British actress Lashana Lynch has said she has learnt to speak up for herself after spending years “people-pleasing”.
The 36-year-old, who has starred in blockbuster The Woman King and Bond film No Time To Die, plays MI6 agent Bianca in the upcoming drama The Day Of The Jackal.
Reflecting on her character’s ambitious nature in an interview with Tatler magazine, she said a lot of black women are fearful of acting this way in case they are perceived as “being difficult”.
She told the magazine: “Bianca is a version of a lot of us that we’d want to be, but maybe we’d be scared of being.
“I think generally, a lot of us black women have a fear of being difficult. I don’t think that she wears that fear at all.
“I think she has learnt to utilise it so that she can get what she wants, which is a skill we as black women aren’t taught.”
As she has gotten older, Lynch said she has learnt to be more firm on her boundaries.
“Truly speaking up for myself and saying ‘no’ with just a full stop is new for me”, she said.
“Somewhere in my childhood, I developed a real love for people-pleasing. It’s always made me feel good.
“And now that I’ve arrived on the other side, I genuinely look back and think, how did I cope? I am grateful that I’ve arrived at a place the last couple of years where I genuinely don’t care.”
Lynch also acts as co-executive producer on the project, which stars Oscar-winning actor Eddie Redmayne, as she felt protective over how the story was told.
“I saw it as my responsibility – and also a privilege – to be able to direct [Bianca] in a really careful, calm, explored and respectful way”, she added.
Her acting credits over the years including TV series Still Star-Crossed, portraying Maria Rambeau in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Captain Marvel, MI6 agent Nomi in the 2019 James Bond film No Time to Die and Dahomey warrior Izogie in 2022 epic The Woman King.
In 2022, she won the Bafta rising star award – previously won by stars including James McAvoy, Shia LaBeouf, Kristen Stewart, Tom Hardy, Tom Holland and Daniel Kaluuya.
Reflecting on what success feels like to her, she said: “When I genuinely feel like I’ve done ‘the thing’, even if no-one else feels like I’ve done it.
“And that is quite hard to do when you’re in an industry that calls for external validation.
“But even if everyone’s like, ‘I didn’t think that was very good’, if I thought it was really good, then I’m content.”
The full feature is available in the November issue of Tatler via digital download and on newsstands from October 3.
