Zoë Kravitz could relate to her Big Little Lies character in more ways than one.
Like Bonnie Carlson, the Batman actress felt like an outsider in the sleepy town of Monterey, Calif., where the HBO series was filmed. "There were a few moments where I felt a little uncomfortable," she told The Guardian in an interview published Sunday, March 6, "because it is such a white area."
When pressed for details on her experience, she said there were "just weird racist people in bars and things like that."
In the series, directed by the late Jean Marc-Vallée, multiple characters treated the much-younger Bonnie with contempt over her relationship with Nathan Carlson (James Tupper), ex-husband of queen bee Madeline Mackenzie (Reese Witherspoon). She was isolated from the rest of the mothers, and Zoë noted that she was drawn to the role because of its complexities, adding that the role "was originally written for a white person."
In contrast, Zoë said she has been approached with other projects that are centered around her race, adding, "All the scripts that were being sent were about the first Black woman to make a muffin or something."
"Even though those stories are important to tell," she continued, "I also want to open things up for myself as an artist."
Zoë noted that she was emboldened to take risks by her parents Lenny Kravitz and Lisa Bonet, who taught her "that despite the color of my skin I should be able to act or dress or do whatever it is I want to do."
They set the example for her by "being artists who didn't act or dress or look or sound the way a Black person was supposed to act in terms of what white people specifically were comfortable with," she explained.
However, her upbringing didn't make her immune to the pressure to societal pressures and expectations. "I was uncomfortable with my blackness," she reflected, adding, "It took me a long time to not only accept it but to love it and want to scream it from the rooftops."
Now, the actress refuses to look to other for approval, saying, "It's dangerous to start caring about what other people are going to think, or what they do think."