Juju Journey Brener may be young, but she’s already proven herself to be mega talented. She can be seen in Vanquish alongside Morgan Freeman and Ruby Rose.
Vanquish was directed by George Gallo (Writer of Bad Boys and Midnight Run) and co-written by Gallo and Samuel Bartlett (The Grand Design).
Synopsis: From the director of Double Take, Middle Men, and The Poison Rose comes this stylish, glossy action-thriller starring Morgan Freeman (Se7en) and Ruby Rose (“Orange Is the New Black”) that shows what desperation can drive a person to do. A mother, Victoria (Rose), is trying to put her dark past as a Russian drug courier behind her, but retired cop Damon (Freeman) forces Victoria to do his bidding by holding her daughter hostage. Now, Victoria must use guns, guts, and a motorcycle to take out a series of violent gangsters — or she may never see her child again.
Check out my Q&A with Juju!
Why did you want to be an actress?
Juju: My grandma was an actor and then my mom became an actor and then my sister became an actor. My sister started acting when she was three, and then I became an actor. I started actually doing commercials when I was a little baby but I also started acting when I was three.
What is your favorite part about acting?
Juju: Well, my favorite part about acting is that you get to travel to places, and you sometimes get to meet famous people, like Morgan Freeman. He’s famous and when I met him, I was super happy. A place I really want to travel to for acting is Hawaii. And I love to play different characters.
What was it like working with Morgan Freeman?
Juju: He was a super, super nice person and he is a super good at acting. And when I heard that he was in the movie, I was super excited.
And you also got to work with Ruby Rose, she played your mom in this film. What was it like working with her?
Juju: The same thing for her, she’s super nice, and her acting is amazing. And she played Batwoman, so I was so happy about that.
So you play Lily in this film, can you tell me a little more about her?
Juju: Well, Lily gets kidnapped. Morgan (who plays Damon) kidnaps her actually. I’m sick, and Ruby (who plays Victoria) thinks that Morgan is like doing bad stuff to me. And while he’s kidnapping me, he’s actually just taking care of me and giving me medicine and making me feel better. And Morgan is like (to Ruby), ‘you have to do all these jobs, and then I’ll give you your kid back,’ and she does all of them. And Lily is super shy and she doesn’t really talk that much.
How cool was it that you got to swim during some scenes?
Juju: It was so fun and I love swimming, it’s so fun to do. Swimming is one of my most favorite things to do. When I found out I can do a scene in the pool, I was so happy. I don’t have a pool, but I wish I had one.
Do you have any fun stories from set?
Juju: Yes! I got to go to [stunt rehearsal] with Ruby. And I got to call action. When I called action. [Director George Gallo] was like, ‘Okay, so when I say go, you’re gonna say action.’ And when I said, ‘Action,’ I actually said something else. I don’t remember what I said when I said something else and I was laughing so hard. I meant to say, ‘Action.’
So what was your favorite part about making this movie?
Juju: I loved the pool scene. And I loved doing the movie with Morgan and I love doing scenes with Morgan. Those were my two favorites, because they’re both really fun.
Is there anything else that you want to say about this movie?
Juju: It was really fun and I hope a lot of people can watch it.
