Allison Janney and Jurnee Smollett Talk ‘Lou’ and the Value of Female Action Heroes

Allison Janney and Jurnee Smollett executive produce and star as Lou and Hannah in Lou. The new action-packed thriller is now streaming, only on Netflix.

Thinking she’d put her dangerous past behind her, Lou (Allison Janney) finds her quiet life interrupted when a desperate mother (Jurnee Smollett) begs her to save her kidnapped daughter. As  a massive storm rages, the two women risk their lives on a rescue mission that will test their limits and expose dark and shocking secrets from their pasts. 

Janney’s notable work includes Mom, The Help, Hairspray, Juno, The Hours, The West Wing, as well as I, Tonya.

Smollett can recently be seen in Spiderhead, which I also had the pleasure of speaking with her about. The actress is best recognized for her roles as Dinah Lance / Black Canary in Birds of Prey and Letitia Lewis in Lovecraft Country.

We had a powerful discussion about challenging the perspective of who can be a hero and which of the film’s themes stuck out to them personally.

Watch my interview here: