Are you having a good time? That’s the question that’s asked repeatedly in Zoë Kravitz’s debut film Blink Twice. In some ways, the characters are having the best time of their lives, but in all honesty some of them are also having the worst time ever.
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Both visually stunning and viscerally disturbing, the film has a terrifying secret, a secret that too many people share, and that hidden truth is bound to strike a chord with audiences everywhere. BOSSIP’s Sr. Content Director Janeé Bolden spoke with Zoë Kravitz about making her directorial debut, casting the film with both notable actors as well as newcomers, the importance of having a Black woman lead and the way the film takes aim at the mythology of Adam & Eve.
Before we get into that interview, if you haven’t seen it yet, you MUST watch the trailer below:
The stunning and talented Naomi Ackie stars as Frida in Blink Twice. Kravitz opened up about her decision to tell this story from the perspective of a Black woman.
Source: Courtesy / Amazon MGM Studios
Zoë Kravitz Was Excited To Watch Naomi Ackie Do Things Black Actresses Don’t Usually Get To Do
“Well, I wrote the film and so it’s written from my perspective and so of course I never saw anything different,” Zoë Kravitz told BOSSIP. “I always saw Frida as a Black woman and then finding Naomi too, a dark-skinned Black woman and being able to celebrate her and watch her do so many things that Black actresses don’t usually have the opportunity to do.”
“She gets to be dramatic, she gets to be funny, she gets to be fierce,” Kravitz continued. “It’s like everything and so I was excited by that. In general, I think when it comes to art there’s so much made and I don’t want to repeat things. I want to see what I’m hungry for, and that’s what I’m hungry for is a bada** Black final girl in the movie.”
Source: Carlos Somonte / Amazon MGM Studios
Zoë Kravitz Knew She Should Direct ‘Blink Twice’ Once She Realized It Could Be Made
Kravitz also opened up about her decision to direct Blink Twice, revealing that her original intent was only to write the story, but said when the time came to find a director she knew that she was the right person for the job.
“I think as soon as we found out we could actually make this movie,” Kravitz said of her decision to direct. “I think a lot of the writing process was more like a therapeutic thing for me where I just wanted to get this emotion out,” Kravitz recalled. “ Yeah, not really sure if it would get made and that not really being the point. But as soon as we were told you know ‘This can get made.’ I just thought ‘Okay, I see this so clearly in my mind and I don’t feel comfortable trusting someone else to do this for me… I think I got it!”
Source: Courtesy / Amazon MGM Studios
Kravitz assembled an incredible ensemble cast for Blink Twice, which also stars Channing Tatum in the leading man role as Slater King. There are quite a few familiar faces among the male cast members, including Christian Slater, Haley Joel Osment, Simon Rex and Kyle McLachlan, while most of the female supporting cast are relative newcomers to the screen. The dynamic actually draws a powerful parallel to the plot of the film.
“That was definitely part of why I casted that way,” Kravitz admitted. “I felt like the more we felt comfortable with this group, the more complicated it would be when the rug gets ripped from under us.”
“For the women, it was a combination of yes wanting that power dynamic, but also honestly just the best actress for these parts, and I auditioned lots of people, watched lots of tapes and particularly the two women I think you’re talking, about Liz [Claribel] and Trew [Mullen], the lesser known actors, they just knocked it out of the park in this undeniable way. That was very exciting for me. I think also as an actor myself, when you see talent that hasn’t been exposed to the world yet, you want to do everything you can to get that out there too. So I feel very lucky that I got to kind of bring them out into the world and hopefully people will continue to hire them because they’re so talented.”
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