The Prom, the new musical comedy from Ryan Murphy, has just landed on Netflix after arriving in cinemas last week. It’s a high-kicking, glittering piece, full of fun and sequins. But it also stems from a serious core. The prom in question sees a young girl excluded for wanting to bring her girlfriend as her date. Furore ensues, and a motley crew of Broadway stars-on-the-descent arrive to make the most of the publicity. They are dealt with with short shrift, though, by Mrs Greene, a conservative mother and PTA member who fears same-sex snogs could herald the end of society and the doom of her daughter Alyssa, played by film newcomer Ariana DeBose. It’s a surprising role to take for Kerry Washington, a politically engaged and liberal actress who has risen to fame through shows like Scandal and Little Fires Everywhere and films like Django Unchained. But, she tells Grazia, she likes to surprise.
‘There are a lot of reasons why I decide to say yes to something’, she says over Zoom. ‘And it's hard to describe, right? It's like this internal calling, a nudge from my heart. And sometimes that is related to a little bit of fear. And I don't know if that's healthy or not, but I have noticed that in my career that sometimes when something is scary, I get pulled toward it more.’ Fear, then, can be a positive? ‘Sometimes the fear helps to bubble up the desire to do something,’ she nods. ‘Because it makes me more curious.’
Kerry’s character is blinded by her fears for her daughter. But in real life Ariana hopes the film’s themes will resonate and aid positive change. ‘I really believe that art, and especially anything on screen, has the ability to provide a mirror for society,’ she says. ‘And when you can see other perspectives reflected back to you in a compelling way, then it promotes compassion and promotes empathy. And I think this film does that in such a beautiful way. Hopefully, it'll lead to some different answers.’
The concept of the prom has reached these shores – most schools host some form of evening ball to send their teens off into the world. But no one does it like the Americans, and its cultural impact can’t be underestimated.
‘I think prom is sort of how a lot of adolescents in the United States sort of play at performing adulthood,’ says Kerry. ‘It’s adjacent to adult celebration, and it's a rite of passage. It's a crossroads in your development before you leave home and go to college. But the prom is also a place where we are perpetuating some social norms: it can also be very restrictive around our ideas of what is beauty, what is love, what is normal.’ She thinks some viewers will be surprised to consider that their experience of the event – a pure evening of fun and laughter – is not universal. ‘To have an opportunity to unpack some of that, and for people to think “oh never thought about the fact that certain people didn't feel like they belong at prom”, that is what privilege looks like,’ she says.
Kerry says she ‘loved’ her prom. But that doesn’t beat the experience of Meryl Streep, who she stars alongside. ‘We were doing an interview with the whole cast, and somebody said “tell me about your prom.” Meryl was like “which one?” because she was invited to so many proms.’
This is Kerry’s first singing role in a long, impressive career. She credits Ariana with getting her through, showing her the ropes from her own musical roots: she appeared in Hamilton and stars in Stephen Spielberg’s forthcoming adaption of West Side Story. That said, Ariana was nervous, too.
‘There wasn't a day I didn't show up to work already sweating,’ she says. ‘But I did feel very safe knowing that I've got 10 years of Broadway experience under my belt. So I felt really comfortable in my own skin joining the ranks of these lovely, incredible iconic humans. But I will say I wouldn't have gone through it without Kerry.’
The Prom is in cinemas and on Netflix now