In the Sundance Film Festival title Nanny, Anna Diop stars as Aisha, a Senegalese woman working as a nanny for an Upper East Side family in New York City, trying to earn enough money to bring her son to the United States. The movie, from writer-director Nikyatu Jusu, also delves into genre territory, as Aisha begins to experience some supernatural visions while anticipating the arrival of her son.
For Nanny, which premiered in the fest’s U.S. Dramatic Competition section, Diop looked to her mother for inspiration. “I’ve always wanted to tell my mother’s story because it is an incredible story,” says the actress, whose mother worked as a nanny for over two decades after moving to the U.S. from Senegal.
The Hollywood Reporter review of the movie called Diop “elegant and understated as Aisha, a loving mother with quiet strength, commanding presence and an unbreakable bond to Senegal and the conditions that made her.”
Diop, who can be seen playing DC superhero Starfire on HBO Max series Titans, talked to THR about Nanny and seeing the immigrant experience onscreen.
What drew you to this character?
I loved that the character was an immigrant because my parents are immigrants, and I’m an immigrant. I was born in Senegal and moved to the States when I was six years old. And I love that the character was a domestic worker. She had so many parallels to my mother, so that was profound to me. It takes a lot of courage to move to a foreign place and to dare to make a life there. Immigrants are usually immensely intelligent, courageous, fearless people. It’s kind of a prerequisite in order to do such a thing.
What did your prep look like?
I had wrapped [Titans] and then the next day flew to New York. I couldn’t really work on Nanny and Aisha when I was in Toronto filming Titans because I needed to focus on Titans. I got to New York and had two weeks to break down every single scene because I’m in every single scene. And also work on the accent. I don’t naturally sound like Aisha, though my entire family does, so that was helpful that it was also my culture. But every single day, I worked for hours with this brilliant professor and artist in Senegal. I wanted to make sure that the accent, people could understand it. A lot of times, when my parents speak, people don’t understand everything they’re saying. So even though Aisha’s only been in the States for a year, for the sake of clarity, for the audience to understand what she’s saying, it had to be a little more toned down. And so just trying to find an authentic balance between someone who’s been speaking Wolof and French their entire life.
How was that transition from Titans into Nanny?
I love Kory. I love playing Starfire. But it’s a completely different world, and it was really refreshing to be able to go into something so grounded. And I just got to take off everything, the makeup, the lashes, everything, and just to be human. I’ve been playing Starfire now for three years, so this was a breath of fresh air. Even as dark as the material was, I still got to play someone that is phenomenally grounded and simple in her objective and her clarity. Aisha’s only focus is to create a good life for her and her son. And so she just has such simple objectives, instead of going into this building and burning down the thing in order to get the secret capsule that’s — you know. (Laughs.)
How did you relate to all the complex dynamics around motherhood in the movie? And what did you want to convey about motherhood through your performance?
I related to it in that I saw my mother nanny for 24 years. She retired last year. When I am in New York or these big cities, and I’m seeing Black and brown women look after, if not white, privileged or affluent children — there’s something quietly heartbreaking about it that I find very difficult to articulate but feel on a cellular level. It’s a massive part of our history in this country, too. We’ve had Black women caring after white children since the inception of Black people being brought here. There’s just something quietly painful about it that I really hoped to portray in this film with Aisha.
Like Candyman and Get Out, filmmakers have used the Black American experience as fodder for incredibly affecting genre films. Do you see Nanny as being a part of this? And, if so, how does it delve into new territory?
I think Nanny is different in that we have a female protagonist, which we haven’t seen much in what you’ve described. And also the perspective of an immigrant protagonist. I think it is part of the evolution of these stories, I agree with that, and I did not think we would be seeing it this soon with a female protagonist, an immigrant.
What do you want audiences to take away from Aisha’s story?
I hope that people can develop a greater appreciation for the immigrant experience. There’s a scene where Aisha’s talking a bit about her life in Senegal and that she was a teacher and wanted to be a writer. I’ll double down on this and say that immigrants are almost always, as a prerequisite of moving to a new country, brave and fearless and courageous and intelligent. And are adapting in ways that we can’t even imagine, always. So I hope it gives people a greater appreciation for the immigrant experience.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
Source: HollyWood
