Jurnee Smollett On We Grown Now & The Necessity of Protecting “Black Boy Joy”

After starring in Minhal Baig’s nostalgic coming-of-age film We Grown Now, Jurnee Smollett understands all too well how art imitates life, even at its bleakest moments. The real-life single mother of one plays a hardworking mom of two, Dolores, in Baig’s sentimental drama, set in Chicago’s famous Cabrini-Green housing project during the early '90s. It follows the unbreakable bond between her young son, Malik (Blake Cameron James), and his best friend/neighbor, Eric (Gian Knight Ramirez). Malik and Eric are two dreamers who, just as they’re learning to spread their wings beyond the bounds of their public housing neighborhood, navigate new hardships after tragedy strikes: the shooting death of their classmate. The horrific incident (based on the real-life Chicago murder of 7-year-old Dantrell Davis) disrupts the boys’ already challenged reality, though they still cling to hope for a better life through imagination —one of their favorite pastimes is “flying,” aka jumping on old mattresses. A fearful Dolores, however, cannot dream as freely; the burdens of parenthood have bogged down her spirit beyond repair. She’s tired, worn-out, and stretched past her limits, yet still moved by her son’s optimism in a world threatening his existence. Malik’s naïveté makes it that much harder for Dolores to decide whether to preserve his innocence or teach him the truth of being a young Black boy in America. The internal battle is one Smollett immediately connected to as she raises her seven-year-old son, Hunter, and it’s why she related so deeply to the touching tale.

“We don't get these types of stories that often, and as a mom to a Black little boy, I want to put this type of art into the world,” Smollett shares over Zoom. The actress tells Unbothered that she always looks for a piece of herself in every project she pursues. In We Grown Now, so many parallels jumped out: a close-knit family with a dinnertime ritual, a wholesome Black childhood not wholly robbed of its joy, and the mama-bear fear that comes with raising kids on her own; every aspect felt personal and refreshingly nuanced. In a world where Black coming-of-age stories can sometimes feel one-dimensional and fixated on a particular, stereotypical narrative, Smollett appreciates how We Grown Now instead takes time to illustrate the freedoms of boyhood, heartwarming friendship, and the complexities of adulthood. It’s a story not often told through the eyes of two Black boys, but one the actress and producer is highly honored to be a part of. 

A day before We Grown Now’s nationwide release (it’s in select theaters now), Smollett sat down with Unbothered to delve into the emotional labor that went into her performance as a protective single mom from Chicago, how she drew from her own motherhood journey, the film’s “essential and responsible filmmaking,” and why she says playing Dolores was “food for my soul.”

Jurnee Smollett: Yeah, I mean it really was the basis of my inspiration in my approach. In my process, in general, I'm always drawing from how much of myself is in the character. I'm drawing from my own experiences. And so, Dolores reminds me so much of my mom, of growing up in that house and the family table being the center of so much, just like it is at Dolores's household, and the struggle of so many mothers who are raising these babies by themselves to protect their joy, to protect their light. I think Dolores really wants to protect her babies but doesn't understand that in protecting them, you don't have to stifle them. And so Malik's in that “I want to spread my wings, I want to fly” mode, and I think it's terrifying her because not only is she terrified for his safety, she's terrified that she herself has stopped dreaming. That's something that parenthood does. They say that you're essentially parenting your inner child as a parent. So yeah, I drew from my personal inspiration a lot.

JS: Reading the script, I was so refreshed by the fact that Minhal [Baig], our filmmaker, had this mission of bringing more humanity to these stories. We know the culturally dominant narrative of Cabrini-Green, of places like Cabrini-Green. But she was not interested in telling that very stereotypical story because, in fact, through research, she discovered that this place actually was more complicated and actually was home to many folks and many parents just trying to raise their babies, working these jobs, and trying to survive and create a little nest. I was just so moved. And honestly, I was moved by the notion of telling a story through the eyes of two Black little boys. I mean, we don't get these types of stories that often, and as a mom to a Black little boy, I want to put this type of art into the world. I didn't really draw a connection to Eve's Bayou, but a lot of people have been reflecting that back to me, I think because I was so young. I was [around] the age of Malik.

JS: Yeah, I did think about all the actors that I worked with, that I learned from, that I took lessons from and put in my back pocket, things I still use today as part of my process. It was a beautiful role reversal for me to kind of be in that position on set as a producer and as a fellow castmate.

I remember Sam [L. Jackson] on Eve's Bayou. He was one of our producers, and obviously, acting alongside him, he poured into me so much, and I would watch him. And so, for me, with Blake and Gian, they looked up to me and were like, "Oh, Miss Jurnee!” It was great just to be able to show them how important it is and [teach them] certain things through my actions, like treating the crew with an incredible amount of respect and generosity, making sure you fold up your clothes at the end of the day when you take them off for costumes. This sort of stuff that I think we take for granted. I did enjoy the little role reversal.

JS: If they asked! It's not like I sat them down and gave them some big lecture. Really, actions are more powerful than words to me, so I wanted them to see how I just moved about. You show up, you got to know your lines, you've got to know the intention of the character, you have to have done your research, [and] you got to be ready to go. I think those are the things that I wanted to instill in them, kind of like with my son. I think kids learn so much more from what they see than what you tell them.

JS: Yeah. We all have had those moments, right? Where you just go, "Oh, I think that's the moment where I kind of grew up." I would say for sure it was probably the separation of my parents when I was 11, right around the time that Eve's Bayou was actually coming out, that I feel was so pivotal for my childhood and just kind of [being like] your reality is not the same anymore and your world has forever changed.

I think with Blake and Gian, that’s such an immense amount of tragedy to experience the loss of your peers at such a young age. And when I met Dantrell Davis's mom, the amazing Annette Freeman, that interaction with her was so impactful. For one, she's such a generous and open spirit. We just hugged and we cried. I am in awe of her strength, of the beautiful light that still shines so bright out of her. She gave me a lot to use with my character. Because Dolores would've known her, and Dolores would've known so intimately what that experience was like and been afraid to go through that. But yeah, I think we all have that moment in childhood where you're just like, "Oh, yeah, life was never the same."

JS: The emotional work, really, starts with the script. It starts with what's on the page. And working with Minhal, she was very collaborative and open to feedback and script revisions. I thought a lot about my grandmother, who was a single Black mother to four babies working, and just the labor on top of the labor. The toll that it takes on you. For Dolores, it's really what her mom says in the movie: “These babies won't grow if you won't grow." And she's hit that ceiling where she doesn't even dream, she doesn't believe in a reality outside of this, and she's trying to hold on to everything. Don't move, don't change, don't grow. And change is not bad. Change is essential. But a lot of the emotional work was just asking the questions of who, what, why, when, how. Why is she this way? How did she become that way? What does she want, and how's she going to get it? I have my process. I work with a lot of different coaches, and we do different things, but I think a lot of the emotional work was being able to answer those questions.

JS: Absolutely. Because, well, I sit in a place of privilege, and yet I still have that voice in the back of my head that's like, “How do I protect my son's light, his Black boy joy? But how do I also let him know the dangers and the challenges of being a Black body in this world, in America, and finding that balance and that dance?” Imagine what a mom like Dolores experiences without having the type of resources that I have. Yeah, it was food for my soul to play Dolores.

JS: I believe so. I love films like Stand By Me and Crooklyn. I am so proud that this film is, to me, a very essential contribution to the cinematic canon.

We Grown Now is now playing in theaters.