Academy Award-winning actor Ariana DeBose moves with intention, even in space. Case in point: her latest project, the movie “I.S.S.”
The independent film by director Gabriela Cowperthwaite and screenwriter Nick Shafir will be released in theaters on Friday after premiering at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival.
DeBose stars as Dr. Kira Foster, an American astronaut who has recently arrived at the International Space Station to conduct research with fellow Americans and Russian scientists. The film is set in the near future, with an ensemble cast that boasts Chris Messina, John Gallagher Jr., Pilou Asbaek, Costa Ronin and Masha Mashkova.
The movie combines the science-fiction and thriller genres to examine how astronauts from the U.S. and Russia function together when there’s a nuclear disaster on Earth — and conflict between the two countries.
DeBose’s Foster displays a willingness to resort to extremes when she believes she’s right, even before the harrowing events depicted in the film. Her vulnerability goes beyond being perceived as weak or soft, and into a gray area of actions considered unpopular in the name of humanity and survival — even if that means helping or opening up to someone who may be viewed as an adversary.
“Vulnerability feels like my strength,” DeBose said. “So, the emotions that she was experiencing with this character didn’t necessarily feel far-fetched, when you consider the circumstances that she was facing.”
“Now, I had to connect the dots for how she got to the end of the film,” she said. “What’s behind all of that? And when did she make those choices?”
DeBose, who made history as the first Afro Latina and openly queer actor of color to win an Oscar for her role as Anita in the 2021 “West Side Story” remake, said she was “surprised” that a movie like “I.S.S.” hadn’t already been made.
“When you think of a sci-fi thriller, it’s super clean and futuristic. And this seemed very rooted in the reality of what astronauts and cosmonauts deal with, and I liked that,” she said. “I also liked that this was such a human story. Dr. Foster seemed like an extremely capable, intelligent, highly qualified science engineer focused on completing her scientific research. She was very laser-focused in that way. But I also felt like she was running from her past.”
DeBose took the corporeal and cerebral aspects she built for Foster from countless YouTube videos of people who had been on the ISS, her dance background, and what she learned from former astronaut and ISS commander Scott Kelly’s memoir, “Endurance.” “[He’s] very candid about the effects on the body and what the experience is really like,” she said of Kelly’s book.
DeBose worked closely with Cowperthwaite to develop thoughtful and impactful choices that “didn’t always have to do with science.” Her character is physically present but emotionally reserved due to the job’s demands and heartbreak. DeBose’s eyes conjure palpable unease, rattling the nervous system, but it’s only in her sleeping quarters that she breaks her composure.
“For different people, it manifests in anxiety, and that was very true for her version of anxiety and fear,” said DeBose. “When you make big decisions, the only way you can process them is alone, and when you’re truly isolated, you will understand the ramifications of what you have chosen first.”
Since her leap to prominence in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” for which she earned an Oscar and other awards, the 32-year-old of Puerto Rican descent has quickly become an in-demand actor and cultural tastemaker.
There have been moments when DeBose has seen things dashing off on a thrilling new vector, where life will never be the same.
The sensation of change afoot and her unadulterated gratitude for her good fortune continued after “West Side Story,” as she filmed Marvel’s “Kraven the Hunter,” voiced Disney’s first Afro Latina heroine in “Wish,” hosted Broadway’s Tony Awards twice and the 2023 BAFTAs, celebrating excellence in television and film, to name some projects.
“It feels drastic at times, so it’s taking me some time to recalibrate and balance this new space that I occupy in the world and what I want to do with it. And I can be honest and say it’s not always comfortable. And I’ve had to allow myself the time to feel all my feelings,” DeBose said.
“It’s taken me a good bit to really figure out what happened,” she added, “but I’m good and loving life and the opportunities I’ve been presented with.”
DeBose’s preference for roles like “I.S.S.” that ask “bigger questions” applies not only to the scripts she considers, but also to the art and issues she champions as an Afro Latina and queer artist.
DeBose has promoted Latino colleagues like Eva Longoria for her feature-film directorial debut “Flamin’ Hot.” But most notably, she and the LGBTQ organization GLAAD hosted an Academy Awards screening of the acclaimed independent film “Monica,” the first movie in the Venice International Film Festival’s history to feature a trans lead.
Its star, Trace Lysette (“Transparent,” “Hustlers”), has earned her place with dramatic greats, receiving an 11.5-minute standing ovation at its world premiere in 2022 — one of the longest ovations for any film or actor. DeBose said she trusts her fans and Academy Awards voters will lend their support.
A lesson in stillness — and a message
DeBose is thoughtful for a moment, resting her hand against her face, her index finger hovering close to her curly, side-swept bangs as she reflects on her not-so-distant past.
“I was making ‘Schmigadoon!’ [Season 1 in 2020] when I auditioned for ‘I.S.S.,’” she said. “We made this movie during the pandemic, a really special and fraught time. We did it with every safety protocol available, and it also forced trust among my colleagues and me because we had to keep each other safe on and off set. It’s a miracle the movie got made.”
“I.S.S.” was “a lesson in stillness and of taking in another person and their nuance, because sometimes acting can be a self-isolating experience,” she said.
DeBose said she’s always been interested in how another person’s actions, beliefs or energy shift her character or inform her. But she knows she might not have been ready to play Foster had the opportunity presented itself 10 or 15 years ago.
“I wouldn’t have had the lived experience to understand how we relate to each other,” she said of her role in “I.S.S.”
DeBose said it’s a reminder to keep performing and living with observation, action and intentionality — the practice of a lifetime.
“There are multitudes of characters that I feel have yet to come out of me. You haven’t seen everything I’m capable of,” DeBose said.
“When I said ‘yes’ to this, my goal was to surprise myself,” she said of “I.S.S.,” adding she hopes those familiar with her work “stay open to it, what it is, and its message.”
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
