Naomi Ackie is on a roll. In 2023, she staked her claim in the Hollywood pantheon with the once-in-a-lifetime role of Whitney Houston in biopic I Wanna Dance With Somebody. Now, the British actor is carefully building a legacy with an eclectic mix of sci-fi adventures, crime capers and politically charged projects. This year there was Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17, opposite Robert Pattinson, and a starring role in Sorry, Baby, which looks at the aftermath of sexual assault with striking honesty and wit. More recently, she played a police officer in Netflix’s The Thursday Murder Club and up next, she stars in A24’s I Love Boosters opposite Demi Moore.
And, of course, there was her breakout turn in last year’s Blink Twice, Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut – another story rooted in abuses of power, though this time with surreal twists, frantic action sequences and an evil Channing Tatum. It was while filming this in Mexico that Ackie and Kravitz’s friendship blossomed, fuelled by late nights, mezcal and an instant chemistry that felt a little like love at first sight. Even over Zoom, that energy radiates strongly through the screen: Ackie dialling in from her home in west London; Kravitz from a hotel in Pittsburgh, where she’s filming her next project. Kisses are blown through the camera, declarations of love are doled out like sweets, and real talk – about race, womanhood and finding inner peace – is punctuated with laugh-out-loud one-liners and in-jokes.
NAOMI Hi! What’s happening in Pittsburgh?
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ZOË I’m doing a film called How to Rob a Bank, so I’ve been here on and off for a month or so. Are you in your new home?
N Yes! Look… [Naomi gives a quick Zoom tour of her cosy front room, a hallway full of art and a kitchen-dining room looking out onto an immaculate garden].
Z Oh my God, stunning. I can’t wait to come visit. I haven’t gotten to see your film Sorry, Baby yet, but I keep hearing it’s fantastic. There was a screening recently in New York and I think multiple friends of mine went up to you – one of them was Jack Antonoff.
N [Laughing] Yeah! And I was like, ‘What do you do for a living? Oh, cool, you’re a producer. What have you done?’ He was like, ‘A few cool albums last year – one with Kendrick Lamar…’
Z And this is why we love Naomi Ackie, ladies and gentlemen!
N But yeah, babe, the film is doing well. It’s interesting because it’s the same subject matter as our film, but from an opposite perspective and in a totally different style. That’s what I love. This is why you have to have more voices, because if we don’t look at it from all angles – whether it’s in the moment, the horror of the abuse, or the healing process after – we’re not tackling it.
Z When you read that script, did you [see it] through the lens of things you’ve already done?
N No, because you directors are so different. When I read your script, I was like, ‘Oh, I know what this world is. I understand you.’ It was the same with Eva [Victor, director of Sorry, Baby]. It’s so naturalistic and sits in quiet moments, which was really cool, because I hadn’t done that for a while. Like the thrilling action of Blink Twice in Mexico…
Z It was wild. I had been looking for my [main character] Frida for a while. Casting is a bit like going on dates – like, ‘Are you the love of my life?’ Then I met you and it was so clear. [There’d be shoots where] it was five in the morning, 100 degrees, mosquitos everywhere, you haven’t slept or eaten, and I’m making you put your face in dirt and dragging you around. I actually don’t know how we survived. I was hanging on by a thread and you just showed up with a smile on your face every day.
N I remember saying on set how rare it is for women to create the kind of friendships that male directors and actors have. There are so many [eg Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro; Luca Guadagnino and Timothée Chalamet; Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L Jackson]. This was a job where I felt like I was a friend of the director. Before, it always felt like I was the child – like, ‘Oh my God, please love me! Am I doing a good job?!’ It was good times. And also, like, so much mezcal.
Z So much mezcal, so many pancakes and tacos.
N You’ll be happy to know that I’ve been writing. You will be the first person I’ll send it to when it’s ready. I think you’re gonna like it.
Z I’m gonna love it. I’m obsessed with your brain. For me, when I see your name in something, I go, ‘OK, this project must be interesting.’ It’s not just taste, but also your spirit and what you’re drawn to as an artist.
N That’s the biggest compliment for me. That’s what you want: trust. There’s something about pace, you know, and I’ve always thought that about your career. You take your time.
Z Thank you. Saying no is hard!
N But it’s so important. Because you could be flying from one place straight into the next thing, booking X, Y and Z constantly. And, hey, to anyone who’s doing that, amazing. It’s just an energy level I know I can’t do.
Z No matter how much you work, you’re always afraid you’re never going to work again. Like, ‘Oh God, I said no and no one’s called in a month. It’s over!’ But saying no is an instinctual thing. There’s a very loud voice in my head when I feel like I’m doing something for the wrong reason that just says: no. Creativity for me is very spiritual – I’m almost superstitious about it.
N I completely agree. For me, this career has taken up so much of my life, in a way I almost resent at times. That’s why when you’re doing something that doesn’t feel quite right, you’re like, ‘Wait, this is my actual life. It’s not normal to spend 15 hours on set. What am I doing?’ On Blink Twice, I felt like I’d stepped into a different phase of my life. It’s that feeling of: I want to give this my all. I want to run into the fire with this person. I want to do this weird film that no one’s ever going to f*cking understand. Why not?
For the longest time, I felt like I had to manicure myself – follow rules that didn’t even apply to me in the first place. I had this epiphany a few weeks ago. I was at a place that was very fancy. Up until this year, I remember going to these things and being so desperate for approval, frustrated with not fitting the standards that I’ve created for myself, let alone the ones that exist within our space. I left this event, had a nice time, and I was like, ‘Oh wait, I’m never going to fit in.’ And OK! I don’t want to. There’s no bitterness there.
Z No, it’s freedom. It’s freedom when you stop trying and say to yourself, ‘I really would rather be somewhere else.’
N Where I’m at now, there’s such a level of peace. It’s not like I know I’m gonna be booked and busy every year until I decide to retire – I mean, let’s hope so! It’s this cool, grounded vibe. I have time, I’m chill and I can do what I want. I don’t owe anyone anything. I don’t have to be super grateful.
Z That’s the thing too – for women of colour and anyone who’s not traditionally a leading woman. I played best friends for a long time and there is that feeling of, ‘I should just be grateful to be here’, which creeps into the decisions you make. There’s a competitive element that comes in too, because there’s not enough room for all of us, which is crazy. And then, for me, it’s the nepotism of it all, which makes me feel like, ‘Do I deserve to be here?’ As women in general, we have to be thankful and apologise. I even found that with directing – people really expect you to flirt with them. [Kravitz plays with her hair and pretends to look coy.] There are just so many elements of what’s expected of women – in all industries, probably.
N That’s right. And the years of perfectionism. My parents were always like, ‘Nay, you’ll have to work twice as hard and get half as much.’ And there is a reality in that. Before I’d even lived my life, there was no space for mistakes. I saw some of my friends who aren’t Black or a person of colour make mistakes or be a bit reckless in a way that I cannot afford to do. I have one shot at this. And you carry that on top of being conditioned as a woman to be as quiet as possible, but make sure everyone is safe and happy, be sexy but cute – literally that Barbie monologue. Being a woman of colour on top of that complicates things, because everything is coloured by people’s biases.
Z Yeah, and also with casting, when it’s like, ‘Wow, how cool! We’re so progressive! We cast a woman of colour and made her the love interest with Robert Pattinson [in Batman].’ Like, no. But shout out to Rob!
N That’s so funny, because we’ve both experienced that! [Ackie played Pattinson’s love interest in Mickey 17]. And then our Blackness is something that’s going to be either fetishised or problematic. There is a slight fear every time a casting [announcement] goes up. Like, ‘Oh lordy, who’s got something to say now?’ How do you feel when you wake up in the morning?
Z Good question. I feel so grateful. I wake up in my house and every day I’m like, ‘Holy shit, this is amazing’. I never feel comfortable. I’m always in shock. I’ve been trying to get back to that feeling of excitement. It just takes one second of thinking about when I was 21, going off to do one of my first movies, and it was so cool. It’s still really cool. How do you feel?
N Right now, super achy, because I’m not exercising enough. But it’s funny you say that, because I was coming back from a casting the other day. I had two different projects and two different chemistry reads. I was knackered, but then I came back and thought, ‘If I could tell little Nay that you are in this position – helping a director pick who you’re going to be working with, because I’m producing – I didn’t even know we could do that’. It’s this weird, grateful, bittersweet feeling. Time moves so fast and we’re all just frogs in a slow boiling pot of water.
Z And you’re like, ‘This isn’t a Jacuzzi?!’
N [Laughs] All this stuff that keeps on changing little by little is amazing to me – and sometimes that’s how I feel in the morning. But it really does depend on the morning…
Z Well, I saw this picture of you recently, girl, where I was like, ‘Damn!’ [Kravitz pulls up a photo of Naomi at Balenciaga’s AW25 couture show.] Sorry, who is she?!
N That was fun. I’ve always loved clothes on other people, but been shy about them on myself. But then, babe, the thirties! The thirties hit and I was like, wear it f*cking now. Wear things that make you laugh. Wear things that make you smile, that give you joy, and f*ck the rest.
Z Yes, fashion’s fun! It’s this incredible expression, and I think it’s all about not taking yourself too seriously. There’s a serious element to it – I go to fashion shows and I’m in awe.
N Can I just say, two of my faves are your Batman premiere look – the cats on your boobs – and then the last one [at the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party, wearing a Saint Laurent gown].
Z The booty window!
N Me and my stylist were analysing your butt. I hope you don’t mind.
Z That’s what it’s there for – an intentional amount of ass crack.
N But that’s what I mean – it was tantalizing and imaginative.
Z And wear it now. Do it now!
N Can I see you in London, then?
Z Yes! I’ll text you now. Any chance to talk to you… I love you!
N I love you! Can’t wait to see ya.
Hair: Issac Poleon at the Wall Group, using Ruka Hair. Make-up: Nikki Wolff. nails: Sabrina Gayle at Arch Agency, using Bio Sculpture. Stylist’s Assistant: Harry Langford. Set Design: Lee Flude at Agency 41. Movement Director: Liam John
This interview is taken from the October issue of ELLE UK, on newsstands from September 4.
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