I think everyone should work on a movie set, it's like camp.
And you realise how different you are but also how much you have in common.
In 2017 Lena Waithe made history when she became
the first African American woman to win an emmy
for oustanding comedy writing for Master of none.
She is an actor, a director, a writer.
Since then she's launched her own brand new show,
she's been actively giving women and queer voices opportunities on set and in writers rooms.
And in some spare time
she also starred in this new blockbuster by Steven Spielberg called Ready Player one.
Lena has gone from being a sitcome obsessed kid,
growing up on the south side of Chicago,
to being one of the most prominent voices of change in todays movie making business.
-Thanks so much for doing this, really appreciate it. -Of course.
-I'm Marc. Nice to meet you. -Good to meet you.
So you've been quite vocal and active around the issues around Me Too and Times Up
and I was curious for you,
What would success look like in a years time?
What would you like to see, the big change?
I mean I think a great thing to have is people of colour and women in positions of power
and make it so that things are equal.
And I think until we can put people in positions of power, nothings gonna change.
And I think when you have people of colour or women in hiring positions
they're more likely to hire people that are just more diverse
and look more like the society in which we live.
My LGBQTIA family,
I see each and every one of you.
The things that make us different, those are our superpowers.
Every day when you walk out the door, put on your imaginary cape and go out there and conquer the world
because the world would not be as beautiful as it is if we weren't in it.
In your Emmy's speech you gave a great moment where you said 'I see you.'
And I'm wondering the first time you watched a movie or a TV show where you felt seen?
Well ironically I think it was in The Colour Purple.
"He don't ever ask me how I feel just"
"just climb on top of me and do his business"
"Do his business?"
"You sound like he, going to the toilet on you."
"That's what it feel like."
Watching two women through such an intimate moment for the first time,
was quite fascinating for me, I didn't know why at the time, I was really young
when I saw The Colour Purple for the first time.
As I got older I realised how important that image and those images were
for me to see as a young women of colour who happened to be queer
and so it really had a huge impact on me.
"She could actually be a 300 pound dude"
"who lives in his momma's basement in suburban Detroit."
"And her name is Chuck."
What do you think it would of meant for you when you were eight, nine, ten years old
to be able to see you, in a massive blockbuster, on movie posters.
What do you think it would of meant to you as a young girl?
I mean I think it would of meant a lot.
I think also I wouldn't know the level of impact it was going to have on me.
I think sometimes when kids see images they are not aware of how its affecting them.
They just are taking them in.
So I think that the kids that have seen Black Panther, the kids that have seen A Wrinkle in Time,
the kids that'll come to see Ready Player One to see me on the big screen
I don't know if they know the long term affects it's going to have on them
but I think they'll be positve and I think
seeing yourself in the culture is extremely important.
Cause when you're absent from the culture it means that you don't exist,
it means that you don't matter.
So I think it's really good that kids now have a wide variety of movies to go see
that are good, as well as inclusive.
A lot of the work that we've seen you in before, quite naturalistic
I'm wondering what do you learn about yourself as a performer,
when you put on a mocap suit for the first time and your playing the Iron Giant
Right well the biggest thing was to use every corner of your imagination
We literally were in a white space not unlike this,
in like velcro suits and we need Steven to guide us
we all had blindfolds on
and he was taking our hands letting us know where to go and where to stand and where to be.
Which really required a lot of trust
-We already trusted him already but... -He's Steven Spielberg
Yes exactly.
So you just have no choice but to dream things up because you really cannot see in front of you
and even when it got to a live action part
we were live, man we miss the mo-cap days
where you could just imagine what you were doing.
Ma.
I'm gay.
You and your fiancé have been quite active with the centre here in LA.
And I know there is a big issue with kids, young LGBTQI kids being kick out by their parents.
If you could say anything to the parents that have chucked out their kids
what would you say to those parents?
I think it's really important that, they see their children as their children
seeing them as they did the day they were born.
I think there's this element of, things are going to change, or things have shifted.
No, not really.
I think what I always want to tell parents and kids is that
we all really are more alike than we are different.
And I think that's the biggest thing that's really normalised the queer community.
so that way it doesn't feel like they're queer, so to speak.
I think that is really the issue, is that people think that
"Oh they're different."
Or, they're not like me.
And the truth is if you walk into a gay couple's home with kids
on a Saturday morning, you walk into a heterosexual couples homes with kids on a Saturday morning
There's chaos in both houses.
Exactly, everyone will be tired.
They're really identical, in terms of stress level, in terms of busyness, in terms of frustrations.
But I think people really have to look closely to see that we're a lot more alike than we are different.
Some black people think being gay is a choice.
And when they find out that their kid is gay
they try to figure out what they did wrong.
Gay Martin is white, and his parents did the same thing.
Yeah but it's more intense for black folks.
Alright, so everything's a contest for us.
And your kids are like trophies.
Me being gay is like tarnishing her trophy.
Pop culture helps to educate people about what the world is
and what we can be and who we are.
But I really do also think that we sometimes can help change the world
rather than just reflecting it.
Cause that's the tough part.
A lot of people want to do it, but they don't know how.
So I think for me what I really want to do is
give people the tools they need to learn
how to write, how to direct, how to act, all those things.
So that way if they have that dream they can actually accomplish it.
Just lastly before I let you go
Have you let Vin Diesel know he's now the second best Iron Giant?
Not yet.
You should let him know.
But if I see him, I'll be sure to tell him.
Lena, absolute pleasure to talk to you.
Have the best day.
Thank you, you too.