Proud of her truth, on and off the screen

TRUE WHITAKER COULD HAVE TURNED DOWN PLAYING A NEPO BABY. INSTEAD, SHE EMBRACED IT.

- KAITLYN HUAMANI

TRUE WHITAKER wanted to nail her audition for “I Love LA,” or, at the time, the “Untitled Rachel Sennott Project.” ¢ She felt a strong connection to the role and had dreamed of working with Sennott, the show’s creator and star. But on the day when she needed to record her audition, her friends were all hitting the beach, so she only had one person to turn to for help working through the scene: her Academy-Award winning father. It was the first time True and her dad, Forest Whitaker, had worked together on an audition, and she said they went through the materials for hours. By the end, she says they both felt confident she'd book it.

“He was like, ‘It'd be embarrassing if you don't get it because she seriously reflects a part of you and I really feel like you could take it there,’ ” she said. “And I was like, ‘I think so too.’ I've never felt so strongly about a character. I felt seen in a way.”

The role in question was for Alani Marcus, a lead character in the HBO series who is the daughter of a prominent Hollywood filmmaker. Of course, there are parallels between Whitaker and Alani with their parentage and privilege — Whitaker doesn’t deny that. But the connection extends far beyond the nepo baby label. The “bones” of the actor and the character are similar, she said.

“She was just like a light version of me, or a version of me who has dealt with their trauma pretty well, pretty positively. She’s supposed to be a Cancer too [like me], but she might not be as teary. She seems to be so optimistic all the time, like a cockeyed optimist,” she said.

RACHEL Sennott and True Whitaker in "I Love LA."

“And obviously I’m not that dark and scary, but, you know, I've gone through life, I’m 27. I live in New York and it’s pretty scary over here,” she added, laughing.