‘Nanny’ Actress Anna Diop Shares Embarrassing Moment With Priyanka Chopra On Set Of ‘Quantico’ – Exclusive

Director Nikatu Jus, best known for his award-winning short films, will make his feature film debut with the horror film Nanny. Starring lead actress Anna Diop, the film is deeply rooted in African lore and brings more than just jump scares when it hits Prime Video on November 23rd.

Ahead of its release, Nikyatu and Anna sat down with ETimes to discuss the significance of the new film, the personal stories of struggle and triumph that accompany it, and getting their debut off to a triumphant start.

Anna, a ‘Quantico’ alumnus, also tells us about her ’embarrassing first encounter with a Bollywood actress’ priyanka chopra What was it like working with a desi girl on the hit drama series. Excerpt:

You’re already off to a great start with your feature film directorial debut with Nanny. What do you think makes it different from other horror movies?

Especially in the American cinema paradigm, this is a different type of horror. It’s more social horror than numbers-paid jumpscare horror. . All of that, in addition to me being the new voice, helps the film stand out.

It would be a mistake to attribute my success to my ensemble cast and collaborators behind the camera.

Anna Diop, was this your first horror film as a female lead?

I’ve done short films before, but this was my first time playing a lead role in this role. Aisha appears in almost every scene in the movie.

How did you prepare for the role, especially since you have so much at stake and there aren’t many other actors to play?

I was prepared to play any role. I researched my personality, asked all of her questions, trying to find similarities between her and myself. I have this wonderful collaborator and director who has answered all my questions. She’s going through a very emotional experience, so I created my own storyboard. We were shooting out of order, so I just kept my head in the sand and worked as hard as I could.

This story has its roots in folklore.

This movie has fragments of both our mother’s stories. I’m a first generation American, my family comes from West Africa, my mother is highly educated and very ambitious, an artist in her own right, but to access the work that’s given her, you have to put everything aside I had to put it aside. The easiest jobs for black and brown immigrant women are usually housework. As a child, she worried about how she was treated in her household and who those people were. That was the starting point, but I also knew I didn’t want to tell a simple drama, and I didn’t want it to feel like a PSA.

The lore happened organically as an external manifestation of her inner journey.I wanted the lore of the African diaspora. Spider Anansi is the name we call it in my culture, but many different cultures call it differently.But everyone knows mermaids and trickster spiders.I can incorporate , felt like two of the more visible West African lore.

Anna, you were in Quantico. What was it like working with Priyanka Chopra?

I worked with Priyanka Chopra and at the time I didn’t know she was such a big star in her home country of India. She’s very down to earth! I asked her what her name was, which is very embarrassing…because I didn’t know.She was very sweet and carried herself on her set in a very gorgeous way. . She is also very focused, professional and extremely talented.It was a pleasure to work with her. I hope to see her again. she’s amazing

“Nanny” follows Ayesha, an immigrant from Senegal who is hired to look after the daughter of a wealthy couple in New York City. Haunted by the absence of her abandoned young son, Aisha hopes a new job will give her the chance to bring him to the United States, but as his arrival draws near, a violent presence is revealed. It begins to invade both her dreams and reality, threatening her… the American Dream she is painstakingly piecing together.