video interview: the cast and black women behind the film “everything, everything” get real on representation, gender and love

The latest romantic drama from Warner Bros. and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, “Everything, Everything”, is different from most young adult love stories you may have seen on the big screen. Directed by Stella Meghie and based on the bestselling book of the same name by Nicola Yoon, “Everything, Everything” was made possible by a powerhouse team of Black women (and one non-binary star in Amandla Stenberg), and is as unlikely a tale as it is moving.

The film centers on Maddy (Stenberg), an imaginative 18-year-old who can’t leave the protection of her hermetically sealed home due to an extreme immune disease, and Olly (Nick Robinson), the boy next door who won’t let that stop them. “Everything, Everything” also stars Ana de la Reguera (“Sun Belt Express”) and Anika Noni Rose (“Dreamgirls”) as Maddy’s mother.

I had the pleasure of sitting down with all four talented stars along with Meghie and Yoon to talk more about their vision for the film, what it means for women of color and particularly Black women to be telling stories like these, navigating gender in Hollywood, and the film’s dope ass soundtrack. Check out the three interviews below!

By Hari Ziyad*, AFROPUNK Writer

Stella Meghie and Nicola Yoon on Black women storytellers, adapting from film to televison, and the role of music in film:

Amandla Stenberg and Nick Robinson on Black/white love stories, non-binary identity in Hollywood, and millennial communication:

Anika Noni Rose and Ana De La Reguera on making complex characters work, and why the stories of mothers of color are important today:

“Everything, Everything” is in theaters May 19th.

FACEBOOK: facebook.com/EverythingEverythingMovie/

TWITTER: twitter.com/everythingfilm

INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/everythingeverythingfilm/

*Hari Ziyad is a New York based storyteller and writer for AFROPUNK. They are also the editor-in-chief of RaceBaitR, deputy editor of Black Youth Project, and assistant editor of Vinyl Poetry & Prose. You can follow them on Twitter @hariziyad.