Lena Waithe

Lena Waithe co-star/writer of Netflix’s ‘Master of None’ and creator of Showtime’s ‘The Chi’ is breaking new ground.  She was the first black woman to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.  Now she is co-starring in Steven Spielberg‘s splashy adaptation of Ernest Cline‘s sci-fi novel ‘Ready Player One’ opposite Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Win Morisaki and Philip Zhao.  In the virtual reality world of the Oasis, their avatars become known as the High Five, the frontrunners in the race to find the hidden Easter Egg that will award its discoverer ownership of the OASIS.

Waithe’s character Helen, goes by Aech (pronounced “H”) in the VR world and is manifested as a male Orc who runs a garage to repair the various pop culture vehicles seen in the various trailers for the film.  Waithe discussed both Helen and Aech, saying:

“[Aech] is sort of like Mr. T meets Michael Clarke Duncan meets Ice Cube meets Rambo.  There’s so many machismo characters that you got to meld it down and create it into one character. There’s a little Terminator in there as well.

 

“She’s pretending to be something she isn’t, but in that sense it’s still really her personality.  She had to have that swagger, that confidence. That’s a privilege that maybe she doesn’t have in the real world.”

Sheridan echoed the idea that the OASIS is a place where users can be who they want to be, but that these avatars are reflections of their true selves:

“I think it points a finger at this image we feel we have to live up to or strive to be.  I think a lot of people, especially a lot of kids right now, are struggling with being themselves and embracing that, embracing who they actually are and coming face-to-face with what that means.

 

“People will love you for who you are. Although it may take a while, you’ll find those friends.”

And while Sheridan’s face emblazons the cover of Entertainment Weekly this week, Waithe is breaking new ground elsewhere on the newsstand– Vanity Fair magazine.  She shared her unapologetic cover via Instagram:

 


 

‘Ready Player One’ also stars Ben Mendelsohn (‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’) as Nolan Sorrento, T.J. Miller (‘Deadpool’) as I-R0k, Simon Pegg (‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout’) as Ogden Morrow, Mark Rylance (‘Dunkirk’) as James Halliday/Anorak, and Hannah John-Kamen (‘Tomb Raider’) as F’Nale Zandor.  It opens on March 30.

Source: Entertainment Weekly