Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Why Women Kill’s Jordane Christie

Award-nominated actor Jordane Christie has always been enamored by the immersive power of storytelling. It’s the reason why he became an artist and the driving force behind his ability to disappear into any character.

This year, he’s starring in the critically-acclaimed Paramount+ series Why Women Kill Season 2.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with Jordane about his career, his family’s connection to the arts, and Why Women Kill Season 2.

Career

PC: How did you discover your passion for acting?
Jordane: My parents exposed us to many art forms. We would regularly attend plays, ballets, music performances, and films. The arts brought us together; it became one of the ways that we learned to connect. To me, the movie theater was always the most magical place where you could possibly incorporate all of those things. As a quiet yet curious and mostly observant kid, I did not immediately think I could be an actor. Once I mustered up the courage to act on the impulse to try it in high school, I was hooked, and there was no turning back.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Jordane: I read books, and I used to deep dive on Google and YouTube for directions on establishing an acting career. I spent a lot of hours watching interviews of actors that I admired, like Denzel Washington and Will Smith—they’ve always inspired me the most. Denzel’s intensity, power, and versatility have always been something that I looked up to, and that made me place deep importance on the work. Will Smith’s charm, charisma, and positivity always made me feel like hard work could be done with a smile while uplifting those around you.

Also, my brother, Donovan Christie Jr., guided me towards going to theater school in New York and playing the long game.

PC: You’ve had a lot of success in your career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out?
Jordane: Every day that I’m alive is a success to me. I always look towards growth. Working on the show Atlanta in Atlanta was fulfilling in so many ways, even though I only worked on it for an episode. I got to work in my hometown with one of my creative heroes, Donald Glover. It was such a joy.

Also, landing Why Women Kill was a major success for me. It was my first full-season arc as a regular character. It has been a dream come true to have the audience take a ride with me for a whole season. That was an amazing phone call.

Why Women Kill

PC: Speaking of Why Women Kill, tell us about your character and what drew you to this project.
Jordane: In simple terms Why Women Kill Season 2 is about how far one woman will go in order to belong and meet society’s idea of beauty, and also how monsters are essentially created through those pressures.

I play Vern, who is a private investigator that gets intertwined with the central women’s pursuits in more ways than one. Being the curious and inquisitive guy that I am, I was immediately drawn to playing a private investigator, but Vern’s loaded backstory made it all the better. I love playing a layered character who may not immediately show all their cards. Vern can be a bit of a mystery, and I really enjoyed getting in there and answering some of those questions.

PC: This season is set in the 1940s. How did you prepare to step into that era?
Jordane: For me, it was first searching a lot of the political and social elements of the time, but I quickly found that we were not always playing those rules in Why Women Kill, which I eventually found to be liberating. Then, it was watching a lot of films from the ’40s and ’50s as well as the different takes on the private investigator archetype. I got very familiar with Humphrey Bogarts work in The Big Sleep, The Maltese Falcon, and Casablanca. I also enjoyed Denzel Washington in Devil in a Blue Dress as well as Jack Nicholson in Chinatown. There are so many P.I. films out there. I spent the most time crafting who Vern, the man, is outside of his profession and what makes him tick emotionally. I used photographs to compliment his backstory.

PC: There are so many different layers to your character. Which was your favorite to explore? Which was the most challenging?
Jordane: My favorite was uncovering Vern’s sense of humor. I love that he can find so much sarcasm and levity while seeing the worst of people. He can be a bit brash, which is so fun to play, but it’s fascinating when you realize he has some secrets of his own.

The most challenging was all the injuries that he is covering and the pain that each of them possesses. Finding that balance between experiencing them and the stories behind them, yet not letting them get in his way was a challenge. Vern is going to do what he is going to do.

PC: Vern represents a moral high ground throughout the season. How fun was that for you to play amidst everything that unfolds in Season 2?
Jordane: It was fun because it is pretty unexpected considering his profession. I love that he has an opinion about everything and everyone, but he is also a man of action. His deep morality comes as a surprise, but I think the story needs someone like that to balance out the shenanigans.

PC: What can you tease about Vern’s arc this season?
Jordane: Just that he has a heroic heart, but things tend to slip right under his nose.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Jordane: Dave.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Jordane: Superbad.

PC: Favorite book?
Jordane: If Beale Street Could Talk.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Jordane: Othello.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Jordane: Justin Bieber.

PC: Dream role?
Jordane: A political activist, a troubled musician, and Superman.

PC: Who would play you in the story of your life?
Jordane: Don Cheadle, but maybe more likely to be the other way around—I’m much younger.

To keep up with Jordane, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Watch Why Women Kill on Paramount+.

Photo Credit: Jonny Marlow