Praise This star Anjelika Washington chats about her new Peacock film as well as her career after Stargirl ended in 2022. Peacock has premiered one of its latest originals in the form of Praise This. From Tina Gordon, Praise This follows Chloe Bailey as Sam, who is an aspiring singer-songwriter. When she moves to Atlanta, Sam joins her cousin Jess' church praise team.
Washington plays the charismatic cousin Jess, who becomes integral to Sam's journey as she comes to Atlanta. Praise This marks Washington's latest project following Stargirl, where she starred as one of the Justice Society heroes. Washington is also aspiring to work behind the camera as a future filmmaker.
Screen Rant recently had the opportunity to chat with Washington about Praise This, and the experience of working on a musical film. The actress also opened up about the unfortunate cancellation of Stargirl, where she starred as Beth Chapel (aka Doctor Mid-Nite). In addition to that, Washington also discussed what she hoped to do after projects like Praise This and Stargirl.
Anjelika Washinton on Praise This
Screen Rant: Let's start from the beginning. How did this part come about? Was it something you auditioned for?
Anjelika Washington: Yes, I auditioned. It was honestly the fastest booking I've ever had. Fast isn't the word; it's the easiest booking I think I've ever had [laughs], which is the craziest. Because I sent in one self-tape, and that was it. I didn't have a callback. I didn't have a director session - I just sent in one tape. They were like, 'Great., done. That's it!' I didn't hear anything for three months, though.
I sent in my tape last March about a year ago. Then I didn't hear anything until May, and then in May, they were like, 'Hi, great! [Praise This] starts in three days.' I was like, 'Oh, shoot, okay, amazing!' I literally packed up my whole life and left for the entire summer with two days notice. It was the craziest thing. But once I read the script, once my mind was refreshed when my manager called saying I booked it. Once I read the script, I laughed out loud so many times. I really felt like there was room and opportunity there for me to make the character my own and put my own sauce on it shall I say? So I was really excited.
When I watched this film, I went, 'She got lungs; she knows how to sing!' What is your musical background, was it something you were doing a lot of when you were in school?
Anjelika Washington: That's so funny, thank you. I don't know; I do not consider myself a singer. I just somehow keep ending up in movies that I sing in. I don't have any formal singing training. I did do musical theater growing up. That was my first introduction to acting. And I chose just the acting route [laughs] but somehow the universe is pulling me back into the whole thing, like into the whole mix. That's pretty much it.
But I'm really honored and grateful to be surrounded by such talented musicians who have been singing their whole lives and have made careers out of music. It's been really inspiring to watch, and I do get to play the drums in the movie, which is awesome. Because I played the drums in elementary school, which is so funny. I feel like a little homage to younger Anjelika in bringing the drums back out. So it was nice to get drum lessons and to do all of that type of stuff; it was really fun.
How many times did you have to do that take?
Anjelika Washington: I had drum lessons for a few weeks; we had like a boot camp a couple of weeks right before we started filming. I started drum lessons the day I touched down in Atlanta because they knew they were going to have me perform it over and over and over again. Luckily, they had the song already prepared, and I started learning the song immediately. It prepared me to be able to do it over and over again. Because once I learned it, and I kept practicing it on the drumset - they also gave me a drum set in my hotel room to practice with.
Once I got it down, knowing a song. it was like muscle memory. I just knew exactly what it was and how to perform that song on the drums. If you try to make me do any other song on the drums, you will be unpleasantly let down because I can not do any other song on the drums. I can only do that song! [laughs]
This ensemble was so charismatic and so much fun to watch together. Can you talk about building that chemistry with everyone, especially with Chloe, given how close your characters were?
Anjelika Washington: Thank you! It was honestly a really inspiring opportunity for me. I think getting to work with people who are each so talented in their own industry - obviously, Chloe's like a pop star. Quavo was a huge rapper, and Druski is like an influencer comedian. Jekalyn Carr and Corinne are Grammy-nominated and winning gospel artists. Everyone else as well, like Tristan Mack Wilds was a very successful actor and rapper that I watched growing up; Crystal [Renee Hayslett] from top to bottom, everyone is so incredible to work with and to get to see.
I think it was just really exciting to be in an environment where everyone really respected each other and really just let everyone shine in their own area. Because I'm not going to show up and just start rapping, that's Quavo's thing - I let everyone do their thing. Acting is definitely where I think I shine the most - of course, the singing and dancing is also really fun. But my character, obviously, as you know, isn't supposed to be that amazing. So it worked out very well for me, and with that regard, I think it was just really fun to work on a project that, for the first time, all of my cast mates were not actors. A lot of them, it was their first movie, their first time acting and that was a very different experience for me.
You mentioned that this was filmed in Atlanta, which is also where you shot Stargirl. Was there any piece in the movie that you'd already filmed before?
Anjelika Washington: Well, first of all, thank you for watching Stargirl. My beloved Stargirl, that's so awesome. Actually, no, because on Stargirl, we filmed on stage. hen everything else we actually filmed in Dallas, Georgia, like all of our exterior work and houses. So the only thing that took place in Atlanta, which Stargirl did, most of the things were on our stages. But our other stuff was there. For Praise This, everything was on location. I actually had this new experience in Atlanta, where I got to film at all these locations I would have never ever filmed at being on a superhero show.
Whereas other shows center Atlanta more as the core of the project - they get to film on location at prime locations. But we did get to film at the Trap Museum, which was awesome because I've been to every museum in Atlanta except maybe two, and the Trap Museum was one of them just because it's really hard to get tickets. and the lines are so long and booked out for months. So I got to go for free, and I got to film there. I got to have a full tour of the Trap Museum. I totally got to see the Migos section that Quavo was a part of; it was really cool. Seeing him and then also being in the Trap Museum with him was a very interesting experience. I did have some crew members that also worked on Stargirl, so that was my piece of home of getting to see people that worked on my show and now working on my movie just months later. That was a really fun experience.
You guys have so many good scenes together, was there one that you guys had an especially amazing time shooting, just for the scene itself or because of the chemistry with your co-stars?
Anjelika Washington: Yeah, I have a few. I would say that my favorite is everything at the Regional competition, which was outside. That was our very first week of filming. I think that it was just the funniest, because we were all getting to know each other. We're so excited to be there. It was hot, or as we know it, Hot-lanta it's hot Atlanta. We were outside most of the time in June-July, so it was terrible as far as heat goes.
But we had a lot of Cancer birthdays, including Chloe, including our director Tina, including Druski - so many birthdays were happening all within the first two weeks of filming. It just felt like one huge birthday party, every day was someone's birthday! It was really great and we got to decorate trailers. I know me and a couple cast mates decorated Chloe's trailer. That was really fun because it was her first set birthday, and I'm like, 'Oh, it has to be special1' When you have a set birthday, this is where you're spending your 14 hours of your day, it better be special, so that was really cool.
Talk about working with Tina Gordon as a director because this is the first thing I've seen of her so how was she to work with as a filmmaker?
Anjelika Washington: As an actor, who's also a filmmaker - and I plan to be a director one day as well - it's always inspiring when I get to work with Black female directors. She's the third I believe, that I've worked with and each experience has been very different as we're all different multifaceted humans. But Tina specifically was really special, because she had a very collaborative perspective, she had a vision. But she was so free to let us adlib and improv.
There was so much that Chloe and I were just having a regular conversation and just us being ourselves. She'd be like, 'I want you to do that, in the scene at the top, just talk, do exactly what you're doing.' So a few of those moments made it into the movie, which is really exciting. It was regular life stuff that she was like, 'That's funny,' that we would be randomly talking about that she would just add-in. That part is really fun. I love working with directors who are open to real collaboration and she definitely was open to that.
I was already a huge fan of you and also of Chloe. What do I have to do to get you guys back together on another project?
Anjelika Washington: Well, I hope that we can do Praise This 2, 3, and 4.
The Praise This Universe!
Anjelika Washington: The Praise This Universe! I mean, if we're going based on how they pitched it to me, we see it as being like the Black gospel/Pitch Perfect universe. Then we should just go for the whole thing. We should make the franchise out of it if we're already on our way there. I think that that would probably be the number 1 way but also totally open. I know that Tina is working on a lot of other things and she does a lot of comedy, which is something that's very in my wheelhouse that obviously, as you've seen from this movie. I really love comedy. I'm diving deep into it these days, so I'm hoping to do more comedy.
As my career progresses, I would love to do that. There's just a lot of sadness in the world right now, and I do love drama. I hope to also do some grittier work. That's actually where I started my very first pilot, which I booked as a lead series regular [which] was this dark gritty Amazon series that didn't end up getting picked up. But that's really where I started in my career and then as times have just been changing, mainly through the pandemic, I've been leaning towards the funny just because it feels good. I like feeling good and making people feel good. The world right now is just really heavy. Any way that I feel like I can bring joy, through my art and my work, is what I want to do.
For someone who watches this film, and may not watch musicals that often, what do you hope they take away from this story?
Anjelika Washington: I hope that people that watch this film find a sense of hope. When I say hope I really mean feel accepted in all areas, whether they're believers or not. Tabitha Brown actually tweeted something along the lines of sometimes, when people are so religious, they forget that love is the biggest thing that Jesus ever asked us to do.
Whether you're a believer or not, I hope that people see the love, the hope, and the acceptance in it. I think at the core of love, It really is acceptance, accepting people for who they are, and loving them unconditionally. That looks different for everyone, but I think that acceptance is transparency. I think that it looks like everyone - all walks of life, shapes, colors, beliefs, values, all of those things. I hope when they see this movie, they see the open arms and the acceptance that we offer to the character Sam and I hope that can be translated into people's regular life.
There's a lot of darkness right now going on in the world, so this film is a good break from the nonsense that is our world.
Anjelika Washington: It's nice sometimes to take like a two-hour break and live in this world where you know that it's going to work out. Sometimes I live for rom-coms, and a lot of comedies because I need to go into it knowing it's going to work out for this person. Because so much about our own life is unpredictable, not secure, not safe. We just never know what's going to happen, so it's nice sometimes to go into something knowing that this is going to end well. I appreciate that and I think sometimes those movies get a bad rap for not being great or being too predictable or cheesy. But I actually think that we need that balance in our lives, so I'm excited to be a part of it.
I would not forgive myself if I didn't try to talk to you about Stargirl for a little bit. I will never forgive The CW for taking the show away from me because talk about a show that gives us hope every week. Where are you emotionally with it?
Anjelika Washington: I'm doing great, actually, I'm really excited about the newness that's coming into my life. I have no idea what my next series will be. But I'm really excited for whatever journey that's going to be. I think my journey with Stargirl came at the perfect time in my life. It changed my life entirely completely, as not only a human being but as an actor, and an artist. Over half of those episodes were directed by women, which is again, something that I want to do. So it was so inspiring to see Geoff Johns really be so intentional about casting women of color to fill in the cast, and then to hire directors that were women and also women of color, people of color to really give that show just more balance.
Diversity is so special and important. I don't really know if there's another show that I'll be on that will really be able to top that experience. I think about it often as far as 'I hope one day I don't get bored on my next show.' Because I go in every day for Stargirl and it's like, 'Oh, today we're blowing up the cafeteria. We're blowing up the car. Today we're fighting and throwing you through the window.' Sometimes I think if I go into a regular show where I'm just talking, will I be bored? Will I be sad? I'm not sure. I guess only I have to find out only time will tell. But I'm looking forward to whatever the newness that is for me, whatever the show that is next for me. I hope that whatever the next project is, I hope it really also shows off my strengths and my range as far as my work and my acting abilities. I'm excited to work with new people, meet new people, and be in new places, just all the things
You talk about how you are an aspiring director. If the show had come back for season 4, would you have directed an episode of Stargirl? Did you shadow any directors during the three seasons?
Anjelika Washington: I did not get an opportunity to shadow anyone but that was exactly what I was going to do in season 4. I had spoken to our showrunner, our directing supervisor, and all of our producers; they were totally on board. It's unfortunate that that didn't get to happen. But I do still plan on shadowing, and I'm sure down the line if Stargirl would have gotten its fair share of seasons like the other DC shows that have like 6-8 seasons or 9 seasons like The Flash, I'm sure I would have had the opportunity to direct something. But that's not how it worked out, and that's okay. I'll have an opportunity in a different way. Maybe alternately, a Christmas movie, or a rom-com. I really want to do things that bring a lot of joy.
Was there something that you felt was left out that you wish you had gotten to explore on the show? I know the Rick and Beth fans were definitely wanting more. I wanted more!
Anjelika Washington: Yes, 100%. I would have loved to expand on Rick and Beth. As you know, they're married in the comics. that relationship was kind of just beginning. I also would have loved for my character, Beth, to be able to explore more of her powers and her suit that she just figured out can do all these things.
In season 3, my parents were talking about getting me a new suit and building me a new suit. I would have loved it if Beth could have rocked that beautiful yellow and black suit, the traditional Beth Chapel super suit. Those are the things that I feel like I missed out on, being able to have that super suit and being able to explore more of the storyline like in the comics. [To also be able to] explore my character's powers and be able to fight more and do combat, have more stunts and stunt training.
But it all worked out because I just learned I have Carpal Tunnel, so maybe I didn't need it. Maybe it all worked out for a reason [laughs], so it's fine, but I do still want to be a superhero again one day. I would love that.
James Gunn is building a new DC Universe, and if he called you up and said, 'Hey, I was a huge Stargirl fan. I want you to come back...'
Anjelika Washington: I will be on the next flight!
Would you want to keep playing Beth, or would you want to play a different superhero?
Anjelika Washington: Oh, I'd be super open to lots of different characters. It doesn't have to Beth Chapel. I always loved Bumblebee.
I remember when I was auditioning for Stargirl, I didn't know who I was playing. I was looking up like all these different Black superheroes, I had no idea, and I remember researching a few of them, looking at Bumblebee, and I was like, 'Well, I must be her because I'm so chipper, bubbly, that I must be her!' Then it ended up not being her, which is totally fine, perfect, and great. But I was assuming because it was like a teenager. It was not an adult that we reworked the JSA into the teenage superhero world. But I'm really happy that I got to be Beth Chapel. So grateful, and absolutely obsessed with the opportunity that I got to be Doctor Mid-Nite. I will never ever take it for granted. But if I got the opportunity to play a superhero again, I think I would like to be Bumblebee.
Maybe you can direct a superhero movie for the DC Universe; I would love to see you do that.
Anjelika Washington: I would love that. That would be a dream and something that could possibly be possible. Could be...probably, I don't see why not.
Are you teasing something?
Anjelika Washington: [Laughs] Maybe I am...maybe I am!
Before I let you go, what are you working on right now the fans can look forward to outside of Praise This?
Anjelika Washington: A few things that I can't share at the moment hope, but I'm hoping that there will be an announcement or something that I can share soon.
I'm also excited for sure about the things that are coming up but excited for the things that I have no idea about. There's been a lot of people like Tiffany Haddish, who I met, who was like, 'You're so funny, I want to work with you. We got to do something!' So I'm holding her to that and I am absolutely going to work with her in something. I'm also excited for whatever new opportunities come from Praise This, is also something I'm really looking forward to.
Well, I will join you in holding that to Tiffany as well because that would be such a good combo with you two. Congratulations on what is an amazing movie. I can't wait for people to see this and whatever comes next for you.
Anjelika Washington: Thank you, Andy, I appreciate that!
About Praise This
A young woman with dreams of being a superstar joins an underdog Atlanta praise-team choir in the lead up to the national competition.
Praise This is now streaming on Peacock.