A Conversation with Anna Deavere-Smith
April 2005
Commanding the stage during a visit to Emerson College in Boston, MA, Anna Deavere-Smith, known for portraying recurring character Nancy McNally on "The West Wing," uncannily transformed herself into a few of the multifaceted people she has interviewed throughout her career.
Whether embodying a speed-talking juror in the famous Rodney King trial, a Korean merchant, a bull-riding cowboy, Margaret Mead or even a female murder convict, Smith’s outstanding performances centered around the lecture’s theme, "The Risks and Rewards of Success: An African American Woman Comes of Age."
Smith welcomed an interview before her lecture and subsequent standing ovation.
Born in Baltimore and raised by a family of teachers, Smith, having taught at Ivy League institutions herself, emphasizes the importance of education, viewing the realm as "a place where we all come together and try to organize ourselves around questions rather than answers."
A former psychiatrist wannabe, who cried for two days after seeing West Side Story, Smith grew to utilize her over-sensitivity and empathy in acting, realizing the craft to be the one place to "cash in on sensing how others feel."
Uniquely combining the practice of interviewing with an impeccable ability to mimic a persona, Smith uses her passion for words to act as a real person, not simply a character.
"The part of the spectacle that I’m creating is that I’m becoming other people," she said. "And also suggesting that if I can embody all these different points of view that maybe you can think of entertaining, too."
Incorporating her grandfather’s wisdom as the main theme of her work, Smith repeats words until they become hers. In reciprocity, what word does Smith then become?
Anyone with a thesaurus could find several responses, though Grafton Nunes, dean of Emerson’s School of the Arts, answered for her, decidedly choosing "courageous." Smith asks questions, searching for arias and symphonies composed of human words.
Receiving a multitude of highly prestigious awards and honors throughout her career as a playwright and actress, Smith is recognized most for her two one-woman plays featured in On the Road: A Search for an American Character, her documentary-style body of theatrical works.
Both Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 focus on the controversial issue of the race riots that erupted in the early 1990s.
While audiences can relate to the realities Smith presents, many are also threatened by her direct confrontation of race relations and difference.
"It’s a taboo in our culture," she said. "All over the world, there are these divisions and racisms...I think [Americans] tend to speak only the truth about what they have and the privileges that they enjoy inside of groups, rarely speaking about it to others."
Even today, the varying degrees of skin tone affect perceptions and judgments.
In discussing her light skin, Smith said, "I’m a particular type of black person. What blackness is thought to be and what I look like on screen presents certain limitations."
Her role in the television series "The West Wing" and performances in films such as Philadelphia and The American President all coincidentally place her in political atmosphere or positions of authority.
"There’s a certain kind of smart, professional woman that my height, my size, my weight, my age, my gender and the tone of my skin [fits] that seems to make sense to the public," Smith said of her screen characters.
Smith compared acting on stage to an Olympic race.
"[The actor] is working at his fullest, making the most of any given moment," she said. "[Actors are] training all the time."
Winning the race, however, requires hard work. "But hard work pays off," Smith said. "There’s no free lunches. The most creative thing you can do is be the creator of your own life."
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Whether embodying a speed-talking juror in the famous Rodney King trial, a Korean merchant, a bull-riding cowboy, Margaret Mead or even a female murder convict, Smith’s outstanding performances centered around the lecture’s theme, "The Risks and Rewards of Success: An African American Woman Comes of Age."
Smith welcomed an interview before her lecture and subsequent standing ovation.
Born in Baltimore and raised by a family of teachers, Smith, having taught at Ivy League institutions herself, emphasizes the importance of education, viewing the realm as "a place where we all come together and try to organize ourselves around questions rather than answers."
A former psychiatrist wannabe, who cried for two days after seeing West Side Story, Smith grew to utilize her over-sensitivity and empathy in acting, realizing the craft to be the one place to "cash in on sensing how others feel."
Uniquely combining the practice of interviewing with an impeccable ability to mimic a persona, Smith uses her passion for words to act as a real person, not simply a character.
"The part of the spectacle that I’m creating is that I’m becoming other people," she said. "And also suggesting that if I can embody all these different points of view that maybe you can think of entertaining, too."
Incorporating her grandfather’s wisdom as the main theme of her work, Smith repeats words until they become hers. In reciprocity, what word does Smith then become?
Anyone with a thesaurus could find several responses, though Grafton Nunes, dean of Emerson’s School of the Arts, answered for her, decidedly choosing "courageous." Smith asks questions, searching for arias and symphonies composed of human words.
Receiving a multitude of highly prestigious awards and honors throughout her career as a playwright and actress, Smith is recognized most for her two one-woman plays featured in On the Road: A Search for an American Character, her documentary-style body of theatrical works.
Both Fires in the Mirror: Crown Heights, Brooklyn and Other Identities and Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 focus on the controversial issue of the race riots that erupted in the early 1990s.
While audiences can relate to the realities Smith presents, many are also threatened by her direct confrontation of race relations and difference.
"It’s a taboo in our culture," she said. "All over the world, there are these divisions and racisms...I think [Americans] tend to speak only the truth about what they have and the privileges that they enjoy inside of groups, rarely speaking about it to others."
Even today, the varying degrees of skin tone affect perceptions and judgments.
In discussing her light skin, Smith said, "I’m a particular type of black person. What blackness is thought to be and what I look like on screen presents certain limitations."
Her role in the television series "The West Wing" and performances in films such as Philadelphia and The American President all coincidentally place her in political atmosphere or positions of authority.
"There’s a certain kind of smart, professional woman that my height, my size, my weight, my age, my gender and the tone of my skin [fits] that seems to make sense to the public," Smith said of her screen characters.
Smith compared acting on stage to an Olympic race.
"[The actor] is working at his fullest, making the most of any given moment," she said. "[Actors are] training all the time."
Winning the race, however, requires hard work. "But hard work pays off," Smith said. "There’s no free lunches. The most creative thing you can do is be the creator of your own life."
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