PARK CITY, Utah (AP) – Actress Chante Adams had just graduated from Carnegie Mellon University when she got a call from a casting agent who wanted her to audition to be the lead in the Roxanne Shante biopic “Roxanne, Roxanne.” Adams had no feature credits to her name and a background in theater. But the agent saw something in her at CMU’s senior showcase, where students perform in front of agents, managers and casting directors, and sought her out.
Soon enough, what began as “oh, cool, my first audition” became Adams’ first film role in the anticipated pic about the life of hip-hop pioneer Roxanne Shante from director Michael Larnell. “Roxanne, Roxanne,” which co-stars “Moonlight’s” Marhershala Ali and Nia Long, and premieres Sunday at the Sundance Film Festival.
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AP: How familiar were you with Roxanne Shante?
CHANTE ADAMS: Not very. I wasn’t born until ’94! Her era was definitely the ’80s. I knew of her, I knew who she was. I had older siblings, and I kind of knew her through them and the hip-hop music they listened to. But I didn’t know much about her, so after I got the first audition, I went straight into research mode. I saw the video for “Roxanne’s Revenge” and was like “Oh my God, we kind of look alike!”