For the latest episode of the InHerShoes podcast, our cover star, Zazie Beetz, sat down with editor-in-chief Lindsay Peoples
Photo-Illustration: The Cut. Photo: Rich Fury/Getty Images Last week, Atlanta returned for it’s third season following a two-year hiatus, and we finally got to see Zazie Beetz’s beloved, relatable character Van on our screens once again. “That show is forever going to be in the most sacred space in my heart because that show truly changed my life,” Beetz told the Cut. “I was quite emotional when we ended the show because for me it is the ending of an era.
Lindsay: I love that. You know, Atlanta’s been such a joy to watch. I’m such a fan of the show and everything that you all have done. What has it been like as you reflect on it being such a big moment in culture and being part of that? Lindsay: Your character, Van, is beloved for so many different reasons and so relatable as well. How collaborative was the process of developing your character? Did you get to contribute at all? Because I just felt like so many women of color felt like, Oh man, this is how I feel.
Lindsay: What was it like to transition from being in Atlanta to Deadpool? It’s a very different genre, but I think it comes with a lot of different pressures, a different approach. What was the thinking behind that, and what was that process like for you? It was a transition, but Atlanta was also a transition. Let me tell you, going into that was not a cakewalk. The weekend before I left, I remember for season one, I had a full-on meltdown because I was like, What am I doing? I’m not good enough for this. I remember my partner was kind of laughing because I was freaking out, and he was like, “You’re going to be fine.”
I have to actively push against that instinct and be like, I still deserve eye contact. I am still deserving of connection, and I’m going to move on, and even if I did my best in the scene, that was the best I could do at that moment given the entire universal context; that’s what was given. And so let’s move on. I needed to train myself to not close myself off and to remain open. Leaving myself vulnerable has allowed me in other projects to keep that mind-set as well.
Zazie: Yes. That question touches on many different things.