Ever since the release of Netflix’s new awards-contending drama, “Malcolm & Marie,” the discussion around the film seems to stem from the writing/direction of Sam Levinson. Most people agree that Zendaya and John David Washington are doing well in their performances, but there are folks that are concerned about a white man (Levinson) as the writer-director of a film about a Black filmmaker and his relationship with a much younger Black woman. The criticism being that Levinson isn’t equipped to tell that story. Well, Zendaya doesn’t agree with that critique at all and thinks that the assumption that she is merely a paid performer in the film takes away from her own “agency.”
READ MORE: Sam Levinson Defends Age Gap & Racial Concerns In ‘Malcolm & Marie’
Speaking to the New York Times, Zendaya talked about the criticisms being lobbed at “Malcolm & Marie,” and specifically, the Levinson discussion that is touched on above. The actress is keen to remind folks that she and Washington are both co-financiers and producers on the film. So, if you assume that she and her co-star had no say in the story and script, then you’re just discounting their involvement in the development of the film.
“What’s interesting is I think a little bit of our agency was stripped away,” said Zendaya. “Like this was just kind of Sam spewing things through us without realizing that we are not only actors in this, but we’re co-financiers and producers with P.G.A. marks. You can’t get those unless you actually do the job.”
She continued, “I think it also oddly mirrors a little bit of Marie’s plight, right? It’s like Marie saying the whole movie [Malcolm’s film] is also mine. But actually in real life, we do have the credit, this is ours, and John David, I and Sam equally own this film. It’s not like it belongs to someone else and I just got cast in it. He wrote it for us too, and I think if you’re going to write something, you have to acknowledge experiences of the [Black] character you’re writing. I thought a lot of conversations I had with Sam came through.”
Levinson has been asked about writing a story focused on Black characters, including bits about the experience of a Black filmmaker in Hollywood, quite a bit over his publicity run for “Malcolm & Marie.” We even touched on that during our interview with him on The Playlist Podcast. However, his response is that he always wrote the script with Zendaya and Washington in mind for the leads and then worked with them on set quite a bit to make sure they didn’t have problems with what he was saying.
Of course, in an age where diversity and inclusivity is a hot-button issue, people are just making sure that this isn’t another case of a white filmmaker co-opting a story about the Black experience. And according to Zendaya, that’s not the case here.
“Malcolm & Marie” is available now on Netflix.