Erika Alexander.Photo:Amy Sussman/Getty
Amy Sussman/Getty
“This ain’t my first time at the rodeo,” the 54-year-old likes to say.
But her latest performance, as assured attorney Coraline in Cord Jefferson’s smart satireAmerican Fiction, is getting the kind of film awards attention she’s never had before.
On Tuesday, she andAmerican FictioncostarSterling K. Brownwere both nominated in the supporting performance category for the upcomingIndependent Spirit Awards. Meanwhile, her name appears alongside folks likeAnne Hathawayonshort lists for Academy Award nomination predictions.
“I’m 40 years in business, and yet this is my first time to be mentioned in these types of articles,” says Alexander, speaking with PEOPLE the same day the Spirit Awards nominations were announced. (Another film she appeared in this year,Earth Mama, from director Savanah Leaf, was also nominated for Best First Feature.)
Erika Alexander and Jeffrey Wright in ‘American Fiction’.Claire Folger/Orion Pictures
Claire Folger/Orion Pictures
The two-time NAACP Image Award winner pauses, getting choked up. “What I’m trying to do, is just not be afraid of it and actually just breathe and take it in,” she continues. “It really is wonderful for people to have you in their thoughts in a way that is in that kind of category.”
“Every moment matters. I’m taking it in, and being present and in the moment,” she adds.
“There’s a big tent and I’m walking across the sand and there’s Porta-Potties. And I was thinking, ‘Ain’t this a deal.’ Here I am coming back with credentials and a nomination. That is the universe.”
Queen Latifah, Erika Alexander and Kim Fields in ‘Living Single’.Everett
Everett
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“At the time, the movie was not calledAmerican Fiction. It was calledF–k, so you could imagine I thought this is going to be my9½Weeks,” she says with a laugh.
Not so. In the film, her character, Coraline, begins a romance with writer Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Jeffrey Wright). Unbeknownst to his new girlfriend, Ellison, under a pseudonym, has written a novel that becomes a smash success.
Monk, who’d previously written acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful books, resents his new work because it’s the type of novel about Black life that he’d previously railed against.
Without spoiling any of the movie, the book, first titledMy PafologybeforeF-k, becomes a flashpoint in Coraline and Monk’s relationship.
The cast, in addition to Alexander, Wright and Brown, featuresLeslie Uggams,Tracee Ellis RossandIssa Rae.
Tracee Ellis Ross and Leslie Uggams in ‘American Fiction’.Claire Folger
Claire Folger
“No one of us has ever worked [together]” says Alexander. “So we were actually marveling at that because we’re meeting all each other almost for the first time.”
Alexander held her own against the other heavy-hitters. “I’m good at trying not to shrink in someone else’s shadow,” she says.
“You work a long time to be with people you admire but also admire you, [and] know what you’re capable of,” says Alexander. “You come in as a bunch of soloists, but you know how to be an ensemble. And that right there, that’s the gift.”
American Fictionis in select theaters Dec. 15 before a wider release on Dec 22.
Scott Huver
source: people.com
