The Gotham Pages: Tessa Thompson on the Pleasures of Playing the Villain
Tessa Thompson has a predilection for playing fiercely ambitious women. Against all odds, her characters stand firmly in their politics, like Sam in Justin Simien’s Dear White People (2014). Other times, they persevere despite cycles of poverty and nefarious circumstances, like Ollie in Nia DaCosta’s directorial debut, Little Woods (2018). These are women who tend to get what they want. But in DaCosta’s latest film, Hedda (2025), Thompson reveals the more sinister faces of human desire. The period film, which reimagines Henrik Ibsen’s play, Hedda Gabler (1891), is set in 1950s England and follows newlywed Hedda Tesman (Thompson), the mixed-race […]
by Daniella Brito on Dec 22, 2025
