Simone Missick’s star has been on the rise since playing fan favorite Misty Knight in the wildly popular Netflix offering Luke Cage. But to the uninformed, Missick has been toiling at her craft for 15 whole years. So, if there’s anyone I’m cheering for in Hollywood’s vaunted Glow Up category, it’s Simone.
The Shadow League was at the red carpet for the screening of Nilja Mu’min’s film “Jinn”. Simone, ever gracious and appreciative, discussed the film, as well as what we may, and the likelihood of a “Daughters of the Dragon” Netflix series.
The Shadow League: Please, tell us about your role in “Jinn”.
Simone Missick: “I play a woman who is newly converted to Islam. She is kind of struggling with her job. She has a very public persona as a weather woman. She also has a 17-year-old very young daughter who doesn’t know how to navigate what that’s like. She’s dealing with what this religion is doing to her mother and their relationship.”
“It’s a film about self-discovery for my character as well as for this young girl who’s trying to explore her sexuality, she’s getting ready to go to college, but then she’s thrust into this new religion that she doesn’t whether she wants to embrace it or not. So it’s definitely a film about women, mother, and daughter. It’s almost like a love story between the two of them. So, when I was given the chance to tell this story and to tell a story about black women, and about a young black girl and her journey. “
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TSL: What was the catalyst for your decision to accept the role?
SM: “Nijla is the filmmaker, and she’s a Muslim woman. Just her expressing her desire to make a movie that was a love story to Islam was something that I felt strongly about as a Christian. The unfair depiction of my religion does bother me. The foundation of all religion is God and God is love. I see all over the media and social media how they use this beautiful religion to sell more guns, start more wars so that rich old people can make more money, it doesn’t vibe with me.”
TSL: You worked with husband Dorian on Luke Cage and on Jinn, what was that experience like?
SM: “Working with him is always the best. We work with each other every day at home. The movie of our lives! But, also, he is my number one supporter, and I am his. So, to have each other on set in scenes with one another. Being my archenemy in Luke Cage, being ex-husband and wife in Jinn, I’m just so blessed and thankful to be able to work with him.”
JINN trailer | BFI London Film Festival 2018
Summer is undergoing something of a spring awakening, though not all due to her own adolescent yearnings. When her mother, a divorced TV weather forecaster, converts to Islam, Summer’s own sense of self – a high-school senior devoted to sensual dance, not Allah – is left shaken.
TSL: Not giving away spoilers, but Colleen Wing has taken it to the next level in season 2 of “Iron Fist”, which you also are featured prominently in. A Daughters of the Dragon series on Netflix seems more appropa with each episode. What say you?
SM: “I need for you to start the petition. It’s on you! I need for this not to just be tweets and retweets. I need lists with people’s names on it! I think that I would love to see that show come to life, and I think that the fans would love to see that happen, but it really all depends on the people in charge. I think the more we say ‘this is what we want’, the more we get it. I mean, look at Black Panther. He was a character within the Marvel Universe, but they were planning on waiting a little bit longer to make that movie. It was everyone’s excitement about the movie that made them say ‘You know what? I think we should make that Black Panther movie.”
