Dandelion, directed by Nicole Riegel, is the story of a young singer-songwriter struggling to be heard. The luminous KiKi Layne plays the titular Dandelion.
Nadine Whitney sat down with Layne to discuss defining oneself through art and passion and avoiding being typecast.
Nadine Whitney: Hi KiKi. First off, when will you release an album?
KiKi Layne: I don’t know when, but I know it will happen. After doing Dandelion, I intend to release some music on my own.
Nadine Whitney: I think you have to. And in that last scene, was that you shredding it up on the guitar?
KiKi Layne: Absolutely not, but I had a great time pretending. That was one of the highlights of Dandelion for me. I was just up there like I was playing Guitar Hero, living my best life.
Nadine Whitney: I wanted to discuss how Dandelion showed how many women creatives, specifically Black women creatives, don’t have the same choices and chances as men.
KiKi Layne: That’s one of the things that stood out to me during my initial conversations with [director] Nicole [Riegel]. She poured a lot of her experiences as a woman in this industry and pursued directing, which is so male-dominated. Nicole created a vulnerable environment for me to pour more of my experiences as a woman and a Black woman pursuing this industry. While there’s more space for us now, it still isn’t what it should be, and there still are things that we have to fight for that can feel very frustrating when it seems [those opportunities] are getting handed to other people so easily.
Digging into that and how it affects an artist was really meaningful for me—seeing Dandelion trying to take ownership of her gift, her voice, and the type of space she wants in this genre. I think she’s not what’s expected of a Black woman because she’s a singer-songwriter. She’s expected to be something quite different even though, throughout history, we have had to define Black women artists. For example, many people are just now learning about Tracy Chapman.
Nadine Whitney: Yes, it took a white, male country singer for Chapman to get a number one song. In some ways, the same thing could have happened to Dandelion, with Casey (Thomas Doherty) using her as the spark to reignite his interest in music.
One song Dandelion doesn’t share with Casey is ‘Over-the-Rhine.’ Can you tell me about the process of bringing the Black experience to the recording?
KiKi Layne: When I first became attached to the film Nicole, and I had conversations around the music in that there needed to be some adjustments made to reflect the fact that the instrument that Dandelion is now coming out of is a 30-year-old Black woman. The Dessners are amazing and fantastic songwriters, but they are two white men in their mid-40s. [We worked] to find where the talent and skill of the Dessners meet with the truth of the instrument used to sing those songs. I had many conversations with her when it came time to perform in the film.
I just told her, “This song is about Over-the-Rhine, and that area in Cincinnati has been so gentrified over these past years. How can Dandelion, in this body, write a song about the place and not acknowledge that the area doesn’t hold the same space for the people that look like her as it once did?”
Thankfully, Nicole and the Dessner brothers were receptive to me pouring more of my personal experience into the song. I went to school in Over-the-Rhine when it wasn’t a great place to be, and I’ve seen it change over the years. Having Nicole create that type of space for me to put that much of myself into the music was wonderfully collaborative. Also, Noah Harmon, our guitar teacher, was instrumental in helping me find these songs and bring more of myself to them.
Nadine Whitney: I did notice in the lyrics that you were singing, ‘This place I love it, but do I exist?’ That is something that I think Dandelion is constantly saying. In her hotel lounge singing job, she might as well be furniture for everyone paying attention to. Also, in her mother’s house, everything is so crowded that there’s barely room for Teresa, let alone Dandelion, the artist. Casey is the person who says to Dandelion, “I see you.”
KiKi Layne: I think that’s part of what made the connection between Dandelion and Casey so special is that they both love music so much, and I think Casey is at a point in his journey he knows so much of what Dandelion is wrestling with. The tug of, ‘How much of yourself do you give to your passion? How much of yourself do you give to the music, how much can you give to the music you know based off the factual circumstances that you are now forced to live with?’
Dandelion did make a massive sacrifice for her family. You know, she had this opportunity to go on tour and passed on it so she could take care of her mom. She is now wrestling with the fear that all her life will be. I think when Casey says I see you, it’s because he has also wrestled with those things, and Dandelion can feel someone gets what’s happening inside of her.
Nadine Whitney: As an actor, do you have people trying to pre-define where you go and what you do? I’ve looked at your filmography, and you’re not sticking with any one genre: you are in Oscar-nominated roles, action films, and animated comedies. Have you fought the pigeonholing of who KiKi is going to be?
KiKi Layne: Absolutely, and you know it has to be a fight because it is incredible to me the lack of imagination that exists in this industry. How quickly it’s like if you do one thing really well, it’s almost like the industry treats you like, “Oh, that’s all that you can do.”
Indeed, you see actors playing very similar roles to other things they have done. As soon as I got into this industry, I made it clear to all of my reps that I didn’t want to be stuck doing just drama or romance. I’m interested in moving beyond a single genre.
I’m super grateful that I have had a bit more versatility in my career so far, and I’m fighting for even more of that. I love to tell stories, and this wouldn’t be as fun as I want my career to be if I’m repeatedly playing the same thing.
Nadine Whitney: What do you hope people get out of Dandelion?
KiKi Layne: I want people to come see Dandelion cause I love this film. I just love it. I love what Thomas brought to it and what Nicole brought to it.
I think that any member of the audience, if you have a dream, if you have something that you are passionate about, if you have something in your life that you’re fighting for that maybe not everyone in your life understands, then you’re going to connect with this film. Even if it’s not necessarily in the arts, it is just about your passion and something that drives you in something that you love that may not make sense to everyone around you. It may not fill your bank account, but it means everything to you.
If you have something like that in your life, the journey Dandelion takes will resonate with you and, I hope, encourage you to keep fighting for what you are actually passionate about.
You can listen to the InSession Film Podcast’s review of Dandelion here. And be sure to read Nadine Whitney’s full review of the film.
