Jurnee Smollett on Making Historical Dramas Like ‘The Order’

As much as Jurnee Smollett is an actor, she could also be considered an archivist — given how much of her 38-year career she’s spent capturing elements of untold history.

Smollett has been in front of the camera since she was 10 months old, but began acting in earnest when she was 5, appearing on sitcoms like “Full House” and “Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper.” Since then, Smollett played Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Smallest Freedom Fighter” (8-year-old Sheyann Webb) in the 1999 TV movie “Selma, Lord Selma”; the sole female debater at a historically Black college in 1935 Texas in 2007’s “The Great Debaters”; a woman who escapes slavery in the 2016 series “Underground”; and a fiery Civil Rights activist fighting both societal and supernatural monsters in 2020’s “Lovecraft Country,” HBO’s acclaimed sci-fi drama for which Smollett earned her first Emmy nomination.

In her latest film, “The Order,” Smollett plays an FBI agent (a composite character named Joanne Carney) on the hunt for Bob Mathews, the leader of a white supremacist group in the 1980s Pacific Northwest with plans to overthrow the U.S. government. It’s based on a true story.

“It’s no surprise to anyone that I’m very fascinated by our history,” Smollett says with a laugh as we sit down to discuss the project in mid-November. “It’s a privilege to be used as a vessel to bring to life different characters and voices and stories. I feel incredibly blessed to be a part of a story like this that feels immediate and urgent to tell. We need art more than ever now.”

It’s been about a week since Donald Trump recaptured the White House and, because of the current political climate, Smollett and her co-stars Jude Law and Tye Sheridan (who also play law enforcement officers), plus Nicholas Hoult (who portrays Mathews) and director Justin Kurzel spent much of their day talking about how “relevant” the story of “The Order” is. She argues: “When would it not have been relevant?”

“The need to dominate our fellow human being is something that we’re really reckoning with, and it’s no longer something that can stay hidden or tucked away in small corners,” Smollett explains. “Stories like this do illuminate a side of humanity that so many of us want to look away from. Whether it’s apartheid in South Africa, or the Reconstruction Era, or the Jim Crow South — this level of bigotry, hatred, racism, anti-Semitism, it’s not new. It wasn’t invented with Bob Mathews, and, unfortunately, it didn’t die off with his death. So, we are reckoning with, how did we get here, and what do we do to stop our fellow human beings from going down these really deadly, dangerous and consequential paths.”

There were elements of the story that Smollett was familiar with — she’d heard of “The Turner Diaries,” the 1978 novel written by William Pierce, the founder of the neo-Nazi National Alliance, which depicts a violent revolution and ultimately a race war aimed at the extermination of non-whites and Jews. The book has been influential in shaping white nationalism and its depiction of an assault on the Capitol has drawn parallels to Jan. 6. But she wasn’t fully aware of how Matthews and his ideology influenced the domestic terrorists that followed after, like Timothy McVeigh, who perpetrated the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

“One of the things the film does so well is it explores how this ideology preys on the weak and vulnerable and how this propaganda is bred at a very early age, in small doses,” Smollett says of the way “The Order” threads that needle. “And it has to be named what it is: it’s domestic terrorism. Trying to dominate other human beings, taking arms against the American government. I mean, the steps in ‘The Turner Diaries,’ that’s treason.”

It’s investigating these truths and the links between them that gets Smollett fired up as an artist. During the press day, she was pleased to hear one of the journalists share that she looked into the real story after watching the film. Smollett has grown used to hearing sentiments like that — with “Lovecraft Country,” for example, audiences were inspired to research more about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre or sundown towns after watching episodes — and it’s a responsibility she takes seriously.

A few principles guide her work. “Nina Simone talks about it being the job of the artist to reflect the times — that’s my North star,” Smollett says, then paraphrases James Baldwin’s musings about the artist’s relationship to integrity. “He says, ‘It’s force you didn’t ask for. It’s a responsibility which you must accept. And if you don’t lie, if you don’t cheat, it’s not only your glory, your achievement, it’s almost our only hope. Because only artists, since the beginning of time, have known and been able to communicate what it’s like to survive being human.’”

Her takeaway from their words is this: “To hold a mirror up to society and reflect it back is essential storytelling. Unfortunately, we are in a time where folks want to ban certain books and literally erase our history, so art will be more essential than ever to tell the truth.”

And speaking of the election — in the days leading up to contest, X started buzzing with posts suggesting Smollett should add portraying Kamala Harris to her resume of real-life film roles. Judging from confounded look that crosses her face when I mention the posts, it’s not something Smollett was aware of. But would she be open to it?

“Maybe,” Smollett replies, laughing uneasily. “It’s not a secret that I’ve been supportive of her since she was running for senator. If the elements were right, and it wasn’t like the janky version…”

Maybe it could be one of her next projects with longtime collaborator Misha Green (“Underground,” “Lovecraft Country”)? She brightens a little at that idea, then adds of Harris: “What a compelling story — what her origins were and to see where she’s gone, it is inspiring.”

Read on as Smollett discusses “The Order” and what her unique perspective brought to this real-life thriller.

What research did you do to play Carney? I read you interviewed some former FBI special agents.

Playing Carney meant trying to access a level of my brain in which you are the person that chooses to run into danger because you believe in the mission so much that you will sacrifice your mind, body and spirit. Not the person that’s running away from the danger. It challenged me, as a person, to go, “Which one am I?”

Which one are you?

I want to believe that I would run into the fire, but I also don’t want the universe to test me. I sit in a place of privilege in which my courage has been able to show up in a number of ways, but it hasn’t been tested. We all go through things, and you build up your courage and your strength to tackle the monster that’s chasing you. But being the person who goes, “I’m running into it,” is a whole other thing.

I would challenge that — because you seem to be a person that runs into the fire in terms of your roles, which tend to hold a mirror up to society and the experiences of women and Black people.

I do like stories that scare me. I do gravitate towards stories that challenge the status quo. I do want things that feel dangerous and that I’m thoroughly terrified to take on. I do seek those out — and that takes a level of artistic courage. But that’s different, and I sit in a place of privilege to recognize the difference. But, yeah, I love disrupting shit.

What scared you about her?

One, she was written as a man. It’s the second time that’s happened recently — Mame Downs in “The Burial,” with Jamie Foxx, was the other. Ultimately, you want to do justice to the real folks that went through these situations when something’s based on a true story. While my character is fictional, there are special agents who did hunt down Bob Mathews, and capturing their essence or doing justice to the spirit of someone in that position was unknown territory.

The subject matter didn’t necessarily scare me, but I knew we’d have to go to dark places. I knew I’d have to access a side of our history that sometimes you just don’t want to. I sit at the intersection of multiple identities and one of my [acting] coaches often talks about “blood memory” and that visceral connection that we have to our ancestors — to the triumphs and tragedy that our people have gone through. And I am drawn to these roles that activate my blood memory all the time.

When the FBI raids “The Order’s” headquarters, which is filled with racist and anti-Semitic imagery, there’s something striking about Carney — and you, as a Black woman with Jewish heritage — processing those images.

Walking into that bunker, it’s important to see what that actually means to be in that space. A Black woman holding a position of power that, at that time, not many were able to hold — how does this case affect her and her personhood?

Because at the end of the day, she still has a job to do. And that’s what we see when you wipe a tear away.

The vulnerability comes out. You’re a living, breathing being, so it’s gonna impact you. And then how does she stuff it down? It actually translates into rage. Images are very powerful.

You also improvised another moment in the film, where Carney asks Husk — who has had a successful career, but is estranged from his family — if it was all worth it. It’s an exchange that tells you so much about their relationship and makes you start to imagine their personal histories. What backstory did you come up with for Carney?

I’m the kind of actor who wants to know what kind of sheets my character sleeps on, and what she eats for breakfast. Because it helps you pull from the truth. You’ve made all these choices before you get on set, you do all the invisible work.

I created this notion that part of her backstory with Husk is this brother-sister camaraderie — which Jude and I actually have in real life. She was his mentee and now the power dynamics have shifted; he’s not on top like he used to be and he’s coming to her for classified information that she has access to. It feels good to her and her ego for the roles to be reversed. But she’s also looking to him because we have a lot in common. Our job is everything. We don’t have a life outside of it. We sacrifice our mind, body and spirit, our whole life for this job. But she needs to know that it’s worth it — that, at the end of the day, the sacrifice is worth it.

How did that moment play out on set?

We were racing the clock and racing the sun, and Justin said, “All right, Jurnee. You’re gonna drive there and then just turn around and come back — just keep driving up and down, and we’ll just keep the camera rolling.” He had cameras in the back seat, and he was on the walkie talkie, and Jude and I just talked. We did the scene as written a few times, and then just started having a conversation. When you have a wealth of a backstory to pull from, you can think like the character. That’s the trick.

That is the magic trick. What else has been on your mind as you add Carney to your library of characters?

I study the greats of the past — whether it’s the Katherine Hepburns of the world, or Alfre Woodard and Angela Bassett or the Denzel Washingtons or the Al Pacinos. I’ll go back and watch their very first role and you can go, “Well, I don’t think they’d be able to do that character without having done that character.”

I feel like certain characters come to me because there’s something I’ve got to exorcise in myself out of them. I also think they help me pick up some tool that then leads to something else. Accessing that part of my brain with Carney and interviewing these special agents gave me the research that I could build further with the Apple TV show [Smollett stars in a Dennis Lehane-created series, due out next year, playing a police detective] — completely different women, completely different postures and walks in life, but it is interesting how the universe conspires to make your dreams come true.

What do you hope to accomplish next?

Stepping behind the camera is a natural evolution of my artistry. I’ve been in front of the camera since I was 10 months old. I know everyone’s job on set and I, at my core, love storytelling so much and know that human beings, since the beginning of time, have the desire to tell stories and have stories told to us. I just love collaborating, so regardless of what official role I’m playing, whether it’s as producer or eventually directing, it’s just an extension of servicing the story.