Netflix's 'Self Made' Director Kasi Lemmons On Resurrecting Madam C.J. Walker's Legacy

Madam C.J. Walker (born Sarah Breedlove) is one of the most impactful figures of the 20th century. Still, as is the case with many Black historical figures, the general public knows very little about the first American woman and self-made millionaire. Born to recently freed slaves on a cotton plantation in Louisiana, Walker was a laundress before discovering her true passion, Black women's hair care. In addition to building her beauty empire, the entrepreneur and philanthropist worked diligently to enable other Black women to earn money outside of domestic labor.

At the turn of the 20th century, the world was incredibly dangerous and riddled with adversity for Black women. Walker encountered overwhelming racial and gender biases, along with personal betrayals and business rivalries. Yet, none of this deterred her from revolutionizing Black hair care and kicking open the door for the billion-dollar industry that it is today.

Now, 101 years after her death, Netflix is bringing Walker's magnificent life into the 21st century with a limited series helmed by prolific director Kasi Lemmons and director DeMane Davis (Queen Sugar, How To Get Away With Murder). Starring Academy-Award winning actress Octavia Spencer, Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker follows the cultural icon's hard-earned journey, from the scalp disorder that caused her hair loss, to becoming the wealthiest woman in America. In addition to Spencer, the four-part series stars actors Blair Underwood as the entrepreneur's husband, C.J. Walker, Tiffany Haddish, as her daughter Lelia, and Carmen Ejogo as her business rival Addie Munroe. Garrett Morris, Kevin Carroll, and Bill Bellamy also star in the series, based on the biography On Her Own Ground by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter, A'Lelia Bundles.

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Image: Netflix.

Cynthia Erivo & Kasi Lemmons On Depicting ‘Harriet’ With Love: EXCLUSIVE

It’s always a massive undertaking when trying to depict the life of a legendary historical figure–especially on the big screen. Bringing Harriet Tubman’s legacy to life would take much more than sheer determination. Helmed by Eve’s Bayou director Kasi Lemmons with Tony Award winner Cynthia Erivo stepping into the famed Underground Railroad conductor’s shoes, as much as Harriet is a story about the horrors of slavery, it’s also a film about love and faith.

Set in Dorchester County, Maryland, in 1849, the year Tubman escaped to freedom in Philadelphia, Lemmons’ Harriet follows the young abolitionist throughout her many missions back into the slave states leading into the Civil War to rescue friends and loved ones. Though many people have lamented the release of Harriet as yet “another slave movie,” Lemmons’ lens and Erivo’s take on Tubman showcases something entirely different.

While the brutality of slavery hovers in the shadows of the film, the Black Nativity director centers her story on love. When the film opens, we find the enslaved young woman hopelessly in love with her free husband, John Tubman (Zackary Momoh). She’s also extremely close to her mother (Vaness Bell Calloway), father (Clarke Peters), and brothers.

However, the brutality of the peculiar institution and the threat of being sold away like her beloved sisters emboldens Tubman to run for her life. Using her faith in God as her guide–the political activist finds another version of a family in abolitionist William Still (Leslie Odom, Jr.)  and a free Black woman named Marie (Janelle Monáe). Though they both caution Tubman about returning to the South, especially with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 looming –the fearsome revolutionary does not heed their advice.

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'Eve's Bayou' 22 Years Later: Filmmaker Kasi Lemmons Reflects On Her Classic Film

Black girls often get erased in Hollywood. There have been few instances like Spike Lee’s 1994 film Crooklyn or the forthcoming Marsai Martin-produced movie, Little that have centered Black girls. With her 1997 directional debut, Eve's Bayou filmmaker Kasi Lemmons blew the lid off of a new type of storytelling by honing in on the perspective of a young Black girl. Set in lavish Louisiana in the 1960s, Lemmons’ Eve’s Bayou follows 10-year-old Eve Batiste, a tenacious and curious young Black girl who chronicles the summer of her father’s death. When the film was released, its story and cast— including Jurnee Smollett, Samuel L. Jackson, Lynn Witfield, Debbie Morgan, Meagan Good, and Diahann Carroll— got glowing reviews. It became the highest-grossing indie film of that year.

Twenty-two years later, we are still celebrating the film’s success and legacy. At a recent special screening of Eve's Bayou in partnership with The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science at the Metrograph in New York City—Shadow and Act spoke with Lemmons and acclaimed film editor Teri Shropshire about the journey to make the film, what it represents today and Lemmons’s upcoming Harriet Tubman biopic.

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