it has underlying themes,
like racism, like oppression,that's similar to the climate
we're seeing in society today.Would you agree with that?
Absolutely.Yeah, is that one
of the reasons why you
wanted to do the movie?Yes, the script,the earliest form
of the script was outstanding.It was a page turner,
and it says--and shout out
to James DeMonaco, our writer,who's written all
of the "Purges."But this one felt different
because it didn't start,like the most--
like the other ones,it didn't start as soon
as the countdownbegan for the violence.
Mm-hmm.So, because this day never
existed for these characters,you know, we really have
an opportunityto get to know them
outside of the occasion.
Mm-hmm.Before I had to fight
for the role,because I did
fight for the role,I just prayed that it--
it was a storythat I was supposed to tell.
Yeah.Because everybody
has a Nya in their hood,everyone has a Dmitri.And our jobs as actors
are tell the storiesof people who cannot
tell it themselves.So, that was really
important for me.
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