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From Oprah to Wakanda, CU Boulder alum Aba Arthur has charted a career in which the most impressive thing isn鈥檛 necessarily the glow of Hollywood, but the joy of finding her voice in a new world that hasn鈥檛 been universally welcoming

From a fairly young age, Aba Arthur watched movies and TV with a critical eye. If something happened in a show that she didn鈥檛 agree with, well, she just marched right upstairs and rewrote the scene.

That early confidence in her storytelling, in her writing, in her ability to breathe life into a character who previously only existed on a page in her journal has supported her through a career whose highlights include major Hollywood films, books and one-woman shows.

Arthur, who currently plays the character Samara in the show Bad Monkey on Hulu, also appeared in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever听and the 2023 film adaptation of The Color Purple musical.

Despite her success鈥攖he kind that justifies a certain confidence鈥攕he still sometimes finds herself in her car, staring out the window and breathing deep. It鈥檚 when she reminds herself 鈥渨ho I am, where I鈥檓 going. My words are valuable. I have something to say that matters, and I鈥檓 going to kill it.鈥�

Arthur, a 2005 University of Colorado Boulder graduate in theater and dance,听听丑辞蝉迟听Erika Randall, associate dean for student success in the College of Arts and Sciences, on听听the college podcast. Randall鈥攚ho also is a dancer, professor, mother, filmmaker and writer鈥攋oins guests in exploring stories about 鈥淎NDing鈥� as a 鈥渇ull sensory verb鈥� that describes experience and possibility.

Their discussion roamed from the red carpet to the couch with a bag of Cheeto听Puffs, with stops in between for mentorship, nostalgia, the joy of making art and what it was like stepping off the flight from Ghana to Colorado.

Arthur: I have such a vivid memory of getting off the plane. I'm coming from Ghana and I'm coming to Colorado Springs, Colorado. So, I had only seen on TV or in pictures these guys, and they wear jeans, and they have these big hats. But I didn't know anything about them, so they felt like fictional characters. And I remember so well getting off the plane at the airport and I saw these guys, which I later learned the term was "cowboy."

Randall: In their Wranglers.

Arthur: Yeah:

Randall: In the hats.

Arthur: And the boots. And I remember getting off the plane and just being like, something just happened. Because these people are not where I just came from, and now there are a lot of them. And I've been watching them. So, this is so cool. I've stepped into something new. I think that is the first big memory that I have, period.

Randall: Changed your life. That's incredible. You arrive in the Springs, all the things happen. Next moment, where's the next postcard to yourself that says, ah, Aba, here we go?

Arthur: Oof. Oof. It鈥檚 a tough one. My first experience with racism. A young boy in my school told me that my skin was dirty. Yeah. I went back to class, and I was crying. My teacher asked me what happened, and I told her, and then she disciplined me. I had to sit in the corner, and I had to face the wall, because she said I was being a distraction. My crying was distracting the class. Yes, this is a true story.

So, I had to sit in a corner of the room and face the wall. And I remember so vividly at some point they were just continuing with class. And I was like, what? I don鈥檛 know how old I am. Let鈥檚 pick an age.

Randall: Say, 8 or 9?

Arthur: I don鈥檛 know, 8? (Laughs)

Randall: All on the Wikipedia page I鈥檓 building for you. Age 8.

Arthur: This is still elementary school, though鈥攖oo young.

Randall: Too young to hear that, to feel that, to be put in a corner.

Arthur: And I鈥檓 listening to the class continue. She鈥檚 teaching, and I鈥檓 in the corner of the room. And so, at some point I turned around and I鈥檓 watching them, and they鈥檙e just having class. Everybody鈥檚 just continuing on like everything is normal. And that was a strong memory.

Randall: Is that memory as yet in a film? Because I鈥檓 watching that movie.

Arthur: It鈥檚 just going to take a second. Probably. That鈥檚 a tough one for me. It鈥檚 going to take me a second to work through that. Because I have to watch that scene, if they鈥檙e going to do it.

Randall: And hearing that story, sharing that story, is a critical action of undoing racism. And the work that you choose, you are writing critical stories about undoing racism. You are ANDing with political science the way that you鈥檙e in theater and political science. But your body politic is your body showing up as representation. Does that feel true for you?

Arthur: Yes, I love ampersands. And multihyphenate is a term that it took me a while to sink into. So, for me, it was always 鈥�&.鈥� This & this & this. And I鈥檓 equally all of them.

Randall: And with that is engaging those identities to then bring forth new character into worlds. I鈥檓 listening to you and I鈥檓 watching your reel, and I don鈥檛 think you need confidence. Do you need confidence?

Arthur: No.

Randall: No.

Arthur: I have a lot of it. (laughs)

Randall: Where did this come from, and can we bottle it?

Arthur: I wish. It comes from so many things. It comes from being the fourth-born child of a very high-achieving family. It comes from being the new kid a lot. You have to know who you are when you鈥檙e the new kid.

Randall: And in Hollywood, you鈥檙e the new kid in every room for a minute.

Arthur: Yes.

Randall: Are you not the new kid yet?

Arthur: I鈥檓 always the new kid, yeah. I鈥檓 the new kid a lot. And so, I didn鈥檛 realize at the time鈥攁nother one of those life-changing things you don鈥檛 understand鈥攁s we were moving, I didn鈥檛 realize the effect that would have on my life in the future. The positive effect it would have on my life in the future. Because when you鈥檙e a kid, it鈥檚 hard. That stuff is difficult. And I didn鈥檛 want to be the new kid and I didn鈥檛 want to have to find that confidence. But I always felt like if I come in the room and I am as wonderful and as great as I am, the people that are supposed to be in my life will come to me.

Randall: You are a galaxy. Yeah.

Arthur: I really appreciate that. And I鈥檓 going to walk with that, because I feel like you have to protect your own peace and your own space. And coming into new environments over and over and over again, if you don鈥檛 know who you are, then you鈥檒l get lost. And you鈥檒l go with the trends and you鈥檒l do what other people say, because it feels better to be a part than to be an outsider.

Randall: So be the new kid.

Arthur: I excel at being the new kid now. I excel because I鈥檓 coming in as who I am. So, rock with me or not.

Randall: That鈥檚 right. That鈥檚 right. Were you a journaler?

Arthur: Uh-huh. Oh, my gosh.

Randall: Are you going to burn those or publish them?

Arthur: I have them all, yeah. You know why I have them?

Randall: I want to know.

Arthur: So, I would watch television and the audacity of myself as a child. I think about it now, I鈥檓 like, wow!

Randall: I love it.

Arthur: I would watch television, and I would be like, hmm, I don鈥檛 like the way that ended. And then I would go upstairs and I would rewrite it.

Randall: You would actually script it?

Arthur: Yes, I would rewrite it. I would write it like, hmm, 鈥淪o, Chad walked in, and he saw Sarah, and then he walked over and kissed her.鈥� But in the show, maybe he didn鈥檛 walk over and kiss her first. Maybe they just talked for a while. So, I just would rewrite it the way I wanted to see it. And I would do that a lot. I would write myself into the shows.

Click the button below to hear the entire episode.

Top image: Photos courtesy Aba Arthur

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