For those in the know, Is God Is has been one of the most highly-anticipated films to hit theaters this year. The film follows twin sisters, Racine (the Rough One, played by Kara Young) and Anaia (the Quiet One, played by Mallori Johnson), who receive an unexpected letter from the mother they never knew, asking them to do one thing: kill their father. This letter serves as the catalyst for what becomes one bloody, emotional road trip. It’s the feature-film directorial debut for Aleshea Harris, who wrote the play Is God Is, which the film is based on, and which won the American Playwriting Foundation's Relentless Award in 2016. That just so happens to be the same year that Kara Young’s acting career started to move.
Young has made noise on and off Broadway, winning two Tony Awards (in 2024 and 2025) and becoming the first Black actress to receive Tony nominations in four consecutive years (she was also nominated in 2022 and 2023). She has appeared in TV series like Netflix’s The Punisher, HBO’s Random Acts of Flyness, and Boots Riley’s Prime Video series I’m a Virgo. In addition to her role in this month’s I Love Boosters (also directed by Boots Riley), Young delivers a standout performance in Is God Is. Completely embodying the fiery Racine, Young not only had to develop a strong bond with her co-star Mallori Johnson, but also had to be ready to move when the story needed, whether it was swinging on a foe or turning up with her sis.
Complex caught up with Young the afternoon following the premiere of Is God Is at BAM in New York City, speaking on her relationship with the story, from seeing it performed in 2018 to being able to work alongside industry veterans like Vivica A. Fox, Sterling K. Brown, and Erika Alexander.
I didn't realize I'd be speaking with you the day after the BAM premiere. What was that experience for you like at BAM last night?
It was overwhelmingly beautiful. There was a lot of community there, and I was very grateful to be in the company, most of the company of the film, both talent and creators, producers, Aleshea herself. It felt like a celebration of the work. It was all very, very, very surreal. Still very surreal for me, to be honest with you. I'm kind of in shock.
I saw you talk about having seen this about eight years ago. At that time, had there been any thought like, "Damn, I would love to see this on screen,” or “could this be a project that I could at one point be not just a part of, but a lead in? " Was that even a thought in your brain when you first saw that play?
I really don't know if that is a thought I had. I was just fully immersed in the story. I was really enjoying the actors that were on the stage. At the time, I was in another play, so I had gotten an opportunity to see Is God Is, and I want to say it was one of their last performances or something. I don't know. I just remember just being immersed in the world, you know what I mean? But when it came back up, and knowing that Aleshea was adapting it for the screen, when I got the audition, I was kind of like, "Why do you want me to audition?"
I taped for it, and then on my callback. I had a chemistry read with a read with another actor, but I remember seeing Mallori in the waiting room [for] the first chemistry read that we had. I even remember my agent asking me, "Hey, do you want to know who you're reading with?" I was like, "Absolutely not." And when I saw Mallori in the waiting room, I had just finished watching her on Kindred. She's so incredible to me. She's one of our great American film actors. I was really excited to be in a room with her. So when we were there together, there are things that I felt like I don't even know how to describe.
You mentioned having a chemistry read. In the film, y'all felt like twins. Was there a lot of work between the two of you to really build that rapport, or was that something that just came naturally between you and Mallory?
Well, I think I just loved her from the very moment I met her. We did have preparation before going into shooting. It was Raja Feather Kelly and Aleshea Harris talking about movement and choreographing twin moments, but also a lot of it was getting into the crux of the work itself and our energy lining in regards to how we naturally move, what our natural rhythms were. So there's that, and that was a beautiful foundation for when we dance and shoot. That was about two weeks before we started.
What was the rest of that set like? Talk about working with some of these legends on set.
Oh my goodness. That thought of being starstruck, but it's also like, “Oh my God, it's Erika Alexander.” She's so brilliant. She's a brilliant performer, has this incredible magic about her when she's working. She's so free, so alive, never a moment of doubt in her when she performs. She's so remarkable to me. And Vivica as well, I want to say we met, but when we were together together, Vivica had on her prosthetic. So there was that too, and then what that does to the story itself and what it was doing to me at the moment was really kind of bringing me into a space of, “wow, she looks like us.” And it was really ... It just started to meld into the story.
This had to have been a role where you got to run the gamut of emotions and do a variety of things. Is this one of the biggest roles you've tackled?
I want to say yes. I mean, the story itself is one of those stories that’s all-encompassing of the collective humanity of Black women. We're not a monolith, but these characters do live in sort of extremism will and I think that Racine is someone who is exercising her will of choice and to seek justice for her trauma, seek justice for her pain, and to seek justice for her God, with her mother. And that, I think that her journey, it's a justified race.
Was it hard to become Racine? Because it's such a unique role, was it difficult to slip into and out of Racine?
I wouldn't consider myself a "method actor." There's a thing where you know what you're doing, being very aware of what you're doing, being very aware of what the task at hand is, and also being very aware of the spirit that you're stepping into. When you have an opportunity to advocate for a spirit, you know when you're there, and you know when you're not.
Difficulty? No. When it's like I know that there's another one in me, or there's another take, rather, or another flaw to explore, then like that's fighting for her, it's fighting for Racine. I think stepping into the role is fighting for a million Black women. So it's very clear when you're there because it's very clear when I'm not there, you know what I mean?
I want to talk a little bit about Aleshea. I was drawn to the fact that this is her baby and that she has a particular vision and focus. On set, especially in these times where you're making sure that you're showing up for Racine and having Racine show up fully on camera, is part of that making sure that you're fully bringing Aleshea’s vision to light?
Listen, the amount of full-on respect for this creator, because I've seen the process of Is God Is, because I've seen it as a play, because I know Aleshea's other work, and I've had the experience of being in a theater, being an audience member. This is a person, an artist who set out to change the world, in my opinion. I don't play with that. The respect in its fullest form to her writing, to her artistry, to her as a director, watching her direct was an experience that I was like, "Wow, I'm in complete awe of her."
Are there any particular moments for you, either in the film or in the process of making the film, that really stand out for you?
We were actually talking yesterday about some of these iconic lines out of an interview just now with Erika Alexander, Aleshea Harris, and Vivica A. Fox. And when we rap, talking about these iconic lines like, "You ain't shit, devil." [lauhgs] And then she's like, "This bitch spittin’!" Even one of the more, I mean, my goodness, the history of this line when Sterling says, “she wouldn't let me hold her.” And weirdly, I feel like there's just so many moments of the film that stand out. There's just so many iconic moments in the film that stand out, and last night listening to the audience watch the film, you're like, “wow.”
Were there any moments that you were surprised that they had a reaction to in the film?
Yeah, there were many interesting reactions where…what's really, really interesting, khal, I'm on the stage a lot, and sometimes when you get laughter, gyou wonder where it's coming from. When you get certain reactions, you wonder where it's coming from. And in the collective space yesterday, what was so interesting to me, what was interesting in a beautiful way, was that there was like mixtures of reactions when certain events started happening. I found it a very magical experience; it was all things.
The week before I saw Is God Is, I saw a screening of I Love Boosters, and I got to see you pop up in a very, very intriguing film. You're still on Broadway, you're still doing Proof. Do you have a plan? Are you thinking, “I'm on this track to go into more movies now,” or are you more just, “when the spirit moves me, I'm going to take on this project,” no matter what it is?
I think the latter, but also I feel very fortunate to be a storyteller and I feel like whenever something comes across or whenever something comes to me in my inbox, whether it be an audition or a reading or you get a call to like jump into Proof, I'll take the opportunities where they are. And I do feel like there's something else attached to it [that] I have nothing to do with; it's as if I'm…asked to be a storyteller in these stories for a reason, and I can't question that.
So I also am very aware of what's happening in the world, and I think that because there's an awareness about what's happening in the world, I have [to be] a vessel, a storyteller. We have the privilege to live and the capacities that we have them to live in, and saying that with the awareness of what the world is. So many people don't have that privilege.
I'm continuously working, and people are like, "girl, are you going to sleep?" and all this other stuff, and I'm just like, "You know what? Not now."
There's work to be done.
There's work to be done, stories to be told.
