Lily Cowles chats about learning from the friendship, activism and microaggressions present in her upcoming thriller film, Antebellum.
After Coronavirus-related delays kept Antebellum from its original theatrical release in April, the Lionsgate thriller is finally making its grand debut through VOD on September 18. The socially-conscious horror film, from directorial duo Bush and Renz, depicts the horrors of slavery in the Antebellum South and juxtaposes them with those faced by successful author Veronica (Janelle Monáe) in the present.
But the film is not a nonstop fright fest, and Veronica does get the chance to spend time with her best friends, Dawn (Gabourey Sidibe of Empire) and Sarah. Lily Cowles plays Sarah, a carefree woman who loves to have fun and loves her friends fiercely, even if she doesn't always understand their struggles.
Cowles spoke to Screen Rant about how she and her costars brought out the natural levity and loyalty in the material, as well as what she personally learned about microaggressions in daily life through her work on the movie.
How did you first join the project and what drew you to the story?
Lily Cowles: Well, I was sent the script by my manager. I was originally auditioning for the role that Jena played, which was a very different kind of role. I read the script, and it was it was harrowing. It was so moving and impacted me so deeply that I sat down on the couch and I did not move a single muscle until I finished. Then I got up and called my manager, and I said, "What do I have to do to become part of this project? Because it's so incredible."
At that point, I think Jena was in the works to be signed on. They cast a wide net, but I'd heard there was an offer out. I auditioned anyway, and there must have been something in the tape that they responded to because they asked me to come back in for Sarah.
I had a meeting with Gerard about this, but Sarah was a character that felt very close to myself. She's very well-educated, smart, funny, goofy, and fun - I could relate to her on that level. Actually, the character of Sarah was a lot easier to get to than if I had played the other role, which would have required going to a very dark place and taking on something that's an enormous amount of responsibility. And Jena did a phenomenal job with it, so I'm very happy with the way things turned out.
But that was kind of how we got together; how it all began. I just knew immediately when I read the script that it was going to be something extremely impactful and powerful, and I knew that I wanted to be a part of it.
Even though Sarah doesn't take you to that dark place, she's crucial to really developing Veronica as a fully realized woman. What was it like for you building that camaraderie on set with Janelle and Gabourey?
Lily Cowles: We didn't have much time to do it, because you get there, you meet the person, you do a camera test, and then it's on. And that was the extent of what we had before, but [Janelle] took me aside right as we were getting ready and said, "Let's just find it. We're best friends. There's an intimacy that exists between us, let's just find it."
I learned so much from her and from Gabourey Sidibe, who played Dawn. Both of these women worked in such an open hearted and curious and fluid way; it was not stuck by the structure of what it needed to be or needed to look like, or what was on the page. There was this ability to play and explore, and I think in doing that, we found immediately those warm parts of ourselves that were responding to each other.
There's something alchemical that happens when two people need. As an actor, you can't choose who you get to work with. Sometimes you're like, "Oh boy, I have to pretend like this person is my best friend?" But trust me, you want Janelle Monáe as your best friend. You really want Gabby Sidibe as your best friend. They're so funny, and the generosity with which they work is exactly how we got to that place so quickly. Gabby herself is the funniest person I've ever met. She's such an empath, and she's just glowing - she was just riffing. Every take, she had a new hysterical thing that we were all [laughing at].
Everything that you see on camera, it's not any kind of acting. She was taking us by surprise; every time, we were discovering something new. And I think that's how we got so close. It was really just the talent of the women that I was working with that I think brought us to that place. I'm very grateful to have been able to work with them.
You've mentioned the microaggressions present in the dinner scene, in terms of how Veronica and Dawn are treated just for being black women. Was that something you were aware of before stepping into the role, or did Antebellum make you more socially aware in that sense?
Lily Cowles: I think, for sure, I learned from that. I think probably, like Sarah, there are a microaggressions that I'm aware of and ones that I'm not aware of. I think that she herself experiences this. Gerard and Chris did such a brilliant job of making it so nuanced that this modern, educated, quote-unquote "woke" woman would pick up on certain things and not other things.
And I think that's the case for so many of us. When it's right in front of your face, and you see your friends responding, you're like, "Oh! There's something not right here. Wait a second, that is wrong." But on the other hand, they're sitting at the table and Veronica's talking about her room being messy, and that just goes right over Sarah's head. She's just like, "That's so weird. My room's great." Because her attention doesn't have to be there, because she lives a life where that isn't a reality that's present.
It's the same for me. I'm sure that there are moments that I have been completely unaware of things that are going on, just because it's not in my everyday lexicon to be aware of them. I haven't had to be. And on the flip side, there are probably things that I get away with that, and that I just take for granted as being just the way the world is. I think it's a great character to have in the film, because she is a friend, she is an ally, and yet she's also an imperfect friend and an imperfect ally. She's someone who's, I think, representative of so many of us, who are on a journey. You hope that people watch this film and say, "I can do better, I can learn. I can grow from this."
Between Antebellum and Roswell, New Mexico, you seem to very much like your entertainment with a side of social justice. Is that something that you actively look for in your projects, or do you just happen to be blessed with them?
Lily Cowles: I think that I respond to those projects. I think I read a script like that, and there's something that happens makes my heart flutter and moves my soul. There's something that happens when I audition for something that I feel really passionate about that probably makes me more likely to book it.
Also, I'm a giant woman, I have this deep voice - there aren't a lot of roles that I'm going to be going up for where I'm not playing a powerful woman. I feel that my instrument, in and of itself, reads as a powerful woman. There aren't a lot of other roles that I think I would be cast as - maybe as a villain. It's possible; I did go up the other role, and I'd love to play a villain. I have no problem going dark, that would be great. But I think in general, the strong women that I've been blessed to play are a factor of my soul responding a certain way, and also just the nature of the instrument that I work with.
Antebellum becomes available exclusively On Demand September 18.
