Teyana Taylor responded to criticism that her “One Battle After Another” character, Perfidia, is overly sexualized.
The actress shared her thoughts during an interview with Vanity Fair, published Tuesday, mentioning that the topic came up during a previous interview.
“Another person interviewed me and mentioned something about Perfidia and how people felt like she was overly horny,” Taylor said. “And I’m like, do you realize the first thing we see of Perfidia is her having a gun to a guy’s head, and he calls her ‘sweet thing’? Are you — are we watching the same film?” Taylor questioned.
From her perspective, she felt Perfidia was weaponizing her sexuality against her enemies.
“Perfidia kind of dived into the, ‘Oh, you think I’m hot? All right, bet,’” Taylor said. “‘Cool if I get to still do what I’m doing, all I gotta do is show you a little titty or something.’”
She explained that the decisions Perfidia makes in the film are done out of her struggle to survive.
“It will never be a moment of judgment, because a lot of her mistakes have come from her being in survival mode dealing with postpartum depression and the title of being a strong woman—a strong Black woman,” Taylor explained. “We don’t get the same amount of compassion as everybody else. We don’t get the same amount of grace as everybody else. Everybody just assumes we’re okay.”
Sunday night, Taylor took home the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture. In an emotional acceptance speech she dedicated her award to “brown sisters and brown girls watching.”
“Our softness is not a liability, our depth is not too much,” she said in her speech. “Our light does not need permission to shine. We belong in every room we walk into, our voices matter, and our dreams deserve space. Thank you so much, everybody.”
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