SYNOPSIS

Adapted from the celebrated 1929 novel of the same name by

Nella Larsen, PASSING tells the story of two Black women, Irene
Redfield (Tessa Thompson) and Clare Kendry (Academy Award
nominee Ruth Negga), who can “pass” as white but choose
to live on opposite sides of the color line during the height of
the Harlem Renaissance in late 1920s New York. After a chance
encounter reunites the former childhood friends one summer
afternoon, Irene reluctantly allows Clare into her home, where
she ingratiates herself to Irene’s husband (André Holland) and
family, and soon her larger social circle as well. As their lives
become more deeply intertwined, Irene finds her once-steady
existence upended by Clare, and PASSING becomes a
riveting examination of obsession, repression and the lies
people tell themselves and others to protect their carefully
constructed realities.

Acclaimed upon its premiere at the 2021 Sundance Film

Festival, PASSING marks the directorial debut of Rebecca Hall,
who also adapted the screenplay. The film intimately uses
the notion of “passing” to explore not just racial identity but
gender and the responsibilities of motherhood, sexuality
and the performance of femininity. PASSING also stars Bill
Camp, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Antoinette Crowe-Legacy, and
Alexander Skarsgård; and is produced by Nina Yang Bongiovi
(p.g.a.), Forest Whitaker (p.g.a.), Margot Hand (p.g.a.), Rebecca
Hall (p.g.a.).

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 SETTING the STAGE
While PASSING is a work of fiction, it is based in truth. Author
Nella Larsen had an intimate understanding of what it meant
to be cut in two by the color line. Her father, who was
Black, and her Dutch mother had separated during her
early childhood. Her mother married again, this time
to a white man, and Nella was raised by the two of
them, but mostly by her mother, for whom her Black
daughter was a difficult reminder of a previous
life with another man. Nella related deeply to her
European side, and yet she was to no small degree
a resented outsider in her own family. Hall, too, has
a personal connection to the subject matter-her
maternal grandfather, who was Black, lived as a
white man for much of his life.

Larsen introduced her powerful tale of

two fascinating women and their fraught
relationship to the color line, at the height
of the Harlem Renaissance when ideas
and art and conversation were centered
around the ways in the which the world was
changing —and not changing— for people
of color. From her unique vantage point, Larsen
reclaimed and reinvented the mixed-race narrative,
imbuing it with almost irresolvable complexity. Hall’s
adaptation honors Larsen’s intentions by revealing
the conflicts at the core of each of these characters
as they grapple with issues of race, class, and gender.

Rebecca Hall takes audiences along for an introspective,

and deeply personal, journey that challenges our
understanding of identity itself.

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 A CONVERSATION
WITH REBECCA HALL
When were you first acquainted with Nella Larsen’s 1929
novel on which PASSING is based? What inspired you to
adapt it for film?
I read it for the first time about 13 or 14 years ago when
I had been spending a lot more time in the US, and had
started to ask a lot more questions about my Ameri-
can family. There had always been vague talk about
my grandfather being Black, and passing for white
although it was never framed that way. He was light
skinned, he married a Dutch woman and lived in a white
neighborhood and raised his children as white. Every-
thing I knew about him was composed of discrete bits
of information that would slip out and then be covered
over again in uncertainty. I never knew him. He sadly
passed when my mother was a teenager and a lot of
the answers to these questions went with him. If I look
at my mother now I can see clearly that she is of African
ancestry, but that wasn’t clear to me as a child. It just
wasn’t something we spoke about and I’m not even sure
4
it’s something her family spoke about either. At some
point I got a bit more inquisitive about trying to pin
down the facts. It was made clear that yes, my grand-
father was Black, and was white passing most of his life.
I grew up in the UK, very disconnected from Detroit and
the world my mother had grown up in, and I felt pretty
alienated from this newly revealed heritage. I mentioned
all of this to a friend of mine, and he suggested I read
Passing. The feeling I had at the time was just this shock
of recognition. I knew these characters, and knew
them in a way that I found confusing. I didn’t know why
they should feel so familiar. I finished the novella and
started writing the script almost immediately in some
sort of attempt to get to grips with that feeling. Over
the years I think what I’ve come to is that even though I
am a person who presents as white, and as such don’t
experience the day to day pressures of being black
in this country, I am also a person who grew up in a
family that has been shaped indelibly and painfully by
 the legacy of racism, in particular the legacy of racial
passing. Many family dynamics I had always conceived
of as more or less strictly psychological, I now think of
as much more socially and economically determined.
Of course those things are always intertwined, but as I
considered this question it became undeniable to me
“ Many
family dynamics I had always
conceived of as more or less
strictly psychological, I now think
of as much more socially and
economically determined.
that this history had been a powerful influence on my
upbringing and my family. In the end I decided that
I needed to make this film both because of where I
come from as a filmmaker, and the kind of cinema that
I love, and also because making this film is my way of
reaching back into my own family with compassion,
generosity and love towards those who formed their
identities in a world that feared and despised them.
What was your approach to adapting Larsen’s novel?
How much freedom did you feel to reinvent and expand
upon it?
The first part of it was fairly haphazard. I read the book,
I put it down and wrote the script. In about ten days I
had a draft. I figured the parts that meant something
to me would stick and my brain would fill the gaps
needed to make it into a film. I tried not to censor myself
too much because at the time I was doing it entirely
for myself. I didn’t think it would turn into anything more
than a distant file on my laptop. The night I finished
that draft I happened to go to an event attended
by David Bowie, who is absolutely one of my artistic
heroes. I was completely starstruck, but he was very
gracious and easy to talk to and we ended up talking
about books. Up until that point whenever I mentioned
Passing no one had heard of it, but Bowie cited it as
one of his favorite novels. The following day he sent
me a relatively hard-to-find biography of Larsen and
a note of encouragement to follow through with the
idea of making it a film. I suppose after that I took it
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more seriously. I researched and read a lot and then did
another draft with all of that knowledge incorporated.
You assembled a truly remarkable cast with Tessa, Ruth,
Alexander, André and Bill.
​​I was really pinching myself. I definitely had a moment,
maybe the week before shooting, where it just
dawned on me that I had a cast comprised pretty
much entirely of my first choices. And I couldn’t wrap
my head around that. I feel very fortunate. I mean,
it was just ridiculous, really, given it was my first
film. And they had no real reason to trust me. I think
that they trusted Nella Larsen, really. I did. It was a
bit of a coup. I mean, they’re all phenomenal.
Both Tessa and Ruth feel perfectly cast and yet at the same
time, they are skillful enough it feels like they could have
played either role.
That was sort of the thinking: It’s got to have that
feeling that both of these actresses could be capable
of playing the other part, because they’re two sides of
a coin on some level, even though they’re completely
different, but there is this sense of What if different
choices had been made, how would I have behaved
in this person’s shoes? And this kind of longing and
desire for the other one’s life at all times. The three of us
talked about it as a love story all the time. When Clare
chooses to shine the sunshine on you, then everybody
around her melts, including Irene, and your world feels
wonderful. And I think Irene is deeply seduced by that.
And Clare knows that. And Clare is deeply seduced by
Irene and the kind of person that she could have been
in another life. So there is a lot of erotic subtext actually.
Alexander Skarsgård has a very difficult job in this film as
Clare’s unwitting white husband who is also plainly racist.
Was there a lot of conversation around how to calibrate
his character?
He was keen to make him a human being and not a
villain. And I kept pointing out that actually, he’s writ-
ten that way, both in the book and the script. He is a
product of that time, and you can’t hide from the fact
that he is also a racist. The book is much more explicit
with its language, in a way. I chose to go for less. I didn’t
want him to overuse those words, but it was necessary
for them to be used once, because I think it is the trigger
point by which Irene holds all of this conflict about
whether she can have a relationship with Clare or not,
 because of the experience that she had in that room
with this man. But we had a lot of conversations around
that and what that would mean to a modern audience
and how we could show that and also how we could
make him a credible human person, which I think he did.
One of the most intangible things the film gets at is that
insidious, insistent sense of dread that anyone passing must
feel, that it could all fall apart in an instant and in some
ways, that danger is part of the allure.
Absolutely. And I think Clare has walked through the
world as this representation of duality in every possible
sense. And she’s a conflict zone for everyone because
of that. In a way, unlike other depictions of characters
who pass, that are often in this sort of moral quan-
dary and punished and so forth for making the morally
objectionable choice, with the judgment placed on
them, Clare is portrayed in many ways as being the
most free because she just walks through the world
taking what she wants. She’s Black when she wants to
be and white when she wants to be. She’s gay when
she wants to be and straight when she wants to be.
She behaves like a man when she wants to and she
behaves like a woman she wants to. She’s just living
her life and getting what she wants out of it. And that’s
absolutely de-stabilizing and horrifying for every-
one around her, specifically, Irene, who has chosen to
take what in her mind is the morally righteous path
Clare sees herself as beyond morality, as un-safe. And
of course her secret contains a seed of danger. But
Irene, who thinks of herself as safe and respectable, is
essentially a powder keg. The life she’s built for herself
is incredibly brittle, based on a set of illusions that
are always at risk of crumbling completely. Which
of these women is betraying herself more deeply?
The woman who hides her race, or the woman who
hides everything else about herself? It’s a pretty
subversive question and it’s at the core of the novel.  of the real and renders it abstract, conceptual. The
How has your work on PASSING informed your own
understanding of identity as it relates to race?
Well, I’ll say this. I think identity itself is very slippery, very
contingent and situationally determined. So from the
perspective of an individual, or let’s say one of these
characters, race sometimes is, and sometimes is not, a
salient part of their identity in a given moment. But from
the perspective of the world these characters live in,
race is the most dominant aspect of their identity every
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day, all the time. Within the microcosm of Harlem, inside
Irene’s house, all of the complexities of these women are
available to us. They are wives and mothers who are
forced into certain corners by the expectations of others,
they are relatively bourgeois, they are light skinned in a
world where that implies a position in a hierarchy, they
are intellectuals in a society of intellectuals, they are
connoisseurs of music and art, they are philanthropists,
possibly they are queer in some distant, unrealized way.
They are in some ways free and privileged and in other
ways powerfully repressed and oppressed. But through
the eyes of a racist society, race obscures and overrides
a great deal of what constitutes their actual humanity.
And of course these women are also obscuring much
about themselves, often even from themselves, at the
same time. What I’m saying is that identity is hope-
lessly complex, and that’s before you layer in race,
and the dangers of living in a violent, racist society.
And even though it is set in the past, there are certainly
echoes and reverberations with the current moment.
​​It just feels that the movie happened when it needed
to happen. I mean, I was trying to make it happen
for a very long time and now from the vantage point
of it having been made, it seems that it was made
at precisely the right moment, both for me person-
ally, and for the film going out into the world.
Why did you decide to shoot the film in black and white
and what other stylistic decisions did you make while
filming to emphasize the setting of the story?
Part of the concept of this film was to turn it into the
great, female driven 1930s noir it should have been if
Hollywood studios had made noirs with Black female
leads in the ‘30s. That was the genesis. The fantasy
of discovering this lost film that might have existed
in a better world. It also takes color out of the realm
world isn’t black and white as our eye perceives it,
and so we know when we watch a black and white
film that we’re engaged in a process of translation.
This is true of how we perceive race, as well. No one
is literally Black or white, obviously, and yet these
categories are so important that we automatically
translate what our eye actually perceives into some-
thing conceptual. It’s a similar process, which this film
tries to call attention to, and hopefully complicates.
On a practical level too, for obvious reasons I knew I had
to cast Black women to play these parts. Most previ-
ous films about racial passing have used white actors,
and I didn’t want to do that. So there’s the question of
credibility to deal with. Because black and white film
takes us a bit out of reality, it allowed us to play with light
and context in a way that helped support that. The first
scene with John in the hotel has to be the magic trick
that convinces the audience that in this world, both
women are credibly white. So yes, the room is awash in
light, which in grayscale makes skin tone a bit harder
to pin down. But we also see that this self-described
racist never doubts for a second that both women are
white. If that’s because John isn’t observant, or because
he’s an idiot, it doesn’t help persuade the audience.
In color I think that’s what we would have seen. But
in black and white, where shade and tone are more
symbolic, what we see is that because John is being
introduced to a friend of his wife, who he knows (or has
decided to believe) is white, and because in his racist
logic a white woman could never be friends with a Black
woman, he naturally assumes she too must be white.
Later when he meets Irene on the street with another
Black woman, she immediately looks Black, the syllo-
gism is reversed, and all of his carefully constructed
illusions are undermined in one fell swoop. The power to
determine who is and isn’t Black is part of John’s power
as a white man in a white dominated society, but it’s
clear too how slippery the “reality” of race actually is.
7
Another thing that has remained pretty constant over
many years is the piece of music that is used throughout
the film aptly titled “Homeless Wanderer” by Emahoy
Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou. When I first heard that
piece of music I had this clarity about the tone and
pace of the movie. I thought ‘this sounds exactly how
I want this movie to feel’. I found out afterwards what
it was called and a bit of Emahoy’s experience as an
exile from Ethiopia and couldn’t believe it. Whenever I
drafted the script from then on I played that music in
the background. It really shaped the tone of the movie.
I was thrilled when I was able to use it in the film.
In terms of actually shooting the film, I tried to use the
camera to keep the ambiguity and complexity alive in
all of these characters’ storylines. I tried to find a way
to weave between Irene’s subjectivity and something
closer to objectivity, so that there are times in the movie
where you are on her side, seeing what she is seeing,
and there are other times when you are seeing someone
in severe denial. Whether it’s refusing to discuss the race
problem in front of her children, or denying the depth
of the challenge Clare poses in her life, how seduc-
tive Clare is, how enthralled she is by her, how possibly
even attracted she is to her. On some level the charac-
ters are two sides of a coin who have made opposite
life choices. They are both attracted and repelled by
their differences and this produces a sort of chemistry
between them that is the source of tension in the film.
 In filming them I thought about “duality” endlessly.
About how to be both things at the same time: gay/
straight, man/woman, black/white. I tried to include
both women in the frame as much as possible, and save
the clean singles only for the moments of distance and
objectivity. I thought about ways in which Clare could
“
On some level the characters
are two sides of a coin who have
made opposite life choices.
They are both attracted and
repelled by their differences and
this produces a sort of chemistry
between them that is the source
of tension in the film.
overtake Irene’s shot like she is overtaking her life. I also
often approached their scenes as romantically as I
could. Stolen looks, sideways glances, longing, longing,
longing. I thought about all the cinematic ways in which
I could hint at some sort of repressed love story. I wanted
to take what Larsen does in the novella with the meta-
phor of passing and echo it, stack as many possible
meanings on top of each other as I could. It’s not an
easy story to pin down and I wanted to try and reflect
that cinematically. Things are shot through mirrors a lot.
Sometimes the shot gets hazy, sometimes you don’t
really know where you are. We spend a lot of time look-
ing at Irene’s face in a mirror and simultaneously being
with her as she thinks “Who am I?” and also wondering
about the difference between what she sees and what
we see. Edu Grau, the cinematographer, and I literally
picked a lens to use for a lot of the movie that is soft on
the bottom and the top of the frame to encourage this.
Also these ideas were in my head when I decided on the
aspect ratio. Not only is 4:3 the old Hollywood standard,
it’s also the best for close-ups. It focuses on the face, it
says loud and clear this is a movie about faces, how we
see them, how we watch them being seen, and what
that means about their internal lives and sense of self.
8
What were some challenges you encountered while
working on the film? How did these challenges ultimately
add to the final product?
Financing the film was hard. It didn’t help that I was
insistent on black and white. If I wasn’t a first time film-
maker maybe that would’ve been alright, but it made
people nervous. Thankfully I had dogged producers
who believed in my vision and eventually when I had
Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga and Alexander Skars-
gård things came together. That aside, it has to be
said that doing an independent, 1920s period film is
not for the faint of heart. We had incredible designers,
with Marci Rodgers designing the costumes and Nora
Mendis as our production designer, and they worked
their magic. Dave Tescon, our VFX supervisor, saved
us so many times I can’t even count them. Post-pro-
duction was finished mostly remotely while self isolat-
ing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Everything went
much more slowly, which may have helped the film
in some ways that I can’t see yet. I’m probably lucky
that this is my first film, because I have nothing else
that I can compare with this experience. If I ever direct
anything again, I’ll probably be shocked to actually
be in a room with anyone during post. You start to go
a little crazy because you never really know if anyone
is seeing exactly the same thing you’re seeing.
From motherhood to friendship to identity, the film
explores a number of social themes as they relate to
Clare and Irene’s individual experiences. How did you
apply these themes in your work to help realize these
two characters?
They’re all there! I didn’t have to apply anything. It’s
all there in the book, I just had to tell the story. One of
the radical things about the book is that the drama
doesn’t come from white oppression directly acting on
a black community. Often stories with race and racism
at their core use episodes of white violence or cruelty
as dramatic set pieces. Because this story operates at
a much more intimate, psychological level, the devas-
tating effect of living in a racist society is revealed slowly
and painfully through interpersonal interaction and the
way relationships are distorted or destabilized. Larsen
also brilliantly uses racial passing as a metaphor for the
way that anyone’s inner reality might not match up to
the way they try to be seen, which opens up the experi-
ence of these characters to anyone, or at least anyone
 who is honest with themselves. To highlight this idea I
worked hard to make sure that all of the principal char-
acters in the movie are passing in some way. Bill Camp’s
character Hugh, for example, is a semi-closeted gay
intellectual who Larsen modeled after Carl Van Vechten,
who notoriously went to Harlem to have dalliances with
young men while supporting many writers, including
Larsen herself. Given his pet name for her, one could
even say that Clare’s husband John is passing himself,
pretending that his racism isn’t intrinsically bound up
in fetishization and his deep love of a Black woman.
Having worked with some of the most acclaimed directors
in the industry in the past as an actress, what made you
decide to take the leap from acting to directing? Did you
consult with any previous collaborators or ask for advice?
I’ve always wanted to direct films. I love cinema. In
some ways I feel I was raised by the movies I watched
as a kid. And I also have a need to work to the abso-
lute limit of my capacity. Making this film is the hardest
thing I’ve ever done. It took everything I had and I loved
that. It has always been a thought in my head that
directing films was the medium that would incorporate
all my interests. I paint, am definitely a visual thinker, I
play instruments and have long obsessed about how
soundscape tells stories. I write, but I could never make
any of these things individually my career. Filmmak-
ing is the way in which all these interests get utilized.
I wouldn’t have made this film without Angela Robinson,
who directed me in Professor Marston and the Wonder
Women. She read the script, she understood why I
wanted to make it, and she encouraged me at every
step along the way. She also gave me my own private
crash course film school, which was indispensable. She
was the person I called if I wasn’t sure whether to fight
for something or find a compromise. She’s the person I
called when I was panicking in the middle of the night.
She is an incredibly generous, brilliant director and
producer, and a great friend. I’m also incredibly grateful
to Oren Moverman, who directed The Dinner. He was
an early champion of this script, and of my vision for
the film, and a profoundly supportive creative partner
throughout this process. When we were shooting
The Dinner I remember him saying to me on set one day
“You want to make films don’t you?” and I was shocked
as I’d said nothing of the sort. He finally got me to
confess that I had a script in a drawer and I let him read
9
it. He called me after and said “You have to make this
movie.” I’m also lucky enough to be friends with a few
other film directors, particularly Antonio Campos and
Mark Romanek who helmed Christine and Tales from
the Loop, respectively. They let me blow off steam and
gave me tips throughout. I think being an actor for over
ten years gives you a lot of free access to the process
and the different ways people make movies. I believe
It gives you a freedom to understand that there’s
not really a right way or a rule book, there’s only
your way. If you are lucky enough to get to do it.
Do you think David Bowie is somewhere looking down
with pride?
I do [Laughs]. He always felt like some weird guardian
angel. It was such a strange thing. But, if he hadn’t sent
me the autobiography of Nella Larsen the day after
I’d run into him… It was actually quite encouraging.
He sent me that book to say, “keep going, keep going.”
Plus, you got to hang out with David Bowie.
It was a good moment in my life, really.
Do you feel that making the film and talking with your
family in the process of doing it, brought you closer to an
understanding of that element of your heritage?
Absolutely. My mother has seen the film now and she
was very moved by it. And one of her sisters got in
touch with me and said she hadn’t seen the film, but
she had read some of the press and she said, “I think
you’ve released something for us by just saying this.
I’ve struggled with it my whole life. And I never knew
what I was meant to think about any of it.” And she just
said thank you. We’ll be unraveling it for a long time.
What do you want the viewer to take away from this film?
I think the film is going to affect everybody differently.
Your set of experiences are going to work with a kind of
alchemy with the movie and your personal experience
in the world, whatever you are, is going to affect
how you see the film. And it’s going to be different to
the person you’re sitting next to, and that creates a
dialogue, which I think is exciting and what I’m in this for.
I hope viewers have an experience watching it
that matters to them in some way. If it means a
lot of different things to a lot of different people
then I’ve done my job as a filmmaker.
 REFLECTIONS FROM THE
CAST OF PASSING
On reading both the book and the script:

I haven’t had the experience, maybe ever

honestly, of reading a text and feeling like
I couldn’t move after for a while. It’s a piece
of work that I think asks far more questions
than it ever answers. I felt unsettled by not
having real closure after finishing
the book and the screenplay
left me with the same feeling.
Tessa Thompson (Irene)

10
On the phenomenon:

I was familiar with the concept of passing in American life

but also in literature and film and usually it was seen from
the “tragic mulatto” point of view. It was very interesting
to see it from the point of view of a Black writer. I had
heard about these stories, real and also mythological,
about these people who made a choice to disappear
themselves, often from necessity and sometimes from want.
To think that they thought they could have a better life if
they disconnected from their family, their culture,
and their color. I found it fascinating because it deeply
troubled me that that would have to be a choice for
some people.
Ruth Negga (Clare)

11
On releasing this flim in this moment:

Negga:

I do think there was this feeling that we were making something

extraordinarily special, and it’s so interesting that it’s going to come
out at this time. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. I think there’s an energy
that wants and needs films like this and filmmakers like Rebecca. And it
really cuts to the core of what it is to be human, the choices we make,
and how they reflect on us, but also that we’re not necessarily defined
by those choice. That we’re all really struggling to stay afloat.

Thompson:

It’s wild that we should have made this movie at a time when as a
society we’re inside of these kinds of works, really trying to contend
with some of the questions that they ask. We’re in a time when folks
are rightfully thinking we need to talk about the value and dignity of
Black life in the streets and communicate it into policy, but also create
opportunity in terms of storytelling.

I feel really excited to be releasing this piece at a time when our

ideas about gender and race are becoming more fluid; where we
have more language to show up in our lives, as fuller expressions of
who and what we are. I think if you look back at this time, when this is
set, there was a rigidity that people couldn’t entirely feel seen in. I think
that’s the thing that really breaks my heart about this story and film and
Clare’s journey in particular. I feel that’s the thing audiences can take
away from it.

12
On meaningful conversations of representation and race in art:

André Holland (Brian):

One of the things I’ve been thinking about a lot and talking to friends about
and reading about, and I think what Brian is wrestling with too in the film, is this
question of how and where can we be safe, as Black people in this country.
The B-side of that is the psychic and emotional cost of living in a prolonged
state of unsafety. I don’t know what the answer to that is exactly, but I’m inter-
ested to see how people engage with that question when they see the film.

Negga:

We have many stories and there’s a thirst for them. This is just one of many;
it’s not just about race, it’s about having Black people being visible on our
screens and in every sort of medium. So that it’s not this sort of novelty, it
should be part of our cultural experience.

Thompson:

I think the stories that we tell have the ability not only to reflect culture but
also to create culture. Political change is often preceded by cultural change,
so I think there’s some power in the stories that we tell. I’m heartened that
it’s coming out in this time and I also think it would be a shame if it only gets
mired in a conversation about race because the film is about so much more
than that.

13
 ABOUT THE TEAM
REBECCA HALL
(WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER)
Rebecca Hall is an acclaimed British-American actress
and filmmaker whose career encompasses the mul-
tiplex, the art house cinema, and the world’s most
respected theaters. She has worked with many of the
industry’s greatest artists, establishing herself as a leading
talent as she challenges herself with each new role. 

Upcoming, she stars in David Brucker’s thriller The Night

House which premiered at the Sundance Film Festi-
val. ‘Beth’ (Hall) is a widow reeling from shock over her
husband’s sudden death. A series of disturbing events
become increasingly real as Beth unearths a ghostly pres-
ence in her home. An ongoing investigation through the
house turns up strange secrets and mystery she must solve
alone. Searchlight Pictures is releasing the film August 20,
2021. 

Hall’s directorial debut, which she also wrote and pro-

duced, PASSING, premiered at the 2021 Sundance Festival
to critical acclaim. The film is based on an adaptation
of Nella Larsen’s 1920’s Harlem Renaissance novel of the
same name that tells the story of two Black women,
Irene Redfield (Tessa Thompson) and Clare Kendry (Ruth
Negga), who can “pass” as white but choose to live on
opposite sides of the color line during the height of the
Harlem Renaissance in late 1920s New York.  After a chance encounter reunites the former childhood friends one summer
afternoon, Irene reluctantly allows Clare into her home, where she ingratiates herself to Irene’s husband (played by
André Holland) and family, and soon her larger social circle as well. As their lives become more deeply intertwined, the
film unfolds as an examination of obsession, repression and the lies people tell themselves and others to protect their
carefully constructed realities. Netflix will be releasing this Fall.

Additionally, she recently wrapped production on With/In, a made-at-home anthology film revolving around themes
of confinement and isolation. The anthology’s storylines include a couple stuck together after a one night stand, kids
scheming to run away from their paranoid dad, a divorced couple isolating together for the sake of their dog, and a
widow dealing with her grief. Directed by Morgan Spector and Maya Singer, Hall can be seen in the installment Mother!!
opposite Spector and Singer. The film will make its debut at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. 

14
Notably, Hall’s work includes Antonio Campos’ Christine, with Michael C. Hall, Tracy Letts, and Maria Dizzia, in a portrayal
that garnered critical acclaim. Based on true events, the film captures the young and troubled newscaster, Christine
Chubbuck, during her time at a small-town television station in the 1970s. Additionally, her work in Woody Allen’s Vicky
Christina Barcelona alongside Penelope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson, and Javier Bardem garnered her Golden Globe,
BAFTA Orange Rising Star, London Critics Circle and Gotham Award nominations in the performance and breakthrough
categories. 

Her other film credits include Adam Wingard’s Godzilla vs. Kong; Max Minghella’s Teen Spirit; Etan Cohen’s Holmes &
Watson; Mamoru Hosoda’s animated drama Mirai; Angela Robinson’s Professor Marston & The Wonder Women oppo-
site Luke Evans and Bella Heathcote; Brian Crano’s Permission alongside Dan Stevens; Oren Moverman’s The Dinner,
co-starring alongside Richard Gere, Laura Linney and Steve Coogan; Steven Spielberg’s The BFG, with Mark Rylance
and Ruby Barnhill; Joel Edgerton’s The Gift opposite himself and Jason Bateman; Sean Mewshaw’s Tumbledown oppo-
site Jason Sudeikis; Wally Pfister’s Transcendence, opposite Johnny Depp and Paul Bettany; Patrice Leconte’s A Prom-
ise starring alongside Alan Rickman; John Crowley’s Closed Circuit; Shane Black’s Iron Man 3; Stephen Frears’ Lay the
Favorite; Nick Murphy’s The Awakening, for which she earned a British Independent Film Award Nomination and Gotham
Independent Film Award nomination for Best Actress; Ben Affleck’s The Town, which received the 2010 National Board
of Review Award for Best Ensemble; Dan Rush’s Everything Must Go; Nicole Holofcener’s Please Give, for which the cast
and filmmakers were honored with the Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award and a Gotham Independent Film Award
nomination for Best
Ensemble Performance; Oliver Parker’s Dorian Gray; Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon, for which she shared in a Screen Actors
Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Cast Performance; Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige, for which she received UK
Empire Award and London Critics Circle Award nominations for Best Newcomer; and Tom Vaughan’s Starter For 10, her
feature film debut. 

In television, Hall was recently seen in Mark Romanek’s Tales from the Loop, an hour-long genre Amazon series based on
the acclaimed sci-fi art of Simon Stålenhag. Prior to that, starred in Susanna White’s 

acclaimed miniseries Parade’s End for HBO and BBC, which was adapted by Tom Stoppard from Ford Madox Ford’s
tetralogy of novels. For her role, Hall received a Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actress, a BAFTA TV Award
nomination for Leading Actress, and a Critics’ Choice Award nomination for Best Actress in a Movie or Miniseries. Her
other television credits include Julian Jarrold’s Red Riding: 1974, for which she won a BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting
Actress; Philip Martin’s Einstein and Eddington; Stephen Poliakoff’s Joe’s Palace; Brendan Maher’s Wide Sargasso Sea;
Stuart Orme’s Don’t Leave Me This Way; and Peter Hall’s The Camomile Lawn. 

On stage, Hall received an Ian Charleson 

Award for her West End portrayal of ‘Vivie’ in Mrs. Warren’s Profession. The following year, she was recognized with an
Ian Charleson Award for her portrayal of ‘Rosalind’ in As You Like It, which opened at the Theatre Royal Bath and later
toured in both the UK and the US. Building on this success, Hall received the same commendation for her portrayal of
‘Hermione’ in The Bridge Project’s production of A Winter’s Tale. The actress made her Broadway debut in the Round-
about Theatre Company’s Machinal, written by Sophie Treadwell and directed by Olivier-winner Lyndsey Turner. She
was also seen in The Atlantic Theater Company’s production of Animal, directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch. 

15
NINA YANG BONGIOVI & FOREST WHITAKER,
SIGNIFICANT PRODUCTIONS (PRODUCERS)
Producing partners, Nina Yang Bongiovi and Forest Whitaker have gained a stellar reputation for having in-depth
knowledge of film financing, creative and physical producing, and a knack for discovering talent, like that of Ryan
Coogler (Marvel’s Black Panther), whose first film, Fruitvale Station (2013) was produced by Forest and Nina.

Together under their banner, Significant Productions, Nina and Forest have produced a number of critically-acclaimed
films by auteur filmmakers, including Dope (2015) by Rick Famuyiwa, Songs My Brothers Taught Me (2015) by Chloe Zhao,
Roxanne Roxanne (2018) by Michael Larnell, and Sorry To Bother You (2018) by Boots Riley. More recently, Forest and Nina
produced Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut, PASSING, based on Nella Larsen’s renowned Harlem Renaissance novel.
The producing duo also executive produced the premium tv series, Godfather of Harlem, which is on its 2nd season.
Nina and Forest are in active development on a diverse slate of multi-cultural feature films and television projects that
they love.

Significant Productions’ mission is to create opportunities and push inclusivity for underrepresented narratives and
storytellers by championing culturally-significant films and television shows starring BIPOC talent, alongside diversified
representation behind the camera.

Forest is a member of The Academy of the Motion Picture Arts & Sciences (AMPAS), and the Television Academy. He
notably received the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in The Last King of Scotland. Forest actively serves as
a Special Envoy in Conflict Resolution for the United Nations, through his foundation, The Whitaker Peace & Develop-
ment Initiative.

Nina is a board member of Film Independent, The Oscar Grant Foundation, Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment
(CAPE), and The Producers Guild of America. She is also a member of The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences’
(AMPAS) Producers Branch, the Television Academy, and is the Associate Chair of the Peter Stark Producing Program at
the University of Southern California. She is fluent in Mandarin, Chinese, and received her graduate degree in Entertain-
ment Management from the Annenberg School at USC.

MARGOT HAND
(PRODUCER)
Margot Hand formed Picture Films, a film and television production and consulting company in 2008. Hand is an
experienced film producer and executive producer and has worked extensively in the film industry for over a decade
in production, development, financing and business affairs and has worked on over 30 films and television series. Hand
is currently in production on People We Hate at the Wedding, starring Kristen Bell, Allison Janney and Ben Platt for
Amazon Studios. Hand recently produced PASSING, Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut, starring Tessa Thompson, Ruth
Negga, André Holland, Bill Camp and Alexander Skarsgård which premiered in Sundance 2020; Barb and Star Go To
Vista Del Mar, written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo (writers of “Bridesmaids”), starring Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo,
Jamie Dornan and Damon Wayons Jr. for Lionsgate; and Brittany Runs a Marathon, starring Jillian Bell, Lil Rel How-
ery, Utkarsh Ambudkar and Michaela Watkins which premiered in Sundance 2019 and won the Audience Award. Hand
previously produced Permission, starring Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens, Gina Gershon and Jason Sudeikis; Meadowland,
starring Olivia Wilde, Luke Wilson, Giovanni Ribisi and Elisabeth Moss; and Tumbledown, starring Jason Sudeikis and
Rebecca Hall. Hand served as an executive producer on many films, including most recently: JT Leroy, starring Kristen
Stewart, Laura Dern and Diane Kruger; I Saw The Light, starring Tom Hiddleston and Elisabeth Olsen; The Driftless Area,
starring Anton Yelchin, Zooey Deschanel, Frank Langella and Ciaran Hinds; The Cleanse, starring Johnny Galecki, Anna
Friel, Oliver Platt and Anjelica Huston; Son of a Gun starring Ewan McGreggor, Alicia Vikander and Brenton Thwaites;

16
and Rudderless, starring Billy Crudup, Anton Yelchin and Selena Gomez. Her past projects also include Miss Julie, Kill
Me Three Times, Lullaby, Electric Slide, Elsa and Fred, Supremacy, Ginger and Rosa, Decoding Annie Parker and The
English Teacher. Hand also served recently as a supervising producer on Into The Forest starring Elliot Page and Evan
Rachel Wood and Hand co-produced many films including Welcome To Me, A Single Shot, Trust Me, and the animated
television series Mighty Mighty Monsters. Hand also serves as an Executive Producer on the animated feature film
Henchmen with Rosario Dawson, James Marsden, Thomas Middleditch and Craig Robinson. Hand previously consulted
for Bron Studios as a producer, executive producer and VP of Business Affairs for almost four years where she helped
oversee Bron’s development and film productions and served as a Film Committee Member for Media House Capital, a
senior lender in the film and television industry. Hand began her film career as a Production Executive with Insight Films
Studios in Vancouver where she helped supervise over $250 million in productions. Margot Hand is originally from St
John’s, Newfoundland and is a Commerce graduate from Memorial University of Newfoundland with honors in Interna-
tional Finance.

17
 ABOUT THE CAST
TESSA MAE THOMPSON
(‘IRENE’)
Tessa Thompson is a critically acclaimed
actress who captivates audiences’ attention
from her scene-stealing roles in film, televi-
sion, and theater. Most recently in May 2019,
she appeared on the cover of TIME magazine
showcasing her efforts as a trailblazer and
Leader of the Next Generation.

In February 2022, Thompson will reprise her

role as ‘Valkyrie,’ in the fourth installment
of the world-renowned Thor franchise, Thor:
Love and Thunder. She originated the role
in 2017 in Thor: Ragnarok, opposite Chris
Hemsworth. Directed by Taika Waititi, the
Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster film
grossed over $800-million worldwide and
also starred Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett,
Jeff Goldblum, and Mark Ruffalo. She also
made a brief appearance in Avengers: End-
game in April 2020.

This past spring, Thompson starred in Code’s

mystery-sci-fi podcast The Left Right Game,
which she also produced. The 10-episode
series focused on ‘Alice’ (Thompson), an idealistic young journalist who tries to make a name for herself at a new job
by following a group of paranormal explorers, obsessed with a seemingly harmless pastime known as the Left/Right
Game. The journey takes her into a supernatural world that she and the other members of the expedition cannot
handle. Or survive. The podcast was created by Jack Anderson and is based on his original Internet blog of the same
name. Following the successful release of the audio drama, Amazon Studios secured the rights to turn this series into
a television show with Thompson also producing.

Thompson can next be seen in Sylvie’s Love, which she executive produced and co-stars in alongside Nnamdi
Asomugha. Set in New York City during the 1950s and 60s, the story follows ‘Sylvie’ (Thompson) who meets aspiring
saxophonist ‘Robert’ (Asomugha) after he takes a job at her father’s record store in Harlem. Following a summer
romance that comes to an end, the two fatefully reconnect several years later to find that their feelings for each other
have never disappeared. The film premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival and was bought by Amazon
Studios who will release the film later this year.

18
In November, Thompson voiced the titular character ‘Lady’ in Disney’s live-action, re-imagining of Lady and the Tramp,
opposite Justin Theroux, who voiced ‘Tramp.’ Based on the 1955 animated picture of the same name, the film premiered
on November 12th on the studio’s streaming service, Disney+.

This past summer, Thompson starred as ‘Agent M’ opposite Chris Hemsworth in Sony Pictures’ Men in Black: Interna-
tional. Produced by Laurie MacDonald and Walter F. Parkes, and executive produced by Steven Spielberg, the alien
franchise featured new characters who, apart from protecting the Earth from extraterrestrial attacks, tackled their
biggest, most global threat to date: a mole in the Men in Black organization. Directed by F. Gary Gray, the film released
on June 14, 2019 and also starred Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Kumail Nanjiani, and Rebecca Ferguson.

In April 2019, Thompson starred as ‘Ollie’ in the NEON independent drama, Little Woods, opposite Lily James. Executive
produced by Thompson, the film is a modern Western that centers on the story of two estranged sisters, Ollie (Thomp-
son) and Deb (James), who are driven to work outside the law to better their lives. The
film debuted at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.

In Summer 2018, Thompson starred as ‘Detroit’ in revolutionary director Boots Riley’s Sorry to Bother You, opposite
Lakeith Stanfield and also starring Armie Hammer. The dark comedy tells the story of a black telemarketer (Stanfield)
who finds himself in a macabre universe within present-day Oakland, California, after he alters the sound of his voice in
order to obtain professional success. Following its world premiere at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, the film was
acquired by Annapurna Pictures and later received numerous accolades such as anNAACP Image Award nomination,
Film Independent Spirit Award, National Board of Review Award, and a Gotham Audience Award, to name a few. The
groundbreaking film released in July 2018.

In February 2018, Thompson starred as ‘Josie Radek’ in Director Alex Garland (Ex Machina) and producer Scott Rudin’s
(The Social Network) sci-fi thriller, Annihilation, opposite Natalie Portman and alongside Oscar Isaac, Gina Rodriguez,
Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Sonoya Mizuno. Based on the best-selling novel of the same name, the film tells the story of a
team of scientists who sign up for a dangerous expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature do not apply.
Distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film released on February 23rd.

In 2015, Thompson appeared as local singer-songwriter, ‘Bianca,’ in the Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Gold-
wyn-Mayer (MGM) Pictures, Creed. This past November, Thompson reprised her role in MGM’s sports drama, Creed
II, opposite Michael B. Jordan. Screenplay co-written by Sylvester Stallone and executive produced by Jordan and
award-winning filmmaker, Ryan Coogler (Black Panther and the first installment of Creed), the sequel centers on Apollo
Creed’s son and heavyweight contender, Adonis Johnson (Jordan) as he faces Russian brawler Viktor Dragor, son of a
powerful athlete who killed Creed in the ring from Rocky IV. The film was released on November 21, 2018.

In 2014, Thompson portrayed the civil rights activist ‘Diane Nash’ in the Brad Pitt and Oprah Winfrey-produced film,
Selma. After its initial premiere at the American Film Institute Festival on November 11th, in 2015 the drama received a
wider theatrical release on January 9th, and a commemorative re-release on March 20th, in honor of the 50th anniver-
sary of the historical voting march in Montgomery. As a result of the film’s critical recognition, it garnered a Golden Globe
and an Academy Award nomination for “Best Picture.”

Additionally, in 2014, Thompson starred as ‘Samantha White’ in Director Justin Simien’s independent satirical drama,
Dear White People. The thought-provoking film focused on the escalating racial tensions at a fictitious, prestigious Ivy
League college from the perspective of several black students. Following the film’s debut at the 2014 Sundance Film
Festival, it released in theaters on October 17th, and after receiving favorable reviews her performance landed her a
Gotham Award for “Breakthrough Actor,” as well as a nomination for “Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture” for the
46th Annual NAACP Image Awards.

19
In television, Thompson stars in the Emmy nominated, hit HBO drama series Westworld as ‘Charlotte Hale,’ a mysteri-
ous and savvy provocateur with a unique perspective of Westworld. Executive produced by J.J. Abrams and Jonathan
Nolan and inspired by writer-director Michael Crichton’s 1973 feature of the same name, the show is described as a dark
odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the future of sin. Also starring Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan
Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, and Jeffrey Wright, the series garnered a total of 43 Emmy nominations combined from
its first and second seasons. The series will return for a fourth season.

During the Spring of 2016, Thompson made her Off-Broadway debut as ‘Valerie’ in the Second Stage Theater pro-
duction, Smart People, alongside Joshua Jackson, Mahershala Ali, and Anne Son. Written by Lydia R. Diamond and
directed by Kenny Leon, Smart People takes place during President Barack Obama’s final term in 2008 and analyzes
his journey to the White House and how his race changed the conversation about race itself. The performance ran from
January 26th through March 6th.

Thompson’s career took off at the young age of 18 following her professional debut as ‘Juliet’ in the Romeo and Juliet:
Antebellum New Orleans 1836 theater performance, for which she received an NAACP Image Award nomination.
In 2006, she made her first feature film appearance as ‘Scarlet’ in the horror film remake of When a Stranger Calls.
Between 2008 and 2009, Thompson also appeared in the films Make it Happen, The Human Contract, Periphery, Red &
Blue Marbles, and Mississippi Damned for which she was awarded a Grand Jury prize in the category for “Best Actress.”
Additional film credits include ‘Nyla/Purple’ in Tyler Perry’s film For Colored Girls, War on Everyone, and Furlough.

Additionally, Thompson’s other television credits include ‘Jackie Cook’ on the second season of the hit drama Veronica
Mars, ‘Sara Freeman’ on BBC’s first original scripted program Copper, and guest roles in the CW’s sci-fi drama Heroes,
CBS’s police series Cold Case, ABC’s medical series Grey’s Anatomy, the CW’s teen drama Hidden Palms, NBC’s Life,
ABC’s Private Practice, TNT’s Rizzoli & Isles, ABC’s Off the Map, and ABC’s 666 Park Avenue.

Thompson currently resides in Los Angeles.

20
 RUTH NEGGA
(‘CLARE’)
Ruth Negga is an exceptionally talented and versatile
actress with a body of work that spans award-winning
theatre productions, big screen historical dramas, inde-
pendent films and innovative television series.

Last year, Ruth was seen in her New York City theatrical
debut in the titular role of Yael Farber’s Hamlet at St. Ann’s
Warehouse for which she was nominated for a Drama
Desk Award in the category of Lead Actress in a Play. This
performance was following its acclaimed run at The Gate
Theatre in Dublin.

Most notably, Ruth was seen starring as ‘Mildred Loving’

opposite Joel Edgerton in Jeff Nichols’ Loving, inspired by
the documentary The Loving Story. For her performance,
Ruth’s accolades include Academy Award®, Golden
Globe® and Critics Choice Award® nominations. She also
won an IFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Film.
On film, previous works include James Gray’s sci-fi epic
Ad Astra; Duncan Jones’ action Warcraft; Richie Adams’
independent Una Vida; John Ridley’s historical drama All Is
By My Side; Stephen Bradley’s Noble; Marc Forster’s World
War Z; David Weaver’s thriller The Samaritan; and Neil Jor-
dan’s dramatic comedy Breakfast on Pluto.

On television, Ruth was last seen in her recurring role star-

ring as ‘Tulip O’Hare’ in the fourth and final season of the
AMC series Preacher opposite Dominic Cooper and Produced by Seth Rogen.

Previously, Ruth lent her voice as ‘Mother’ in the animated program, Angela’s Christmas, for which she was nominated
for a Daytime Emmy Award within the category of Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program. Ruth holds a variety
of US and UK credits including Justin Chadwick’s HBO television movie The Money; Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. for ABC
as the beautiful and sinister ‘Raina’ for which she was nominated for a 2016 Irish Film & Television Award in the category
of “Best Actress in a Supporting Role, Drama”; the hit UK series Misfits for Logo as ‘Nikki’; as ‘Rosie’ on Love/Hate for RTE
and as ‘Rochelle” on BBC’s mini-series Five Daughters; and as ‘Shirley Bassey’ in the TV movie Shirley for which Ruth won
the Irish Film and Television Academy Award for Best Actress.

Ruth’s extensive and award-winning theatre production credits include Lolita as her stage debut for Corn Exchange
Theatre Company at the Abbey Theatre; Duck for Out of Joint and The Royal Court Theatre, for which she was nomi-
nated for an Olivier best newcomer; Playboy of the Western World at The Old Vic; Hamlet as the role of ‘Ophelia’ at the
National Theatre; Phèdre at the National Theatre, for which she won the Ian Charleson Award; Oedipus Loves You at
Peter Pan Theatre; Lay Me Down Softly, The Crucible, The Bacchae, Burial At Thebes all at the Abbey Theatre; and Titus
Andronicus at The Project Theatre, for which she received the Irish Times Award for Best Actress.

21
 ANDRÉ HOLLAND
(‘BRIAN’)
André Holland most recently starred and co-executive produced in
Damien Chazelle’s Netflix series The Eddy, which was released in
April 2020. Other film credits include High Flying Bird, Ava DuVernay’s
adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, Moonlight (Acad-
emy Award® for Best Picture), Selma (Academy Award® Nominee),
42, Miracle at St. Anna, and the acclaimed 2008 independent film Sugar.
Holland’s TV credits include Steven Soderbergh’s The Knick and
the Stephen King inspired series, Castle Rock (Hulu/Bad Robot). Holland
made his Broadway debut in the Tony Award®-winning 2009 revival of
August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and most recently played
the title role in Othello alongside Academy Award® and Tony®-
Winning actor Mark Rylance at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. Other
select theater credits include the Tony Award®-winning production of
August Wilson’s Jitney, The Whipping Man at MTC, The Public Theater’s
Shakespeare in the Park productions of All’s Well That Ends Well,
Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing and As You Like It.

BILL CAMP
(‘HUGH’)
Bill Camp is best known for his Emmy Nominated performance in HBO’s critically acclaimed limited series The Night Of,
as well as his SAG Nominated performance as Mr. Shaibel in the hit Netflix limited series The Queen’s Gambit.

On the film side of things, Bill most recently earned critical praise for his pivotal and unrecognizable role alongside Mark
Ruffalo in the Todd Haynes’ directed film Dark Waters. In 2019, Bill was seen in the record breaking box office hit Joker,
where he played Detective Garrity. Earlier that year Camp starred in the Guy Nativ directed redemption drama Skin,
the A24 film Native Son, as well as the crime film The Kitchen. On the small screen, Bill most recently was a series regular
in the critically acclaimed Hulu series The Looming Tower, opposite Jeff Daniels, based on Lawrence Wright’s Pulitzer
Prize-winning novel. Prior to this,
Bill has also appeared in such films
as Paul Dano’s directorial debut
Wildlife, Woman Walks Ahead
directed by Susanna White and
the Francis Lawrence-directed spy
thriller Red Sparrow. Bill played the
memorable role of Harlan Eustice in
Molly’s Game written and directed
by Aaron Sorkin.

A veteran of the stage, Bill received

a 2016 Tony Award nomination for
his performance as Reverend John
Hale in Arthur Miller’s The Crucible,
directed by Ivo Van Hove.

22
ANTOINETTE CROWE-LEGACY
(‘FELISE’)
Antoinette Crowe-Legacy stars opposite Forest Whitaker in the EPIX series Godfather of Harlem.

Up next, Antoinette will be seen opposite Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto in the WeWork limited series WeCrashed for
Apple TV+.

Antoinette was recently seen in Rebecca Hall’s feature PASSING opposite Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga. The film
recently made a near-record breaking sale to Netflix for over $16M at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival.

Among Antoinette’s many theater credits, she played leading roles in both Tori Sampson’s play If Pretty Hurts Ugly Must
Be a Muhfucka, which Leah Gardiner directed at Playwrights Horizons, as well as in Aziza Barnes’s play Blks, directed by
Robert O’Hara for MCC Theater.

Antoinette graduated from Yale’s prestigious MFA Acting Program, where she received the 2018 Carol Finch Dye Award.
Past winners include Meryl Streep and Frances McDormand.

Antoinette Crowe-Legacy is based in Brooklyn, NY.

GBENGA AKINNAGBE
(‘DAVE’)
Gbenga Akinnagbe is currently starring in the Public Theatre’s Shakespeare in the Park production of MERRY WIVES.
He can next be seen in the FX series The Old Man, playing the series regular role of ‘Julian’ opposite Jeff Bridges. He
recently finished his year-long Broadway debut in Aaron Sorkin’s hit adaptation of To Kill A Mockingbird opposite Jeff
Daniels. He received rave reviews for his performance as ‘Tom Robinson’ and was honored with a Theatre World Award.
He also recently starred as ‘Larry Brown’ on the David Simon/HBO series The Deuce opposite Maggie Gyllenhaal and
James Franco. Gbenga’s career-defining turn as ‘Chris Partlow’ in The Wire led to memorable roles on hit shows includ-
ing 24: Live Another Day, Barbershop, The Following, Nurse Jackie, and The Good Wife.

His extensive film credits include The Sun is Also A Star, Starbright, All The Devil’s Men and DC Noir (which he also co-di-
rected), Detroit, Egg, Crown Heights, Detour, Independence Day 2, Fort Bliss, Mall, Big Words, Overnight,
Lottery Ticket, Edge of Darkness, The Talk of Pelham 123, and The Savages.

Additional theater credits include Fulfillment and Lower Ninth at The Flea, The Thin Place at The Intiman, and A View
from 151st Street at The Public. Gbenga was born in Washington, D.C. to Nigerian parents and grew up in Silver Spring,
Maryland. He is the founder and managing director of Liberated People, a social justice lifestyle brand.

23
ALEXANDER SKARSGÅRD
(‘JOHN’)
Golden Globe, Emmy, and SAG winner, Alexander Skarsgård maintains a fearless pursuit of challenging roles, evolving
with each new project and is fast becoming one of Hollywood’s most in-demand actors.

In 2017 Skarsgård won the Emmy, Golden Globe, Critics Choice and Screen Actors Guild Awards for his haunting
portrayal of Perry on HBO’S Emmy winning mini-series Big Little Lies, starring opposite Nicole Kidman and Reese
Witherspoon.

Most recently, Skarsgård can be seen in Adam Wingards’ Godzilla v Kong for Legendary which released on HBOMax
and theatrically earlier this year and broke records at the pandemic box office.

Skarsgård just wrapped production on Robert Eggers’ The Northman, starring opposite Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy
and Willem Dafoe, which he also produced, and is set for release in April 2022. He is also next set to appear in the
upcoming season of HBO’s critically acclaimed series Succession.

Skarsgård starred in AMC’s limited series, The Little Drummer Girl alongside Michael Shannon and Florence Pugh.
He also stars opposite Jeffrey Wright in Jeremy Saulnier’s Hold The Dark for Netflix.

He also recently starred opposite Keira Knightley and Jason Clarke in the period drama The Aftermath for Fox Search-
light, The Hummingbird Project opposite Jesse Eisenberg and Salma Hayek; The Long Shot opposite Charlize Theron
and Seth Rogan, for Lionsgate; and A24’s The Kill Team,
a dramatic retelling of Dan Krauss’ own award-winning
war documentary, and in The Stand for CBS All Access
opposite James Marsden and Odessa Young, based on
Stephen King IP.

Recent credits include Warner Bros’ The Legend of Tarzan

directed by David Yates; Duncan Jones’ MUTE opposite
Paul Rudd; War on Everyone opposite Michael Pena; the
critically acclaimed Sundance hit Diary of a Teenager
Girl alongside Kristen Wiig and Bel Powley; Lars Von Trier’s
Melancholia opposite Kirstin Dunst; What Maisie Knew
opposite Julianne Moore; Hidden opposite Andrea Rise-
borough; Disconnect opposite Jason Bateman; The Giver
opposite Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep; The East opposite
Brit Marling and Elliot Page; and Universal’s Battleship
opposite Taylor Kitsch and Rihanna.

Skarsgård’s break-through performance was in the criti-

cally acclaimed HBO series Generation Kill. He later rose
to fame as one of the leads in the popular HBO series
True Blood, which finished its successful seven season run
in 2014.

Skarsgård is next set to star in and executive produce

the Brandon Croneneberg-directed feature Infinity Pool
for Neon. He will also soon be seen in Season 3 of HBO’s
critically acclaimed series Succession.

24
MAIN CREDITS
Written and Directed By Rebecca Hall

Based on the Novel By Nella Larsen

Nina Yang Bongiovi p.g.a. &

Produced By
Forest Whitaker, p.g.a.
Margot Hand, p.g.a.
Produced By
Rebecca Hall, p.g.a.
Oren Moverman
Executive Producers Angela Robinson
Erika Hampson
Michael Y. Chow
Executive Producers
Kevin A. Lin
Ruth Negga
Executive Producers
Tessa Thompson
Lauren Dark
Executive Producers Daniel Battsek
Ollie Madden
Brenda Robinson
Executive Producers Chaz Ebert
Yvonne Huff
Christopher Liu
Arcadiy Golubovich
Executive Producers
Doria A. Rath
Joseph J. Restaino
David Gendron
Executive Producers
Ali Jazayeri

Cinematographer Edu Grau, AEC

Edited By Sabine Hoffman, ACE

Production Designer Nora Mendis

Music By Devonté Hynes

Laura Rosenthal, CSA

Casting By
Kimberly Ostroy, CSA
Tessa Thompson
Ruth Negga
André Holland
Bill Camp
Gbenga Akinnagbe
Antoinette Crowe -Legacy
and
Alexander Skarsgård

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For press materials, please visit Media.netflix.com

PRESS CONTACTS
Chris Regan
cregan@netflix.com

Ekta Farrar
efarrar@netflix.com

Jennifer McCann
jmccann@netflix.com

James Ward III

jamesward@netflix.com
Multicultural Publicity

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