MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION: ZOE ON DIVERSITY
AIt is extremely encouraging. I think that the more that we uplift and encourage young creatives, [the more it will reflect in stories]. ZOE RENEE, Actor
merican actor Zoe Renee feels lucky to explore Hollywood when it is churning out diverse stories with different perspectives. “When it comes to diversity, things are moving and changing in the right direction. And it goes on to show that we want to see different points of views,” Renee tells us.
“And that to me is extremely encouraging. I think that the more that we uplift and encourage young creatives, [the more it will reflect in stories]. We need stories like Master,” she adds, while referencing her last release, which tackles the issue of educational institutions being overshadowed by racism.
The 24-year-old actor stresses on the need for more such “necessary” stories. “Because it is something which is happening in different campuses all around the world,” Renee elaborates.
That’s why she is quite proud of her latest project, Master, which is helmed by director Mariama Diallo. “She and the whole team have been bold enough to tell this story because it isn’t the sexiest thing to see onscreen,” shares Renee, who has earlier done films like Jinn (2018) and Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase (2019).
Here, Diallo adds, “Sometimes change can be deceptive, something like in Master, when an institution which holds power in a nation like the US, creates an illusion of change when there is less genuine engagement with the actual issues at the core. So, there are both [instances], where in some corners, you see true revolutionary change being made, and there are other corners which are still stuck in the past ways.”*