Chris here with one of our newest favorites - well, new to the movies at least. Janelle Monáe has already been such an effervescent musician and entertainer this decade, crushing it with ferocious moves and slick style. The leap to movies was only inevitable with all that charisma. This year she's made quite the successful transition, landing right in the middle of Oscar season with supporting roles in two contenders Moonlight and Hidden Figures. Both films and characters are quite different, showing the star's range and excitingly delivering her breakthrough for two black narratives.
But it's not just happenstance of two great projects in the same season. In short order, Monáe proves to be as much of a natural cinematic talent as she is a musical one. Without any of the stunted skills of her pop contemporaries trying out this acting thing, she's already the kind of screen presence you just want to spend more time with. In short order, Janelle Monáe deserves to be a damn movie star...
In Moonlight, she plays young Chiron's somewhat adoptive mother Teresa in the first two segments, all patience and just-this-side-of-tough love. Uncomplicated but still alive, you can see how much Monáe is listening to her castmates, as much a part of its enrapt ensemble as those that have more central characters. Its certainly not a flashy performance, but she is still captivatingly real. That understated naturalism won't win her the awards love (especially against the more intense work of her costar Naomie Harris), but it shows what a present actor she promises to be.
Her real Best Supporting Actress play is in Hidden Figures, already nominated for the Critics' Choice prize. Now while Moonlight is heightened realism, Figures is mostly a glossy sentimental affair. But here is where Monáe proves to be an intuitive player: in her biggest moment, rather than pulling for easy emotion, she's plainspoken and straight-forward without losing the importance of the moment. She's exactly the breath of fresh air that the film needs with its formulaic structure, modulating a strong balance of humor and subtlety. Figures has yet to open, but once you see it, it's Monáe that will leave the strongest impression.
Monáe has yet to line up her next film project, perhaps (fingers crossed) with more music to come soon. But in a year with some solid breakthroughs, Janelle Monáe's star shines brightest.