Kat Graham, welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Trevor Noah, thank you for having me, kind of.
Um, you are one of the most talented people I know.
Easily. I mean, actress, uh, singer,
dancer, uh, you know, human rights activist.
And now, once again, you're embarking on a journey
that is sure to blow people's minds,
which is being a part of RZA's third film,
which seems like it's gonna be a blockbuster.
Because, I mean, the cast alone is crazy.
You're gonna be-- It's-It's T.I.,
Ethan Hawke, Shameik Moore.
Um, who-who am I forgetting? I-- Wesley Snipes.
-GRAHAM: Yeah. Yeah. -Terrence Howard.
-GRAHAM: Pretty beasty. Pretty bea-- Yeah, yeah. -Right?
Tell me a little bit about the movie
and what this experience has been like.
The movie was wild, because we actually shot it
in the Ninth Ward in New Orleans.
Uh, that was not something that I necessarily thought
was going to happen, but it really brought to life...
we're trying to make and the stories we were trying to tell.
It was right at home.
Um, working with RZA was so different,
because I had never worked with, um...
anyone like him.
-He's like a ninja, you know? And he... -(laughs)
And because he's an artist, too, you know,
you really get-- he really goes with the vibe.
You know? Sometimes directors over-direct.
He really, like, let us go with the flow.
-Right, right, right. -Yeah.
The story seems to be a heist movie.
You know? You think, "Oh, I'm getting into
a straight-up action movie."
But then you come to realize that almost, like,
one of the bad guys in the movie is Katrina.
We're dealing with people who are reacting to that disaster.
And although the story is set 15 years ago,
it feels, unfortunately,
really applicable to what's happening today.
We really, really focus
on the neglect
that happens within marginalized communities.
And you really see the parallel
of-of what is happening currently
and, you know, the Black community
not getting the kind of support,
not getting the kind of funding,
not getting even accountability,
um, given to them
for-for what they're experiencing.
And-and it just--
I'm so glad that I was a part of this movie.
Um, I feel like it really is gonna help a lot of people,
and I think it gives a lot of, um,
clarity to what a lot of communities are experiencing.
You-You're not just a performer.
You've always been somebody who has...
who has really spent a lot of time
working to bring to the fore
issues that communities around the world face.
You know? I-I first remember seeing your work
with, um, the UN Refugee Agency.
But as somebody who's been traveling around the world,
dealing with communities that have been decimated
in many ways,
what do you think we could be doing collectively right now
to help not just our immediate community
but people out there around the world,
where it feels like the situation is helpless?
You actually do a really great job of that,
um, because you're so international, too,
and also your background and you are biracial.
And I think where you come from really does play a huge part
in the journey that you take.
And, for me, you know,
on both sides of my family,
um, whether it's the Holocaust on my mom's side
or, you know, the Liberian Civil War on my father's side,
both of my grandparents were-were fleeing
and became refugees.
And, naturally, my devotion to the Refugee Agency,
I believe, stems from this place
of wanting to protect, uh, people,
because I needed protection,
my family needed protection.
Um, what's really important that we can all do is-is...
whether it's just following, um, the UNHCR
or just really paying attention to what's happening globally,
especially with COVID-19--
I mean, we're talking about South Sudan, Syria,
Yemen are on the-- people that are fleeing for their lives
are on the brink of starvation
because they are not getting, uh, access
to the kinds of support that they need right now.
So it's really important that we keep our focus
on remembering that we are all together in this,
um, and that we're all one community.
And changing the way people perceive refugees,
changing the stigma, changing the resettlement stigma,
you know, really working through that idea,
I think, is really important and valuable right now.
Crucial right now, really.
You-you recently did a, um... a Vogue Beauty Secrets video.
I try and watch those videos. I try and keep up
with contouring, to see what's happening in the world.
But was-- what I wasn't expecting
was to watch a video where, at the end,
all of a sudden, you flip it
and you turn this seemingly benign topic
into a conversation about Black women,
Black women's beauty,
how the industry has portrayed Black women,
and what we can do to protect
not just the-the image of Black beauty
but also the sanctity of being a Black woman
who has natural hair.
Please walk me through that process.
What-- Did you-- did you plan to trick us from the beginning?
You know, with everything that was going on,
that is going on currently in the world,
um, with all the racism
and, you know,
the lack of protection for Black women
and the lack of acceptance,
um, in Hollywood in a lot of ways,
of not really profiling, highlighting,
celebrating, you know, different kinds of Black women,
for me, you know, it wasn't until I actually started
to really accept myself and-and really understand
what would make me tick and what would make me move
was I actually coming into my own power.
I think if you accept if you come from a difficult childhood,
if you-- if you accept that you come from, um,
a-a broken home, if you accept that you come from,
um, an industry that tells you that you are not Black enough
but you're also not white enough,
that you fit in everywhere and you fit in nowhere
and you understand that that is something
that you have to walk with,
then you have just a different kind of power.
You have a different kind of voice.
You know? And I want to be a voice for the voiceless.
That's why I'm working with the Refugee Agency.
That's why I'm doing films like Cut Throat City.
And, um, you know,
I-I hope that, even through my fashion,
even though sometimes fashion can seem so trivial,
that I can actually-- I can do something with it, you know?
Inspire some-some girl to be out with your fro.
I think you're doing that and much, much more.
Kat Graham, thank you so much for joining me on the show.
Thank you.