The Blackening star Antoinette Robertson talks about how she got into horror movies and what it was like to work on the movie.

According to the actress, horror flicks used to make her feel scared. But as she got older, she understood that how the genre treated Black actors and characters was turning her off.

In an interview, she said that the story of The Blackening really spoke to her because it gave her and her co-workers a chance to bring some Black joy to a genre that hasn’t always been friendly to Black actors and characters.

When Robertson thinks back on her life, she realizes that her feelings about scary movies have always been more complicated than a simple fear of monsters and jump scares.

She told The Hollywood Reporter, “To be perfectly honest, because people of color — and Black people specifically — weren’t valued in the horror space, it never made me feel like it was a space I wanted to veer towards. Black characters in horror were either a sidekick or something that was a little disposable. So, when the opportunity to take on that particular trope came across my desk, I was more than happy to participate.”