Atlanta actress Zoe Renee sees light in dark horror flick’s opportunities, truths

Everything seemed to be sailing smoothly for Atlanta-based performer Zoe Renee. After she had read the script for the film Master and had been terrified by it, she self-taped an audition and received a callback. Then there was . . . nothing. After a nervous waiting period, the actress knew another move was necessary, so she headed to New York, arranged dinner with director Mariama Diallo and eventually nabbed a lead role.

With the advent of Covid-19, it took a while for the project to get made, but after a Sundance Film Festival debut in January, Master opens at the Landmark Midtown Art Cinema on Friday, the same day it begins streaming on Amazon Prime.

It’s a creepy, disturbing horror film set on the fictional campus of Ancaster, a mostly White, New England college. A trio of Black women there start to face unsettling experiences. Gail (Regina Hall), who is Ancaster’s first dean of students, is having problems settling into her new role, while freshman Jasmine (Renee), the only non-White student in the incoming class, finds herself housed in the same room where a student took her own life years back. Jasmine also has an awkward encounter with Black professor, Liv (Amber Gray), who gives her a failing grade for an essay but passes her fellow White classmates. 

Renee, 24, views Jasmine as wildly optimistic, before her slow and heartbreaking realization of what is really happening on campus. Getting into Ancaster “is her wildest dream, something she has dreamed of since birth,” she says. “She has been heavy into academia, and her hopes have been high.” 

For the actress, the film draws obvious parallels between Jasmine and Gail. “I see Gail and Jasmine as one sometimes. These two situations are so closely related. They are at totally different times of their lives. One is well into her professional career and respected in every way, but going through challenges much like Jasmine, who is just stepping her foot into the door. That is what makes the film so exciting to watch.”

Renee was hired in 2019 and began filming in early 2020. Halfway through production, the cast and crew heard the whisper about Covid. “It feels like in a day we were shut down,” she recalls. A year went by and everyone wondered when they’d resume, and in 2021 they were able to.  

Master was filmed in upstate New York at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, in the dead of winter, and the performer jokes that “my Atlanta skin couldn’t deal with all that.” 

She credits writer-director Diallo, in her debut feature film, for knowing exactly what she wanted to do, making a film with solid scares but also addressing racism, subtle and unsubtle, on college campuses. “I learned how valuable it is to be specific in something this big. Mariama knew what she wanted to say and didn’t want to say. It was a gold mine for me as an actor. I am so excited to see what she does next.” 

This was Renee’s first experience doing as much preparation as the cast was asked to do before the project. Even during the lockdown, the director would assign movies to watch, such as Rosemary’s Baby, Let the Right One In and the original 1996 Scream, as well as some comedies. Many of the Master castmates would gather via Zoom every week to discuss what they had watched and get a new assignment.

“I got a crash course in film,” Renee admits. 

When the performer finally had the opportunity to see the film with an audience last week, she was overjoyed at the reception, as well as the conversations with audience members afterwards.

”I don’t know if I have seen a story from the points of view like I have in Master. You see here three points of view from women of color who are trying to find their place in this institution. I know this is not rare or is made up. To hear stories from people and see how they react and say, ‘This happened to me’ has been the best part of this process.”

It was particularly satisfying for her to see a film with three richly drawn, lead female Black characters. “There are genres that need to have way more of us onscreen. I am excited for people to see and hear these stories. When we do, I think the world of creation and the world we tell on screen becomes more layered and fun.” 

Known for projects such as Jinn, The Quad, and Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase, Renee took part in an acting camp with actor Geoffrey Owens when she was 9 years old and knew then she wanted to be in the business. Since that time she has been active taking more classes, auditioning and working. 

She is proud of being an Atlanta native. A self-proclaimed “Atlanta girl for life,” she says she can talk about the city all day.

She grew up 40 minutes south of the city and always dreamed of being an actress. When she was making the decision to really jump in, fate intervened. “Pinewood Studios in Fayetteville popped up, which was so close to my parents’ home. It was like a sign to me to keep going. This massive studio where I wanted one day to be working (was here) and it felt like my dream was manifested right there. It also told me that I didn’t need to go anywhere else. Atlanta is really the place to be — budding beautiful, small and warm. I will fly where I need to fly (for work), but will always come back to Atlanta.”

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Jim Farmer covers theater and film for ArtsATL. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he has written about the arts for 30-plus years. Jim is the festival director of Out on Film, Atlanta’s LGBTQ film festival. He lives in Avondale Estates with his husband, Craig, and dog Douglas.