Source: Chelsea Guglielmino/WireImage Exclusive Chat With “Godzilla” Star Aisha Hinds Incredibly talented actress Aisha Hinds is already legendary. No, seriously, she freed slaves as Harriet Tubman on “Underground,” piloted the Starship Enterprise in “Star Trek: Into Darkness” and now leads the special elite kaiju-battling military squadron in “ Godzilla: King Of The Monsters .” At this point, she’s quite possibly the most diverse (and magical) Black woman in Hollywood who shines in the larger-than-life summer blockbuster about giant monsters (or “titans”) throwing hands (and buildings) for the crown to rule Earth. And if that sounds epic, it absolutely is, especially when you see a fearless woman of color from Brooklyn commanding our last military hope (ON EARTH) in the midst of colossal chaos. So we absolutely had to interview her (and did briefly) just days before the release of the biggest (and boldest) nostalgia-splashed Action Thriller of the summer. Tell us about “Godzilla: King of the Monsters.” How did you get involved with the film? “I was reading the script and realized that this was something that actually resonated–that it’s not just another blockbuster movie that here was a story that was being told with so much heart because Michael Doherty–the guy who’s directing it–Godzilla is such a huge part of the fabric of his life that it’s such a passion project for him that I could feel his soul in wanting to tell this story and give Godzilla fans an experience with it that made him feel the way he felt as a child… And so when they offered this role of “Diane Foster” to me she represented something that doesn’t exist in the world and I felt like that was a beautiful follow-up to Harriet Tubman because here she was in pursuit of something that she had never experienced in life which was freedom and so here with now “Diane Foster” representing something that doesn’t exist in the world which was a woman who is serving as a green beret special forces officer leading an elite squad of team members–as part of Monarch which is a huge part of the history of Godzilla …and women are just now actually passing this special forces assessment and selection phase of military training to be able to go on to the special forces qualification course (which could go up to 24 months) to become green berets and serve as special forces officers so I realized that this was a unique opportunity for me to represent something that doesn’t exist but create the possibility for it to be tangible and visible for it not just to be a woman but a woman of color and so I was really excited about that” We notice that you pick a lot of diverse roles–you were in a “Star Trek” movie–minding your business and doin’ your thing–and we love that about you. You were Harriet Tubman but you’ve also done a lot of things that Black women have NOT done before–ever–has it ever hit you that you’ve accomplished these things in your career? “The thing is, I always look back retrospectively and I know the things I’m drawn to–I know the things that resonate–and when those things resonate and hit that part of your spirit those are things that draw me in and I’m grateful which is why I try to stay in tune with my spirit because, I’m like, I will follow you wherever you lead and if this is where you’ve lead me thus far then I know that there’s more to go… So while I’m in this season of cup runneth over and I’m getting the opportunities to do these things and have all these diverse roles I know there will come a point in my life, in my career, where I’m going to turn that cup over and start pouring into the cup of those behind me in the generation to come and I look forward to that” You mentioned “Underground” and Harriet Tubman and how important that is in your career. Is there still an opening, in your mind, for that to come back? Would you be open to pursuing that again? “Underground” holds a huge part of my heart not just because of the opportunity to play this iconic figure but also the family that was forged from that experience–if that should ever come back around I’d gladly rejoin my family in continuing that narrative because there’s exhaustive content as it pertains to that narrative and that story but also I think we have put into the world 20 episodes of television that will live on forever–20 episodes that I am tremendously tremendously proud of” “Godzilla: King Of The Monsters” in theaters now!
Original post:
Exclusive: Aisha Hinds Talks “Godzilla: King Of The Monsters,” Leading A Special Elite Kaiju-Battling Squadron & More!
