Maybe Don’t Refer to DeWanda Wise’s Love, Brooklyn Character as ‘No-Nonsense’

When an actor is already over a particular adjective being used to describe their character and the movie hasn’t even come out yet, it’s a pretty good sign that it’s a big cliché. That’s the case for DeWanda Wise, who does not appreciate her character, Nicole, a single mother looking for love, in Rachel Abigail Holder’s feature debut Love, Brooklyn being referred to as either “no-nonsense or no-bullshit.” Wise told Vulture at Sundance 2025 that anytime she sees a journalist describe Nicole that way, “I brush up against it.”

“I feel like she has far more curiosity and acceptance than that,” Wise elaborated. “When she’s like, ‘No that’s fine, if that’s the thing that’s the thing,’ I feel like she means it. So I’m always surprised that her grief registers as this other thing when she’s just a woman who’s really honest.”

As you can tell from everyone’s “mmms,” Wise’s comments resonated with her fellow cast and crew. “You’re talking about the over-simplification of the dynamics in relationships, specifically with Black women,” Nicole Beharie echoed. “That’s what I loved about this piece and that’s what drew me to this piece. Rachel was like, ‘We’re not gonna oversimplify it, we’re not gonna dumb it down. We’re gonna let them have all the colors.” Love, Brooklyn tells the story of three Brooklynites — Wise, Behari, and André Holland —dealing with a changing city (due to gentrification) and changing relationship statuses (due to growth).

We’re back at Sundance in the Vulture Spot, where we’re interviewing the casts and creators of the year’s buzziest films. Check out the rest of our coverage from the film fest here.

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