We love an inclusive holiday rom-com and Prime Video’s Something From Tiffany’s from Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter’s production banner Hello Sunshine is exactly that.
Based on the novel by Melissa Hill adapted by Tamara Chestna and directed by Daryl Wein (streaming on Prime Video now), Something From Tiffany’s features actress Javicia Leslie as Sophia, one-half of the married couple opposite Jojo T. Gibbs’ Terri. They are surrounded by the holiday magic of New York City as well as several other romantic storylines that include Ethan and Vanessa (Kendrick Sampson, Shay Mitchell), a picture perfect couple who are just about to make it official. Meawhile Rachel and Gary (Zoey Deutch, Ray Nicholson) are happy enough, but not quite ready for that big commitment. When a simple mix-up of gifts causes all of their paths to cross, it sets off a series of twists and unexpected discoveries that lead them to where they’re truly meant to be.
It’s not often we see a solid, Black queer couple in a rom-com that seems (mostly) flawless. For Leslie, she thought it was beautiful to see this sort of representation in the rom-com genre because it’s something we don’t see often. Something From Tiffany’s came to her when she was searching for a good film to be in while on hiatus from Batwoman — and the fact it was produced by Hello Sunshine made it even better.
“My character’s queer, which most of my characters are, so that was already a plus,” Leslie told GLAAD’s Anthony Allen Ramos. “I hadn’t worked with Jojo but I knew Jojo through friends and so our first time meeting was during the chemistry read and it was just really, really dope. We hit it off… It was just literally laughs and giggles the entire time. It was a really really fun experience.”
Leslie made history as the first Black and queer actor to play the iconic character of Batwoman in the CW series. Unfortunately, the series was canceled after three seasons — but it just seemed like the beginning of the cancelation of inclusive programming under the WarnerMedia umbrella. The media conglomerate has since canceled many shows including Legendary, Minx, Love Life, and The Gordita Chronicles. The conglomerate also canceled the release of the multimillion dollar superhero pic Batgirl starring Leslie Grace as the titular character — even though the film was completed. Directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah and written by Christina Hodson the film also starred trans Filipina actress Ivory Aquino.
Leslie said that the cancelation of LGBTQ-focused and inclusive programming is unfortunate and it is a never ending journey to achieve equity. She insists that we need to push and move forward despite the major obstacles that are in the way when it comes to inclusivity. “It’s not just about hiring the actors that represent our queer community,” stated Leslie. “It’s about hiring queer storytellers.” She goes on to say that inclusivity comes from the stories being told by the community they come from. “I feel like that’s gonna help create and help push it forward,” she added.
We will see Leslie don the cowl as Batwoman in the final season of The Flash on the CW, and she is excited to step into action again because she loves doing stunts. But for Leslie, playing Batwoman was not just about being a superhero but how to navigate her future roles.
“I’m leading the show, so there’s so much responsibility on my shoulders than to come onto something like Something From Tiffany’s where I’m not,” she said. “It was like, ‘oh I get to just come in here and have fun and get out’. I like both, but I like the balance of being able to do something like that woman where I can give every single piece of me but then also come over and do something as fun and as unique as Something from Tiffany’s