Yaya DaCosta is full of circle with her role in ‘Our Kind Of People’

Yaya DaCosta first seen in “Our kind of people”Rides in a droptop with her curls blowing in the wind at a full show. Her character, Angela Vaughn, talks to her daughter and aunt about her budding hair care line. They don’t just sell shampoo, her character says, they sell “freedom”.

This is the first time that DaCosta has decorated our screens with the energy of the main characters for the TV series. After the actor portrayed April Sexton in the film ‘Chicago Honey’ for six seasons, the actor felt it was time to move on to bigger roles. Shortly afterwards, she was selected as a self-employed hair care entrepreneur who reconnected with her wealthy father’s family (and the scandal that comes with them) in a drama produced by Lee Daniels.

DaCosta said it was the role she chose.

“I love Angela’s ride. I like her expressiveness, “DaCosta said in a phone interview.” There are times when something holds in itself, but mostly she says her opinion. I like her obsession with hair or let me say her craft. She’s a hairdresser. Like Yaya, I’m obsessed with hair. So it was really fun for me to really start imagining how I could portray that in this character. “

It’s funny how life goes. In 2004, DaCosta stood before five judges, four of whom were white, and was criticized for being too black on “The next American top model, ”One of the most popular reality TV shows of the time. Creator and presenter Tyra Banks calls DaCosto, known for being proud of her Afro-Brazilian heritage, before the elimination round. Judges ridicule her for her Afrocentric appearance, and one even told her that her “Africanness is predominant”.

DaCosta is defending himself. “When I answer that I’m trying to ‘prove’ myself as African, that’s where I come from, it’s very natural for me.” Her voice cracks as she explains. She’s obviously damaged.

Banks, the only black woman in the group, answers and tells DaCosti that she is “defensive” and not “attractive.”

This is one of many embarrassing moments from the movie “America’s Next Top Model” which have reappeared on social media in recent years. DaCosta, who was runner-up this season, said she is surprised when people express their gratitude to her for being in her power.

But then she felt “completely powerless.”

“I never watched this show after the broadcast because I felt abused in a sense. And I had to distance myself from healing and growing from that girl to this woman, ”DaCosta said. When she remembers that, she remembers that she was confused and trembled as her voice trembled before those judges. In recent years, it’s Banks addressed some offensive moments that happened on “ANTM”.

That moment was more than 15 years ago. Now DaCosta is appearing on a prime-time television show in which black hair and aesthetics are the main character in themselves.

“It’s wonderful that even when I was this young, young woman, people were still able to see something in me that I didn’t fully see or own myself,” DaCosta said. “This reflection humiliates me every time. As a woman, I feel like I’ve lived a series of lives in this life and just earned my vote, and I feel good. It’s nice to be free. And I need that voice everywhere I go. In my family, in my relationships, in my friendships. Because genuine life is the only life that really interests me. ”

“Our Kind of People” is set in Martha’s Vineyard’s Oak Bluffs community and is based on the 1999 Lawrence Otis Graham novel of the same name. It follows black elites, especially the Franklin and Dupont families, who happen to stay in some bougie, scandalous, shadowy mess. DaCost’s character, Angela, is a single mother who moves to the area after the death of her mother, who was a housewife and hairdresser in Oak Bluffs.

Angela hopes to continue her mother’s legacy and build her business with her hair care line, Eve’s Crown, but they and her daughter Nikki (Alana Bright) face the opposite of a warm welcome as they get entangled in the plight of rich people. They also play Hollywood heavyweights, including Nadine Ellis, Joe Morton, Morris Chestnut and Debbi Morgan.

In addition to the role of Whitney Houston in the film Lifetime ‘Whitney’, DaCosta is at the top of the call list for the first time.

“I am really grateful for this experience, even when there are obstacles. Especially when there are obstacles. It shows me I have new muscles, ”she said. “It’s like our body. If you’re a sprinter, you don’t have to use the same muscles as a rower. I’ve had them all along, but I haven’t exercised them, so it gives me a chance to get to know myself better, to know what I’m capable of. and to use my gifts to a greater extent.

Nadine Ellis and Yaya DaCosta v "Our kind of people."
Nadine Ellis and Yaya DaCosta in the movie “Our Kind of People”.

In addition to her newly acquired responsibilities as a lead lady, DaCosta has made sure to promote her longtime hairdresser Chiomo Valcourt. DaCosta asked Daniels, creator Karin Gist and director Tasho Smith to bring Valcourt to arrange her hair for the show, and they agreed. The actor, raised in Harlem, noted that stylists often do not know how to make a hairstyle for black talent on set, especially natural black hair.

“Because hair is such a big part of the show, and because I wished I could show up in the morning with a call time at 5:00, sit in a chair and study my words and look down. And not constantly looking in the mirror, shortness of breath, feeling like I need to micro-manage something. That’s not my job. I love hair, but I’m here to play. That gives the players the level of freedom that we really need to do the best job. “

DaCosta was able to work with Valcourt on different styles and creations for her hair, depending on the episode. Because of this, we see Angela in beautiful upright, braided braids, ponytails and braids. It’s a real celebration of black hair on screen.

“There’s a level of comfort when someone not only knows what they’re doing, but they’re simply great at it. And Chioma is a master. Her level of expertise is really rare and I feel so blessed and so happy that she is here for me and arranges my hairstyle. I hope that everyone who was in my shoes as an actor has their secret weapon behind the scenes, ”the actor said.

DaCosta has a few more things he wants to check on his to-do list, including working on a Brazilian project and potentially portraying Brazilian civil rights activist Mario Beatriz Nascimento in a biopic. For now, though, he hopes audiences will enjoy celebrating the different types of black stories they’ve seen on “Our Kind of People”.

“I hope that [audiences] they can see themselves or someone they know and just celebrate this movement of inclusion, ”DaCosta said. “And I’m really excited to be able to really hold hands proverbially with all the people who remember me from 2004 who came to me on the street or in my DMs and said they went natural because they were inspired . with me then. And now that it makes a full circle through me as I play a character who can express himself through his hair and is simply followed through this hair care movement, as Angela Vaughn said, ‘If you don’t know about this natural hair care, Well, you better ask someone. ‘

“Our Kind of People” airs at 9pm on Tuesdays at Fox.

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