Harrier Takes
HOLLYWOOD Evanston native stars in new Ryan Murphy Netflix miniseries by Wilson Chapman
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n just her few short years working as an actress, Laura Harrier has worked with some of the biggest and brightest people in the industry. The Evanston native’s first major film role was in Marvel’s “Spider-Man: Homecoming” as Liz, acting alongside Tom Holland and Zendaya. In 2018, she got a call to work with one of her favorite filmmakers, Spike Lee, on “BlackKklansman,” an experience she described as “very surreal.” And this year, she made her TV debut working with the most powerful man in television, “Glee” and “American Crime Story” mastermind Ryan Murphy. In Murphy’s new Netflix miniseries “Hollywood,” which premiered May 8, Harrier plays Camille, an aspiring black actress in post-World War II Los Angeles who faces limited prospects for stardom because of her race. Sick of playing bit roles in films as the main character’s maid, Camille pushes her boyfriend Raymond (played by Ryan Murphy royalty Darren Criss) to let her act in a film he’s set to direct based loosely on the life of
Peg Entwistle, a real-life failed actress who committed suicide by jumping from the Hollywood sign. Raymond agrees, and Camille headlines “Meg,” a boundary-breaking film that changes the face of Hollywood as the characters know it. Harrier sat down with The Daily to talk about working with Murphy and the cast, getting into the role of Camille, and the importance of representation in Hollywood and “Hollywood.” This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. The Daily: What initially drew you to “Hollywood?” Harrier: Ryan Murphy. I mean, he is just such an incredible filmmaker and showrunner and obviously everything he’s done has had so much success. I’ve been a fan of his for a long time. “Pose,” I love so much. I think he’s just so incredible. So anything he was doing I would have definitely wanted to be a part of. But that was
the jumping off point. I wasn’t able to even read a script for “Hollywood” until I was attached and signing contracts. All I knew going into it was “old Hollywood in the ’40s, I’d be playing an actress and it was Ryan Murphy.” And that was enough to get me to sign up. The Daily: Did you take any inspiration from real actresses of the time period in your portrayal of Camille? Harrier: My biggest source of inspiration was Dorothy Dandridge, along with Lena Horne. They were the two first black leading ladies. They both had gone through so much adversity in life, and Dorothy Dandridge’s life ended pretty tragically. She didn’t really reach the achievements in her career that I think she should have, and maybe would have been able to had she been in the industry at a different time. But it was really hard for her back then. So she was my main research and point of inspiration. So I watched
