EXCLUSIVE | 'Little Fires Everywhere' actor Stevonte Hart on the facade Brian had put on and what made him crack
Actor Stevonte Hart, who plays the role of Brian in Hulu's 'Little Fires Everywhere' revealed how he prepared to play his character in the Reese Witherspoon, Kerry Washington starrer in this exclusive interview with MEA World Wide (MEAWW). He speaks about his character's need to voice his opinion about how his girlfriend is racist and the facade that he had going initially when it comes to his friendship with his girlfriend Lexie's mother.
Hart's character sees a transformation during the eight episodes that see him change from a laid back highschool student to a boy who calls out racism, even if it were his girlfriend's mother Elena (Reese Witherspoon). About this Hart said, "Well to start off, any comfortability with Elena or even just being in the Richardson house was a facade. Brian found out pretty early on in the relationship what kind of person Lexie’s mom was, he was just blinded to the similarities she and Lexie shared. That is until the incident with Pearl happened, which really opened his eyes and made him not only take a look at Lexie, but himself as well."
He further added, "Because throughout their time together, Brian has held his tongue and looked past her subtle racism for the sake of their relationship. So, I approached the character as someone who’s gradually gaining a sense of self, being that he didn’t necessarily break up with Lexie because his feelings changed, but because he knew he couldn’t truly be himself if he held his feelings in any longer."
One of the instances, when Brian tries to hold Lexie responsible for her racist comments, is when the two are out for cheeseburgers. Speaking about this scene, Hart explained, "Definitely, that’s just not something you should say. Especially when the person you’re talking about is the same race as your boyfriend sitting next to you! Yes, she said that “if the cashier was white, she would’ve said the same thing” but based on her track record, I don’t know. I feel like Lexie just got too comfortable and forgot that Brian, despite going to Princeton, could still identify with the cashier."
He also tries to get Lexie to understand why it was wrong of her to steal Pearl Warren's (Lexi Underwood) experience to write her Yale essay. This, despite Pearl not caring much about it. Was Brian obstinate? Hart spoke about this and said, "Throughout their relationship, Brian would typically hold his tongue and it took him watching the way Lexie treated Pearl from the third person point of view before finally speaking up. And whenever he would speak up, instead of owning the mistake, Lexie would belittle it. It really got to Brian seeing how ignorant Lexie, someone whom he loved, was being about the severity of the situation. And because of this, he couldn’t drop it. Time after time Brian would try to get Lexie to understand that what she did was more than just steal someone else’s words, but it didn’t work."
One of the important details about Brian and Lexie's relationship also happens to be how the latter went ahead with an abortion without informing Brian. Until the end of the season, Brian never learned about this. So addressing what Hart thinks Brian would have felt if he learned of this, he said, "I think Brian would have been very confused what to feel, as I assume anyone would when finding out their girlfriend had an abortion behind their back. Especially as a senior in high school. He would be hurt simply because she didn’t tell him but the relief of him not having to worry about raising a child so soon would overshadow that hurt. Because honestly, even if she would’ve told Brian about the baby before the abortion, I still feel like they would’ve agreed on the same result."
On a lighter note, Hart also shared how much fun it was to shoot in a set that reflected the '90s despite random people walking around texting on their iPhones. Did they have to be careful about not leaving behind Starbucks cups or a millennial product on the set? Hart recalled, "Despite my age, I’m actually a 90’s kid at heart so I most definitely had a great time (shooting a show set in the 90s). Everything from the wardrobe to the pager, to the music I played to get in character, to even Brian’s Volvo, I loved everything! I just felt in my element and yes, we were all on our p’s and q’s when it came the Starbucks! Though, due to the fact that we shot some scenes at UCLA, we did have some problems with random people every now and then walking and texting on their iPhone. Which, if I do say so myself, is not very 1997 of them."
