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In some ways, Brooklyn is a bit like Disneyland.
“You know the ‘It’s a Small World’ ride, where you go through all the different countries? That’s New York,” says Nicole Beharie, who returned to her Bed-Stuy and Clinton Hill stomping grounds while shooting “Love, Brooklyn” (now in theaters nationwide). “You can have a Michelin-star new chef restaurant next to a jerk chicken place and a Korean barbecue, and then there's the Orthodox community walking through the whole thing. I’m obsessed with it.”
“Love, Brooklyn” is a romantic dramedy and celebration of community, following a journalist named Roger (André Holland) who’s tasked with writing about his rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. Meanwhile, he’s caught in a love triangle of sorts with ex-girlfriend Casey (Beharie), an art gallery owner with whom he’s remained best friends, and his new lover Nicole (DeWanda Wise), a widow whose young daughter has grown attached to Roger.
The film achingly captures what it means to be in your late 30s in the city, when the romanticized notion of the struggling artist is no longer cute and you’re faced with real, adult decisions.
“It’s handled in a way that doesn’t feel too dark or heavy. It feels kind of like what life is,” Beharie says. The will-they-won’t-they dynamic between Roger and Casey is also “a very familiar, messy kind of thing. I know a few relationships like that, where you’re like, ‘Are they a thing? Are they best friends? Like, what is happening with them?’”
Reading Paul Zimmerman’s script, “I saw a Black, free-spirited, sharp, and whimsical character unlike any I had seen in a modern film before,” director Rachael Abigail Holder says. “Nicole, a brilliant actor who hasn’t had many opportunities to be funny and light on her feet, was a perfect match.” As an actress, “she finds the humanity in silence, the spaces between the words, and that subtle, quiet power was vital for the role.”
Beharie, 40, was born in West Palm Beach, Florida. Her dad was in the United States Foreign Service, and as a young girl, she lived in myriad places including Nigeria, Jamaica, the United Kingdom and Panama. After graduating from an arts high school in South Carolina, she moved to New York to attend the Juilliard School of Drama. It was during that time that she was introduced to Holland, then a New York University acting student. Together, they would practice monologues and share their dreams for the future.
“It’s one of the reasons why I wanted to do this film,” Beharie says. “There’s nothing more fun than working with your friends,” especially those who have “seen you from the beginning.”
After making her film debut in 2008’s “American Violet,” and leading Fox’s “Sleepy Hollow” for three seasons, Beharie gradually garnered attention with a series of critically acclaimed featured turns in Netflix’s “Black Mirror,” HBO’s “Scenes from a Marriage” and Apple TV+’s “The Morning Show.” She earned her first Emmy nomination last year for the latter, playing former Olympian-turned-news anchor Christine Hunter opposite Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon.
The drama’s fourth season premieres Sept. 17, and finds Christine struggling to balance her family and career after navigating workplace racism last season. To better understand Christine’s journey, she turned to Oscar winner Witherspoon, who was “very generous” in sharing her experiences with “mom guilt” as a mother of three working in Hollywood.
“She was like, ‘It never goes away,’” Beharie recalls. “When you’re working, you’re never not aware of where you could be or what you might be missing out on. But then, they still get it all done miraculously.” After her parents divorced, Beharie was raised by a single mom for much of her childhood “and I saw her navigating that kind of guilt as well.”
The actress could also relate to Christine’s ambition, given her steady work in film and TV for nearly two decades. “The carrot’s there; it’s dangling,” Beharie says. “You want to go after it and be successful and please people.” But it’s been a “constant” process of managing expectations and finding what fulfills her most.
“Even just last year, I was looking around and I was like, ‘I’ve got a lot of things cooking, which is a blessing. But I’m not sure I’ve been taking my vitamins or just making time to see my friends,’” Beharie says. While she loves her costars, “there’s nothing like the people who have nothing to do with your work. They just want to know, ‘How’s your mom? Did you do that thing? Let me see that armoire you said you were going to build.’”
Although she winces at the word “scene-stealer,” Beharie is grateful that her nuanced supporting performances have resonated with viewers. “I really love acting, so even if there isn’t much to do, I’m going to treat it like it’s the full meal,” she says. “I’m going to turn this thing over and analyze the heck out of it. And somehow, other human beings feel the layers.”
Beharie won best actress at the Gotham Awards for 2020’s “Miss Juneteenth,” and she says she is ready to take on another “great, big role” with “more dialogue.” Having played many Southern women and wives over the years, she is eager to do a project where she can pull from her diverse background and multicultural experiences.
“There are a number of different influences that I don’t get to use because that’s not what people have seen,” Beharie says. “In that way, I have other stories to tell. I don’t necessarily feel boxed in, but I feel like it’s my responsibility to make people aware of the other colors that are there to play with.” The challenge, she adds, is “to remain optimistic and to create.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nicole Beharie is a standout in all your favorite shows. Now she's taking center stage.
Reporting by Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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