During her first appearance at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017, she won the Special Jury Prize as Breakthrough performance for her portrayal of rapper Roxanne Shanté in “Roxanne Roxanne” and, this year, Chanté Adams is back with another indie at Sundance: “Monsters and Men”, directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green.
Let’s talk Sundance! How was your second time in a row presenting a movie there? What was different from your first time there?
It felt so amazing to be back at Sundance! I couldn’t believe it had been a whole year since my last Sundance experience, but I was beyond grateful to come back to this place and be apart of something so special. It was different this year because I knew what to expect. Last year, for the first few days, I was overwhelmed by the craziness and fast pace move of everything but this year I knew what to expect and I came in ready.
In 2017 Roxanne Roxanne, in 2018 Monsters and Men, both films with social and contemporary backgrounds, besides being set in different times. What do they mean to you?
Both of these stories mean such a great deal to me. They both tell stories we have not heard before which I am so passionate about doing with my career. They are two very different stories but two equally important stories that I am so excited for the world to see.
What made you want to be an actress? And what’s next for Chanté?
I’ve always been a performer. Its been a sort of first love for me since I was dancing at age 2. I started acting in high school and my drama teacher was very passionate about doing shows that promoted social change and made the audience leave wanting to be better people. Once I realized that my performance had the ability to change lives I was pretty set in what I wanted to do with my life. It’s the best of both worlds!
What is next? Well, the first step from here is to let these movies be released and since I’m a “one step at a time” kind of person that’s all I’ve got for you!
Must have on set: Snacks! I love love love snack food!
Superpower: Teleportation, of course!
Epic Fail on the job: Did you ever try to rap with prosthetic braces? Not easy. At all.
Happy place: My couch…with my snacks
Favorite accent: New York
Favorite movie Then and Now: As a child The Lion King 1 1⁄2. Now, Beasts of the Southern Wild.
Favorite word: Hypocrisy, though I’m pretty sure 98% of the time I use to wrong.
Who’d you’d rather be: Cat Woman or Storm from X-men!
Favorite Emoji: ??♀️
Italian Movie: hmm I don’t think I’ve seen an Italian movie, so I know what I’ll be doing in my free time!
Favorite Quote: “Whatever gives off light must first endure burning”
The last series you binge-watched: Dark on Netflix and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Video.
What have you already crossed from your bucket list: Booking a lead role in a feature film!
Your Dream Project: A Black female superhero as the center of a story.
The most beautiful thing while filming… “Monsters and Men”: Discovering my own character while watching my cast mates discover theirs. As well as having a safe and open space to discuss our choices and get feedback from each other and our director.
Ops! Break Time:
Sweets or popcorn? Both! I need a variety!
Since we are Italian…Hawaiian pizza, yay or nay? As a wise man once said, “Its gonna be a no for me, dawg”
Credits Images:
Justin Bishop
Jay L. Clendenin
Jeff Vespa
Daria Kobayashi Ritch
