If you just scan the summary or give the trailer a quick glance, The Hate U Give doesn’t sound like a heartwarming film at first. It follows Starr Carter, played by Amandla Stenberg, after she witnesses her childhood best friend Khalil getting shot and killed by a police officer during a traffic stop. The rest of the film follows her coping with the traumatic experience and figuring out what she stands for. But one of the biggest sources of comfort, laughter and guidance for her, is the rest of the Carter family.
Together the Carters laugh, they fight, they crack jokes, keep secrets and they smile radiant smiles in each other’s presence. You’d hardly think the actors weren’t related by blood.
According to TJ Wright, who plays the youngest member of the family, Sekani, that connection was as real behind the scenes as it was on-camera. Every scene he is in, Sekani is easily the character either setting or changing the tone, usually for the better. Sekani, whose name means ‘joy’, is as joyful as the 10-year-old actor bringing him to life. Wright has been acting since he was four, directing at seven and now, talking about his first feature film. Over the phone, his energy for this sort of work is unmistakable.
Sekani just clicked, no joke, just clicked to my personality and my character.
What made you want to audition for Sekani?
I just think the script was so funny, but at the same time just really loving and helpful. And Sekani just clicked, no joke, just clicked to my personality and my character.
I was gonna ask if there are similarities between you two?
Definitely. Sekani has it in his name, me not so much, but we’re both joyful, we both do jokes and we’re both pretty slick.
So, what was it like on-set? I saw an interview where you said people tended to joke around a lot.
Yeah, everyone on set loved music and it was crazy because everybody liked the same music so we all clicked through music and jokes and we would just laugh. And that would really help build the family characteristics through each one of us and helped us in the movie. So, it wasn’t just acting, it was real love.
Does any particular memory from set come to mind?
I think just the whole experience comes to mind because when you see The Hate U Give the movie, you don’t see behind the scenes. So, honestly, everything behind the scenes made everything look so real on camera and it was perfect.
The Hate U Give shows you that you can’t go off expectations, or what you see on TV, and you should be more open-minded about things that actually happen.
What was your favourite scene to shoot?
My favourite scene is my intense scene. The one at the end … It was just the night that everybody was supporting me and they were helping me push through it. My set-dad helped me. Russell Hornsby helped me get into the scene, not necessarily by getting mad at me, but screaming so that all that emotion could build up.
Did he give you any advice beforehand?
Not really advice, but it was more the love that helped me do it.
So, he kind of helped you get in the right frame of mind?
Definitely. He got me feeling like he was angry at me so it would help me set my mind track to what I was supposed to think of.
And what sorts of things did you learn from your co-stars? A lot of them have been in the game for so long.
I just think that they are really humble people so they taught me really to just be humble and don’t get off track with school and they always helped me balance acting with school and all that stuff.
So, this is your first big feature right, and you dance and direct. It feels like you’ve done so much and you’re only how old? Tell me a bit about how it was directing your own piece.
That was actually really fun, because when I was there I was only seven. And it was kind of funny slash weird because I was directing people older than me — which is also pretty cool to do. And it was just a cool way for me to gain my authority and my courage.
Why do you think it’s important for people to see The Hate U Give?
Because I feel like everybody doesn’t see the full story on the news or what happens. Or maybe they think somebody on the news was guilty or the victim was guilty, but it’s not always like that. So, The Hate U Give shows you that you can’t go off expectations, or what you see on TV, and you should be more open-minded about things that actually happen. The person might like the same food as you, the same shows as you. You have to think about that.
Photos courtesy of Natalie Norfus
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