What Tessa Thompson loves about jet lag

The actress Tessa Thompson is stepping up her work behind the camera as an executive producer.

Female friendships fascinate Tessa Thompson—especially the ones that go awry.

The actress embraces the power of frenemies in her new Netflix project, “His & Hers,” a six-episode psychological thriller where friendship bracelets aren’t just keepsakes, they’re crime-scene evidence.

“There’s something about seeing women act out on their frustrations that is ripe and interesting,” Thompson says.

She explored similar themes of subversion in the movie “Hedda,” a moody remake of Henrik Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” with the title role reimagined as a bisexual, biracial woman. She was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance.

The actress, 42, grew up shuttling between Los Angeles and New York City as the daughter of the musician Marc Anthony Thompson. She’s skated between blockbusters and indie-style movies and now is stepping up her work behind the camera. Thompson, who executive produced “His & Hers” and produced “Hedda,” is also an executive producer of “Seeds,” a story of Black southern farmers that made the Oscars pre-nomination shortlist in the documentary category.

Here, she talks about “girl power,” her recurring supermarket dream and the time of day she won’t check her phone.

Are you a morning person?

I relish the experience of getting up very, very early, which I’ve done for different films. One of my favorite things about being jet-lagged is getting up early and spending long, luxurious mornings in bed.

Are you reading your phone?

I’m actually not on my phone. It’s one of the things I like about when I’ve woken very early. There’s no one looking for me. I like to just sit and let my mind wander. I sometimes have done dream work, and one of the things that you learn how to do is to hover above sleep for a while and not do anything and remember exactly where you were in a dream before. When I started doing that work, that practice was really hard for me, because I was one of those people that went instantly to my phone.

Thompson was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in ‘Hedda,’ a moody remake of Henrik Ibsen’s ‘Hedda Gabler’ with the title role reimagined as a bisexual, biracial woman.

What have you learned from your dreams?

I uncovered memories and viscera from childhood. I had a recurring thing around being in the supermarket, which I thought was totally innocuous. When I did deep investigation work, it came back to me, this memory that had really imprinted on me from childhood.

Why was that memory so important?

This particular instance was a memory of being with my sister in a supermarket, but not with a parent. It was not necessarily a particularly unpleasant experience. I realized as a kid, I had never been in a supermarket without my mom. We were safe, everything was OK. It made a huge impression. I was talking about an experience of an emotion in a dream and my coach asked, “When’s the last time you remember feeling that emotion?” And suddenly, this memory of being in the supermarket was unearthed. And I was like, wow, those moments are maybe connected to this feeling of independence and a new kind of personhood that for a child is exhilarating and also really scary.

Do dreams inform your work on screen?

I started making deeper connections to the material. I can be a very rigorous actor. I’m very thoughtful, and sometimes I feel like I can be cerebral. In dream work, instead of speaking about a dream, you might be asked to draw about a dream but with your non-dominant hand. So everything is about taking away this preoccupation with filtering the way that you express things through the intellect, and trying to root it in a more spontaneous, surprising and free-flowing way, which obviously is just very good for a performer.

‘There’s something about seeing women act out on their frustrations that is ripe and interesting,’ Thompson says of her role in Netflix’s six-part psychological thriller ‘His & Hers.’

Let’s talk about “His & Hers.” How did it come about for you?

I knew that it was going to be adapted by Will Oldroyd, and he’s a filmmaker that I had been following. I saw his debut feature film “Lady Macbeth.” I just fell so instantly in love with that film. I just was like, “I want to chase this person. I’d like to work with them.” And then in very typical me fashion, I didn’t chase him. I forgot to chase, but I was tracking him, and then I got this call that was like, “Will would love to have a Zoom with you.” He pitched the show to me.

Frenemies run through “Hedda” and “His & Hers.” What role do frenemies play in real life?

They teach you so much. It’s like that old thing that when someone gets under your skin, it’s probably something about them that you don’t have access to in yourself that is challenging.

Have female friendships been oversimplified on screen?

Embedded in this idea of girl power, which is tremendous, obviously, is that as people, we are not a monolith, particularly as women. I think any “Rah-Rah Girl Power” space that doesn’t allow real room for that is kind of saccharine and thin.

Thompson with her father, the musician Marc Anthony Thompson. ‘My early influences probably were my parents,’ she said of her interest in fashion.

What were some problems you dealt with on set as a producer of “His & Hers”?

Sometimes what you have to do is to continue to remind people that audiences don’t know what they want until they see it. The things that have really broken out and started cultural conversations are the things that are one of one.

I need to ask about your style. How did you get so interested in fashion?

My early influences probably were my parents. They never dressed me as a kid. I was always allowed to dress myself, and no matter how crazy or imaginative the outfit was, I typically was allowed to leave the house in it. There’s another photograph of me as a kid with a T-shirt, a big chunky necklace that I think is my grandmother’s, and long johns and the T-shirt is tucked into my long johns, and I’m wearing suspenders that my dad brought me back from Paris, and then I’m wearing a pair of skate shoes. I wore that hiking. I have just never been afraid to wear what I want.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.