Sophie Okonedo on Race, Obama, and New Film Skin

Now, has Skin opened in South Africa yet?

Oh, I don't know. I'm just the actress. I don't have much to do with that.

I'm just curious as to how it would have been received there. It did open in the UK, right?

Yes, but I don't know how it was received because I don't read reviews. I'm not the best person to ask -- all I can tell you is how my mother and daughter reacted. I don't read any press, and I live in a little bubble in London, really. I don't get involved with all that -- I just show up to work and do the job with as much imagination and chutzpah as I can bring to it. When it involves reading about myself, it's like a highway to nowhere.

Your mother's reaction must have been interesting, since Sandra's own relationship with her mother is so complicated.

My mother quite literally thinks everything I do is fantastic. She's the most supportive person in the world, but it's really hard! I'm always asking her, "How was that [movie]?" "Oh, better than the last one!" Whatever I've done, the new thing is always even better than the last one. She loves whatever I do.

Can you tell me a little bit about the potential pitfalls that come with playing a real person? How do you keep their reality from interfering with your cinematic vision of the character?

Well, I try hard, because I've played three real people now. It depends, because with Sandra, I didn't meet her. I just read the script and I knew what Tony told me about her, and I used my imagination to fill in the gaps that I didn't know. The things that Sandra is going through, even though they're of epic proportions, I can understand them. Abandonment, loss, identity...all those themes in the film are things any human being can relate to. I could use my imagination.

But you hadn't met the real Sandra before you made the film?

It was a budget thing. Much of the time with movies, you don't know if you're doing it until just before -- or at least I don't really. If you're a big star, you might get booked years before and then they'll fly you around doing research everywhere. But when you're like me... [Laughs]

Did you have that same freedom when playing Winnie Mandela?

Playing Winnie was definitely different. I had to do a hell of a lot of reading about her, since she's someone that people know and there's a lot written about her. She knows a lot about politics and her country, she knows everything. I really had to know a lot about politics to play her.

Was it intimidating that there's so much video footage of her? Did you feel like you had to nail things like her posture, her mannerisms?

No, none of that. If they want an imitation of Winnie, they need to get a comedian or a stand-up who does imitations. I don't mimicry, it's not in my bit. I just kind of give the essence of the person, and hopefully some part comes through in my performance. I don't know. You'll have to wait and see and tell me after.

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