Lovie Simone, previously known for her roles in Greenleaf and Raising Kanan, is now the lead star of the Netflix series Forever, alongside Michael Cooper Jr. Mara Brock Akil’s adaptation of Judy Blume’s 1975 coming of age novel of the same name shows Simone as Keisha, a teenager who experiences love and growing pains in the late 2010’s in Los Angeles.

Despite the challenges she faced, including being exposed by an ex-boyfriend, dealing with financial issues at home and working towards a track scholarship for Howard University, Keisha showed up every day for herself through her fashion choices.

“She was a little nerd, so in my head and everyone else’s heads, when you think of nerd, you don’t think too stylish,” Simone explains. “Mara was like, ‘There’s so much more to Black life’ and Regina [King] was like, ‘This is where you’re at in your Black life as a woman,’ and then Tanja [Caldwell] was like, ‘We’re going to throw the style in there because you’re still stylish, you’re a Black woman.’”

Presentation and looking “put together” at all times, despite what one is going through, is an experience many Black girls and women face to prove worthiness and capability, and to avoid judgment from others.

“I think when there’s a lot going on outside of your control, we try to control what we can,” Simone explains. “And a lot of the time, the only thing we can control is the initial image, so I’m happy that Keisha was a very put together person because it did describe her personality.”

Integrating some of her own stylistic choices and partnering with costume designer Tanja Caldwell, Simone shares with The Hollywood Reporter how involved she was in the process of curating Keisha’s look. From fittings to style collages, the actress talks about her favorite fashion moments, the impact of Black coming-of-age stories and what it really was like working with living legends on the set of Forever.

I appreciated all of your looks in Forever. It was giving Lauryn Hill, Black girl greatness. The Jordans, the bamboo earrings, the nails. I thought, “They’re very intentional over there.”

They are. And I love how it goes to show that even with people who are struggling financially, they can look good too, and it’s a norm for them. Because a lot of the time, I would think, “Shelly (Keisha’s mom) is going through a lot financially and all this stuff.” But everyone knows those parents that are like, “Listen, I’m going through it, but my baby is going to look good so at the end of the day, we’re going to figure this out.”

When it came to you stepping into the world of Keisha, how did you prepare for that?

Preparing for Keisha was a lot of conversations with Mara [Brock Akil], and with Regina [King] during the auditioning process. I know that when I found out she [King] was a part of it, I was just super excited because we worked together on Greenleaf, so this time I think we were both really excited to want to work with each other. And having her be an actor who’s now a director, she knows how to speak to actors trying to maneuver in a scene and then also having that mixed with Mara’s knowledge of the world of Forever and just that world building that she did. She knew all of the answers to the questions that I had and mixed with [costume designer] Tanja Caldwell’s amazing style. It was hard for me not to be Keisha in every moment because all of these people kept reminding me of who Keisha was, so she was just already this being that I was able to step into.

Keisha’s a California girl and she’s a teenager. I’m curious what went into curating her look. Did you guys have a mood board?

When I got to the production office, I saw there was a whole collage of just the vibe for each character. For Keisha’s vibe, I immediately saw and was like, ‘Oh, this is that L.A. girl. OK, cool.’ But when working with Tanja, she really brought everything full circle and wrapped the bow on top of everything. Because yes, I knew certain things about Keisha’s personality, but that doesn’t have to do with her style per se. She was a little nerd, so in my head and everyone else’s heads, when you think of nerd, you don’t think too stylish or you don’t think all of these other things. But to know that Mara was like, “There’s so much more to Black life,” and Regina was like, “This is where you’re at in your Black life as a woman.” And then Tanja was like, ‘We’re going to throw the style in there because you’re still stylish, you’re a Black woman.”

It was all of those key pieces and I know what I had to offer to Keisha’s style. I knew I wanted to keep colors. I love colors in my personal life, so I just wanted to have fun with colors. Even down to Keisha’s nails, I was like, “Hmm, she’s sad. So maybe she’d have blue right now.” You know what I mean? Baby boy blue kind of style. Just playing with pieces of me and then pieces of them and it just works so beautifully.

When it comes to your own personal style, did you bring any of your own style to Keisha or have any input at all in Keisha’s fashion?

I did have some input. I know that there were some outfits that they felt like Keisha, but it felt like a stretch for me to get there. I was very grateful that Tanja was able to help me bring them closer together so that way it could be, once I put it on, it’s seamless. And even in moments where I couldn’t understand why I am wearing this — because I am in my 20s, mid-late 20s, so in my head sometimes I have these questions. Is that what teens are really wearing? — having Tanja have this fresh take on everything, it was nice to have her [explain] why you’re going to be wearing this. She’ll break everything down for me and it made me feel like I’m ready for this.

Talk about the importance of coming-of-age stories specifically for Black youth. Why were you drawn to this story in particular?

I was drawn to this project because I hadn’t seen anything like it in a very long time and I don’t think this generation has had that cutesy, unproblematic, just very teenage love story. I haven’t seen it with Black teenagers. Then just outside of being Black teenagers, just teenagers in general, I feel as if in the storytelling, everything is just so dramatic and not too grounded so it was nice to have a grounded story, a grounded first meet-cute, all of these things. It is nice to also see being in the middle of these two ages, it’s nice to see the parents not being villains, more so than being humans who are trying to make decisions for themselves and their kids. There were just so many aspects of this project where there’s just range here and as an actress, I’m drawn to that.

And you got to work with legends like Wood Harris, Mara Brock Akil and Regina King directing. What was that like for you?

I love working with every single one of them; it felt like working with a family. Before, when I was working with Keith David and Lynn Whitfield [on Greenleaf], I was like, “OK, how do I act on a set? How do I memorize easier? How do I do these things?” But now that they’ve taught me that, it’s like now I can really exist and be with these legends, these living legends [on Forever]. It’s so fun to just be able to work with them. It feels like family. It feels right. It feels like you should meet your idols.

Walk us through the process of getting your hair and makeup done every day in your trailer?

I think this is the first set experience I can say where I went to work every day and I could have fallen asleep in the trailer, in the seat. Because usually, as a Black woman in the industry, there’s a lot of micromanaging that I feel like I have to do because I know how I like to look and be presented to the world. To be able to have people who know how I want to look and be presented to the world, even if they do have to switch it up for my character, it was nice to work with all of the [beauty team]. The whole set experience felt like everyone coming to work to work on this big project that we all had a personal attachment to.

What was your favorite look of Keisha’s? If you can pinpoint maybe a specific episode or a moment where you’re just like, “OK, Keisha girl, you did that.”

I love Keisha’s style. It’s a toss-up for three looks for me. One, the pink prom we all love. Two, I’m going to say it would be the reconnecting outfit when she had the blue top and then the blue skirt with her little low ponytail, because that one we didn’t see too much, but I really was obsessed with it. Then three, I would say the first party scene with Justin where we meet. I think that was an iconic look. There’s so much feelings attached to it.

There was a scene that I remember where Keisha was actually getting her hair braided from her cousin in the hair shop. This is such a coming-of-age, rite-of-passage moment. What was stepping into that scene like for you, as someone who probably experienced the same thing in real life?

Definitely felt true to the Black girl experience. I’m from the East Coast, so this is what it would look like if I grew up on the West Coast and had a cousin like Tiffany. It felt natural, just like another version of life for me.

Walk me through what that collaboration process with costume designer Tanja [Caldwell] was like. How closely did you work together?

We worked really closely together. I know before we started filming, we did have a fitting so we were trying on Keisha’s closet that Tanja put together. There was a lot of L.A. influence that I was also learning about, being from New York. Also I got to approve some things, some parts and pieces. I was like, “Hey, I don’t know if I’m too comfortable,” and sometimes she’ll be like, “Well, this is my reasoning” and I’m open to hearing just her mind.

We would have those moments and then we eventually simmer that all down into a pot and got Keisha and it was amazing. I love the fact that Tanja had in mind the name chain. She was like, “You’re going to wear it every day. You’re that kind of girl. You got them at the flea market.” She had stories behind each of the pieces too, and it helped me realize this is what Keisha would’ve done and the spaces she would’ve taken up on her free time or with [her best friend] Chloe or whoever.

Despite the complexities of your character, she still made sure to show up for herself and still be put together and looking good regardless of the heaviness of her life at that time. What did that mean to you?

I think when there’s a lot going on outside of your control, we try to control what we can. And a lot of the time, the only thing we can control is the initial image, so I’m happy that Keisha was a very put together person because it did describe her personality. She was very Type-A, very go-getter, very like, “I’m not going to let this affect me.” Even if she was tired at 4:00 a.m., she was going to have on a matching set and the matching sweatsuit on top. So I do love that Keisha kind of just is always thinking about herself throughout all of this.

Favorite behind-the-scenes moments that you can share from set?

I feel like all of the behind-the-scenes moments are super fun because we were always just having a blast. I love the in-between takes, photo shoots, that hair and makeup, and I would be a part of it and then we would get everybody in on it. We would also do TikToks together, try and learn dances in between takes all the time. I would say one of my favorites, because it was so sad, was the breakup scene with me and Michael Cooper Jr. (who plays Justin) at the end. It was one of my favorites only because it was like, dang, we really did it. We told the love story and this is the end of it.  

With the show already being renewed for a season two, can you tease where you personally would like to see Keisha’s fashion evolve into?

I would just like to see the evolution of it. I couldn’t even have imagined a better style for Keisha with Tanja’s mind. Where is she going to go next? Where does Tanja see? Because it all depends on the trajectory of Keisha’s life. Where is she going to be? Is she going to be in suits? Is she going to be wearing baggy jeans? What is she doing?

Before we wrap up, do you have any final comments or anything that you want to share with THR?

I just want to say I’m so happy to have played such a deep character who has been a mirror for so many people that I didn’t realize before. And I love that I’m able to tell this story and I love that Keisha handles stuff with so much grace, and I’m happy other people can use this as a blueprint or just see that they were giving themselves grace in a very heavy moment in life. I’m just happy that I can tell this story.