EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Josephine Langford Talks About ‘Moxie!’, Feminism And ‘After’

The day is here!  We know you were looking forward to reading what Josephine Langford had to tell us about Moxie! and her character Emma. And, trust us, you will not be disappointed. She spoke heart-to-heart about Moxie!, feminism and After in our exclusive interview. 

Here we go!

How could it be otherwise, we started the interview at the end (pun intended) but we keep that ending for now because it contains a Moxie! spoiler. And, trust us, you want to see for yourself what happens. Josephine’s answer to our question is so good … you need the full context to appreciate it as a whole and we don’t want to ruin this movie for you. So you are going to allow us to save this part of the interview a bit, just until the film is released. The wait will be worth it, promised.

And now, let’s get to the heart of the matter. Ready?

We were curious to know what Josephine thought about Emma, so we set her a challenge: describe her character in three words.  And we think she chose very well …

“Strong and intelligent…and…flexible”

Josephine Langford

Josephine confessed to us that she is not particularly good at this game of describing things in three words.  But we don’t agree, she chose just the words that we would have chosen. What do you think?

We love Moxie! for so many things … – seriously, many things, and we will tell you all of them in our review because you will love it too – but why did Josephine say yes to this role?  She told us why and we love her even more for it.

“There are a lot of things. I read the book. I loved it. I loved the script. I thought it was a really important story and an important message behind it. And I felt very passionate about this character and what she represented. And also she’s a cheerleader for the whole company, which was really fun”.

Josephine Langford

Moxie! is about female empowerment, revolution, changing things and women supporting women. We’re in an era in which women are beginning to raise their voices against the establishment, to talk about what was previously silent. The #MeToo movement is proof of this.  But we believe that it is not enough. We need more.

We need more characters like Emma or more movies like Moxie! to show us that rebelling against the establishment, that finding your own voice and fighting to change things is not only something that shows your bravery and your strength, your power, but that it’s necessary. We wanted to know if Josephine agreed with us.  And her response was resounding and forceful.

“YES, YES, YES”.

Josephine Langford

We could only think, “PREACH, GIRL!”  It’s a simple question with an even simpler answer.  There is no false equivalences here.  Either you are a feminist and an ally or you are part of the problem.

However, Josephine wanted to delve into this idea and why it is so resounding and enormous.  And there really is no way we can say it better than what she told us so, just read her response.

“I think that, yeah, we make a film about women supporting women. And luckily, recently there’s a lot of stories that are coming out with female directors or with strong female concern and courage. And I think it’s important and I believe it’s the direction of stopping them (men who want us silenced, who are part of the problem)”.

Josephine Langford

And when you think you can’t love Josephine more, she amazes you because you can love her more. This answer makes us admire her, not only for her work but for her ideas.  She’s very young but she has such a clear mind and such realistic ideas and she’s so aware of all that remains to be achieved, of all the voices that are not yet heard or that have not yet been found.

It is something that I personally admire a lot and when this happens to me with a star, when she or he is talking to me about these issues in such a resounding way, so clear, not with a ready-made answer but something that comes straight from the heart, I keep quiet, listening … it’s the best I can do, to learn from them because they always have something to teach me. Josephine was no exception.

Josephine’s characters never leave us indifferent. She always learns something from each character she plays, but what does she expect us to learn from her performances, from the characters she plays?  And I think you will like this answer because we loved it.

“Well, the message that I would hope people would take from Emma in this film is to not judge a book by its cover and to check in with people. And that is just because you have good grades in school or things like everything’s fine or you’re the head cheerleader, the vice president of the school, it doesn’t mean that everything’s fine. It is just important to treat individuals as individuals and check in people”. 

Josephine Langford

Seriously, in awe of Josephine Langford 2k21.

Let’s face it, we all love After! So we had to take the opportunity to ask Josephine about this saga.  But we all have the worn out books from reading them so much, we know what’s going to happen so we just … wanted to focus on Josephine and her experience giving life to Tessa Young and also to Hessa, a really … intense couple.  And this is what she told us.

“I feel very, very lucky and privileged that I was able to play this character because obviously she’s so important to so many people. And, I mean, we have amazing fans of these films, on this product and they’re so passionate and they’re so patient and to be able to play this film that so many people just have an individual connection….so it’s been a really special experience for me. So I feel very lucky”. 

Josephine Langford

Super cute, right?  But there is more!  We wanted to dig a little deeper into this.  As voracious readers of the books, many times we would have acted differently than Tessa did.  We understood her, but we did not share all of her decisions and we were curious to know if Josephine thinks the same thing and if there’s something she would have changed about Tessa or her decisions or story.  And her reflection seems really interesting and an excellent answer to us.

“Well, I guess…maybe… there’s one or two lines, because, you know, watching a film back that you got, oh! I wish we could change that, because you just can say things with a different perspective and maybe I just kind of like the line changes”. 

Josephine Langford

One of the things you asked us the most when we announced this interview with Josephine was that we convey all your pride, admiration and love to her.  And we did it!  We wanted Josephine to feel all your support, which, in fact, as I mentioned, is just what I felt for her so I tried to transmit it to her in the best way I could.  And she has a few words for all of you. Just read it …

“Awww (insert heart eyes emojis here). Thank you, thank you so much. Really appreciate that”. 

Josephine Langford

We know that you have to be overcome with emotion or dancing or both at the same time but … there is still one more question!  We all wanted to know what Josephine’s next project was, because we’re going to support her in whatever she decides to do and we wanted to ask her what her next adventure would be.

“I’m actually in the film that I’m doing at the moment. I’m not sure I can say what it is yet because it hasn’t been released. But, I’m very excited about it. And I feel very lucky to be able to work during COVID. So there is something coming up, but I don’t know if I can say what I’m doing”.

Josephine Langford

She couldn’t tell us much … but it was enough to get us hooked and we can’t wait to see her next project!

And here our interview with Josephine ends. I hope you liked it and you enjoyed it as much as we did.  She’s really kind, funny and so sweet.  She’s just that kind of person who makes you smile.

Also, personally, I loved interviewing her because I always try to make the interview with a star more of a conversation between old friends, somewhat informal and with Josephine it just came naturally.  I already admired her and I really liked her work, now I admire her even more because I’ve seen beyond her work.

She’s a strong, brave and very mature woman. Her fame has not changed her and she continues to have her feet on the ground.  She is not afraid to talk about the thorniest topics and that is to be admired.

Josephine not only found her own voice but she raised it for the people in the back, for those that cannot or don’t want to listen.

IN LOVE WITH HER.

And that’s all, folks!  Stay tuned for our Moxie! advanced review which we will publish on Monday.

Do you like our exclusive interview with Josephine Langford? Feel free to tell us in the comments below!

Moxie! will be available on March 3 on Netflix.