Jussie Smollett is on a mission to tell inclusive stories.
From his groundbreaking role in Lee Daniels’ Empire to directing the film adaptation of our beloved B-Boy Blues by James Earl Hardy to his latest film, The Lost Holliday, in which he serves as executive producer, director, composer, and star, Smollett is all in on representation.
The Lost Holliday is a rom-com meets dramedy about two Black gay men, a baby, and a fierce (and evolved) mother-in-law played by the legendary Vivica A. Fox. This holiday film (the title spells Holliday with two lls and is based on Fox’s character’s last name) delves into the intolerance and acceptance of queer sexual identity in the Black family. It’s complicated and nuanced, but Smollett normalizes it with a beautifully written script, stellar directing, and award-winning acting.
Vivica Fox EATS.
The film (opening in select AMC theaters nationwide today) is receiving critical acclaim and is being described as an instant classic.
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On the eve of The Lost Holliday’s release, Smollett sat down with Native Son to talk about his love of rom-coms and dramedies, why Vivica A. Fox is an icon, and the importance of love, forgiveness, and grace.
Native Son: How did the film The Lost Holliday come about?
Jussie Smollett: Believe it or not, it came to light about eight years ago. I was at a Christmas party and just started thinking about everything. Well, you know, Emil, because you’re my friend. But not a lot of people know that I lost my dad on the day that Empire first aired on television. And it was interesting because the grief that I was dealing with was confusing to navigate. Grief comes in waves, right? One minute, you’re crying; the next minute, you’re happy about something; and the next minute, you’re feeling guilty about being happy. If you have successes that happen, you can feel guilty about feeling great about those successes.
You can even resent those successes at a certain point. I didn’t know what to do with my grief, and even coming up on a decade, it’s a thing. And the only thing I know how to do is just put it into my work because it’s probably the most therapeutic thing, besides an actual therapist—which we celebrate. I just started thinking about my mom—number one. There were so many things that I was thinking about. How would I tell a story about grief while trying to find joy and setting the holiday season as the backdrop? I just started thinking of all the moments when people lost someone and could not make amends while the person was still here. And I also thought about my mother, who married into a family as a Black woman, married into a non-black family. And it was not always easy for her.
My mom and dad weren’t together any longer when he passed, but watching the bond that’s somehow been created between her and my grandmother, his mother, was kind of the bones of what my character Jason and Cassandra, played by the amazing Vivica A. Fox, was based on. But then pushing it further, being that I am a Black man who was thinking of my mentors and my, you know, my ancestors who had been here prior. Anyone from age 50 and up who had possibly lost their loved one or was rejected from the family if that person had passed away and really kind of extracted from that person’s legacy. I think about that. What would that all mean? How would I be able to pay homage to them?
Native Son: Why is it essential to tell black rom-com stories about Black gay love, parenting, and family dynamics?
Jussie Smollett: I grew up watching these films and not seeing myself in them, but seeing myself in them. Because of that, I know that people can handle it. I know that people are ready for it. I grew up loving movies. I love romantic comedies. I love family dramedies. I loved Pretty Woman, Boomerang, The Sound of Music, and Steel Magnolias. Poetic Justice, to me, was an incredible romantic dramedy.
I grew up with all of these films, and I didn’t see anybody who was same-gender loving. However, I still identified with those stories because I identified with love, I identified with loss, and I identified with family joy and sadness. I say this often, and I think I said this to you before in one of our million and one panels that we’ve done together: if I had specific representation when I was a kid when I was 8, 12, 15, 19, 25, I probably would’ve had a different understanding of who I was and who I could be very much earlier on.
So representation is essential—there’s not some crazy ulterior motive attached to it. It simply is that I believe that we should be allowed to see people that are like us and people that are not. I think that it’s the way that we, as a world, but mainly as a country, is the way that we can keep moving. You know, to sit down with people and have conversations where you’re not talking to each other but talking to each other. I always say this: it’s the world that I know, and I’m a storyteller. I’m creative so those are the stories that I wanna see.
Native Son: Vivica A. Fox. Period.
Jussie Smollett: There is no one quite like Vivica A. Fox. I’ve been blessed to have some of the most incredible scene partners ever, and she’s the top. She’s so unselfish. I had the fortune to direct her to Empire, but I didn’t get to work with her one-on-one. Our characters didn’t cross paths too much, but I’ve known her since I was eight. I met her on the set of Out All Night, the show that she did with Patti LaBelle, Morris Chestnut, and Dwayne Martin. My little sister, Jurnee, was a guest star on the show, and that’s when I first met her. And wow!
She ended up getting close to the family and coming to my mom’s house for fish fries. Then she played my auntie on Empire, and I had the opportunity to direct her in one of my favorite scenes, which was with Tasha Smith, Alfre Woodard, and Taraji P. Henson. It was beautiful to direct her, but I didn’t get a chance to act with her. So, I didn’t know what kind of scene partner she was. And she’s the type that is so unselfish that she gives you everything, if not more, on your coverage than she did on hers. She’s also an executive producer on the film. She did not take that role lightly; she gave her notes and opinions, which were welcomed. They were terrific notes and opinions. So she is, she’s called an icon. I feel so happy that, lately, she’s getting the flowers that she truly deserves. People recognize that she’s an icon, a legend, and has always been the moment. I love her. I’m forever grateful for her.
Native Son: You directed Empire, but this is your second feature film directing. B-Boy Blues, you weren’t on screen. But on The Lost Holliday, you’re also the leading man. What’s the difference between directing and being a star in the film versus just directing?
Jussie Smollett: It was more difficult when I was directing myself on Empire, but I remember the first episode that I did. They were great because they ensured that I wasn’t in many scenes for that. I could have that focus on directing. And then, I was in many scenes in the second episode I directed. That was a bit more trying, but we also had a big budget, so it was different. We didn’t have a budget for this film to do things like playback. And, you know, it was kind of a test in trusting yourself and also trusting the people around you that you got it.
I remember the big scene in the kitchen with Vivica and Marquis Vilson. I only got to do my part once because we were about to lose the day, so we had to shut down. I remember being like, should I do this again? Vivica just jumping in and being like, no, ‘Trust yourself. It was great. Trust yourself; it was wonderful. And move on. And we did. Then I got into the edit, and thank goodness it was good because it was just a matter of trusting yourself. It forced me to trust myself a little bit more and goes into everything I do personally, professionally, and everything in between.
Native Son: What do you want people to feel when seeing The Lost Holliday?
Jussie Smollett: I don’t want to tell them what to feel, but I hope they feel some form of love. I hope that they recognize that I’ve tried this with every single character that I’ve played and every project that I’ve been a part of, and now that I’m blessed to be able to create original projects. I want us to see that we’re much more alike than we’re not. So many people have stopped me and told me about characters that I played, or even just talking about B-Boy Blues, how they completely identify with that story of being in love, being confused in love, being happy in love, being frustrated in love. All of those things we identify with, we can understand. We can walk in someone else’s shoes to try and understand them.
I hope that we learn a little bit of grace. My whole thing is I’m not a pastor. I’m not here to preach. I’m here to hold up a mirror as an artist and just be like, yo, so which character in this do you identify with and why? You know, that’s really what our job is. It’s not my job is not to, to beat someone over the head with it and say, this is what you should believe. It’s simply to say when I look at a piece of art, it means something to me, but what it means to you might not be the same. But if we got something out of it, then mission accomplished. So I hope that people feel love. I hope that they feel forgiveness, and I hope that they call somebody up that maybe they’ve been estranged from and make it right because I genuinely believe that it’s never too late to make amends and make up with someone that you truly love and love can change everything.
But I also think that we shouldn’t wait until we have to talk to them from the other side; we should try to talk to them while we’re here.
