How do you embody one of the most famous women in the world when you’ve never even met them? Ask Tika Sumpter. The actress plays Michelle Obama in the new movie “Southside With You.”
“I read a bunch of books that had personal accounts of people who knew her,” Sumpter told CNN at the film’s Cinema Society premiere. “And also her brother’s book, ‘Game of Character,’ it really informed me about who she was during that time and what she was about.”
The film takes place all in one day,centered around Michelle and Barack Obama’s very first date. In the movie Michelle, then Michelle Robinson, is worried about dating Barack since he’s a summer associate at the law firm where she works, but he ultimately wins her over.
Sumpter, 36, who was also a producer on the film, said that getting the First Lady’s mannerisms and speech pattern down was paramount. “I had a dialect coach … [Michelle] is very on top of her words. She enunciates everything. She means every word. She stares at people in the face and she means what she means and she talks with passion.”
With the Obamas’ time in office winding down, the film comes at a key time. Sumpter admitted that when the reality of playing Michelle sunk in, it seemed a bit daunting.
“Once we got the financing and once they said we were going for it, then I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m playing her,'” she said. “But once I stripped her down to Michelle Robinson, I was excited about it.”
“[Michelle] is a girl from the South side of Chicago who had big dreams,” Sumpter said, “who was told no just like the rest of us in life and who never allowed anyone to define who or what she could become no matter what.”
Sumpter wasn’t sure if the Obamas had seen the film but she said she “hoped” they would.
“Southside With You” opens in theaters August 26.
