Ebony Obsidian Discusses Role in ‘The Six Triple Eight’ and Bringing Forgotten WWII Story to Light
“At first I had a lot of shame,” Ebony Obsidian says of learning about her new movie “The Six Triple Eight.” “Kerry Washington and I spoke about this at the beginning of this process. We both had a moment of like, ‘oh, wait a minute. Why don’t I, of all people, know about this?’” Obsidian continues.
“I think especially as storytellers and women of color and [being] in the positions that we are, it did feel a bit odd to not know about this. And very quickly that turned into, ‘no, but none of us do.’ And it’s coming at the time that it’s coming in the way that it’s coming for a reason, because maybe we wouldn’t have known about it still, even if it was celebrated all those years, maybe we still wouldn’t know about it in this big and colorful and vibrant way that we do today.”
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The movie, directed and written by Tyler Perry and available on Netflix, tells the true story of the only Women’s Army Corps unit of color stationed overseas during World War II. Washington plays Major Charity Adams who led the battalion, and who was the first African American woman to receive an Army commission. Obsidian is at the center of the film, playing Lena Derriecott King, a member of the Six Triple Eight. On Wednesday, Obsidian was named the winner of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture for the film, and the cast won for Outstanding Ensemble Cast.
Perry, who Obsidian had worked with on the BET series “Sistas,” emailed her the script for “The Six Triple Eight” and asked her to give it a read.
“I didn’t know what it was. I thought, ‘how did you come up with this great fictional story?’” she says. “‘It’s so colorful and thorough, and all of these things. Where did the inspiration come from?’ He was like, ‘oh, no, no. It’s a true story.’”
Then came the daunting reality of playing both a real person, and one who, at the time, was still alive (King passed away in January 2024).
“This was not something familiar territory for me,” Obsidian says. “We don’t get to do war movies. Women like me are not often seen in these spaces. And so to have that be the case and it be true and not be fantasy and not be fictional, it’s such a big reward.”
The other reward for being part of the film has been bringing this true, little-known story to the public.
“It’s been this little gift of, ‘wait a minute, this was a part of American history. This is not like African-American history. This is American history, and it’s a part of a bigger story that we’re all familiar with, World War II.’ And so I think that has brought a lot of people together,” Obsidian says. “And it really is for anyone who’s been underestimated and anyone who’s been forgotten and their efforts and their contributions.”
Since the film’s release there is much more information online about the Six Triple Eight, but when she got the role of Lena, Obsidian was rather limited in details. But she did have the ultimate source: King herself. Perry had recorded a conversation with King while researching the film, and Obsidian was able to fly out for King’s 100th birthday.
“I was so nervous because I just didn’t know what to expect. And she was so bright and so happy to see me without knowing who I was at first. She just embraced me so much, which is more than I think anyone could ask of embodying a living, breathing human being who has a story that is important,” Obsidian says. “She could not have been more proud. I think we should all be more openly proud of what our story is. I think culturally, we have a thing of ‘don’t be too boastful,’ and she was none of those things, but she was proud of the contribution that she made and that her battalion made. And it was so beautiful. It was so earned.”
Obsidian, who grew up in New Paltz, N.Y., trained at the William Esper Studio in New York City before landing her first series, the Netflix hit “Master of None.” Her love of acting is forever marked onto her body: as a kid, she was watching “Spirited Away” while ironing and was so engrossed in the film that she burned herself on the iron.
“I have a forever scar from that experience,” she says. “I’ll never forget that.”
Her career thus far has included roles in “If Beale Street Could Talk” and “Wu-Tang: An American Saga,” but it hasn’t all come easy, Obsidian admits.
“It’s not an easy career. It’s definitely not something you do for ease. There are points that aren’t the most fun,” she says. “The most fun is when you get the job, when you get to go and explore and dig in. But there are times in between that, and I never felt like I was not on the right path.”
Up next she has a few projects in the works she can’t yet discuss, but she’s never been more excited about where things are headed.
“This time period for me is really a rebirth of sorts, I think because of the work that I have done that I’m so proud of to this day,” she says. “ And now I feel very free, in a way that maybe I didn’t as a younger actress. I feel very free and very creative. And I’m dipping back into spaces that I’ve kind of resisted for a while.”
One such is writing, which she studied in school before changing her focus to acting.
“I feel that very awakened [in] me right now. And that’s been great to explore,” she says of writing. “So a lot of newness. I think some unexpected things are on the horizon.”
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