How Space Jam 2’s Sonequa Martin-Green Pays Tribute to the Real Queen James
I love this character. I love Kimayah James. I was really impressed and inspired by the character on the page, because I think it’s just so compelling to see this woman as the matriarch of her home and the nucleus of her family. You see her leading with strength and ferocity, but also with grace and kindness. I love that she knows her family so well. She knows exactly how to speak to her children, exactly how to speak to her husband. She’s strategic in that way.
I just appreciate that you see very clearly that these two have a very beautiful partnership. They co-parent in their family really beautifully and successfully. I love that the success of the family couldn’t happen without Kamiyah. And it’s something that you don’t really see too much of in the original film, right? This family dynamic and the family itself being the root of the story is something new to this iteration. I just loved it. I was so moved by it and I really do believe that it’s paying homage to the real James family and Savannah, Queen James herself.
You’re a wife, mom, and a bit of a superwoman yourself. How much of yourself do you see in Kamiyah James?
You know, I hope that there’s a lot. I hope that there are lots of parallels between me and Kamiyah because it’s a lot to be the matriarch of a family like that. A family that is in the public eye that way, that takes its legacy so seriously, and where the parents have such a hand in the community and in community outreach. I think that it’s a lot to manage. I hope that I could manage as well as Kamiyah does because I’ve got my six year old son, my almost one-year-old daughter and I’ve got my husband. We have our goals and dreams for community outreach and making positive change in the world. I hope that there are similarities.
What type of an impact do you hope Space Jam: A New Legacy has on kids and parents?
I hope that it brings people together, and I hope that it has the same impact that the original did, which is a tall order, but, you know, I must say, I do think that it has the potential and the capability of doing that.
