Nicole Beharie Went Full Church Girl at the Honk for Jesus Premiere
Nicole Beharie’s breakout role in Channing Godfrey Peoples’s 2020 film Miss Juneteenth called for the Florida native to tap into a character with a tough exterior. As Turquoise, a single mother hoping to enter her defiant daughter in the local Miss Juneteenth pageant, Beharie could have leaned into the grit—but instead, she lent a sense of softness to the role, which endeared her to audiences worldwide. Since then, she’s gone on to star in Little Fires Everywhere, along with a role on Scenes From a Marriage. Now, Beharie is in the midst of promoting two projects: the thriller Breaking and the comedy Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. In the latter, a mockumentary send-up of Southern mega-churches, the actress portrays a sweet but sassy pastor’s wife Shakura Sumpter. “She’s got a velvet glove with, probably, claws underneath,” Beharie says. “That’s her vibe.”
It turns out, that’s the vibe the actress decided to channel for her look at the Honk for Jesus premiere on August 22. Alongside producer Daniel Kaluuya and executive producer Jordan Peele, Beharie owned the purple carpet in a colorful two-piece set by Christopher John Rogers. “I love the colors in his work, and also the awareness of the female silhouette,” Beharie says of Rogers, adding that ultimately, going with a powerhouse Black designer for the film’s opening was a no-brainer. As she tells it, the look is a noted departure from her everyday style, which she describes as “utilitarian, sexy, ninja.” “Sometimes, I feel like color is too much,” she says. “I’m always in cropped things, or completely covered. I can run in it. I can shop in it. I can, maybe, stick on a heel and you’ll be like, Oh, she’s ready to go out. But for this daytime premiere, I was like, you know what? I’m gonna go for it.”
“The truth is, I was doing press for two films all day. So I started really getting ready at 6:45 in the morning,” Beharie says. “But for the actual premiere, I began getting ready 3:30 PM, when I had a quick break. We were like, Let’s use this time to prepare so we can actually eat.”
“I had this beautiful hair and makeup crew, Kim Kimble and Tasha Reiko Brown, who were with me the whole day,” she adds. “It was my first time working with both of them, but throughout the day, we found a nice vibe. I mean, if you spend 13 hours with folks, they start to get you.”
Beharie used Chanel makeup products exclusively for her soft glam look.
A close-up of the matching set by Christopher John Rogers—a designer who, as Beharie points out, gleaned inspiration from churchgoing ladies he saw in his congregation growing up.
Beharie putting the finishing touches on her look before heading to the premiere. “I just thought it was so much fun, and very different from other things that I’ve gravitated toward in the past,” she says.
“The set reminded me of the film, which is a comedy,” Beharie adds. “I’ve been doing a lot of drama, so this is a departure for me, in a way.”
Beharie’s final look at the Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. premiere.
