Sometimes you’re thankful for the roles you pass up and regret the ones you take. In the case of Naturi Naughton-Lewis and Ryan Coogler, there’s one early film decision Naughton-Lewis wishes she could have had back.
During an appearance at the BFF Pop-Up in New York City, the actress/singer spoke on a panel exploring how artists can build financial confidence while staying faithful to their creative calling. Almost without hesitation, Naughton-Lewis reflected on her career’s “what ifs” and zeroed in on a missed opportunity to work with Coogler.
Coogler wanted Lewis to star in his short film “Fig,” long before “Fruitvale Station” catapulted him into stardom and then “Creed” took him to an entirely different stratosphere. Lewis was offered the role and was excited to join the cast, but her management intervened.
“He was really talented, and the script was really good,” Naughton-Lewis said. “They were paying me a day rate — maybe a couple hundred dollars, real talk. And John Singleton was his mentor at that time. I loved John. Twinkie Byrd was casting and told me, ‘You need to do this movie. He’s about to be the next one.’”
“[My team] were vehemently against it. They told me if I did it, they’d drop me,” she added. “They said it wasn’t a good look because I was about to do a series called ‘The Playboy Club.’ They said, ‘You have to maintain a certain prestige.’”
Ultimately, “Fig” went on to win top honors in the Short Film category at the American Black Film Festival and was nominated for Outstanding Independent Short Film at the Black Reel Awards.
The decision was sound for Naughton-Lewis; she was on the verge of a significant network TV role in “The Playboy Club.” The move made sense, particularly for a young actress who turned heads in the Notorious B.I.G. biopic “Notorious.”
Sadly, “The Playboy Club” was canceled after three episodes in 2011, and it would be three years before Naughton-Lewis caught on as a beloved TV actress on “Power.”
Still, she doesn’t look back at the missed opportunity with Coogler with much pain. The two ran into each other later in their careers and still share a laugh over “Fig.”
“I see Ryan all the time, and I’m like, ‘You know I’m ready! Whatever you need!’” she said. “I told him, ‘Forgive me for not doing your movie.’ And he was like, ‘No, I love you, I love you — I wanted you because I saw you in ‘Notorious.’”
“[Fig] was the launch of something,” Naughton-Lewis added. “You’ve got to get in early. That’s what I learned. Sometimes you just have to go ahead and do stuff, even when the money or the prestige doesn’t make sense yet.”
Watch a clip from “Fig” below.
