Naturi Naughton on Making Her Directorial Debut With ‘Behind the Smile’ and Her Future in the ‘Power’ Franchise

variety.com:

Clayton Gutzmore It’s been more than two decades since Naturi Naughton began to establish herself as a triple threat in entertainment.She launched her career as a singer with the music group 3LW, before revealing her acting chops with roles on “Fame,” “Notorious” and the “Power” franchise.

She’s also proved she could deliver in front of a live audience on the Broadway stage. Now, Naughton has added filmmaker to her resume with directorial debut “Behind the Smile,” which launched July 9 on BET Her.“Being in the director’s chair is a dream come true,” Naughton told Variety over Zoom shortly after the film’s launch.Produced as part of “BET Her Presents: The Couch,” a series supporting mental health awareness, the film follows the life of Morgan, a news anchor with vitiligo, and the discrimination she faces at work as her boss pressures her to cover up the skin disorder on air. “I love how ‘Behind the Smile’ shows that we are always, often covering up how we really are feeling behind the smile,” she observed. “Sometimes, you have to take off the mask and stop smiling.

If you’re not okay, it’s okay to say that you’re not okay.”In preparation for the film, Naughton researched vitiligo and leaned into her connection to the topic, interviewing her mother’s best friend, who has been living with vitiligo for 30 years, about her reality.“I know how difficult it must be to be a dark-skinned woman and start losing your pigmentation,” she explained. “In my interviews with her, I was just so blown away by how she was feeling.

I was listening to her and thinking there are many myths and misconceptions about this. I was connected in that way, and I empathized even more. “In the conversation below, Naughton reveals how her acting roles.