There are many villains in Gerard Bush and Christopher Renzs feature debut Antebellum, but none quite as vivid as Jena Malones nefarious plantation owner Elizabeth. A nasty piece of work in her own right, the character also emblematizes the forces of oppression that power the films narrative. Built upon a consciously convoluted timeline, complete with editing misdirection and a chopped-up storyline, Antebellum follows Janelle Mone as both successful modern author Veronica Henley and antebellum-era slave Eden, presenting the wholly different experiences of two Black women, until the film mashes them together in unpredictable ways.

Suffice to say that Veronica and Eden intersect (to get into deeper detail would spoil the film), and while they are bonded by a litany of shared problems, none feel as immediate as the evil Elizabeth. Its the kind of role that seems scary for a performer: Not only is shesuch a monster, but Antebellum also doesnt shy from inserting that monster into the current culture. The racist ideology of a late-18th century plantation mistress is here and now, and as terrifying as ever.

For Malone, who has been acting since she was a child and has resisted easy classifications as a performer, any fear is only a good thing. Ive never been the type of person to be really scared of characters that arent easy to bring to life, I guess, is the nicest way [to put it], Malone said in a recent interview with IndieWire. That whole spectrum of villain-hood, things that are not easy to like, not easy to understand, those things never terrified me.

Malone said she regards fear as existing on its own spectrum. On the larger end of the spectrum of fear, it sort of renders you immobile, it can debilitate your choices, and you dont really have much room to move, she said. The actress prefers to live where things are more exciting than scary, where she can really dig into her characters, which is how she felt about Antebellum.

I felt some weird obligation to step in there and be like, Now, lets just wait. Hold your horses. Lets see who this person is. Yes, theyre a villain, but lets see what motivates them. Lets see what scares them, lets see how generational trauma affects them as well,' the actress said. They interest me more than anything, because I feel like theres some sort of public duty of understanding those types of stories, because I think that they get pushed to the side of just, Well, thats a villain.'

She said it wasnt difficult to find inspiration for Elizabeth. Malone said that Renz and Bush gave her a few names of women that exist today that live in the sort of alt-right world of whatever, and I just started watching some interviews and getting to know more of their ideology. While she didnt cite her inspirations by name, she admits that she didnt have to get too far with it.

I found that every one minute I watched or read about, it became an amplification, and I felt like I had watched something for 10 hours, Malone said. I didnt do too much intense research, because oddly, you dont really have to research that type of person to be aware of who they are, because me, as a 35-year-old cis white woman has been affected by that type of person my entire life.

The filmmakers, Malone said, also outfitted her with nonfiction books about slave owners, but she boned up on her history by watching classic films about the era, including Gone with the Wind. Antebellum DP Pedro Luque Briozzo even shot portions of the film using lenses from Victor Flemings 1939 epic, itself recently the subject of controversy involving its depiction of slavery.

Re-watching really old films pre-sort of any giant social justice movement, but particularly since #MeToo its very hard for me now, Malone said. Its a completely different lens. So when I watched Gone with the Wind, I couldnt believe how racist and wildly sexist it was. It was a hard time.

She continued, I dont think I fully finished it, but I did sit with it, because I was like, I want to know about these sweeping shots that theyre talking about. Its shot incredibly, theres a lot of really beautiful things, theres some really beautiful acting. I understand it was a feat for its time, but it doesnt make it any less hard to watch, because of the championing of oppression that youre witnessing.

Malone said she also interrogated her personal experience and her own familys history to further craft Elizabeth. For her, it wasnt just necessary for the role, but for the greater reckoning that is taking hold in Hollywood and beyond.

If Im not using my generational knowledge of oppression, to be able to paint this portrait, my personal experience with that, then I might have been hired for the wrong reason, Malone said. I felt like it was important to bring that sort of personal understanding of it, because this is what we should be doing now. I need to portray my grandparents, my grandmother, and my great-great grandmother. Its going to be a lot of hard work, work thats not going to feel very nice, but its really necessary to break the cycle of systemic oppression and also generational trauma.

Lionsgate

A movie like Antebellum, she said, speaks to that need, and she hopes that audiences will be open to its messages. Whats interesting is the Black experience has never changed; its just our white awareness which is shifting, Malone said. Its really amazing to be presenting a film where white awareness is changing. The villain is a white supremacist. Youre openly cheering for harm to come to said white supremacist: Its that type of popcorn movie.

She expects that the film might be difficult for some white audiences, though not necessarily for the reasons most would expect upon hearing its plotline. Beyond its blunt messaging about the legacy of racism in Amerca, Antebellum offers another perspective on the Black experience that many white viewers might not be used to seeing on screen.

This is a hard film to kind of watch for white people, she said. Not like in like a, Oh, be fragile with me type of way, but I just dont think that people are used to seeing these types of characters. And to be fair, weve never really been given the opportunity to see the fullness of Black experience, just what it is to be Black and thriving. Janelle Mones character is so beautiful, and we get to see her home life and her love life and work life balance, having a career and girlfriends and sexuality. Theres nothing that this character doesnt get, which I think is really rare.

The film was set for a pre-pandemic theatrical release before Lionsgate moved it to premium VOD.Malone isnt worried that Antebellum wont find an audience.

The experience of seeing a film [in a theater] is so cool, but I just think that for me, the films that Ive been most touched by were never the films that [I saw in a theater], they were always the ones that I found in a closet, or rented at Blockbuster, or just found somehow, she said. Nothings perfect, so Im not too concerned. I feel like the shelf life of a film is eternal. It comes out, and people see it or not, but it lives on this golden shelf of filmmaking, and then anyone at anytime at any place can watch it.

Malone admits that telling people Im playing a white supremacist inevitably sparks a reaction, but she fixes on the power that can come from the film.

People would be like, Are you scared? Are you okay?' she said. That was kind of when I let the fear get into my throat a little bit, but now we are in this sort of amazing reckoning, this awakening, and there couldnt be a better time for this film to come out. Im not afraid at all.

Lionsgate will release Antebellum on VOD on Friday, September 18.

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Antebellum: Jena Malone Used the Alt-Right and Gone with the Wind to Inspire Her White Supremacist Villain - IndieWire