Exclusive: Adepero Oduye On Playing Sarah Wilson In The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Now playing on Disney+ is Marvel Studios’ “The Falcon and The Winter Soldier,” featuring fan-favorites Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan as Falcon and Winter Soldier, whose oil-and-water dynamic has entertained audiences since 2016’s “Avengers: Civil War.”

All eyes are on the shield, as Sam Wilson aka The Falcon, and Bucky Barnes aka The Winter Soldier decide to team up—or rather, work together—when a new global threat launches them into an unexpected mission that may hit too close to home.

Directed by Kari Skogland with Malcolm Spellman serving as head writer, the six-episode series also stars Wyatt Russell as John Walker, Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter, Adepero Oduye as Sarah Wilson and Daniel Brühl as Zemo.

For Oduye, who’s best known for her starring role in Dee Ree’s critically acclaimed drama ‘Pariah,’ playing Sam’s sister Sarah Wilson gives the Cornell grad the opportunity to not only dive deep into Sam’s personal background through his sister but give root to a struggling Black family post-blip, despite Sam’s alter ego as The Falcon. Oduye’s other credits include roles in Oscar nominated films ‘12 Years a Slave’ and ‘The Big Short’ as well as Ava DuVerynay’s Emmy-nominated mini-series ‘When They See Us.’

In speaking with BlackFilmandTV.com, Oduye goes over landing the role, adding more to Sam Wilson’s background and working with Anthony Mackie.

How did the role come about for you?

Adepero Oduye: I got called in for a meeting. Not many details at all. It's so awesome it came to me. They gave me as much as they could tell me. This idea of really exploring what it means for a Black man to take on the mantle of Captain America and I thought, “Okay. You guys really want to talk about something real that many people have talked about." That's pretty much all I needed to know. That was all I was going to get. From that point on, it was just trusting them as they trust me. I'm not going to get everything. So I just had to go with it and I'm so glad that I did.

Was this something new that you experienced, in terms of not getting all of the information?

Adepero Oduye: Yes, very much. With other projects, at least there’s script, or I can ask all sorts of questions. As somebody who's very particular about what they do, I just want to make sure that things are a certain way. Again, I just had to go by the conversations that I had and the energy. The energy was really awesome. It was literally a leap of faith on both sides and trust. We're all doing this together. So very new and but I'm thankful that I went past my comfort zone and just jumped in.

Were you a Marvel fan before the project or did you have to start playing catch up?

Adepero Oduye: No, no catch up at all. I was already caught up. I’ve been a Marvel fan since I was a kid, along with my brother. He collected comic books, and he would collect the Marvel character cars. I thought it was fascinating that he was fascinated by it. The cool thing was that I watched Avengers: Endgame when I was visiting Nigeria. I was invited by a really great friend of mine to watch the film with a bunch of Nigerians. I would have never thought that I would be involved in something that was attached to that. So that was a pretty cool experience watching the storytelling, and the action film experience. The fact that I get to be a part of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is pretty fantastic.

You’re playing Sarah Wilson. How much can you say as to who she is and if there’s a difference from her portrayal in the comic books and the MCU?

Adepero Oduye: I think it's close enough. That relationship is his center to his life, as is how family is to all of our lives, in all the complex ways that it is. I really appreciated them touching upon his backstory, because we never got that backstory before. Not that people were clamoring for that, but it's nice that it was in the comics, and they are bringing it into this series. There’s a brother and sister love, but it's complexed because where we see them at this point, it's a very interesting time. It's post blip and he's coming home. What's been happening and they're both trying to figure out how to navigate each other.

In Episode 1, we see that Sarah is going through some financial hardships and that not all superheroes are wealthy. There’s a scene where Sam and Sarah are denied a loan from the bank. Seeing a Black family struggling and rejected for a loan may resonate with some people. Did you pick up on that when you read the script or acted the scene?

Adepero Oduye: That's exactly why I wanted to be part of it. I was like, “Ok. We're going to talk about the realness, the nitty gritty of what it's like to be a Black man." It doesn't matter that Sam's a superhero. It doesn't matter that he literally saved the world. He's still a Black man. For Sarah's character, it’s about being a Black woman, and just how Back women shoulder a lot. She's expressing to him what's happening and what's been happening, and he's expressing to her what is happening and what he wants to get done. It resonates with me in terms of the conversations that I have with my brother about what it’s like to be a Black woman. What's it like to be a Black man? We can relate on the fact of Blackness, and the extra layer of gender and many other layers. There has to be a listening and coming together.

Both you and Anthony appeared in 2006’s Half Nelson. Did you know each other back then?

Adepero Oduye: No. I was so green. I didn't know anybody. That was one of my first film roles. I had a very small role. I didn't know him. I knew him as Anthony Mackie, star.

How did you work in establishing that brother-sister chemistry in this series?

Adepero Oduye: I have known Anthony for some time. We’ve met a few times before. He’s just a generous person. He’s always been super supportive, showing so much love. And so getting to do this, it just was an extension of that. It can be very easy to be like, "Oh, I'm new to all of this. He's done this before.” But his energy, his generosity of spirit, and as an actor, it just helps a great deal. It was such a joy. I loved working with him. It was easy to fall into our brother-sister role. So yeah, it's great. 

In a recent TV spot, Sarah meets Bucky, and Sam is not happy on his (single) sister being hit on. What can we infer from that?

Adepero Oduye: It's just an extension of how my brother is protective. It’s very funny because, for anyone who has siblings, it's very true to form. What’s going on over here? Why are you talking to so and so like that? It makes me smile, because I feel like it's definitely something I would do to my sister or my brother. And definitely something my brother or my sister might do to me.

From leading roles such as Pariah and supporting roles such as 12 Years a Slave and The Big Short, What goes into saying yes to the project you take?

Adepero Oduye: I think it's a clarity of why I do what I do. I love what I do and there's certain stories that I want to tell. It's a gut thing and intuition thing. I've been super blessed to have experienced filmmaking and all the forms as a spectator. The fact that I've been able to work with some of those people that I've completely been inspired by is a little bit surreal. But it's me watching those things that helped me clarify how I wanted to be as an artist and so for me, it's easy when something comes across my way. Usually I feel very scared unless I know this is a meaning to do. So I go by gut. I go by my intuition. My whole life as an actor has been building of the clarity or clarifying of that vision. I was clear from when I first started, but I'm super clear now. Does is it resonate? Yes, if it does, okay; and if it doesn't, it doesn't, and that's okay.

Update: Here’s another interview with Ms. Oduye that was done two weeks later.