Laverne Cox reveals how she cultivated her character for ‘Bad Hair’

The hilarious horror flick is streaming now on Hulu.

Oct 27, 2020

Bad Hair is currently heating up Hulu just in time for Halloween. The hilarious horror-satire from Justin Simien attracted tons of talented actors, including Laverne Cox.

Famous faces also appearing in the movie are Elle Lorraine, Lena Waithe, Kelly Rowland, Blair Underwood, Chanté Adams, Vanessa Williams, Jay Pharoah, and Usher, among others, is an unconventional offering that has tons of depth despite the unbe-weavable premise.

Laverne Cox and Elle Lorraine in ‘Bad Hair.’ (Hulu)

The wild plot and over-the-top gore in the film may be front and center, but lurking just below the surface is a real thought-provoking commentary about oppression and white supremacy and the ways in which those intentions can covertly conquer a culture.

“That is the power of art and I think that’s the power of a moment. I remember when I got this script, I read it in about 90 minutes or so and was just blown away,” Cox told theGrio in an exclusive interview.

“I re-read it because I was like, there’s just there’s so much depth to it. I was just so excited to work with Justin and to tell this story on the horror of white supremacy,” Cox continued. “I think it’s so fitting that there have been so many horror films lately that kind of deal with white supremacy, and to center that around on Black women’s hair feels really prescient and feels like something that I’ve never seen before, and that is absolutely necessary.”

While the main villain in the flick is a bloodthirsty weave, Cox’s character, Virgie, has a lot to do with the chaos caused by the lead character Anna’s (Elle Lorraine) desire to fit in.

“It was fun; the preparation for me, because there’s not a lot on the page. Justin and I did have some conversations about who she might be and her backstory, so it was fun filling in all the blanks,” she explains.

“I worked with my acting coach, Kimberly Harris, on filling in the blanks. I did a character private moment for the first time in years for Virgie. We did a character bio and we did all this work to sort of fill in the blanks of who she is so that their approach to her wouldn’t be obvious. Justin didn’t want because there some conventional horror things we could have gone with Virgie that we really tried to stay away from. And so just the whole process and then getting on set and working with Elle, who plays Anna, was just such a joy. She is an insanely gifted young actress who I think has an incredible bright future ahead.”

Bad Hair is streaming now on Hulu.

Check out the full interview above.

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