WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
I know I’m going to say this very often I’m sure but I absolutely love the fact that creators of the MCU have been choosing relatively unknown actors for roles. Like all the characters in the Thor universe, they are based on characters from Norse mythology. Valkyrie was inspired by Brynhildr and does actually go by an alter-ego of Brunnhilde but we never hear this in the films. I would say they may have thought audiences would find it confusing….even though so many of the Avengers are referred to by their alter-ego….
Creed
I’m going to assume that Tessa’s character of Bianca is supposed to be the love interest for Adonis ‘Donnie’ Johnson but I’ll be honest, the character feels like a little bit of a waste. The scenes of them together almost feels like time fillers as nothing really seems to happen that is going to push the plot along. Maybe that is because of the growing intensity of the main storyline. It’s like they share one kiss and suddenly she’s at his first fight as his girlfriend? I’m sure more effort was put in when they were building the relationship between Rocky and Adrian in the original films but this seems to just happen behind the scenes and for me, because she doesn’t add much to the main story, I’m not completely in favour of her character. Alright, she persuades him to change his name to Creed but couldn’t Rocky have done that, seeing as he knew Donnie’s father? However, one thing to her credit is that she has a really good singing voice.
Selma
You want to talk about an important role in a film? Tessa takes on the portrayal of co-initiator of the Selma Voting Rights Movement, Diane Nash. If you go by the conversation in the car, it is her that actually puts the idea of going to Selma forward to Dr King; ‘What have you got us into, woman?’ So, if you think about it – to stay true to history – you wouldn’t have been able to make this film without her. When it comes to films like this, truly based on real history, I like to talk about likeness (that’s a weird sentence if there ever was one) and Tessa Thompson is a very good likeness for Diane Nash – honestly, look at pictures of her from the 60s (obviously I mean Nash, Tessa wasn’t born yet) and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Unfortunately, that’s all I can really talk about in terms of Tessa’s role in this powerful film because it is a pretty small role in the grand scheme of things but for once, that’s OK.
For Colored Girls
There’s been a lot of talk over the last few years about the lack of films and opportunities for African-American and female actors and directors. This film came out in 2010, around the time that I think this whole conversation started, and is a cast full of African-American actors and actresses. I think this is a little gem of a film, starring Tessa Thompson as Nyla/Purple, that was completely forgotten about. When I say gem, I mean it, because there is beauty in the way it transitions from scene to scene, story to story and you gradually realise that these women’s lives are more interwoven than just living in the same building or passing each other on the street. Anyway, let’s focus on Nyla/Purple. Tessa plays the daughter of Whoopie Goldberg’s character of Alice/White and before long we discover that she is also the sister to Tangie/Orange whose played by Thandie Newton (her name could easily be short for Tangerine…) so she has to stand along side two very good actresses and I think she holds her own very well.
Side note: This film actually opens with the poem that it is based on and it isn’t an easy watch, because of just how heart-breaking it is.
Honorary Mentions
Interestingly, between starting acting in 2003 in the short Here Comes Dr Tran and her role in All The Coloured Girls, Tessa mainly did TV work – appearing in well-known shows including Grey’s Anatomy, Veronica Mars and Heroes. Some of her early films include the remake of When a Stranger Calls, Exquisite Corpse and Murder on the 13th Floor – the last two I really hoped I’d been able to find.
