Christa B. Allen On Her Lifetime Movie About Racial Injustice, "The Fight That Never Ends"

Allen pictured at top instantly fell in love with the script amp8211 but landing the role of a lifetime wasn39t a sure thing quotI immediately loved the story and the character of Joanne so much I would have done anything to play this rolequot she explained in an exclusive MediaVillage interview quotI auditioned and felt it went pretty well But Joanne is a swimmer and they wanted the actor playing her to really swim in some scenesquotThe director Preston A Whitmore ll asked how strong a swimmer I wasquot she continued quotBeing one of those actors that won39t lie for a role I replied 39Average I mean I39m not going to drown39 His face dropped in disappointment After that I immediately called a professional swimmercoach friend and hired her to teach me We filmed me swimming and I sent the footage to Preston and Joanne who is an executive producer on the film with a note saying 39Just so you know this is what I look like in the water39 I think that39s what sealed the deal Joanne felt I was fighting for the role in the same way that she fought for justice in her life and in her life storyquotWhile Allen wasn39t familiar with Beck39s story the film39s backdrop was something she was versed in quotI was very familiar with the race riots that occurred in Los Angeles in the early 90s and what happened with Rodney Kingquot she explained quotThat all happened during the same period the film takes place and we show an intimate snapshot of what was happening around that timequotBut playing a real person was terrifyingquot she added quotAll I cared about was doing right by Joanne I felt an incredible responsibility to tell her story in the way that she wanted it told Joanne was so incredible to work with so kind thoughtful and empathic I really felt like she was there any time I had a question It was really nice to have her on set to consultquotTo Allen the power of the film39s storytelling is its take on unity and how two unlikely forces can affect real change quotI loved that messagequot she shared quotThem coming together really made them both more effective The way I understand it 39Jay39 wasn39t so involved in his community before Joanne came along But as a duo the power of their love and working together really impacted the community That39s a great lesson and also just the power of great leadership They both were under the care and direction of Leon who cared so much for his community There39s a need for good leadership in the world today and I hope that people are inspired by that aspect of the story We39re more powerful together If you want to go fast go alone if you want to go far go togetherquotOne thing the film confronts headon is racism Beck faces it headon not only in the community she wants to help but also from a family who doesn39t understand what she39s trying to do quotThe challenges Joanne faced within her own family and the racism she confronted is the most important part of the storyquot explained Allen quotI39m no scholar on this by any means but from what I39ve read and the experts I39ve heard the most important part is for white people to be having those hard conversations in intimate communities and within their families When friends say something inappropriate stop and have those hard conversations Confront it in the moment that is the work Her family created distance because they didn39t accept her new life or her partner It39s only by creating change and confronting that behavior that we39re going to change anythingquotFrom my personal experience one of the most powerful things we can do to be more understanding and create a more equitable society is to be integrated in a real wayquot she added quotI often face criticism from people who don39t understand my friendships Like the one acceptable friend for me to have is someone of my same age same race maybe in the same industry The second you start having friends who aren39t people are like 39Why are you friends39 It39s so weird I won39t live my life by society39s expectations of who I should interact with We made this movie in April of 2019 and the Black Lives Matter movement started about a year later It felt so timely as these are conversations that we need to be havingquotThere39s still a lot of work to be done and anytime you dive into conversations of unification you39re going to get it wrong sometimesquot she added in closing quotAnd there are things that could be improved I anticipate there will be varied perspectives on this film that it39s not helpful or there39s white saviorism and I39m open to those As creators artists and as people we need to be open to the idea that we39re not having these conversations perfectly We39re going to stumble and we39re open to doing better next time I39m very invested in doing the workquotThe Fight That Never Ends will be telecast Sunday October 17 at 8 pm on LifetimeClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Christa B. Allen On Her Lifetime Movie About Racial Injustice, "The Fight That Never Ends"

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Christa B. Allen On Her Lifetime Movie About Racial Injustice, "The Fight That Never Ends"

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