films as Jacob Elordi’s college bestie, Richardson-Sellers’s latest project, the speculative political dramapresented a much-needed tonal departure that catered to her intensive process. “I was just craving telling a very organic, true, gritty, human story where the emotion of everyday life is put at the center of it,” she tells me over the phone. “It was also an opportunity for me to really study and learn about an area that I think will affect our lives very soon.
As for Kathy, a queer Black woman navigating the “homogenous, white male world” of cybersecurity, those effects are only compounded. It was an experience that resonated deeply with Richardson-Sellers. Growing up, she was the scholarship kid in private schools, and, of course, educational establishments don’t get more exclusionary than Oxford. The actor earned a degree in anthropology and archaeology, a kind of secret weapon she uses to enhance her performances.