Fresh Air (NPR)

Episode: Filmmaker Nia DaCosta Defies Categorization
Aired: October 29, 2025
Host: Tonya Mosley
Guest: Nia DaCosta

Episode Overview

This episode of Fresh Air centers on the rise and creative vision of filmmaker Nia DaCosta. Host Tonya Mosley speaks with DaCosta about her innovative body of work, her historic milestones (as the first Black woman to direct a #1 U.S. box office film and a Marvel movie), and her latest project, "Hedda," a radical adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler." The conversation explores DaCosta’s reframing of classic narratives, her cinematic influences, the realities of representation, her unique directorial style, and the personal experiences shaping her ambitious career.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Adapting "Hedda": Revelations and Reimaginings

• Hedda's Appeal:
  • DaCosta felt "a revelation" when reading the original play:

    “She does some pretty terrible things in the play… but she’s so vulnerable, she’s as vulnerable as she is vicious and she’s so complicated and she’s funny.” — Nia DaCosta (02:56)

  • Drawn to Hedda as a portrait of a woman striving for self-expression under oppression.
• Major Changes in the Adaptation:
  • Race & Identity: The central character is now a mixed-race Black woman (played by Tessa Thompson), reflecting DaCosta’s intention to expand representation:

    “I wanted more visions of us and more diverse kinds of visions of us, Black women in media.” — Nia DaCosta (03:57)

  • Gender & Relationships: Hedda’s ex-lover and husband’s rival becomes a woman (“Eileen Loveborg”), adding new layers to the dynamic:

    “If that’s a woman—if that’s a female character—then I want to empathize a bit more… I just thought she was much more compelling as Eileen.” — Nia DaCosta (04:58)

2. Representation: Beyond “Blind Casting”

• DaCosta distinguishes her approach from “colorblind” or purely educational stories about race:

  “I really just wanted to represent characters… not in an educational way but just saying, yeah, she's Black and this is a part of what that means in the context of the story, so that it feels lived in.” — Nia DaCosta (05:34)

3. 1950s England: The Age of Pretending

• Pivotal setting:

  “The fifties have this energy and it’s no surprise the sixties came right after… I think the fifties were this time of a reaction to trauma… and that reaction was safety comes in conformity.” — Nia DaCosta (06:51)

• Draws parallels between postwar conformity and contemporary societal pressures:

  “The world is so confusing… social media is as scary as nuclear weapons, and we just want to feel safe and I think that's where tradwives come from, by the way.” — Nia DaCosta (08:13)

4. Freedom vs. Power – The Heart of "Hedda"

• The two main female characters embody different “survival strategies":

  “Power doesn’t necessarily equal freedom, especially if you have to hold onto the power to feel free… That was a really intentional sort of dichotomy I was trying to set up.” — Nia DaCosta (11:16)

5. On Directorial Style and Building Tension

• DaCosta’s hallmark: long, unbroken shots that anchor the audience within the character’s experience:

  “It makes the audience lean in… sometimes when you cut too much, viewing a film can become... passive. What I really want is for you to feel the things I want you to feel, but you’re participating in a way.” — Nia DaCosta (16:31)

6. Breaking Barriers and the Weight of “Firsts”

• On becoming the first Black woman to direct a #1 film and a Marvel movie:

  “I had no idea… I’m so proud of it, and then I think 'Wow, we got a ways to go.' But I love what the landscape is doing right now — there's a shift.” — Nia DaCosta (17:50)

• Urgency to seize the moment:

  “I definitely have this feeling of… I don’t know how long this will last so let me make sure that I make the most of it.” — Nia DaCosta (19:13)

7. Holding Emotional Core Amid Blockbuster Scale

• On keeping the “sisters” theme alive in "The Marvels" despite the film’s scale and spectacle:

  “The emotional core of the film... these three women and how they develop... could stay prominent. So it was one, me really believing in it, and also just having the help that I needed to bring it all to life.” — Nia DaCosta (22:37)

8. Influences: Audacity and Adaptation

• Inspired by the 1970s New American Cinema (“the audacity!”) as much as by Black women filmmakers:

  “It really made me feel brave watching those men be audacious... and at the same time I was watching Kasi Lemmons’s films and Gina Prince-Bythewood… so I took for granted that I could make movies too.” — Nia DaCosta (24:00)

9. Early Lessons: Finding Her Place as a Black Woman

• Adapting to predominantly white institutions taught her how to “stand in her power”:

  “As a Black woman, like being audacious... you have to have more to do what we do.” — Nia DaCosta (29:29)

10. Family, Class, and Drive

• On being raised by her single mother, Charmaine DaCosta, a musician with a resourceful spirit:

  “I mean my mom is someone who’s had so many lives it feels like… she just, her spirit is so beautiful.” — Nia DaCosta (38:00)

  • Her mother emphasized both ambition and realism:

    “Follow your dreams but it costs you something, you know—it’s work and it’s hard and you have to love it.” — Nia DaCosta (39:38)

• DaCosta recounts learning, early, that socioeconomic realities require grit and adaptability.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On “colorblind” casting vs. lived Blackness:

  “It’s not like you’re ignoring race entirely... you don’t have to contend at all with their race and what that actually means for them moving through the world… that wasn’t really interesting to me.” — Nia DaCosta (05:34)

• On safety and conformity in the 1950s:

  “Safety comes in conformity… because this film is about people trying to find safety and fighting against that conformity, I thought it was a really interesting parallel.” — Nia DaCosta (06:51)

• On long takes and restraint:

  “It makes the audience lean in... sometimes when you cut too much, viewing a film can become... passive.” — Nia DaCosta (16:31)

• On representation in media:

  “I just thought a Black woman would be the center because I wanted more visions of us and more diverse kinds of visions of us—Black women in media.” — Nia DaCosta (03:57)

• Ad-libbed moment in ‘Hedda’:

  “That [’a roach can live without its head for a week’] was a Tessa Thompson ad lib. I loved it!” — Nia DaCosta (10:19)

• On her mother’s guidance and example:

  “She really believes in pursuing it no matter what because I think her ethos is sort of like, have a plan B, but that’s what you do when you fail—that’s not what you do without trying.” — Nia DaCosta (39:38)

Important Sections & Timestamps

| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------| | Introduction & Scene from "Hedda" | 00:17–02:11| | DaCosta on Hedda’s character and motivation | 02:41–03:57| | Issues of race, identity, and adaptation | 03:57–05:34| | Colorblind casting and lived experience | 05:34–06:40| | Why 1950s England? | 06:40–08:12| | Parallels between the 1950s and today | 08:13–08:46| | Scene: Hedda and Eileen’s dynamic—ad lib trivia | 09:23–10:34| | Power vs. freedom as a central theme | 11:16 | | On "Candyman," racial violence, and legacy | 11:56–15:57| | Stylistic hallmarks—long shots, audience engagement | 15:57–17:25| | Impact of “firsts” and urgency in career progression | 17:25–20:10| | Emotional core of "The Marvels" | 22:08–23:25| | Influences from 1970s auteurs and Black women directors | 24:00–25:23| | Lessons from being the only Black girl in boarding school | 32:28–35:49| | Charmaine DaCosta, reggae star and mother—impact and lessons | 35:49–41:35|

Conclusion

This engaging, candid interview distills DaCosta’s refusal to be categorized—cinematically or personally. From revisiting Ibsen and subverting classic narratives, to navigating the pressures and opportunities of being a trailblazer in Hollywood, Nia DaCosta offers both aspiring filmmakers and general audiences a roadmap for authenticity, ambition, and audacious artistry.

For more on this and to subscribe to Fresh Air:

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• Hedda is now in theaters and streaming on Amazon Prime Video.