Tika Sumpter Talks Being Queen Latifah's Love Interest In 'Bessie'

Tika Sumpter kissed a girl, and she doesn’t get what the big deal is.

The stunning actress will be starring alongside Queen Latifah in HBO’s Bessie Smith biopic, Bessie, as one of the legendary singer’s lovers, Lucille.

It’s the first time that she’s ever played the love interest for a female lead, and The Root was curious whether there’s any big difference between that and her straight roles.

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The short answer here is “no” because she’s more focused on tapping into the character’s emotions. She said:

“People ask me, ‘Well, how was it to kiss a woman?’ ‘Were you nervous?’ and I’m like, ‘It’s just as nerve-racking to kiss a guy on set.’ It’s still love; it’s still intimacy.

“Me and [Queen Latifah] clicked and were able to talk, it was just part of the character, and me delving in and being fearless regardless of if it was a man or a woman. But yeah, it was my first time portraying a bisexual woman, and it was totally fine. Kissing Queen Latifah is like, ‘Oh, my God,’ so it wasn’t like, ‘Wow, I have to kiss a woman.’ It was the same to me.”

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