Little could the real Angelica know that, one day, there’d be a female vice president…which was Goldsberry’s exact reaction when asked why it’s special to star in projects steeped in girl power. “We have a woman vice president! I find it crazy to be excited about that because it should just be,” the Tony Award winner tells Parade.com in a new interview. Since taking her final bow as Angelica on stage in 2016, Goldsberry has gone on to star in Peacock’s new comedy Girls5eva and has reportedly been cast in Disney+’s forthcoming Marvel series, She-Hulk. “It’s crazy to be excited about a show where it’s all women, right?” Goldsberry says of Girls5eva. “We’re talking about our own stories. The show is not about falling in love or being validated by a man. It’s really a show about a group of women who say we can come together and change the world and it’s never too late to do that.” She adds, “And the fact that that’s surprising is kind of surprising. But it’s okay because it lets us know that we’re on the right path. It’s okay to celebrate women telling stories, women writers, women producers, you know, it’s still necessary to do, and it will never not be. It shouldn’t be novel, but it’s always gonna be good television.” Though Goldsberry is on TV these days, the theater is always close to her heart. To celebrate the return of Broadway, the actress starred in an original LEGO musical number that pays homage to frontline workers, the Broadway community, as well as the resilience and spirit of New York City. Keep reading for more about the LEGO musical, plus Renée Elise Goldsberry’s vision for the future of Broadway, how she’s paving the way for the next generation of performers, and her biggest takeaway from 2020…
How did the idea for the LEGO musical come about and how did you get involved?
Well, I have to tell you, I can’t take credit for the idea, that’s for sure. That was all fully formed before I came on board. They had these fantastic composers [come] together to write this musical. They had this beautiful concept of celebrating New York City and Broadway coming back and LEGO and their beautiful flagship store on Fifth Avenue and why you should come back and how beautiful it was, to how beautiful it’s always been to be right there in the center of New York City, celebrating the art, celebrating the entertainment and being kind of a beacon for our country around the world. We’ve always been there, but, you know, those things that seemed like things we took for granted before are no longer things to ignore. They’re new to us. And it was really, really wonderful to get that call to come and join them. Making a cast of people—like, you know, a cab driver and a surgeon and the beautiful little girl and the street worker…Who would think that just seeing them dancing on the street would feel so good?
What has your experience been like, as a Black woman on stage and in Hollywood?
We’re not new to this conversation. This is a battle we’ve been fighting every single day but I don’t choose to see the obstacle, I always choose to see the opportunity…I’ve definitely felt the frustration of being, you know, kind of pigeonholed into certain kinds of roles, but I’ve never felt like that meant that I had to limit my dream. I mean, I’m not the first woman of color to star on Broadway or star on a television show or star in a movie. What I’m excited about is figuring out how to do more and to be inspiring in the way that I was inspired.
So much has happened since Broadway closed last year. What do you think the future holds for performers of color after it reopens?
I’m excited to see what we’re going to do…Every industry had to have some really serious conversations and do a lot of introspection, about, you know, how culpable we’ve been, and stop just pointing the finger, and I think this community of enlightened artists can’t really get away with anymore not asking and answering those same kinds of questions.
What do you think needs to be done?
I think we need to break the old formulas of, you know, inclusion. I think it’s important to cast more creatively. I think it’s important to not only look at who’s in front of the camera, who’s on stage, and also look at below-the-line workers. What about the hair department? What about whatever catering crew is supporting this company? You know who’s writing this story? Who are the producers? Just kind of every room. Does every room look like the world? I think it’s just in human nature. It’s in human nature we tend to be isolated into groups of people that look like us and we don’t actually tell the most interesting stories when we stay kind of in that comfort zone. I think we’re becoming more aware of that and I think we’re trying to figure out how to give more access. How to give more access to every single department in the theater.
How are you helping to pave the way for future performers?
I just keep showing up. I keep showing up. I try to be really responsible about what I choose to do and what I don’t choose to do. I’m not perfect, that’s for sure. But I think showing up unapologetically every single day and asking, pushing the envelope like, you know, fill this story gap. I don’t necessarily only need to play this one thing that you know, people of color, or women of color have always played. I can also be Angelica Schuyler. And also bringing other people along like, ‘Do you know who this person is? She does hair wonderfully. Can you consider using her? There is this young girl that I know who would be a wonderful intern for you. Is it possible that you could consider her?’ You might not know who she is,’ but these are just the kinds of small conversations that happen every day that really do end up changing the world.
What has been your biggest lesson or takeaway from 2020?
Is really just our resilience. I’ve seen throughout history, you know, so many communities survive catastrophic things, but in my lifetime I’ve never, I’ve never experienced anything like the last year and a half on the micro-level with, you know, just looking at my family’s ability to survive it. And when I look globally at, you know, us coming out of that really hard time. I just think when you’re aware, when you know that you can survive something, you really should move forward into the future emboldened. I don’t think we can forget our resilience. I don’t think we can forget that.
When do you feel most empowered?
When I’m talking to my children, honestly. I don’t think there’s anything more important to do. And young people in general. When I have an opportunity to see them I think that’s actually what’s most valuable to me about any relevance in my career. I think older people become more invisible to young people the older we get, but there’s something about, you know, having been in Hamilton, for example, that might make a younger person actually look to you, and when you’re looking back it gives you an opportunity to see them and let them know how much they matter. That’s probably what I’m most grateful for about my career. It is very empowering to recognize how impactful I can be just looking at and talking to and encouraging a young person.
When are we going to see you back on stage, back on Broadway?
Well, you know what I do, a lot, I have my own show that I’ve been performing with symphonies around the country. We’re back. We took back the hiatus, if you want to call the quarantine a hiatus. And I’ve already been back. I did a big concert with the Detroit Symphony a couple of weeks ago. I was in Iowa. I kind of go all over the place, so I still get to do my show, you know, on a large scale around the country and it’s good to be back doing that and that’s a celebration of so many different kinds of music, and of course ends with songs from Broadway shows that I’ve been in and it feels really good to do. And I know that Hamilton’s coming back. I know Freestyle Love Supreme is coming back. There’s a lot of feel-good moments that are about to happen on Broadway. I believe there’s a lot of people cooking up some shows that are gonna just bring in, you know, Broadway personalities and Broadway talent, just to lure people back to New York City. That’s what we’re all doing right now. We’re trying to lure everybody back because it’s good to be back. Do you remember when we were dancing on the street in the LEGO musical? I have to tell you, New Yorkers can be pretty jaded. Normally when you’re filming on the street in New York City everybody rolls their eyes and they’re like, ‘Can you move out of the way.’ But now, when we were dancing up and down Fifth Avenue, I mean everybody stopped and just, you know, in awe because it just feels good. It feels good to be back.
I know you can’t spill secrets [about She-Hulk], but were your kids excited that you’re joining the MCU?
My kids and I are huge Marvel fans. I can’t really talk about my own involvement with Marvel, but I can tell you that we definitely got through the pandemic bingeing Marvel movies and Marvel television shows. There are times when my career makes me cool to my kids, which is shocking as a middle-aged woman that anything I’d be doing in my life would be cool to my kids as they get older…To be a part of a world like the Marvel Universe, that would be really fantastic, because they’re huge fans of it. Your kids can’t watch everything that you do, but every once in a while you get to be a part of something that makes them proud. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Next, Busy Philipps Reveals What It Takes to Be BFF Michelle Williams’ Wingwoman and Why Girls5eva Came Along at the Right Time
