| Advertisement |
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Emmy Raver-Lampman said she relates to her Blacklight character, a journalist who will stop at nothing to uncover the truth. The film opens in theaters Friday. "I loved how hungry she is and how driven she is," Raver-Lampman told UPI in a recent Zoom interview. "She's a truth seeker and she won't take no for an answer."
Advertisement
Raver-Lampman, 33, plays Mira, a journalist who writes for a Washington, D.C., political blog, alerts FBI fixer Travis Block (Liam Neeson) to corruption in the bureau. Though set in Washington, Blacklight filmed in Australia.
Block and Mira cross paths when Block pursues a rogue agent who attempts to blow the whistle on FBI covert operations. When that whistleblower winds up dead, Block starts to believe Mira is onto a story.
"Once she gets the scent of a good story, she can't help herself," Raver-Lampman said. "I just wanted to make Mira someone that everyone can relate to and a female character that you want to follow."
Raver-Lampman said she was as driven as Mira when she went to Marymount Manhattan College and began to work in theater. Raver-Lampman said she related to Mira's work ethic.
"I've had a job of some sort since I was 13 years old," Raver-Lampman said. "I'm a very organized person, so I think organization has also come into great help as an actor."
Before acting provided a full-time living, Raver-Lampman was a camp counselor at Hurrah Players in Norfolk, Va., where she grew up. She also baked bagels at Yorgos Bageldashery in Norfolk and worked the front desk passing out towels at the Marymount gym. Later, she continued gym work at Crunch.
Raver-Lampman appeared in Broadway productions of Hair and A Night with Janis Joplin, and tours of Jekyll & Hyde and Wicked. In 2015, she joined the Broadway production of Hamilton, understudying for Renee Elise Goldsberry as Angelica.
"Renee went on vacation, and so I got to go on for her for two of the shows," Raver-Lampman said.
Raver-Lampman also understudied the role for Karen Olivo in the subsequent Chicago production. Then she played the role of Angelica on tour.
Raver-Lampman left the tour in 2017, when she won the role of Allison Hargreeves on the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy. In the comic book series, Allison has the power to make people obey any command.
The Umbrella Academy puts Allison in the center of as much action as Blacklight did for Mira, but Raver-Lampman said there was a major difference between her show and the movie.
On The Umbrella Academy, Raver-Lampman stands on a green screen stage and visual effects artists add creatures and explosions later. Blacklight staged action scenes on the street in front of its cameras, and Raver-Lampman was in the middle of explosions and chases.
"They really did drive a massive garbage truck all over Australia and blow up cars and a trailer park," Raver-Lampman said. "Safety is the No. 1 priority, so there's just a lot of work and a lot of forethought."
The Umbrella Academy will return for a third season later this year. Raver-Lampman also joined the cast of Apple TV+'s animated musical Central Park, in 2021, when the show decided to recast its Black characters with Black actors.
Raver-Lampman said joining Central Park was a chance to return to her musical roots. She currently is recording vocals for Season 3.
"I also get to sing a ton, which I haven't really been able to do in the past couple of years," she said.
