Pop-Culturalist.com

Adia is an emerging storyteller who has quickly made her mark on the industry. The former dancer-turned-actress discovered the medium after a career-ending injury left her unable to perform to her expectations, and since fallen in love with this new form of creative expression.

In 2022, she made her television debut as Cheri in Mike Flanagan and Leah Fong’s award-winning series, The Midnight Club, and can now be seen starring opposite Zazie Beetz, Claire Dane, and Timothy Olyphant in Max’s Full Circle.

From director Steven Soderbergh and writer Ed Solomon, Full Circle is a gripping drama that follows an investigation into a botched kidnapping that uncovers long-held secrets connecting multiple characters and cultures in present-day New York City. Adia shines as Natalia, a young woman who is fiercely protective of those closest to her.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Adia about Full Circle, collaborating with Steven and Ed, and more.

Please Note: This interview was filmed prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike. We stand in solidarity with SAG-AFTRA and the WGA, and will not be conducting further interviews until a fair deal is reached.

PC: How did you discover your passion for storytelling and acting?
Adia: My passion for storytelling began when I was a little kid because I grew up in an artistic household. My mom is a musician. A lot of my family members are musicians. The people I spend a lot of my time around are also musicians. That was the catalyst for me. My brothers and I would create these little stories and do reenactments of things. We definitely lived in the world of storytelling since I came out of the womb.

But as far as acting, I didn’t get into that until about four years ago. It wasn’t something that I was like, “I have to do this. This is my passion. This is my career. It’s my dream.” That wasn’t the case for me. I was actually a dancer prior to that for ten years. I was on a pre-professional track. I was dancing seven days a week, and then I got injured. That thwarted all possibilities of me becoming a professional dancer, which is what I really wanted to do.

That was during my senior year of high school. I had a couple of credits that I needed to complete, so I took an acting class for the fun of it and I really enjoyed it. It gave me the life that I had been missing so much since I lost my ability to dance like I wanted to. I’ve been doing it since then and really enjoyed it, and it somehow got me here.

PC: What has that transition been like going from dance to acting? How have those different mediums lent themselves to one another?
Adia: The beautiful thing about dance is that it’s a full-body sport. I call it a sport because you’re doing everything that any other athlete is doing. It’s a lot of conditioning. It’s a lot of body awareness. It’s a lot of spatial awareness. You need these things as an actor because you’re communicating with other people. You’re telling stories. You’re interacting with your environment. It may not be an actual dance in the traditional sense, but it’s a dance in the verbal and physical sense. Being physically aware of my body, how I’m holding myself, and things like that, I would 100% attribute to my dance career and history. It’s taught me so much.

It was a hard transition because I still miss dancing. I loved it. It was my heart and soul. It’s something that gave me life. But acting has given me that part of my life back. I might not be dancing all the time, although in between shots, I’m definitely still that person. [laughs] I’m really grateful that I’ve been able to have acting as an outlet to release that energy creatively.

PC: Tell us about Full Circle, your character, and what drew you to this project.
Adia: Full Circle is a botched kidnapping gone wrong. But it’s so much more. There are so many storylines. There’s one central event that affects so many different lives. It’s this huge butterfly effect. I’ve heard Zazie [Beetz] say that, and it’s such an accurate analogy to use. It’s really cool to see many different storylines and how people deal with these tumultuous moments within the story.

Natalia is this fierce protector. She’ll do anything to protect her family and her morals. I have two younger brothers. I was really able to lean into that almost momma-bear protective figure. Gerald [Jones], who plays Louis, became a little brother to me, even off-screen, because you realize how precious family is. I related to Natalia in that sense. It made things easier but in some ways harder because I was constantly put into this position of, “If this were me, what would I do? Would I do the things that Natalia does in response to protecting her brother while maintaining true to her integrity and truth?” It was really fun to play her because it was challenging and daunting as well.

PC: Steven and Ed gave you a lot of creative freedom to make Natalia your own. How did that trust allow you to make the creative choices that you made throughout the series?
Adia: It was a tremendous honor. I was really humbled and grateful that they trusted me. I’m someone who is new to this industry. They don’t know me. [laughs] I could have been someone who came off the side of the street that they hired and hoped would do what I was supposed to. [laughs] It didn’t pass me by that this is a very big project. We’re talking about Steven Soderbergh and Ed Solomon. They’re two people who have been so central to building this world of film as we know it today.

I felt a tremendous honor. Then I also felt a bit of pressure—but not from them, from myself. We’re our own worst critics. I felt the pressure to step up to the plate because I was like, “If I fail, it’s on me because they gave me the trust.” They said, “Here are the keys to the Maserati. Good luck and don’t f*ck it up.” [laughs] I just didn’t want to mess up. But I felt really honored. It gave me a lot of room to play and be like, “I want to try this.” Steven would be like, “Okay!” It was really fun.

PC: Steven is known for shooting very quickly and often you only get one take. How challenging was that to adjust to?
Adia: It actually wasn’t that challenging because I’m so new to things. I was like, “Oh, this is the norm. Come prepared.” I was definitely surprised on the first day of shooting. I was like, “This is crazy. I hope I did that well.” He did one shot and was like, “We got it. We’re moving on.” I was definitely a little shocked by it at first. But then I actually really liked it because it made it feel like a play in a way. We’d have these setups and then sometimes we’d have to do more than one take. But a lot of times we were really doing one or two. It felt like you have to be in the moment and with your lines. Whatever you want to try with the material or your mannerisms for a particular scene, do it now because you might not get to do it again.

But he really paid attention. If he saw that you wanted to try again, he’d ask. But nine times out of ten, you just trust that he got what he wanted. If you have a director like Steven Soderbergh, you’re like, “If you’re good, I’m good.” Honestly, it was really easy and I enjoyed it.

PC: Natalia’s journey throughout this series is about finding her voice and protecting those closest to her, which you brought so much nuance to. As an actress, how did you create the space for yourself to dive into that arc and those vulnerabilities?
Adia: Warm-ups! Every time that I would have to be on set, I would arrive an hour early to let go of whatever happened during the day and really sink into Natalia and the things she was going through that day. For me, it’s not easy to access someone who’s going through such a heightened and intense period in their life, especially if it’s supposed to be in that consistent state.

In terms of shooting, we don’t shoot chronologically, so I wrote a lot of breakdowns of what was happening in each scene so that I could follow it emotionally and figure out where I was within that space. But then also there’s this sense that you have to get there quickly, which isn’t always easy. The span of the show happens over a few days and we’re shooting for months. I needed time to sink into it and meditate. I would meditate in my trailer for fifteen minutes to center myself and then start warming up and getting into that accent. I also listened to Guyanese news to get into that head space. We’re moving quickly, so I need to know what her rhythm needs to sound like. That’s how I dropped in.

PC: You’re such a standout in this series. Is there a particular scene or episode that you’re excited for audiences to see?
Adia: There are two in Episodes 5 and 6. There’s one scene in Episode 6, without giving too much away, when we were shooting late at night on a dock. It was freezing. We were wet and grimy. It wasn’t fun to shoot. It was in the middle of the night, but it looks beautiful. I’ve been able to see the whole series, so to see it now and how it all flows together and the discomfort that I was physically feeling and allowing that to show on my face was really cool to see. I’m really, really looking forward to people seeing that.

PC: This is one of your biggest roles to date. Did anything surprise you about the overall experience? What’s the biggest takeaway that you’ll now bring to future projects?
Adia: This isn’t the biggest surprise, but on set there were no chairs. There was no green room for the actors. Whenever Steven was moving around to do a different shot or setup, the rest of the cast and I didn’t sit. We’d talk to the crew and we’d also watch Steven. That man is a master. I was able to watch him in his space and see how quiet he is when he’s really focused on his work and all the gears turning in his mind. It changed my whole perspective on how to approach my work. Because I think a lot of the time people can get caught up with the flashiness of being in the film industry. It’s like, “We’re on set. There are cameras. We’re on a big platform like Max.” It is really cool and dope, but for those who are really into the craft of creating stories, which I really love and it’s something that I’d like to do for however long I’m in this industry, I think I’m going to spend even more time watching directors, writers, producers, and the cameraman. It’s really interesting to watch. If you’re going to be a part of this, you should know how the machine works.

PC: As you look ahead to the next five to ten years, is there a dream role that you’d love to bring to life in front of the camera or behind it?
Adia: I think a bit of both. I would love to write something like Issa Rae. I love Issa. She’s somebody that I look up to so much because I consider myself to be a very awkward Black girl. She was able to take that and create stories with it. I would love to do something in that same vein of writing my own story—even producing it and then starring in it.

I would love to star in something weird and fantastical like Lovecraft Country but with some comedy like Abbott Elementary. I love Quinta [Brunson] as well. I love anything where you can mix the world of the fantastical with good comedy. Or an action movie. I think action is really cool.

To keep up with Adia, follow her on Instagram. Watch Full Circle on Max today.

Photo Credit: Antonia Bara