The following article and video are sponsored by MGM Studios.
“We were all drawn to this script because we felt it was a story that wanted to be told—and one we wanted to tell,” says Jeffrey Wright, the Oscar- and SAG Award–nominated star of “American Fiction.” “We wanted to create an environment where we [could] come together, at least for the two hours the movie is showing, and gather around these issues—and at the same time, have a laugh, even [if we] laugh at ourselves as we do it.”
In a new Q&A video, Wright and other members of the immensely talented ensemble discuss why they felt compelled to bring this complex story to life. “American Fiction” takes on big conversations about race and culture in America, while also telling the story of the movie’s central family with humor and heart.
Adapted from Percival Everett’s novel “Erasure,” Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut is a satirical exploration of the exploitation of Black culture in film, publishing, and academia. After being told his work isn’t “Black enough,” author Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Wright) pens a novel parodying stereotypes found in contemporary Black literature. When the book is an unexpected success, he must reckon with his newfound fame while also attempting to reconnect with his family.
In one particularly touching scene, Monk’s newly out brother, Cliff—played by Oscar and SAG Award nominee Sterling K. Brown with devastating tenderness—implores the intransigent Monk to let people “love all of him.” This is an example of the tenderness that can be found throughout the film—an element that has brought audiences from a variety of backgrounds together in cinemas.
The movie has garnered five Academy Award nods, plus three SAG nominations for male actor in a leading role (Wright), male actor in a supporting role (Brown), and performance by a cast in a motion picture.
Wright attributes the movie’s critical success to the ensemble’s shared enthusiasm for the material. “The best part of working in film is that it’s collaborative—and the worst part of working on a film is that it’s collaborative,” he says. “The collection of people that we gathered around this film was so together, so equally passionate about telling the story.”
For Brown, what makes “American Fiction” special is its ability to dissect so many facets of the human experience—race, diversity, identity, inclusion—without offering easy answers.
“To spend more time contemplating the question and less time trying to get to an answer, per se, may be something we can collectively embrace,” the actor says. “Because when we’re not so sure, we listen. When you are sure, it cuts you off from hearing anyone else’s perspective on something. The invitation to that conversation, to that dialogue, I think is more important than any one particular answer.”
Leslie Uggams, who plays the Ellison matriarch, Agnes, has been a multihyphenate screen and stage performer for seven decades. She reminds everyone that in addition to being a whip-smart, audacious look at modern storytelling, “American Fiction” is also “funny as hell!”