An Evening With…'Pariah'

At ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood on Dec. 7, following a screening of "Pariah," actors Adepero Oduye, Kim Wayans, and Aasha Davis, producer Nekisa Cooper, and writer-director Dee Rees participated in a Q&A for Back Stage readers and SAG members.

"Pariah" is a coming-of-age film about a 17-year-old African-American girl with a knack for poetry who struggles with tension in her family as she slowly embraces her identity as a lesbian. About newcomer Oduye's audition for the lead role of Alike, Rees said, "It was very important that the character had an outsider perspective, an outside experience, and Adepero was able to tap into that feeling of isolation and really bring it to the character. From the moment she walked in the room, she was in the zone. She didn't say too much. She just went into it, and she just had it."

On the positive response the film has received since its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Rees said, "This is a universal film. It's about identity, and everyone can relate to that. You can strip away the sexuality, you can strip away the race—it's about how to be yourself and not check a box."