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Anna Diop

stars in film

NANNY

Each acting role gently tugs on Anna Diop as she unravels with each project, revealing threads of herself that weave their way into her work. She calls her most recent role as Aisha in Nanny, written and directed by Nikyatu Jusu, a “love letter” to her mom, an immigrant and domestic worker. Aisha, who emigrated from Senegal to New York City, is hired to take care of an affluent couple’s daughter in hopes of making enough money to bring her son to The United States. West African folklore creatures like siren deity, Mami Wata, and cunning spider, Anansi, weave an intricate web of psychological chaos that Aisha begins to desperately untangle. As Aisha disentangles the web to find what is deep seated at her core, Diop pulls from threads of childhood memories like the doll hair strands she tells us her mother would entwine into box braids and cornrows. Nanny released in select theaters on November 23, 2022 and will be available for streaming on Prime Video on December 16th. In our interview with Diop, we talk about feeling grounded, rebirth, childhood memories, and manifestation!

Jacket: Dolce & Gabbana Skincare: Retrouve

Before getting into your role as Aisha specifically, I want to bring up some themes from the film and have you relate them to yourself. The first thing that struck me about the film is the color palette with joyful warm tones when Aisha is in her African community and cooler tones at her workplace. Do you feel like you gravitate toward a particular color palette?

I’ve been looking for a home recently, and in touring homes, I have found I really love the homes with ‘masculine’ color palettes: earthy but in darker tones – dark charcoal and rich, dark wood. They’ve made me feel centered, grounded, and at peace which is something I long for as of late because I’ve been traveling and working so much. So, at the moment, I’m very attracted to peaceful, grounding colors.

Bodysuit, leggings & heels: Saint Laurent F22 Coat, dress, & heels: Saint Laurent F22

You’ve said many times that the film, for you, is like a love letter to your mom who has a very similar story to Aisha as an immigrant and domestic worker. Is there any vivid memory you can share from your childhood that speaks to the relationship you have with your mom?

My mother braided hair for many years after we arrived to the States. It was not something she did back home in Senegal, but she wanted to earn extra money, so she bought a human-sized doll head – one of the ones you purchase at the beauty supply store – to practice doing hairstyles on. It used to scare the s*** out of me at times. My little brother and I would use it to play pranks on each other. She would practice different braiding styles on the doll: cornrows, singles, and box braids. After she got really good with the doll, she braided my hair. Then she started getting clients – the first of which were a few of the girls I went to school with. So that doll head and her work ethic during those first few years are vivid memories.

Jacket: Dolce & Gabbana

Bodysuit, leggings & heels: Saint Laurent F22

You said in another interview that you remember visiting your mother at some of the homes she worked in, and you noticed that she couldn’t fully be herself in those spaces. As an actor you are constantly shifting workplaces. In what spaces do you feel most like yourself?

Oddly, I feel most like myself when I’m acting. It is when I am the most vulnerable version of myself when I am with others.

Coat & dress: Saint Laurent F22 Skincare: Retrouve

With the water theme in the film, there also comes a theme of rebirth. Has there been a moment in your life that felt sort of like a rebirth?

Every role feels a little like a rebirth. Each role asks something different of you – to be more menacing, softer spoken, more gentle, or less apologetic, whatever it may be. In trying to find yourself in those roles, you unravel and release a part of yourself. That experience, that practice can feel a bit like a rebirth.

Dress & heels: Saint Laurent F22 Dress & heels: Saint Laurent F22

I was reading an interview with Nikyatu Jusu, and she said that there was a lot of improv on set and room for exploration. Is there any particular improv moment or exploration moment you can share?

We filmed in New York which is an unpredictable place to film. There is a scene with Sinqua Walls who plays Malik in the film where he and I are walking down a street in Harlem around 9PM. During our second or third take, a man from across the street decided to try to get our attention. He had a bit to drink and just started shouting, singing, and dancing. You do not see him in the shot, but you can definitely hear him. It was pretty funny and so we rolled with it and Nikyatu kept it in the film.

Jacket, suspenders, stockings, heels & sunglasses: Dolce & Gabbana Jacket, suspenders, stockings, heels & sunglasses: Dolce & Gabbana

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Bodysuit, leggings & heels: Saint Laurent F22

You said in another interview that you tend to be over-analytical in life and in work. Did you find yourself being too analytical about this role at any point or in any recent role?

Yes, but you don’t know that you are being overly analytical until it is all done and over with. At which point you learn there were some things you did not need to stress so much over, and you hopefully take that lesson to your next project and then (hopefully) eventually get to a point where you are less and less unnecessarily stressed about certain things. I am still very much working on that.

Bodysuit, leggings & heels: Saint Laurent F22

You put on your Instagram story that a little girl walked up to you at one of the Nanny screenings and bear hugged you which I think is so adorable! What has the film’s reception so far felt like to you?

Humbling. And incredibly moving. You do not always know that people will care about the things you care so deeply about. In the case of Nanny – the story and plight of Aisha is something that means and has always meant a great deal to me. To have other people respond with care and appreciation for it is moving.

Dress & heels: Saint Laurent F22

Jacket, suspenders, stockings, heels & sunglasses: Dolce & Gabbana Dress: Saint Laurent F22

Nikyatu tweeted in 2018 that she wanted the universe to hear her wish to work with you! So, in the spirit of manifesting, what are you wishing for in 2023?

Love this. Work that lights me up, inspires and challenges me. And a partner – kind, intelligent, honest, and gorgeous.