Garcelle Beauvais plays a mother in crisis in Lifetime‘s Black Girl Missing, the network’s latest addition in its Stop Violence Against Women campaign. In the made-for-TV movie, premiering Saturday, March 4 at 8/7c, The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star plays Cheryl, a high school vice principal whose college-age daughter, Lauren (Iyana Halley), is nowhere to be found after driving back to campus from break.
When Cheryl gets into an argument with Lauren over her desire to drop out of college, she initially thinks the 18-year-old (grieving the death of her father) is simply ignoring her calls and texts. Cheryl soon realizes that’s not the case. She attempts to get help from authorities and news outlets, but they quickly dismiss the case, labeling Lauren as a runaway while they are all too consumed with another case — that of a missing white girl.
Cheryl and her 15-year-old daughter Marley (Taylor Mosby) take matters into their own hands, enlisting the help of a dedicated community of amateur internet sleuths to try to find Lauren. Cheryl also discovers the Black and Missing Foundation and is horrified to learn of the disparity in how missing persons of color cases are treated with significant lack of media attention and law enforcement resources. Also starring Linda Park and Cleo Fraser, Black Girl Missing shines a light on an important issue in American society today.
Here, the NYPD Blue alum previews the Lifetime movie, which marks her first outing as an executive producer.
Courtesy of Lifetime
Black Girl Missing is part of Lifetime’s Stop Violence Against Women campaign, focusing on people of color and the lack of media attention on their stories when they go missing. Why was it important for you to take part in this film?
Garcelle Beauvais: This film is everything to me, because so many times I am frustrated by the lack of attention we get if somebody of color goes missing. That’s part of what I want to do with my platform. For me, it’s really important to do projects that speak to my community or projects that are important to me, so it was a no-brainer. And it was my first executive producing, which I want do more of, especially bringing light to a subject matter like Black Girl Missing.
How did your role as star and executive producer come about?
I got pitched the story idea from Kale Futterman, who wrote the script, and [executive producer] Jason Egenberg. Jason and I had worked together before, so we were looking for a project. We did a Zoom call and not even halfway through Kale’s pitch, I was like, “I’m in. This is it.” We worked together to fine-tune it, we took it to Lifetime, and Lifetime got it. They got it right away and said, “This is important message. How can we help? How soon can we shoot?” With my schedule, there was a lot of going back and forth, but we figured it out and got it done.
I’m proud of it. I’m proud of the message. I’m proud of being an executive producer — it’s different! When I’m an actor, I just show up, I know my stuff, and I’m prepared. But this, I was involved in casting and hiring the director and where we were shooting. It was really cool to have that hat and see it in a different way.
This is inspired by true events, and the Black and Missing Foundation is featured throughout. What was something you learned from that organization that stuck with you?
Oh my God. When I found out about Black and Missing Foundation, I was blown away because I didn’t know there was an avenue for people who are struggling with missing people. So since I started following them on Instagram, my takeaway was that it wasn’t just girls and it wasn’t just young girls [who are kidnapped]. I see 42-year-old men, I see teenage boys — that’s what I was blown away by, because even my perception of what I knew was not even accurate. So it affects everyone.
I’m a mom, my God, if that ever happened, I’m knocking on wood. Because of my platform and who I am, people would pay attention. But there are so many people who don’t have the assets that I have [and] don’t get the attention they deserve.
Courtesy of Lifetime
Did anyone from the Black and Missing Foundation appear in the film?
No, not in the film. We had an actor portray one of the founders. But we’re doing, Lifetime and I together, a documentary [Beyond the Headlines: Black Girl Missing] that will follow the movie after it airs. The Black and Missing Foundation ladies are appearing in that.
Do you make any appearances in that documentary, or is this solely an executive producer role for you?
It’s a little bit of both. I narrate it.
[In the documentary], they focus on two missing kids, Joniah and Kyla. It really goes to show you the depths when you’re desperately trying to find your loved one. The two different outcomes — I don’t want to give it away, but there are two very different outcomes for each of those missing kids. And it’s just so sad that it’s happening. It’s almost like when you don’t know, you just don’t know. But I’m hoping that this movie will make people more aware. I keep saying that maybe if a missing person comes on a police officer’s desk, it won’t be like, “Oh, she’s a runaway, or he’s a runaway.” Give everybody the due process of helping.
It is so odd and frustrating to watch so many stories, in real life and on screen, where missing people are assumed to be runaways by law enforcement right off the bat.
It affects you. That’s what I’m hoping this movie will do. We screened it last night, and we got such a great response. Even though I was in it and I know the story, it still tugged at me because I feel the frustration.
[The inaction] goes back so long. I think it’s systemic. It’s what’s always been happening, but now we have a voice and now we feel that we’re strong enough to bring these kinds of things to light in hopes of getting change.
After this experience, do you think you’ll continue working with the Black and Missing Foundation and the Stop Violence Against Women Campaign?
Absolutely. I would love that. I really would love that just because I think it’s good to do all kinds of things. I say my platform is for showing people that I’m still cute [laughs], shading a housewife here and there, and then bringing things to light that are important to me.
Courtesy of Lifetime
Social media is a powerful tool in this film. Did filming this at all change your perspective on the pros and cons of it?
Oh, absolutely. I have a love-hate relationship [with social media] sometimes. Sometimes I’m like, “Oh, I don’t know what to post” and it’s like another job or it’s pressure. But what this showed me is that we can also use social media for one single post that can spread the word. I see people who have lost their engagement rings, and then 20 years later somebody found it and got it to them. I think those stories are great, but if we can help repost because someone’s missing, I think it goes a long way. And it doesn’t take much.
How did you enjoy working with your co-stars, Iyanna and Taylor, who play your daughters?
Oh, I really enjoyed it. It was crazy because we cast everyone, and I remember when they said, “There are four girls we want you to do a chemistry test with, and we have a frontrunner.” And I’m like, “I don’t wanna know. I don’t wanna know. I just wanna go in with a clean slate.” And it was interesting because Taylor, who played my daughter, when we did our chemistry test, it was so obvious that our chemistry was through the roof. And it wasn’t the girl they originally thought, so it was really great to be on the other side of it and to see different actresses come in with their interpretations of the same material. That was really cool for me because I’ve never really been in a casting room that way.
Is it fun to switch back and forth between scripted projects like Black Girl Missing and unscripted like Real Housewives?
1000 percent [laughs], only because this last season [of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills] was really toxic and really hard on everyone. The fact that we had four months off, and I got to go back to what I love to do, it was great. It gave me a different headspace. Going into this new season, I feel a fresh and clean slate. Let’s go.
Black Girl Missing, Original Movie Premiere, Saturday, March 4, 8/7c, Lifetime
Beyond the Headlines: Black Girl Missing, Documentary Premiere, Saturday, March 4, 10/9c, Lifetime
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