January 21, 2025 • 29 mins
Actor, producer, and first female 007 Lashana Lynch joins to talk spies, creative vision, and more! In her new show, “The Day of the Jackal,” she stars and produces alongside Eddie Redmayne. She shares what it was like to be a first-time producer, the transferable skills she’s learned from playing a spy, and what role she’s itching to take on next.
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hello Sunshine.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hey, Bessie's today on the bright Side, the first female
Double O seven is here with us today.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Lashana Lynch made history as the first black female agent
in the Bond franchise, and she's here to talk about
her newest project, The Day of the Jackal, plus how
she's preparing for her biggest role yet, becoming a mother.
It's Tuesday, January twenty first, I'm Simone.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Boyce, I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side
from Hello Sunshine.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
I can't wait to talk to our guests today. Lashawna
Lynch is a force. And I don't use that word lightly, okay,
Like you know how everybody uses the word iconic. I
don't usually describe people as iconic because I don't love hyperbole.
So when I use it, I mean it. Lashawna's talent
and presence has really made her a standout in the
(00:54):
entertainment industry As an actor. Her breakout role was as
Maria Rambo in the blockbuster film Captain, and then you
may have seen her starring alongside Viola Davis in the
critically acclaimed movie The Woman King. And she made history
as the first black female Double seven agent in the
James Bond movie No Time to Die. You know, it's
such a beloved movie franchise, and at the same time,
(01:16):
there has just been this like stick in the mudness
about it, you know, like the casting, the types of storylines,
and I really feel like this film and her casting
has just totally shaken up the franchise and redefined what
it means to be a Bond agent, and I love
(01:36):
to see it.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Lashawna is one of those actors that I will just
I will always watch anything that Lashawna is in because
she's just that good. And in her latest role, Lashawna
is starring alongside Oscar winner Eddie Redmain in Peacock's The
Day of the Jackal. And in this series, Lashanna plays Bianca,
a young mom wife and also am I six agent,
(01:59):
something that we are really excited to talk to her
about today. We know that Lashawna fought very hard to
become a co executive producer on this show On the
Day at the Jackals, so that she could contribute her
creative vision to it. And I know that if you
aren't working in Hollywood day in and day out, some
of these words can kind of, you know, get lost.
But Essentially, it's it is becoming increasingly more important for
(02:23):
women to have input both on camera and behind the camera,
so that we can just get stories that are fully
representative of our range.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Absolutely, And you know, I feel like we know a
good amount about her as an actress and a talent
and a producer and maybe even a director one day,
but I don't know a ton about her personally. So
I'm really curious to get to know the woman behind
all these amazing roles. So she's here with us now, Lashanna,
Welcome to the bright Side.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Thank you, pleasure.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Lashana Lynch, you're doing this interview while nine months pregnant.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
I am so rest Thanks.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
I mean, you know what I'm trying to like, there's
a balance between women do this all the time and like, yeah,
I'm a rockstar, and like I have those kind of
teita between the two, but women don't get to talk
about that, and women don't get to live in that power.
So thank you for the acknowledgement. I appreciate.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
I also remember being pregnant for the first time. It
completely changed my relationship to my body. I had this
newfound appreciation for the female form and what we can
do and I'm curious if there are any new revelations
that this experience has brought for you in terms of
your relationship with your body.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
I feel like I've been doing that for years. On
a serious note, I mean, I've learned what my relationship
is with my body previously through doing sports and through
healthy eating and changing my physical habits and really learning
what that mind, body soul stream is, because I think
it's so underestimated. And when we have the privilege of
(04:03):
discussing in and amongst ourselves what our bodies can do
and what we think they can't do over the years,
it really does expose you to what you've been not taught.
But what is just kind of like a byproduct of
how society forces you into these spaces that have nothing
(04:25):
to do with you, and that every woman kind of
has to find their own random way of coming out of.
And I find that strange. So when you have the
privilege of being able to do stunts in your career
or they as a child, or I don't know, lose weight,
gain weight, like do whatever you feel like can do
(04:46):
your mind, genuinely, it's like your DNA has changed.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Something you just said struck me. You said women have
to come out of that, and You're so right. We
all have to find our way out of it, and
men find their way into that bodies. It's the complete opposite.
I'm also wondering now that you say that mind body spirit,
it makes so much sense to me because you show
(05:10):
up so fully on screen. Of course, you have to
be connected to yourself in order to even become somebody else.
Do you think acting made you're really aware of your
body too?
Speaker 4 (05:21):
It had to. I do not know where anyone else's processes.
Mind changes every single project, and I feel like I've
got my process down for one project and I meet
the next one and I'm like, Okay, maybe I actually
don't know what I'm doing because it's character clearly something else.
And I'm at a different point in my life and
(05:43):
I don't believe that things come for no reason. Everything
nothing's by chance, and everything's aligned. And every project that
I've been a part of has grown me as an
artist in a way that has like helped me meet
my personal life and my work life helped them merge together.
I think for a long time, at the beginning of
your career is no matter if you're in performing arts, media,
(06:04):
or whatever. You kind of feel like there's you and
then there's this other you that you step into when
you walk through your work doors. So really everything meets
you at the time when you need it. And I
think that's where I'm at right now looking back on
my career, I know that everything came exactly when I
(06:25):
needed to learn something new about myself. I didn't just
in passing meet any character that just happened to be
flitting around the industry. They came to me for a reason.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Has there been a character that has made you lashauna
confront yourself more than the others.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
There's a few for different reasons. Because some roles are
quite comforting, Like you mentioned one love earlier and read
to Marley is a comforting feeling to be able to
know that she's going to exist on screen, let alone
it coming my way, and that's comforting because I'm also Jamaican,
so it's like I get to step back into my
(07:02):
culture for work. And that's beautiful girl.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
That to make an accent is flawless, it's perfect. Thank you,
it's so good.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
If it wasn't, I don't know. I mean, my parents would,
would they dis on me? I don't know.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Like, how are you raising jama So you know that's
the first thing everybody was going to pick apart in
one love, right, Like that was the first thing.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
You know, all we knew, Yeah, we definitely knew, We
definitely knew. I think aside from that, there's like Miss
Honey and Matilda came during lockdown when we're all like,
what is life? Who am I? What do I need?
What am I going to do? After this time in
the world and in myself? And that was the first
(07:43):
time that I played someone really vulnerable and like sweet,
but like nervous and like slightly anxious and questioning herself.
And I don't REGARDLF as any of those things, but
also I have a lot of those things because we're women.
We have been flow between I'm anxious today, I'm confident tomorrow.
(08:06):
So that was an experience that kind of taught me
to like embrace all of them and remember they can
all exist at the same time.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
It's time for a quick break. We'll be right back
with more from Lashana Lynch. And we're back with Lashana Lynch. Lashawna.
I think everybody in America listening can hear your beautiful accent.
(08:35):
You grew up in West London, and I'm wondering if
I called all of your primary school friends, would they say, oh, yeah,
we knew Lashaana was going to be a famous actress,
Like were you destined for this or what were you
like growing up?
Speaker 4 (08:50):
One? Thank you for shouting out West London, because it's
just I'm so passionate about where I'm from. A so
thank you twofold because I thought I was really confident
as a child, because I went straight into sports and
it was singing first and kind of like drama classes after.
But I spoke to my head deputy head teacher, who
(09:14):
was a black woman who like taught me how to
sing at that time, and I wanted to contact her
when I got this honey, and she said, God, she
were just so shy and sweet and quiet as a child,
and I was like, no, whore you remembering I got
was really out there, and like I thought, I'd always
been confident, And you know, there's things that you in
(09:36):
your child brain you think you have through your life
you kind of like hold yourself to that. I think
that when I think of my classmates, we're all quite creative,
and some have gone into music and art and producing
and all sorts of things that I'm really proud of
in terms of coming from that school. So I think
(09:57):
they probably have a warped perspective of me as well
because I exuded that energy that clearly wasn't that inside,
which I'll find really interesting.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Well, Lashanna, I feel like congratulations are in order for
you because your latest show, The Day of the Jackal,
was nominated for the Golden Globes. It's doing huge numbers
on Peacock. Critics are in your corner, and I was
so interested to learn that you fought to become a
co executive producer, meaning you wanted to have meaningful creative input,
and that's not something that everybody wants, and it's definitely
(10:31):
not something that every actor is even granted. Really, why
was it so important for you to fight for that
on this particular project, Fussy, I've.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
Been fighting for it for a long time, and it
doesn't just come out of nowhere for someone like me anyway,
who has an interest in the whole sphere of creativity.
I always say that everyone knows me as an actor
as someone who's like in front of the camera, but
I have just as much interest in everything else that
(11:00):
happens behind the camera. In fact, it's probably quite jarring
to watch films with me sometimes because I'm like, oh,
the continuity on that, whether you're ing who directed this,
and I wonder whether they introduce that take, and I'm
sure there was another take, Like my brain just works
that way. So just got to the point where I
felt like I was self editing a lot of the
(11:22):
films that I was a part of, and I knew
that eventually I'd have to get to the point where
I couldn't shoot something and not be a part of
the producing team, because I knew that I had just
had so much more to explore and so much more
to say here. I saw that obviously I'd been a
part of this M I six world before, and I
(11:42):
don't like repeating myself, and I don't like shoehorning anything
that shouldn't be in a production or the creative space
that I'm in. And I saw here that on paper,
there was a character that had everything that I needed
as an actor, but also everything that she needed as
(12:02):
the black woman that she is. I know that there
was some buffering, there was some protection to be had
in terms of her inner world, her family's world, the
West London world. I saw on paper she literally lives
around the corner from where I grew up, like ten
to fifteen minutes, which had never happened before. And I
was like, oh, not only as their representation of her
(12:24):
black space, her hair, her skin, her environment, there is
also the protection and representation of where I grew up.
And it's a real big story for me to tell personally.
So that it started there and I thought, Oh, there's
so many different things that I can explore, like the
(12:45):
music and how rich we tell the story, like how
we go into female dynamics on screen? How many you know,
two women characters are we going to have in one
space just talking what we're going to say about female
body is female space? These male dominated spaces? How do
we do that through storytelling? And it just it? I
(13:08):
mean I just had to in answer to your question,
I just had I had to. It just made sense.
And I'm really glad that they saw that it made
sense because to say, had so much to say.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
What did you say? What did you push for? I
want to know, like when I watch it, what can
I see and say, Oh, that was Lachanna's push come.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
That's like me being like I'm gonna be cocky for
a second, like I.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Mean, please, do you have the floor? Please do?
Speaker 4 (13:36):
Okay, So, starting with the character, I knew that it
is very unusual to see a black woman with locks
on screen in general, unless it's someone like Rita Marley
within the Bob Marley sphere. And I want to take
what the world's perspective on locks was into a professional setting,
(14:01):
which is six say.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Allowed it for the people in the back, as said,
because like.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
It's very easy to say hair is just hair, but
for anyone, no matter where you're from, hair is So
it's such a conversation. It's so political, and it's also
it's just understated, but really it's actually it's a statement
of who you are. And I wanted to ensure that
we were breaking barriers in that way so that I
(14:30):
felt like she was representing people who have locks or
froze or natural hair and in some way that at
school get told to take it out or at work
get told to put it back. Those things are just
those are conversations that happen a lot in the UK
and I'm sure in the US. So that it was
things like that made me go, ah, okay, cool, I
(14:53):
want to make sure that she is a London girl
who has her own identity that is recognizable and proud.
And then on the other side, production wise, I really
wanted to ensure that each corner of the storytelling was elevated.
So sometimes there can be quite a focus on the
(15:14):
lead characters and their narrative, but I wanted to ensure
all of the women had wonderful perspectives and had a
story to tell, and every time you saw them on screen,
you really wanted to sit with them. And I wanted
to ensure that the writing was representative of the kind
of standard that I care for instead of not careful.
(15:37):
And we watched things all the time when we're like
that was cool, or like sure, I'll wa shit. But
I wanted audiences to feel like they were connecting with
the writing in such a way that made them wanted
to come back again and again, and that just propelled
me into them. The music, which was I think one
of my biggest things because I sang before I acted
and the theme song was that myself and Eddie had
(16:02):
loads of conversations about in how we're going to represent
this world but also the espionage world, but also modern
day retelling of the story. We must have a female voice,
we must have a young voice. We must have someone
who's going to be able to toe between representing that
classic element but also the modern element that makes us
(16:24):
feel we recognize ourselves in the show. And we were
going back and forth with a list of brilliant artists
and everyone was great and could potentially do something great.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
I'm getting a vision, Lashanna, I see you directing. Is
this in your future? It's Is it already happening by
that smile? Is it already happening?
Speaker 4 (16:44):
Is this exclusive news? No, it's cultivating. It's definitely what
you can hear by how im speaking that I'm on
the edge of it very much so. But I don't
do anything by halves, and I don't do things quickly,
but I do things thoroughly. So I know I've known
for years that I'm going to direct. It's just about
(17:08):
when that when's that sweet time to drop it and
to make sure all of my ideas that I've cultivated
over the years actually sing. So I'm sure that all
of my ideas are going to be in there and
land and stay in the edit. So but when when
it lands, you'll be like, oh, it makes sense now
(17:30):
why she took sover.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
I can't wait.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
And I know that you've had the opportunity to learn
from some of the most exciting female directors of our time,
Gina Prince Bythwaite. I mean, are you do you have
mentors in the industry that you've been collecting knowledge from
as you've been on these sets?
Speaker 4 (17:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Who are those mentors for you?
Speaker 4 (17:50):
Well, it's one of them, is her. Every time I
speak about her, I'm like, aren't you just so happy
that it's spoken about you again, Gina? Because your name
keeps coming up and we have this really like, i'll
just say, sisterly relationship. She's just still trying to find words.
She's amazing at what she does, but also a very
good person. So when you're learning from her, it doesn't
(18:11):
feel like she's imparting like, hey, young woman, I'm going
to give you all this information and listen to me
because you're going to be something someday. It just feels
like you're developing this secondhand thing that she does. She
just has such a way with performers and it feels
really good. So we've developed a friendship over the years,
(18:33):
and I've asked a load of questions about the industry
and creativity and working with the people that she has
and how to develop a team, etc. Someone who got
me to the Bond franchise. Actually weirdly, her name is
Debue Tucker Green and I did two plays with her
in London at the Royal Court Theater. And she is
(18:57):
very similar to Debbie in that she has imparted very
like real wisdom onto my spirit as a performer. She's
not held back, and she's also been very hard on
me for like get to writing, get to direct, and
get to produce in like You've got it. She's reminded
me of what I've just told you just now, all
the ideas I have and how to bring it to
(19:18):
the table and to empower me as well, just like Gina.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Okay, Lishana, I have some espionage questions for you, because
I think the world of espionage is entrancing. That's part
of the reason people love Double O seven, right, There's
just so much intrigue. And I've heard you say that
you like to bring your whole self to every role,
and so I'm very curious what playing a spy brought
(19:44):
to you, Like have you implemented any of these trainings
or tactics into your life.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
My intrusive thought was, yeah, just like took down five
guys yesterday when I was talking about.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
That's what that's what we want to do. We don't
do that in the street.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
We don't act on those These are very easy ways
to be able to implement the things that I have
learned in time. I'm not saying that I have not
done that. I'm not saying that I have done that,
but I've definitely used my skills to add to the
very intriguing brain that I have, which is wanting to
(20:21):
find out information but also not be nosy because I'm
not a nosy per, but I know that I can
get information. So one thing that I have learned from
the spies i've spoken to is that you don't really
need to ask the questions like you don't need to
do the looking over the shoulder or the please tell
(20:43):
me everything. People will always tell you the things. Just
have a lovely, free flowing conversation and they will tell
you the things. Trust me, don't try just let them
talk to you.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
I would love to hang out with some spies and
learn them. That must have been so fascinating.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
It was and you can probably have one on the show.
I'm sure. I'm sure they'd be fascinating. We only want you, Okay, fine,
a real spy. Uh yeah. The conversations are amazing actually,
because you know that they're giving so I'm speaking to
them for research, so they're giving me information. But at
the same time, because they're so highly trained, they're not
(21:25):
giving me anything at all. They're just giving me basic information.
There's nothing necessarily about themselves that I could go ooh,
I just learned that about them because they already have
the this intrinsic, very trained set way of being that
they're going to have forever because they've got codes to
(21:45):
stand by.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Are you noticing in conversation now post filming that you
are doing that with people like are you able to
have them leave the conversation feeling connected and really you
didn't divulge very much.
Speaker 4 (21:59):
I feel like I've been like that for a long time.
I've just found my way to what it is through
learning these skills.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
I think what your teacher was picking up on was
big spy energy. I think that's I think that's what
she meant when she said you were quiet and shy.
We've got to take a short break, but don't go anywhere.
We'll be right back with Lashana Lynch. And we're back
(22:28):
with Lashana Lynch. Well, I, for one, have I think
boosted my spying skills through social media. We've all become
amateur sleuths in the digital age. But Lashana, I know
that you're not on social media, which I think is
the coolest thing. And that's honestly, my goal is to
one day not beyond social media. What went into that
(22:50):
for you deciding to take a step back from social
media and how has it changed your life?
Speaker 4 (22:56):
It probably started exactly where you know you just said
you are in that like, oh, one day I just
want to not be on this thing and just kind
of live life and just be. It went from that
thought to years later thinking hey I had that thought,
and then hey what happened to that? Wait? Have I
just been here closing with this thing that makes me
(23:19):
feel like I'm gonna have agency within myself, but not
actually acting on it. That's really strange thought to know
that I want to do that thing, but I feel
beholden to something for some really strange reason, and I
couldn't really pinpoint a big enough why to stay so
I was wondering what would I really be losing out
(23:40):
on if I left, and what would I gain? And
the gain was just so far outweighed what I'd be
losing out on. But I do want to say that
there was nothing that forced me off. There was nothing
that happened. There was no like weird DM or me
seeing something that made me go to no, because I
know some people are like, I got this message and
(24:01):
I just can't do this anymore. I just felt ready.
It just literally hit me one Sunday, I think it
was one weekend. I just don't want to. I just
don't have the time as well. There's just so much
going on. I'm working and I'm away from home, and
there's just too much to do. There's too much that
I want to do.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Do you feel pressured to get back on it from
I don't know, agents, managers because it is such a
marketing engine.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Nope, No, that's amazing. I know.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
I'm really lucky. I've got a credible team. I think
when it landed in me, I called my manager and
she was like, oh, then bye, Like then we say
goodbye and that's it. Publish the same thing. Like I
just to feel like I've managed to bring people around
me who really know where I sit authentically. And something
(24:52):
doesn't feel right, then it's we'll find another way. There's
always another way to market in the way that social
media does not going to look the same, and you
have to work hard around sure, because if you think
back twenty years ago, we'd be like, I wonder what
this person's up to. I wonder what project they're releasing next. Ooh,
there's such a chameleon. It's really nice to see someone
(25:13):
in one thing and then in another and be like, Wow,
what a stark difference. Instead of in between the stark differences,
you've seen their favorite milkshake and a tree that they like,
could some new shoes, And I think on the surface,
you're like, oh, that's really nice. I get to know
them a little bit more and get more context for
(25:33):
the artists that they are. But when I think about
it from my perspective, I'm like, I can't be on
holiday and be like, well, let's stop the car. I
need to take a picture of this hill so that
people know that I exist.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Lashana.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
To round out our conversation today, I wanted to bring
up something Actress Sidney Sweeney recently said about being a
young woman in Hollywood right now. She said that the
whole female empowerment narrative in Hollywood is from her perspective,
She said that basically, outside of the performative soundbites and interviews,
women don't really have each other's back. Has that been
your experience or have you seen something different?
Speaker 4 (26:11):
That's a really powerful statement to make from her experience.
I feel like it depends on your definition of female empowerment,
and female empowerment has become a label for these very
boxed in things that have nothing to do with what
actual female empowerment is. Female empowerment is a feeling. It
is talking, It is feeling open and authentic and conversation
(26:36):
and support. It's all of those things and more. But
also it could be none of those things. And I
really respect the experiences of some women in the industry
who see other women not supporting them, because I've seen
it from afar definitely, And you feel it in friendships,
you feel it in colleagues, you feel it in all
sorts of people in your life. Maybe you're not seeing
me for who I am, or maybe I have a
(26:57):
responsibility to be more honest or be will open or
not share so much, or whatever it shall be in
your journey. But everyone is just trying, I think, and
some people struggle with it, and some people have gotten
there ready, and some people are judging people for being
too to life, and some of it is an injustice,
(27:18):
some of it is sweet. I just think it's a
male important experiences that maybe we need to find another
label for, because society is definitely going to give us
a label. That's one thing we can rely to. Sad,
your roles are so incredibly varied.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
You've played action pack blockbusters, You've been in intimate dramas.
What type of role are you still itching to explore?
Speaker 4 (27:45):
The first thing that comes to mind is the vixen.
I want to play some kind of like, I don't know,
deranged vixen, Like someone who's like doesn't quite have it
together in like the worst way, like dangerous, you.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Know what, you like?
Speaker 4 (28:03):
Don't talk to her, yeah, because she's she's not okay,
and believe her, she's not gonna be okay. That's all right.
Just let her do a think.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
I mean, you can do anything, you can literally do anything,
and I'll be there poping my popcorn watching you.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Mm hmm thank you, Thank you so much for sharing
your time with us.
Speaker 4 (28:24):
Thank you. That was wonderful.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Lashana Lynch is an actress, producer and the star of
the Day of the Jackal. You can watch all episodes
on peacock.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Now. That's it for today's show. Tomorrow. What's well this Wednesday?
Speaker 3 (28:42):
And we're talking all about people pleasing and had to
stop it with doctor Kathleen Smith. Join the conversation using
hashtag the bright Side and connect with us on social
media at Hello Sunshine on Instagram and at the bright
Side Pod on TikTok oh, and feel free to tag us,
add Simone Voice and add Danielle Robe.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Listen and follow The bright Side on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
See you tomorrow, folks, Keep looking on the bright side.
Hello Sunshine.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
Hey, Bessie's today on the bright Side, the first female
Double O seven is here with us today.
Speaker 3 (00:10):
Lashana Lynch made history as the first black female agent
in the Bond franchise, and she's here to talk about
her newest project, The Day of the Jackal, plus how
she's preparing for her biggest role yet, becoming a mother.
It's Tuesday, January twenty first, I'm Simone.
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Boyce, I'm Danielle Robe and this is the bright Side
from Hello Sunshine.
Speaker 4 (00:32):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
I can't wait to talk to our guests today. Lashawna
Lynch is a force. And I don't use that word lightly, okay,
Like you know how everybody uses the word iconic. I
don't usually describe people as iconic because I don't love hyperbole.
So when I use it, I mean it. Lashawna's talent
and presence has really made her a standout in the
(00:54):
entertainment industry As an actor. Her breakout role was as
Maria Rambo in the blockbuster film Captain, and then you
may have seen her starring alongside Viola Davis in the
critically acclaimed movie The Woman King. And she made history
as the first black female Double seven agent in the
James Bond movie No Time to Die. You know, it's
such a beloved movie franchise, and at the same time,
(01:16):
there has just been this like stick in the mudness
about it, you know, like the casting, the types of storylines,
and I really feel like this film and her casting
has just totally shaken up the franchise and redefined what
it means to be a Bond agent, and I love
(01:36):
to see it.
Speaker 3 (01:37):
Lashawna is one of those actors that I will just
I will always watch anything that Lashawna is in because
she's just that good. And in her latest role, Lashawna
is starring alongside Oscar winner Eddie Redmain in Peacock's The
Day of the Jackal. And in this series, Lashanna plays Bianca,
a young mom wife and also am I six agent,
(01:59):
something that we are really excited to talk to her
about today. We know that Lashawna fought very hard to
become a co executive producer on this show On the
Day at the Jackals, so that she could contribute her
creative vision to it. And I know that if you
aren't working in Hollywood day in and day out, some
of these words can kind of, you know, get lost.
But Essentially, it's it is becoming increasingly more important for
(02:23):
women to have input both on camera and behind the camera,
so that we can just get stories that are fully
representative of our range.
Speaker 1 (02:32):
Absolutely, And you know, I feel like we know a
good amount about her as an actress and a talent
and a producer and maybe even a director one day,
but I don't know a ton about her personally. So
I'm really curious to get to know the woman behind
all these amazing roles. So she's here with us now, Lashanna,
Welcome to the bright Side.
Speaker 4 (02:53):
Thank you, pleasure.
Speaker 3 (02:55):
Lashana Lynch, you're doing this interview while nine months pregnant.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
I am so rest Thanks.
Speaker 4 (03:01):
I mean, you know what I'm trying to like, there's
a balance between women do this all the time and like, yeah,
I'm a rockstar, and like I have those kind of
teita between the two, but women don't get to talk
about that, and women don't get to live in that power.
So thank you for the acknowledgement. I appreciate.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
I also remember being pregnant for the first time. It
completely changed my relationship to my body. I had this
newfound appreciation for the female form and what we can
do and I'm curious if there are any new revelations
that this experience has brought for you in terms of
your relationship with your body.
Speaker 4 (03:39):
I feel like I've been doing that for years. On
a serious note, I mean, I've learned what my relationship
is with my body previously through doing sports and through
healthy eating and changing my physical habits and really learning
what that mind, body soul stream is, because I think
it's so underestimated. And when we have the privilege of
(04:03):
discussing in and amongst ourselves what our bodies can do
and what we think they can't do over the years,
it really does expose you to what you've been not taught.
But what is just kind of like a byproduct of
how society forces you into these spaces that have nothing
(04:25):
to do with you, and that every woman kind of
has to find their own random way of coming out of.
And I find that strange. So when you have the
privilege of being able to do stunts in your career
or they as a child, or I don't know, lose weight,
gain weight, like do whatever you feel like can do
(04:46):
your mind, genuinely, it's like your DNA has changed.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
Something you just said struck me. You said women have
to come out of that, and You're so right. We
all have to find our way out of it, and
men find their way into that bodies. It's the complete opposite.
I'm also wondering now that you say that mind body spirit,
it makes so much sense to me because you show
(05:10):
up so fully on screen. Of course, you have to
be connected to yourself in order to even become somebody else.
Do you think acting made you're really aware of your
body too?
Speaker 4 (05:21):
It had to. I do not know where anyone else's processes.
Mind changes every single project, and I feel like I've
got my process down for one project and I meet
the next one and I'm like, Okay, maybe I actually
don't know what I'm doing because it's character clearly something else.
And I'm at a different point in my life and
(05:43):
I don't believe that things come for no reason. Everything
nothing's by chance, and everything's aligned. And every project that
I've been a part of has grown me as an
artist in a way that has like helped me meet
my personal life and my work life helped them merge together.
I think for a long time, at the beginning of
your career is no matter if you're in performing arts, media,
(06:04):
or whatever. You kind of feel like there's you and
then there's this other you that you step into when
you walk through your work doors. So really everything meets
you at the time when you need it. And I
think that's where I'm at right now looking back on
my career, I know that everything came exactly when I
(06:25):
needed to learn something new about myself. I didn't just
in passing meet any character that just happened to be
flitting around the industry. They came to me for a reason.
Speaker 1 (06:34):
Has there been a character that has made you lashauna
confront yourself more than the others.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
There's a few for different reasons. Because some roles are
quite comforting, Like you mentioned one love earlier and read
to Marley is a comforting feeling to be able to
know that she's going to exist on screen, let alone
it coming my way, and that's comforting because I'm also Jamaican,
so it's like I get to step back into my
(07:02):
culture for work. And that's beautiful girl.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
That to make an accent is flawless, it's perfect. Thank you,
it's so good.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
If it wasn't, I don't know. I mean, my parents would,
would they dis on me? I don't know.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
Like, how are you raising jama So you know that's
the first thing everybody was going to pick apart in
one love, right, Like that was the first thing.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
You know, all we knew, Yeah, we definitely knew, We
definitely knew. I think aside from that, there's like Miss
Honey and Matilda came during lockdown when we're all like,
what is life? Who am I? What do I need?
What am I going to do? After this time in
the world and in myself? And that was the first
(07:43):
time that I played someone really vulnerable and like sweet,
but like nervous and like slightly anxious and questioning herself.
And I don't REGARDLF as any of those things, but
also I have a lot of those things because we're women.
We have been flow between I'm anxious today, I'm confident tomorrow.
(08:06):
So that was an experience that kind of taught me
to like embrace all of them and remember they can
all exist at the same time.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
It's time for a quick break. We'll be right back
with more from Lashana Lynch. And we're back with Lashana Lynch. Lashawna.
I think everybody in America listening can hear your beautiful accent.
(08:35):
You grew up in West London, and I'm wondering if
I called all of your primary school friends, would they say, oh, yeah,
we knew Lashaana was going to be a famous actress,
Like were you destined for this or what were you
like growing up?
Speaker 4 (08:50):
One? Thank you for shouting out West London, because it's
just I'm so passionate about where I'm from. A so
thank you twofold because I thought I was really confident
as a child, because I went straight into sports and
it was singing first and kind of like drama classes after.
But I spoke to my head deputy head teacher, who
(09:14):
was a black woman who like taught me how to
sing at that time, and I wanted to contact her
when I got this honey, and she said, God, she
were just so shy and sweet and quiet as a child,
and I was like, no, whore you remembering I got
was really out there, and like I thought, I'd always
been confident, And you know, there's things that you in
(09:36):
your child brain you think you have through your life
you kind of like hold yourself to that. I think
that when I think of my classmates, we're all quite creative,
and some have gone into music and art and producing
and all sorts of things that I'm really proud of
in terms of coming from that school. So I think
(09:57):
they probably have a warped perspective of me as well
because I exuded that energy that clearly wasn't that inside,
which I'll find really interesting.
Speaker 1 (10:09):
Well, Lashanna, I feel like congratulations are in order for
you because your latest show, The Day of the Jackal,
was nominated for the Golden Globes. It's doing huge numbers
on Peacock. Critics are in your corner, and I was
so interested to learn that you fought to become a
co executive producer, meaning you wanted to have meaningful creative input,
and that's not something that everybody wants, and it's definitely
(10:31):
not something that every actor is even granted. Really, why
was it so important for you to fight for that
on this particular project, Fussy, I've.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
Been fighting for it for a long time, and it
doesn't just come out of nowhere for someone like me anyway,
who has an interest in the whole sphere of creativity.
I always say that everyone knows me as an actor
as someone who's like in front of the camera, but
I have just as much interest in everything else that
(11:00):
happens behind the camera. In fact, it's probably quite jarring
to watch films with me sometimes because I'm like, oh,
the continuity on that, whether you're ing who directed this,
and I wonder whether they introduce that take, and I'm
sure there was another take, Like my brain just works
that way. So just got to the point where I
felt like I was self editing a lot of the
(11:22):
films that I was a part of, and I knew
that eventually I'd have to get to the point where
I couldn't shoot something and not be a part of
the producing team, because I knew that I had just
had so much more to explore and so much more
to say here. I saw that obviously I'd been a
part of this M I six world before, and I
(11:42):
don't like repeating myself, and I don't like shoehorning anything
that shouldn't be in a production or the creative space
that I'm in. And I saw here that on paper,
there was a character that had everything that I needed
as an actor, but also everything that she needed as
(12:02):
the black woman that she is. I know that there
was some buffering, there was some protection to be had
in terms of her inner world, her family's world, the
West London world. I saw on paper she literally lives
around the corner from where I grew up, like ten
to fifteen minutes, which had never happened before. And I
was like, oh, not only as their representation of her
(12:24):
black space, her hair, her skin, her environment, there is
also the protection and representation of where I grew up.
And it's a real big story for me to tell personally.
So that it started there and I thought, Oh, there's
so many different things that I can explore, like the
(12:45):
music and how rich we tell the story, like how
we go into female dynamics on screen? How many you know,
two women characters are we going to have in one
space just talking what we're going to say about female
body is female space? These male dominated spaces? How do
we do that through storytelling? And it just it? I
(13:08):
mean I just had to in answer to your question,
I just had I had to. It just made sense.
And I'm really glad that they saw that it made
sense because to say, had so much to say.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
What did you say? What did you push for? I
want to know, like when I watch it, what can
I see and say, Oh, that was Lachanna's push come.
Speaker 4 (13:29):
That's like me being like I'm gonna be cocky for
a second, like I.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Mean, please, do you have the floor? Please do?
Speaker 4 (13:36):
Okay, So, starting with the character, I knew that it
is very unusual to see a black woman with locks
on screen in general, unless it's someone like Rita Marley
within the Bob Marley sphere. And I want to take
what the world's perspective on locks was into a professional setting,
(14:01):
which is six say.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Allowed it for the people in the back, as said,
because like.
Speaker 4 (14:08):
It's very easy to say hair is just hair, but
for anyone, no matter where you're from, hair is So
it's such a conversation. It's so political, and it's also
it's just understated, but really it's actually it's a statement
of who you are. And I wanted to ensure that
we were breaking barriers in that way so that I
(14:30):
felt like she was representing people who have locks or
froze or natural hair and in some way that at
school get told to take it out or at work
get told to put it back. Those things are just
those are conversations that happen a lot in the UK
and I'm sure in the US. So that it was
things like that made me go, ah, okay, cool, I
(14:53):
want to make sure that she is a London girl
who has her own identity that is recognizable and proud.
And then on the other side, production wise, I really
wanted to ensure that each corner of the storytelling was elevated.
So sometimes there can be quite a focus on the
(15:14):
lead characters and their narrative, but I wanted to ensure
all of the women had wonderful perspectives and had a
story to tell, and every time you saw them on screen,
you really wanted to sit with them. And I wanted
to ensure that the writing was representative of the kind
of standard that I care for instead of not careful.
(15:37):
And we watched things all the time when we're like
that was cool, or like sure, I'll wa shit. But
I wanted audiences to feel like they were connecting with
the writing in such a way that made them wanted
to come back again and again, and that just propelled
me into them. The music, which was I think one
of my biggest things because I sang before I acted
and the theme song was that myself and Eddie had
(16:02):
loads of conversations about in how we're going to represent
this world but also the espionage world, but also modern
day retelling of the story. We must have a female voice,
we must have a young voice. We must have someone
who's going to be able to toe between representing that
classic element but also the modern element that makes us
(16:24):
feel we recognize ourselves in the show. And we were
going back and forth with a list of brilliant artists
and everyone was great and could potentially do something great.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
I'm getting a vision, Lashanna, I see you directing. Is
this in your future? It's Is it already happening by
that smile? Is it already happening?
Speaker 4 (16:44):
Is this exclusive news? No, it's cultivating. It's definitely what
you can hear by how im speaking that I'm on
the edge of it very much so. But I don't
do anything by halves, and I don't do things quickly,
but I do things thoroughly. So I know I've known
for years that I'm going to direct. It's just about
(17:08):
when that when's that sweet time to drop it and
to make sure all of my ideas that I've cultivated
over the years actually sing. So I'm sure that all
of my ideas are going to be in there and
land and stay in the edit. So but when when
it lands, you'll be like, oh, it makes sense now
(17:30):
why she took sover.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
I can't wait.
Speaker 3 (17:33):
And I know that you've had the opportunity to learn
from some of the most exciting female directors of our time,
Gina Prince Bythwaite. I mean, are you do you have
mentors in the industry that you've been collecting knowledge from
as you've been on these sets?
Speaker 4 (17:49):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Who are those mentors for you?
Speaker 4 (17:50):
Well, it's one of them, is her. Every time I
speak about her, I'm like, aren't you just so happy
that it's spoken about you again, Gina? Because your name
keeps coming up and we have this really like, i'll
just say, sisterly relationship. She's just still trying to find words.
She's amazing at what she does, but also a very
good person. So when you're learning from her, it doesn't
(18:11):
feel like she's imparting like, hey, young woman, I'm going
to give you all this information and listen to me
because you're going to be something someday. It just feels
like you're developing this secondhand thing that she does. She
just has such a way with performers and it feels
really good. So we've developed a friendship over the years,
(18:33):
and I've asked a load of questions about the industry
and creativity and working with the people that she has
and how to develop a team, etc. Someone who got
me to the Bond franchise. Actually weirdly, her name is
Debue Tucker Green and I did two plays with her
in London at the Royal Court Theater. And she is
(18:57):
very similar to Debbie in that she has imparted very
like real wisdom onto my spirit as a performer. She's
not held back, and she's also been very hard on
me for like get to writing, get to direct, and
get to produce in like You've got it. She's reminded
me of what I've just told you just now, all
the ideas I have and how to bring it to
(19:18):
the table and to empower me as well, just like Gina.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Okay, Lishana, I have some espionage questions for you, because
I think the world of espionage is entrancing. That's part
of the reason people love Double O seven, right, There's
just so much intrigue. And I've heard you say that
you like to bring your whole self to every role,
and so I'm very curious what playing a spy brought
(19:44):
to you, Like have you implemented any of these trainings
or tactics into your life.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
My intrusive thought was, yeah, just like took down five
guys yesterday when I was talking about.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
That's what that's what we want to do. We don't
do that in the street.
Speaker 4 (20:01):
We don't act on those These are very easy ways
to be able to implement the things that I have
learned in time. I'm not saying that I have not
done that. I'm not saying that I have done that,
but I've definitely used my skills to add to the
very intriguing brain that I have, which is wanting to
(20:21):
find out information but also not be nosy because I'm
not a nosy per, but I know that I can
get information. So one thing that I have learned from
the spies i've spoken to is that you don't really
need to ask the questions like you don't need to
do the looking over the shoulder or the please tell
(20:43):
me everything. People will always tell you the things. Just
have a lovely, free flowing conversation and they will tell
you the things. Trust me, don't try just let them
talk to you.
Speaker 3 (20:57):
I would love to hang out with some spies and
learn them. That must have been so fascinating.
Speaker 4 (21:02):
It was and you can probably have one on the show.
I'm sure. I'm sure they'd be fascinating. We only want you, Okay, fine,
a real spy. Uh yeah. The conversations are amazing actually,
because you know that they're giving so I'm speaking to
them for research, so they're giving me information. But at
the same time, because they're so highly trained, they're not
(21:25):
giving me anything at all. They're just giving me basic information.
There's nothing necessarily about themselves that I could go ooh,
I just learned that about them because they already have
the this intrinsic, very trained set way of being that
they're going to have forever because they've got codes to
(21:45):
stand by.
Speaker 1 (21:46):
Are you noticing in conversation now post filming that you
are doing that with people like are you able to
have them leave the conversation feeling connected and really you
didn't divulge very much.
Speaker 4 (21:59):
I feel like I've been like that for a long time.
I've just found my way to what it is through
learning these skills.
Speaker 3 (22:07):
I think what your teacher was picking up on was
big spy energy. I think that's I think that's what
she meant when she said you were quiet and shy.
We've got to take a short break, but don't go anywhere.
We'll be right back with Lashana Lynch. And we're back
(22:28):
with Lashana Lynch. Well, I, for one, have I think
boosted my spying skills through social media. We've all become
amateur sleuths in the digital age. But Lashana, I know
that you're not on social media, which I think is
the coolest thing. And that's honestly, my goal is to
one day not beyond social media. What went into that
(22:50):
for you deciding to take a step back from social
media and how has it changed your life?
Speaker 4 (22:56):
It probably started exactly where you know you just said
you are in that like, oh, one day I just
want to not be on this thing and just kind
of live life and just be. It went from that
thought to years later thinking hey I had that thought,
and then hey what happened to that? Wait? Have I
just been here closing with this thing that makes me
(23:19):
feel like I'm gonna have agency within myself, but not
actually acting on it. That's really strange thought to know
that I want to do that thing, but I feel
beholden to something for some really strange reason, and I
couldn't really pinpoint a big enough why to stay so
I was wondering what would I really be losing out
(23:40):
on if I left, and what would I gain? And
the gain was just so far outweighed what I'd be
losing out on. But I do want to say that
there was nothing that forced me off. There was nothing
that happened. There was no like weird DM or me
seeing something that made me go to no, because I
know some people are like, I got this message and
(24:01):
I just can't do this anymore. I just felt ready.
It just literally hit me one Sunday, I think it
was one weekend. I just don't want to. I just
don't have the time as well. There's just so much
going on. I'm working and I'm away from home, and
there's just too much to do. There's too much that
I want to do.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
Do you feel pressured to get back on it from
I don't know, agents, managers because it is such a
marketing engine.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Nope, No, that's amazing. I know.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
I'm really lucky. I've got a credible team. I think
when it landed in me, I called my manager and
she was like, oh, then bye, Like then we say
goodbye and that's it. Publish the same thing. Like I
just to feel like I've managed to bring people around
me who really know where I sit authentically. And something
(24:52):
doesn't feel right, then it's we'll find another way. There's
always another way to market in the way that social
media does not going to look the same, and you
have to work hard around sure, because if you think
back twenty years ago, we'd be like, I wonder what
this person's up to. I wonder what project they're releasing next. Ooh,
there's such a chameleon. It's really nice to see someone
(25:13):
in one thing and then in another and be like, Wow,
what a stark difference. Instead of in between the stark differences,
you've seen their favorite milkshake and a tree that they like,
could some new shoes, And I think on the surface,
you're like, oh, that's really nice. I get to know
them a little bit more and get more context for
(25:33):
the artists that they are. But when I think about
it from my perspective, I'm like, I can't be on
holiday and be like, well, let's stop the car. I
need to take a picture of this hill so that
people know that I exist.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
Lashana.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
To round out our conversation today, I wanted to bring
up something Actress Sidney Sweeney recently said about being a
young woman in Hollywood right now. She said that the
whole female empowerment narrative in Hollywood is from her perspective,
She said that basically, outside of the performative soundbites and interviews,
women don't really have each other's back. Has that been
your experience or have you seen something different?
Speaker 4 (26:11):
That's a really powerful statement to make from her experience.
I feel like it depends on your definition of female empowerment,
and female empowerment has become a label for these very
boxed in things that have nothing to do with what
actual female empowerment is. Female empowerment is a feeling. It
is talking, It is feeling open and authentic and conversation
(26:36):
and support. It's all of those things and more. But
also it could be none of those things. And I
really respect the experiences of some women in the industry
who see other women not supporting them, because I've seen
it from afar definitely, And you feel it in friendships,
you feel it in colleagues, you feel it in all
sorts of people in your life. Maybe you're not seeing
me for who I am, or maybe I have a
(26:57):
responsibility to be more honest or be will open or
not share so much, or whatever it shall be in
your journey. But everyone is just trying, I think, and
some people struggle with it, and some people have gotten
there ready, and some people are judging people for being
too to life, and some of it is an injustice,
(27:18):
some of it is sweet. I just think it's a
male important experiences that maybe we need to find another
label for, because society is definitely going to give us
a label. That's one thing we can rely to. Sad,
your roles are so incredibly varied.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
You've played action pack blockbusters, You've been in intimate dramas.
What type of role are you still itching to explore?
Speaker 4 (27:45):
The first thing that comes to mind is the vixen.
I want to play some kind of like, I don't know,
deranged vixen, Like someone who's like doesn't quite have it
together in like the worst way, like dangerous, you.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Know what, you like?
Speaker 4 (28:03):
Don't talk to her, yeah, because she's she's not okay,
and believe her, she's not gonna be okay. That's all right.
Just let her do a think.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
I mean, you can do anything, you can literally do anything,
and I'll be there poping my popcorn watching you.
Speaker 1 (28:19):
Mm hmm thank you, Thank you so much for sharing
your time with us.
Speaker 4 (28:24):
Thank you. That was wonderful.
Speaker 1 (28:28):
Lashana Lynch is an actress, producer and the star of
the Day of the Jackal. You can watch all episodes
on peacock.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Now. That's it for today's show. Tomorrow. What's well this Wednesday?
Speaker 3 (28:42):
And we're talking all about people pleasing and had to
stop it with doctor Kathleen Smith. Join the conversation using
hashtag the bright Side and connect with us on social
media at Hello Sunshine on Instagram and at the bright
Side Pod on TikTok oh, and feel free to tag us,
add Simone Voice and add Danielle Robe.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Listen and follow The bright Side on the iHeartRadio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 3 (29:09):
See you tomorrow, folks, Keep looking on the bright side.
Host
Simone Boyce
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