Antoinette Robertson Embraces Horror
When Antoinette Robertson first met with her agents, she was very clear with her message: nothing scary.
“I was like, ‘Hey, listen, I don’t play with demons. I don’t play in the realm of spirituality and evil. I don’t do stuff like that. As a result, I would like to just avoid horror,’” she says.
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So naturally, she was a bit perplexed when they sent over the script for “The Blackening,” a new horror comedy from Tim Story. They promised it leaned heavily into comedy.
“And I’m like, ‘How funny could it be with blood and guts?” Robertson remembers. Still, they convinced her to read it, and she couldn’t put it down.
“I was completely obsessed, but terrified at the same time because I was like, ‘Wait, I’m going to have to have blood and stuff all over me. I don’t know if I can do it.’ But it was just so funny. I felt like if I didn’t take advantage of the opportunity, I would completely regret it. And I know that right now that would be the case if I didn’t. I’m grateful I took the chance.”
The movie is based off a 2018 Comedy Central skit of the same name and follows a group of friends staying together in a cabin in the woods who become the target of a killer.
Robertson, previously best known for her role as Coco in the Netflix series “Dear White People,” plays Lisa in the movie. Robertson describes her as “that one friend that’s always trying to get you to do crazy things.”
“I loved that she had so much more fun than Coco,” Robertson says of the character. “[With Lisa], even though she’s intense and she’s intelligent and she’s all of these things, she could still let loose and have a good time and not have her guard up as much. The arc that they gave me, it was truly a gift. I got to be terrified and vulnerable and frantic. Then also live in the moment and find my courage and my bravery to defend the people that I love the most.”
Robertson grew up in the countryside of Jamaica and grew up modeling. She started booking more and more commercials until one day, her agent asked if she’d ever considered acting. It was around then her friend suggested an acting class (promising it was an “easy A”) and before she knew it she was obsessed.
“I’d never felt that kind of a thrill before,” she says. “And I was like, ‘Oh my god, I really want to do this with my life.’”
Up next, she’s hoping a short film she executive produced alongside Leigh Davenport will find its way into some festivals, and she’s at work writing a feature as well.
“For the most part right now, I don’t want to limit myself. I didn’t wanna do comedy and I didn’t wanna do horror, and somehow I find myself in a space where I’m obsessed with the combination of both,” she says. “I feel like if I put any limitations on myself, I might be missing out on something amazing.”
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