There are roles that challenge you. And then there are roles that completely rebuild you.
For Mallori Johnson, Is God Is was both.
As Anaia — the quieter, more contemplative of the twin sisters at the center of Aleshea Harris’s genre-defying revenge thriller — Johnson didn’t just have to access some of the most emotionally complex material of her career. She had to do it underneath prosthetics that covered her face, relearning every expression, every subtle movement, every moment of vulnerability through a physical transformation she had never experienced before.
But the prosthetics were only part of the journey.
Surrounded by a cast that includes Sterling K. Brown, Vivica A. Fox, Erika Alexander, and Janelle Monáe, Johnson found herself in a masterclass every single day on set — watching legends work without fear, take risks without apology, and take up space without asking permission. What she took from that experience goes far beyond this film.
Blex Media sat down with Mallori Johnson to talk about conquering the physical demands of the role, building an unbreakable bond with co-star Kara Young, what Sterling K. Brown gave her in their most pivotal scene together, and why Is God Is represents something much bigger than a movie — for Black women on screen and for herself as an artist.