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Twenty-five-year-old newcomer Adia never really imagined becoming a movie star. Growing up, she was focused on becoming a professional dancer before a hip injury derailed that dream. That’s when the high school senior
discovered acting.
“I decided to take an acting class, just to try it out and see if that would be comparable or satiate that need to perform and to create,” Adia told Variety via Zoom from her home in Washington, D.C. “I enjoyed it, and I had fun with it, so I just kind of ran with it. I was like, ‘Ok, I’ll go out to L.A.”
Adia has two other major screen credits on her resume — she made her acting debut in the Netflix series “The Midnight Club,” created by Mike Flanagan and Leah Fong, followed by the HBO Max series “Full Circle,” which was directed by Steven Soderbergh. Not a bad start.
“Things started to fall in place as soon as I started pursuing acting, and it’s just snowballed,” she said. “It’s just very surreal.”
Even so, Adia didn’t picture a career making movies — which makes her big screen debut in the action-drama from filmmaker Bassam Tariq (“Mogul Mowgli”) all the more unexpected.
“Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother,” which debuted on Saturday night at the Toronto International Film Festival, stars two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali as Latif, a hired assassin whose secret occupation clashes with his home life when his wife dies suddenly. The film follows Latif as he navigates single fatherhood, including a desperate search for breast milk for his infant daughter. Adia plays Latif’s strong-willed teenage daughter Fatiha, who is forced to grow up quickly as she helps her father care for her younger brother and sister.
“She was just really complex,” Adia said, explaining what drew her to the role. “That’s how young, teenage girls are. But when we see them being portrayed on screen, generally speaking, they are not [complex]. They’re pretty black and white. ‘Oh, she’s just moody, hormonal and thinking about boys, and that’s it.”
Fatiha was written differently. “This girl has crushes, yeah, but that’s the least of her,” Adia explains. “She is dealing with very deep grief. Then also having to rise to the occasion to be in a maternal role to her siblings. Here is a character with depth, with real emotion. She’s experiencing real-life things in real time and having to navigate them with a 15-year-old brain.”
“Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” will be released theatrically by Amazon MGM Studios and Orion Pictures. The film debuts in NYC/LA theaters on Sept. 25, followed by a nationwide rollout in October.
Adia auditioned for the part over Zoom, then Tariq flew to D.C. to meet her during a 30-minute break she had from her classes. (Adia was studying in a film program with acclaimed Ethiopian filmmaker Haile Gerima.)
“We didn’t talk too much about the role, but he asked me, ‘How do you envision Fatiha coming to life?’” she recalls. “I did a little bit of research into the name: it’s one of the first openings in the Quran, so it means the opener, the call to action. So we talked a bit about how Fatiha is the call to her father to parenthood, to come forth and be present.” The final step in the process was a chemistry read with Ali.
“Inside, I was screaming. But I was like, ‘Get the screams out now so that you can be a regular ass bitch on this call, Adia. Like, don’t play around. You’re going to work, so please act accordingly,’” she recalls, laughing.
It was kismet that she and Ali were finally meeting, since she’d auditioned to play his daughter in another project a year prior but didn’t get the part. (“So that was wild, that here I am auditioning again,” she said.) And once she was in the room with Ali, it wasn’t difficult to get in work mode. “Now I’m acting, and it doesn’t really matter who is opposite me; I’m just doing what I love, and hopefully the other person is doing what they love. And thankfully Mahershala loves doing what he does, and so it was magic.”
The role came at the time Adia was undertaking another passion — training for her doula certification.
“It’s not easy to be a full-time artist. One of the most courageous things that you can do is to commit yourself fully to your artistry,” she said. But there’s a reason behind the “starving artist” stereotype. “You’ve got to support yourself in life,” she continues. “Birth work is something that fills my soul — spiritually and emotionally — but it fills my pockets financially, as well.”
Her interest in birth work began when she was nine and witnessed her cousin give birth; the experience was life-changing, and she knew she wanted to be a part of that sacred practice as an adult.
“I was fortunate to be mentored by the midwife and the doula who were at that birth,” Adia said. But her training overlapped with her shooting schedule. “There were days when I would be on my phone in class, and I’d be on set. They’re setting up for a scene, and I have my headphones in one ear, listening to them talking about conception.”
Adia is now certified — both as a doula and a budding movie star. Her performance in “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” has been hailed as a true standout among a cast that is packed with major talents, including Emmy winner Tramell Tillman, Giancarlo Esposito and John Cho.
“I do birth work as my day job, and I’ve always thought I’ll probably end up becoming a midwife,” she adds. “Life is constantly shifting and changing. These are my passions: I love film. I love birth work. I’ll see where they meet, or don’t. And what happens next? I don’t know.”
If and when those movie offers start rolling in, Adia is more prepared than ever after working with Ali. “In my first few projects, I’m new, and I’m thinking, ‘It’s just a blessing to be here. I’m just going to do my job, and I won’t say anything, and I’m not gonna make a ruckus,’” she said. “That’s not a bad thing. That works for some people.”
But Ali taught her to follow her instincts as an artist and to speak up when she wanted to try something during a take.
“Watching Mahershala model that, and then opening the space for me to do that as well, made me feel empowered to be able to show up,” she said. “It was a master class and I got paid for it, which was cool.”
