When I met Nicki Micheaux, she had a strong yet humble presence. Nicki Micheaux was great to work with, and she’s a natural on camera, the obvious reason being that she’s on camera pretty much 24/7. She wore a beautiful blue dress and called it “casual wear,” which surprised me. We initiated the conversation with the story about her origins as an aspiring actress. Nicki studied acting in college, where there were few roles held by African-Americans back in the day. Despite that factor, she persisted to get leading roles every single time, which I truly admired.
Her ongoing perseverance and fearlessness eventually led her to the fame and stardom that she holds now as an actress in many big name films and television shows, including Lincoln Heights and Lowlife. We discussed some of her prominent roles, such as the character Crystal from Lowlife. Nicki said it was fun and interesting to play that character in that she can be as wild as she wants with no regrets! When asked if there were any challenges to playing drastically different roles, Nicki replied that there are no obstacles and she always went all out on every character she played.
From a cultural viewpoint, she feels that the film industry is still dominated by white privilege. Sexism is strongly present in the field as well, as females still do not have as many leading roles as their male counterparts. Her suggestion to people who are marginalized in the industry or any other field is to stand up for themselves and push hard to get their voices heard, whether it be by getting into more prominent roles like she did or join a community that advocates for social change. That way, the general audience can have a more accurate representation of specific cultures and varying livelihoods on the silver screen or other media. I can really tell from her testimony that she is a strong and genuine woman and her experiences shaped her into a talented actress. Nicki is truly living her dream. I admire her strength to say those things on camera, and more voices like hers need to be heard.
When talking about her upcoming projects, Nicki mentioned that she would have an upcoming movie, called Lazarus, currently in post-production and set to come out later this year. Also, her movie, Lowlife, will have a special screening in April 2018 which I am eager and interested in seeing. She then asked me if I like blood. I’m in it for the storyline, but the blood would be an A+ for me. If you guys want to check out the full scope of the interview with more details on her fabulous works, please watch Nicki Micheaux here with In The Now With Jessica Lau!
Watch Jessica's Interview with Nicki: