*The 90’s teen horror film “The Craft” has been given the reboot treatment from Columbia Pictures and Blumhouse Productions.
We previously introduced you to the new coven of teenage witches in “The Craft: Legacy,” which is a continuation of the original film.
The reboot reportedly follows a story similar to the original 1996 film (including some of the rituals), which starred Neve Campbell, Robin Tunney, Fairuza Balk and Rachel True.
The part of Rochelle was originally written for a white actress, but True ultimately landed the role, MovieWeb reports.
“It’s a big movie in terms of my career, but it’s also a big movie for Black people out there,” True explained. “It’s one of the first teen movies that wasn’t a Black teen movie or a white teen movie.
READ MORE:Usher and Girlfriend Welcomes Newborn Daughter: Sovereign Bo Raymond
The actress admits that once filming started, she was reminded by members on the production team of her “lowly” status compared to her more famous white co-stars.
“When we were shooting the movie, I had literally been told by my team to stay away from Fairuza. [They said] she can get away with stuff, and you will get fired for it. I was literally told, ‘You’re Black, so don’t say, ‘F**k you, mommy,’ like the white girls.'”
True also took issue with how the studio chose to promote the movie.
“[The publicity team] put up a poster of the four of us, mentioned the three girls and then skipped down the call sheet, I think, ‘This is how Black actors get underpaid, this is how they get forgotten, and it’s part of why I mouthed off about the publicity back in the day that I was excluded from. At the time, I don’t think my castmates understood; they were like, ‘You’re not as famous as us.’ What they didn’t get is that in the early to mid-1990s, [the studios] excluded the Black person, which meant they were never going to be as famous as you because they didn’t get the press.”
The character arc for Rochelle was dealing with racism at school and being the target for bullies. Looking back on this, True says she can appreciate the writers’ approach.
“I remember thinking, ‘Do they see Blackness as a problem?’ All the characters have issues, and to me being Black wasn’t an issue; the way other people treat me for being Black is the issue. But once I really thought about when I got older, I realized it’s a good thing they have that in there. We’d come out of a time where we had things like The Cosby Show where nobody ever mentioned racism, and here was a movie that tackled it head on. I do think it’s interesting, though, that the other three characters never say anything about it! Not one of them is ever like, ‘That’s too bad that she’s racist towards you.’ I don’t think they would do that today.”
We Publish News 24/7. Don’t Miss A Story. Click HERE to SUBSCRIBE to Our Newsletter Now!
