Nanny Star Anna Diop On Taking Up Space And Perfecting Her Accent [Exclusive Interview]

When it comes to Internet sweethearts, very few are doing it like Anna Diop. The Senegalese-American actress is a relative newcomer, but since breaking out in the DC Universe series "Titans," Diop has proven that she's absolutely one to watch — and one to root for. As Starfire, Diop has faced her fair share of backlash. She knows what it is to be a Black woman in America, in an industry that largely centers white narratives and feelings over marginalized voices. But support for the actress has been just as strong, and it's only grown in recent years.

Fans have advocated to see Diop pop up in the biggest franchises imaginable. Of course, the scale of the project doesn't matter so much as the chance to see Diop's potential finally realized, which makes her starring turn in the psychological thriller "Nanny" such an exciting prospect. In "Nanny," Diop plays Aisha, a young mother from Senegal who becomes a caregiver in order to make enough money to bring her son, Lamine, to the United States. Apart from the quiet hostility in her employer, Amy (Michelle Monaghan), Aisha also grapples with the guilt that comes with leaving her child behind. Both sensations manifest in unorthodox ways, culminating in a surreal, pulse-quickening performance from Diop.

On a personal level, Diop understands this story well: Her mother worked as a nanny upon immigrating to the States. The experience of an immigrant navigating the American Dream is one that Diop is incredibly grateful to have explored with writer-director Nikyatu Jusu. "Nanny" marks a partnership between two storytellers that are completely on the same page, and given Diop's history in Hollywood, it's clear she doesn't take such partnership lightly.

I recently sat down with Diop to discuss "Nanny" and the future for Black women in film and television.

I wanted to talk about the non-stop barrage of microaggressions throughout the film. That's one of my favorite parts about Black horror as a subgenre: It injects this film with a constant specter of dread. How did you guys work to strike that balance between that and the more overt horror in the film? Because for some it can be kind of blink and you'll miss it.

That's really a question for Nikyatu. And it's a testament to her talent, not only as a writer — because it's in the script when you read it — but to also be able to execute it, of course, and bring it to screen, is also a separate skill. It's really a testament to her ability to execute those moments so that audiences like yourself, that are sensitive enough, catch it. And like you said: If you blink, you do miss it. But that's how it is in real life, too. So again, it's just a testament to her ability to execute nuance in such an intelligent way, in such an accurate way.

Without spoiling anything, I also want to talk about Aisha's dynamic with [Amy's husband], Adam, was probably one of the scarier parts of the film for me — probably because if you've lived that, you can recognize that character instantly. What was it like building that dynamic with Morgan?

Such a great question. My feeling about Adam is that he's kind of a man-child. He's very immature in a lot of ways. He leaves home and leaves his wife and daughter alone so that he can pursue this career that doesn't bring enough income to actually support their life. And as we learn, it's Amy who is really financially the backbone of the family. On top of that, he's unfaithful to her. And one of the things that struck me, and one of the things I was able to use, or that I decided on was [Aisha] had gone through an experience with Lamine's father that was very heartbreaking and disappointing, too, in that he was an absent father. That he was a predator in a lot of ways.

So the moment where Aisha first learns or notices that Adam is a dishonest and disloyal partner, she feels for Amy better. She recognizes how disappointing it is to then be in the company of a man that's like this. But Morgan is a lovely human being. [Laughs] And he just faked it so well. That is a testament to his capacity as a performer to really play a character that wasn't a caricature, but quite honest in who I recognize. I know Adam in real life, and I recognize Adam in real life as a performance because he did it so well and did it without being caricature-y.