Tessa Thompson Wants You to Be Swept Away By 'Sylvie's Love'

After a year of widespread illness and death, mass protests advocating for social justice and racial equality, and a particularly grueling presidential election, we could all use a little bit of love—Sylvie's Love, specifically.

The new film—written and directed by filmmaker Eugene Ashe, and available on Amazon Prime Video as of Wednesday—is precisely the right type of romantic drama for the holiday season, one that's designed to warm viewers' hearts.

Starring Tessa Thompson and Nnamdi Asomugha (both of whom also produced the film), Sylvie's Love follows two young Black people who fall head-over-heels for each other in a record store in 1950s Harlem.

There's Thompson's character Sylvie, a high-society debutante who dreams of being a TV producer in a time when women—especially Black women—weren't typically afforded those types of positions. And then there's the lovestruck and incredibly talented saxophonist Robert, played by Asomugha, whose musical ambitions get in the way of his heart's true desires on more than one occasion. Together, against the backdrop of moody jazz and an evocative rendering of mid-20th-century Harlem, the two of them weather a dynamic and complicated romance that's reminiscent of classic Hollywood.

It's a beautiful thing to see—a story of a couple pursuing love amid all of the racial and societal pressures surrounding them. And beyond even that, rarely are audiences treated to a lush romance that focuses solely on two Black people. And yet—despite the characters' race, their class differences and everything that feels stacked against them—their decisions are ones that people of all walks should be able to empathize with and understand. Proving that, though, took some convincing, to hear Thompson tell it.

"I found it inspiring how hard it was to get [the movie] made. People at the studio level or financiers would say, 'We don't think that a movie like this would be successful. We don't think that there's an audience for this,'" Thompson told Newsweek during a recent phone interview. "When people say those sort of things, I feel even more emboldened to prove them wrong, particularly when it comes to what stories people want to see or don't want to see."

She continued, saying, "I think people want to see good stories, and I think when you tell a story with real specificity, specifically cultural specificity, the more universal they become. So I didn't understand why people wouldn't want to see two young people fall in love—two young people who happen to be Black—because everyone knows what that is like, to fall in love and try to make it work."

Read Newsweek's full conversation with Thompson below. This interview has been edited and condensed for the sake of length and clarity.

After a year like this one, it was so refreshing to just watch a story about two young Black people in love.

We couldn't have known the timing, and in some ways I think it is the perfect time for this film to be out in the world. As much as it's a love story, it's also a love letter to Black people. So I feel really grateful that it's coming after this year, which has been so hard.

How did you get involved in the movie?

I got involved when Nnamdi reached out to me and said it was a film that he was hoping to make at some point. He asked me to read [the script] and see if I thought there was something interesting inside of it. I knew that he wanted to be in the film. I really respected him. Previously, he was a pro football player, and now he's really endeared into the process of acting. I've seen him in Crown Heights, and I had the chance to see him in a stage play and thought that he was such a tremendous talent and clearly really cares about the stories he tells.

So I read the script, and I thought that there was such an incredible opportunity to make a film that felt romantic and it felt kind of classic in the way of Hollywood love stories and period films. It really presented these young, in love, Black folks. I just hadn't really seen that done all that much, and I thought that it was an interesting idea to try to center on their personal drama, as opposed to societal or political strife that they may have been facing [in the 1950s].

How was that experience, working with Nnamdi?

It was incredible. He took a year learning how to play the saxophone for the part. Something that I admire in other performers is real work ethic. There are things that he possesses that you cannot work at. He's a handsome guy. He's naturally charming. But the work takes real skill and craft. I really admired that he was working really hard at [the part]. It made me love him. And he's just a lovely, good human. I got to work with him as an equal, as a producer, and I think we both admired that process and, hopefully, that comes across on screen and communicates into [Robert and Sylvie's] love.

To me, the movie plays out like a testament to the idea that true love never fades. Do you believe that?

I was thinking a lot about love when we were making this film. At the time, I was reading this bell hooks book, All About Love, and that book really challenged me to think differently about love. I had always felt like love was just something that happened to you and you didn't have any control over it, over how you were in it, how it made you feel. The book really challenged me to think that love is actually a choice—a choice that you make every day.

So, is it true that true love never fades? I don't know. I don't think it fades, I think it changes. And even when you fall in love with someone, sometimes you have to choose to love them in healthier ways that are healthy for yourself and for them. I hope that true love has the ability, the dexterity, to change and grow and shift, because that's the only love that I think is lasting.

Is there something viewers can learn from the choices that Sylvie makes for her love and career and personal journey?

The truth is, Sylvie does some things that she probably could have done better. She makes some choices that are questionable, but I think the place that they come from is true and honest. I love when she says to her husband at the time, "I cannot be the woman of your dreams while also trying to be the woman of my own."

And I think for all people, but especially for women, this idea of agency—because we sometimes have so many expectations put on us, what we think we ought to be, what we think we ought to look like—it can be hard. We have to silence those things and figure out who we want to be. And that's something that I really find inspiring about Sylvie. She's really trying to show up for herself, and she does that haphazardly sometimes, but I really admire that about her.

Nnamdi's Robert does this thing that a lot of people do in relationships—he runs away when things get tough.

I don't love that he did that. I understand why he does it. He lies to her. His pride gets in the way, and some of that ultimately has to do with gender roles. He wants to be the breadwinner, the provider. That's what makes him feel good. It makes him feel worthy as a man. And that sort of thinking sometimes limits our potential as couples and as people trying to be our most authentic selves.

But something that I love that his character does say, is this idea that he wants [Sylvie] to be happy even if it meant he couldn't be a part of her life. I love that. It's a kind of selfless love. I think the thing that they need to learn is to be clear and communicative. That's something, in relationships, I'm always trying to learn and grow and get better at. They probably should have gone to see a couple's counselor, but I think that idea probably wasn't as mobilized in the '50s and '60s. As a society now, we're learning more and more the real importance of mental health and that sometimes we need some outside opinions and help and expertise.

Can we talk about the clothes in the film? How much fun did you have wearing all those outfits from that era?

Oh, I loved it! I grew up looking at regal photographs of both of my grandmothers and seeing them decked out in their finest. Particularly for my paternal grandmother, I think the way that Black folks carried themselves and dressed at that time was an extension of themselves, to remind themselves and others of their value and their dignity. But it was so fun to wear gloves and shift hairstyles over the times.

Hair is also an extension of Sylvie and how she's feeling as a woman. Phoenix Mellow—our talented costume designer—had us in so many of those garments from back in the day that it really did feel like you were transported back to that era. And we shot on some old Hollywood backlots, so there were some places where they had shot really iconic Hollywood films at. It really felt like we were part of this beautiful legacy.

Is there something you hope audiences feel when watching this movie?

I hope people can enjoy it with their loved ones. I think that this movie is as much of a celebration of the magic of romantic love as it is about love of friendship, love of career and your own ambitions. I hope that people can celebrate with the people they love, and if people are alone, I hope this makes them feel less alone. I hope this leaves people with a warm feeling. This is a time where we're feeling a lot of cynicism, and we're really inviting the viewer to leave that cynicism behind for a minute and just be swept away by a joyful, loving feeling.