Dominique Fishback Wants To Revolutionize Hollywood
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I Run This: Dominique Fishback
DominiqueFishbackmelts into each of her roles. It often feels less like she’s acting and more like she’s becoming the character.
Viewers witnessed her superpower earlier this year with Prime Video’s “Swarm,” in which she embodied Dre, an emotionally inept stan-turned-serial killer. It was a starkly different role for Fishback, who had performances in “The Deuce,” “Project Power” and “Judas and the Black Messiah.”
For many of her roles, Fishback has made a habit of journaling as the characters — admittedly, she couldn’t tap into Dre’s diary and capture her feelings and fear in portraying that role.
Her latest role in “Transformers: Rise of the Beast” felt closer to home, quite literally. Her character, Elena, shares roots with Fishback as an East New York native. Long before coming onto the project, which is her first blockbuster starring role, Fishback manifested the opportunity as a child. She knew she wanted to be in a big movie like “Transformers,” and eventually found herself as the first Black woman to play a leading role in the franchise film. However, she made it clear that before she said yes, it couldn’t be a performative diversity play. She wanted studio executives to actually listen to her.
“I wrote a letter to the studio after I got it to say how important it was for the representation. Little girls watching the TV will say, ‘Oh, I can do that,’” she said. “They don’t have to imagine as hard. Because I had to imagine hard because nobody looked like me, but they can imagine not as hard, hopefully.”
Though the movie premiered over the weekend to mixed reviews, Fishback’s acting excelled.
She told HuffPost that her humble Brooklyn beginnings helped pave the way and keep her grounded in her practice.
“My family did not know how to get me into acting. When I was 15, my mom told me she was pregnant, and she was going to have a baby, and something told me she’s not going to be able to get me into acting,” she said. “So, I started Googling free acting programs for kids in New York City. I just started doing it, and I didn’t know how. I just knew what, and I’m just really thankful to be here today.”
For “I Run This,” Fishback, radiating with Emmy-buzz, spoke about how she manifested her role in “Transformers,” her struggles of tapping into Dre for “Swarm,” and her rom-com hopes.
First, I want to address the full-circle moment you posted on your Instagram stories. You were passing Pace University, where you studied to become an actor, on the way to “CBS This Morning,” where you had an interview about your latest role. How are you feeling? Where’s your spirit right now?
My spirit is really good. It’s really calm, but I think it’s because of the work that I’ve been doing just on myself in general. I started to realize that when I was in Brooklyn, in East New York, I’d be like, “I want to be an actor.” I thought that if I acquired those things that, I would be happy. And then, when I acquired them, I wasn’t happy. It was external. And so, I then started realizing, “Oh, I have to figure out how to be happy inside.” And now that I’m learning how to be happy inside, all of the stuff that’s coming feels evenbetter because it’s not contingent upon the fact that it’ll stay forever. It’s contingent upon the moment, and then that makes it that much better.
You’ve talked about manifesting this role in “Transformers.” Can you talk about that journey and why this role is important to you?
I’m getting a little emotional. I watched a lot of TV growing up... but didn’t really know how to get the thing that I wanted. I just knew that it was possible. And it just starts there, knowing that I could do that. Somebody else did. I could do that. I would watch “Even Stevens” and a lot of Disney, and I watched how Shia [LeBeouf] became a movie star because he did “Transformers,” and I said, “OK, so I got to do something like that.” I didn’t think it would actually be “Transformers,” so that’s just a cherry on top that I would get to do it, and I get to do it with Anthony Ramos, which is really special because we’ve known each other before. And that it takes place in Brooklyn, and my character is from East New York, where I am from, and that was a little nugget that we got to drop in there.
And ultimately, I wrote a letter to the studio after I got it to say how important it was for the representation. Like little girls watching the TV will say, “Oh, I can do that.” They don’t have to imagine as hard. Because I had to imagine hard because nobody looked like me, but they can imagine not as hard, hopefully, because they say, “Oh man, she did it. Oh, she’s from East New York.”
I even talk about, I mean, this is sad information, but when I came back home, I learned that my stepdad had been shot five times. I was filming for a whole month, and nobody told me because they didn’t want to hurt me. He is alive. He had to learn how to walk again. But when I came home, I was just looking at how my life was such a dichotomy, that I could do something like “Transformers,” that I’d be the first Black female lead, and look at my life, I’m doing this thing to come home to this other reality where I didn’t know that my stepdad’s life was on the line this whole time. It’s really hard to wrap your mind around.
I’m so sorry to hear that. I’m glad that he’s recovering. How are you able to balance those things? How do you keep yourself grounded in ensuring that reality remains at the forefront, especially in an industry that feels so far removed?
Well, in all reality, my family is still there, so I could never forget. And then, when I go home, one of the biggest blessings to me is when I do connect with somebody... and they FaceTime me and take me to the barbershop. Or when I go home, folks are like, “What are you doing over here, Dom? I’m proud of you.” And it feels so familiar, and it gets me excited. It rejuvenates me. It inspires me because they say, “Oh, remember when you were walking down the street with your book bag, talking about, “I’m going to rehearsal.” So, I think just being that close to them, just by way of knowing me from when I was younger, they feel very proud. And it almost seems as though they feel like it’s them too, and I love that feeling.
Going back to “Transformers,” what attracted you to this role?
Honestly, it was [director] Steven Caple Jr. His idea for the movie and what he wanted to do, because I was like, “I don’t know.” Sometimes when big films are looking to diversify, it’s like, are they really looking? I’m going to give my all to this audition process. Do I really have a chance? Let me know what the odds are. It doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t try, but I got to know what the odds are. He told me it was going to take place in 1994 and that he wanted Elena to have her own kind of storyline and her own autonomy over her choices and what she does.
And I said, “Well, I love to give notes.” I love to talk about character. And he was like, “Oh, you can give me your notes.” So, I actually gave notes and sat with the writers two times, and it wasn’t about that. My ideas had to be in the film. That wasn’t the point. The point was just that I felt like I was in a collaborative space where somebody was going to hear me. And if there was something that was really problematic as the representation in this particular moment, as the Black girl, then I want to be able to know that I’m always going to be heard.
How do you choose your roles in general?
I think about my inner child. I think about the girl who was in Brooklyn being like, “Oh, can I do that?” She listed this thing, “Monster,” like Charlize Theron, or “Boys Don’t Cry,” Hillary Swank. “Swarm” is very much like that. Or the Joker, Heath Ledger, those kind of performers. I love doing critically acclaimed acting movies, but I don’t have to choose. Why do I? I can do everything. That’s what I said when I was a kid. And so, now, when I’m choosing my roles, I say, “OK, would I have done that? Would I have wanted to do that?” You can’t guarantee how successful a project’s going to be. You can only count the good things that you have and then see how it turns out. But if you don’t try, you never know. And so I say, “OK, this is the thing that grounds me and why Iwanted to do this no matter what happens.” And so, that was kind of what it was with “Transformers,” I want to do everything. I don’t want to be limited.
Many of us were introduced to you on “The Deuce.” Between then and now, what is the same and what is different personally and professionally?
Similar is the way I approach a character or the roles that I tend to gravitate or gravitate toward me. It’s always a particular area in my life that I’m dealing with that will help my spirit to grow and evolve. Art affects my soul, my well-being.
What’s different now is my ability to not take things as personally. I’m trying to learn how to be a master of my own emotion. I feel like I cracked something recently; I’m able to ground myself in whatever choice a person makes. It really isn’t about me at all. And if I could hold onto how I feel and ground and center myself, then I don’t have to suffer. And I feel like maybe my perception is different. Maybe I was afraid that [people on set] were misunderstanding me or judging me. Now that I have a different perspective, I can see that maybe that’s my own feelings and not necessarily how they feel about my Brooklyn accent at all. So, I can remove my perspective and say, “I have to be only responsible for me,” and I think that I’ll have a better time living my dreams if I come from that perspective.
I know journaling is a big part of how you approach your craft, how you draw out each character you portray, who they are and how you will bring them to life. Can you talk about when you started that and what that’s been able to add to not only each project but also to you, personally?
I started it when I was doing “Show Me a Hero.” I was with another actress, Natalie Paul, and she talked about how she summarized her scenes. And I said, “Oh, cool.” As I started summarizing, I was putting thoughts and feelings behind what I think I felt or what happened. I started building a world around it.
And then it started being like, “Well, I love journaling. What if I started journaling as my character?” But some sets and some things are moving too fast that you can’t do it. And then other times, characters don’t want that. For “The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray,” Robyn did not want to journal. Anytime I sat down to journal as her, I had resistance, and I didn’t want to force it.
And I built a lot of things around it based off of this PDF. And I sent it to Samuel L. Jackson, and I sent it to all of the directors that we had. I asked if Robyn could have a scar. That was different. I didn’t journal, per se. And then, with “Swarm,” I could not journal as Dre because on the page, I didn’t really understand her, and her psychology wasn’t present. I think there’s always a line into the psyche of a character. With Dre, everything was so surface, and I didn’t know what was true. So instead of journaling as her, I journaled as myself because I knew I had resistance. I knew that I had fear, and I wanted to identify those things so that I could move it out of the way so that I could be a clear vessel and that the camera would not pick up on a wall between Dominique and Dre.
For “Swarm,” I know you told Donald Glover that you didn’t want to catch up to yourself as an actor. What do you envision your next role in that realm being?
Well, I think I could have never envisioned something like “Swarm” that is so unique and original. And I think that’s what that statement was. It was like, I didn’t know that I needed or wanted a “Swarm,” but when it presented itself, I knew it was that. And so, I wasn’t afraid to speak up and say, “That’s the thing that I want.” So, now it’s kind of like, again, based off of my inner child, what I desire.
I love romance, and I want to do a classic rom-com, like “When Harry Met Sally,” or like “Say Anything,” or all those things that made me giddy inside, but that can stand the test of time. So, I have to wait for that really special rom-com, or I can write it. Or I want to do an epic romance. Juliet is just one of my favorite characters. It’s a dream role on stage and in film.
I’m really in my romantic stage right now. So some form of that has to happen. Nothing’s going to be like “Swarm,” nothing’s going to be like “Judas.” “Transformers” is not supposed to be “Swarm.” None of the projects that I do are supposed to be the other one. It’s just supposed to give me an opportunity to express different versions of my artistry and explore the human psyche and then grow as a person because of the sacrifices of the character.
I want to do everything, I don't want to be limited.Dominique Fishback
Do you have any dreams behind the camera?
I’m pretty sure I’ll direct. But definitely more writing. I think I want to do a documentary about love and self-love and find out what it means to come back to the oneness of self and things like the stuff that I’m learning right now. I started video journaling in 2020, so I feel like I actually have material. So, right now, I’m just trying to put everything together and see what happens.
What mark do you want to leave on Hollywood when this is all said and done?
Well, definitely limitless talent and versatility and ability to transform. I remember when I was in school, a lot of my classmates were looking for representation. And I said I want to perfect my craft so that when I get into the door, I always deliver. I want to be like [Allen] Iverson. When he came into the game like he was always clutch. Or like Meryl Streep. It’s like even if you don’t like a project that she did, you’re not going to be able to say she can’t act. So, I always said, “I want them to be, ‘Boy, that girl could act, like even if I don’t like something, that girl could act.’” So, that was always one of the things. And now I think it’s just I want people to say, “Oh, she revolutionized film and acting. Ooh, that felt a little weird to say.
