In this evolve-or-die era, there’s always something new to love. Failing in that always presents the option to create the next crave for yourself. Actress, writer, visual artist and filmmaker, Numa Perrier’s life is this process in HD action.
“Jezebel,” her first solo film project, debuts at the popular South by Southwest film, music and interactive media festival this March. A wild account of two sisters’ game plan when their family struggles to survive life in Las Vegas after their matriarch dies, “Jezebel” is laser focused on sexual agency versus exploitation. Based on the real-life internet model adventures of Perrier and her older sister, the film is tailor-made for SXSW’s broad and roused communal spirit.
Guest starring in Showtime’s hit series, “SMILF”(Single Mom I’d Like to F*ck) is also exploding with reasons to be excited about media. Perrier’s character, “Elsie,” is a work-smarter-not-harder, Haitian domestic navigating the unimaginable luxury of her professional life. She skillfully balances blue-collar joys with complexities of home and her immigrant status. In “SMILF,” there are no innocent bystanders in this brutal raid of Boston motherhoods, their supporting casts, and the sexuality booming loudly in every scene.
One wonders if television has ever been so in touch with its feminine side. Like a vintage amulet earned with age, Perrier wears her Haitian ancestry proudly as she performs the science of Black womanness. “Elsie” adds a soulful and lusty nuance to the dramedy that Perrier serves with fearsome panache.
It seems like Perrier isn’t much for playing small these days. A renegade spirit mirroring her life on both sides of the camera lens, she continues to run, House of Numa, an art house film company focusing on black women involved in movie production from soap to nuts. Her long-established cyber wonderland remains a destination where she blurs the line between hard earned personal experience and social commentary. It’s where the mesmerizing shapeshifting of representation roams free despite the boundaries of society’s rigid stereotypes.
An unapologetic channeling of Black audacity and sensuality in the broadest range of her imagination, Perrier is finding new ways to tell Black stories, project them globally, and spread them across platforms. If her work on “Jezebel” and “SMILF” are any indication, we get the feeling she is just hitting her stride.
Check out photos from our exclusive “SMILF” watch party, complete with signature cocktails (recipe below) – as well as captures from one hosted at the home of show producer Frankie Shaw. Catch new episodes of “SMILF” Sundays at 10:30pm ET/PT on Showtime.
The Night Drive SMILF
1oz Crown Royal
1oz Peach Schnapps
1oz Cranberry Juice
Nobi DeLon is a NJ based content creator, writer, educator, DJ, and radio personality obsessed with vintage Black glamour, hip hop, good conversation, reading, self-lovery, and hope. Always evolving, this proud mama of three considers herself most fearless when she is being creative behind a pen, podium or set of turntables. Oh, the soulful places you’ll go when you connect with Nobi by following her Instagram and her radio show, The Night Drive – @nightdriveradio
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