Has anyone had a bigger calendar year than Lena Waithe? From her groundbreaking Emmy win for “Master of None,” creating and executive producing TV’s best new show, “The Chi,” to her role in Steven Spielberg’s upcoming “Ready Player One,” she’s squarely in the driver’s seat.
She plays ‘Aech’ in the futuristic VR blockbuster, a tech-wizard and giver-of-advice to gawky protagonist Wade Watts aka Parzival. Waithe is funny as hell, her delivery easy and cool. Amongst the huge set pieces and gangbusters visual effects, she cuts through the din by being discernibly human.
She sat down with The Knockturnal to talk about her 80s obsessions, tripping over virtual set-pieces and the thrill of filming her first ever movie role.
The Knockturnal: Congratulations on another big moment in your career.
Lena Waithe: Thank you, brother.
The Knockturnal: Was this always part of the plan? Did you picture yourself being in a big Spielberg movie?
Lena Waithe: I did not. I wish it was a part of the plan; I’d feel really proud of myself [laughs]. No, it was a part of God’s plan. No, I never dreamed that up. I always loved movies and loved television, and I loved writing. My biggest dream was to be a television writer and create my own show one day. So I’m grateful to have accomplished that dream and that goal. But I think God had a bigger plan for me to be in front of the camera. And I’m really thankful to these amazing casting directors that saw something in me that I didn’t even see in myself, like Allison Jones who mentioned me to Aziz to be in Master of None. Ellen Lewis and Leslee Feldman who saw my picture and said this girl should come in and read, and then Steven saw the tape and said ‘she should be ‘Aech’ in Ready Player One. I’m really grateful to God and these amazing women who really have a gift who work in casting.
The Knockturnal: Speaking of appearing on camera, you don’t appear in this movie for awhile.
Lena Waithe: Well I’m there the whole time, but I’m hiding in plain sight.
The Knockturnal: What was it like seeing your video game avatar for the first time.
Lena Waithe: It was really cool. I got to see sketches when we were filming, which was really helpful for me. Then when I saw it all animated and done on the big screen, I was like ‘Wow man. These cats are really talented.’ I remember being in the Velcro bodysuit with the dots on my face; you don’t know how it’s going to turn out. But it really is phenomenal to watch. I think for me, Olivia, Tye, everybody – we remember doing all these movements and saying all these things. But to see an animated version of it; it’s kind of nutty. Because it’s so well-done, it’s so seamless, and people really are a little fooled. They can’t tell like ‘who the heck is that?’. So it’s quite nice to see the completed product.
The Knockturnal: Yeah, I didn’t know.
Lena Waithe: That’s dope! So you were genuinely surprised when you saw me. That’s great.
The Knockturnal: So obviously this movie is big on 80;s nostalgia. What were you into growing up?
Lena Waithe: I was born in ’84, so a lot of 80s stuff I wasn’t coherent enough to know what was poppin. But a lot of that stuff trickled into the 90s or I just kind of went back and found it. I’m a big Whitney Houston fan, who burst onto the scene in the 80s. Love Michael Jackson who kind of found his solo legs in the 80s as well. And I really love Breakfast Club, big Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fan, so even though I was a 90s kid, I could really relate to the 80s stuff. Cause a lot of it started in the late 80s which was really nice.
The Knockturnal: So this is your first movie dealing with big huge [special effects]…
Lena Waithe: It’s my first movie period.
The Knockturnal: I did not know that.
Lena Waithe: Not a bad way to kick it off.
The Knockturnal: What was it like acting against nothing sometimes, or wearing that Geordi La Forge visor?
Lena Waithe: It was tough, I can’t lie. Just because I’m looking at an empty space [laughs]. But Steven held all of our hands the whole way. There were times he’d say ‘ok don’t walk through the couch, that’s the door there’, so that was really helpful, and sometimes we would use the goggles just to get a sense of space and time and where everything is. We had to lean on the crew and Steven a ton because we’re like puppets on the stage and don’t know where anything is. But the live action stuff was really fun, but also we shot that on film. So if you messed up a take they had to be like ‘stop, reload.’ So it was really cool, cause half the movie we’re really dealing with this new technology which is really fascinating, and the other half is all old school. It’s where film began. I really like that Steven did that. You kind of get the beginning and where film is going. But it was a lot of fun. I had a great time, and I think that’s cause Steven makes it an adventure every day.
Ready Player One hits theaters on March 29!
