Inside Natural: Simone Missick Defines #BlackGirlMagic and Talks Breaking Netflix
There are very few Black superhero stories out there for public consumption, even less make it to the screen, so when Netflix stepped up and provided us with the story of Marvel’s Luke Cage we were ready to receive it. Filmed in Harlem, Luke Cage is unapologetic in presenting an authentic culture of Blackness with a diverse cast, environments, and narratives.
So when we heard that actress Simone Missick, who plays “Misty Knight” on the show, would be appearing in Harlem this past weekend, we made sure to go see her. In collaboration with EDEN BodyWorks‘ “Unleash Your Inner Shero”, the actress sat down with “In Her Shoes” creator, Renae Bluitt to discuss how she overcomes obstacles to let her #BlackGirlMagic shine.
Missick, a Detroit native, isn’t an overnight success. During the interview she recounted her journey to stardom which took ten years and numerous commercials before she landed her role as Misty Knight. One of the most defining moments of the afternoon came when Bluitt asked Missick to define what “Black Girl Magic” means to her.
“…we have still managed to accept and gently demolish the lies that are perpetrated about us–that we are not the first, that we are not as great, and as beautiful, and as awesome, and as brilliant, and as intelligent, and as sexy, and as essential, and as feminine, and as lovely as we are. We constantly tear down the idea that we are too rough, or too hard, or too loud, or too big or too small every single day and I think Black Girl Magic is living in that.“
Word came last week that Missick will be reprising her role as Misty Knight in the upcoming “Iron Fist” and “The Defenders” series which are expected to be equally, if not more, popular than Luke Cage, which is the first series to be streamed to a global market with 190 countries. The show brought in so much traffic Netflix’s servers crashed.
“That felt awesome…because as people of color we are told often that we are not enough…that people in other countries don’t want to see us, they don’t want to hear our stories … they only want to see us be athletes and musicians…that [crash] showed that that was a lie…“
Missick is working on several other projects but one thing that we’re hoping to see her working on soon is her own Misty Knight spin-off show. It’s been nearly 50 years and Misty Knight deserves her time in the sun.
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