DeWanda Wise has done it all: off Broadway, soaps, competition shows, and Netflix, as Nola Darling in Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It reboot. This summer, she’s taking the reins from Laura Dern and Chris Pratt in Universal’s Jurassic World Dominion—a franchise she thinks is timeless for a few reasons: “One, if you hate dinosaurs, it’s you. And two, I think we need a bit of a reminder of how we treat each other and this planet.”
Gown by Versace by Fendi; jewelry (in hair) by Versace; bracelet by Bulgari.Photographs by Nick Riley Bentham
Her father was a grocer, her mother was an office manager. She wound up acting by accident: “I was laughing down the hallway late,” and instead of detention, her teacher forced her to audition for a play.
She starred in The Tempest and Antigone, with the goal being drama school. “My guidance counselor was like, ‘DeWanda, no one’s gotten into NYU in 13 years.’ I said, ‘Watch.’ And that’s the last time I had anything to prove to anybody.”
Springboarding out of college, Wise was a true New York actor, flitting from Law & Order shows to a never-released Wendy Williams biopic to an indie with Sarah Jessica Parker. “That was one of many ‘you’re going to be big’ moments that wasn’t. Look, I’m still going to Target.”
Then came She’s Gotta Have It. “Spike wanted to cast someone else. And everyone was like, don’t do it. Cast DeWanda.”
Her character, Kayla Watts, is the first LGBTQ+ lead in the Jurassic franchise. “I hope it’s not a letdown. Because it’s integrated beyond a wink or needing a partner onscreen. I’m here to tell love stories, queer love stories.”
Now she’s starting to feel the pressure of being a Black actor starring in a huge blockbuster, something she’s commiserated with John Boyega and Ray Fisher about. If a heroic character doesn’t get enough hero moments, she knows, audiences won’t respond to them. Thankfully, she laughs, in Jurassic, “we just kept adding them.”
Next, she stars with Shailene Woodley and Betty Gilpin in Showtime’s Three Women. Her character, Sloane, is “rich, beautiful, and married to Blair Underwood. Okay? She’s not supposed to be accessible.”
Hair, Vernon François; makeup, Tasha Reiko Brown; manicure, Lisa Jachno. Produced on location by Preiss Creative. For details, go to VF.com/credits.