Tessa Thompson hates seeing people wear slogan T-shirt without learning about the meaning behind them.
Tessa Thompson
The 34-year-old actress - who stars as a message T-shirt-wearing artist with revolutionary politics in new movie 'Sorry to Bother You' - feels uneasy when she sees people wearing clothes featuring political statements when they haven't taken the time to understand the context of the words.
She shared: "When I look at the 'We Should All Be Feminists' tees, what I think is, 'God, I hope the woman wearing that has read the book that line is taken from [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's 'We Should All Be Feminists']'.
"There are a lot of ideas distilled into that one phrase. And obviously, I agree with the sentiment, but it's also, like - be a feminist how? What does that mean?"
Tessa has recently emerged as one of Hollywood's most sought-after actresses, having starred in a string of hits, including 'Selma', 'Creed' and 'Thor: Ragnarok'.
But the socially-conscious star still took the time to work with the director Boots Riley and costume designer Deirdra Elizabeth Govan on her character's appearance.
Asked how she helped to develop her character's on-screen look, Tessa shared with Vogue: "The earrings were in the script. Everything else was up for debate - the one thing Boots felt strongly about was that she look 'Oakland'.
"So I drove around Oakland, and saw all these girls with fiercely coloured hair. The T-shirts Detroit wears come from Otherwild, a queer, feminist store that makes all these statement tees.
"Like, 'The Future Is Female Ejaculation'. I knew Detroit had to wear that tee - it's all about women talking about our sexual power, taking ownership of it."
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