Tika Sumpter wasn’t content to just embody Michelle Obama—her goal was to pull off a pinpoint impression. “I wanted to make sure you heard inflections of Michelle,” she says of her milestone performance as the future first lady in the indie romance Southside With You. A critical darling at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, the film tracks a fictionalized version of the first couple’s inaugural date in the summer of 1989, and represents a breakthrough for the 35-year-old actress. To nail her distinct cadence, Sumpter watched hours of college graduation speeches that Michelle Obama has given as first lady. “I studied every word, how she curved her tongue, how she kind of sings when she talks,” she says. The result is a carefully drawn and recognizable portrait of Michelle Robinson, an ambitious and whip-smart lawyer who would go on to become one of the world’s most famous women.