The Bear’s Ayo Edibiri is obviously surging career-wise. She’s a first-rate actress as far as the Emmy voters are concerned, and her performance as an ambitious academic type in Luca Guadagnino’s After The Hunt, premiering later this month in Venice, will certainly intensify her brand.
And I’m talking about internals here. All the Lido critics and hotshots, trust me, will be fixating on her character’s personality, character, integrity. This is key.
There is nonetheless a sexual aspect to consider (her character alleges that she was assaulted), and even with a general understanding that sexual assault has relatively little to do with an alleged victim’s basic allure, it still has something to do with it…c’mon.
There has to be a non-inflammatory way of saying that whatever Edibiri is thought to possess or radiate as a respected actress, hetero hottie vibes are not part of the package.
Am I allowed to state the obvious, which is that Ayo is no Gugu Mbatha-Raw, no Lena Horne, no Lupita Nyongo, no Whitney Houston, no Diahann Carroll, no Iman, no Rihanna, no Janelle Monae, no Beyoncé, no Zendaya, no Cassie Ventura? Or is this a verboten thing to mention?
Friendo: “Because she’s black and queer and a good actress, she’s the perfect virtue signal.”
