Bresha Webb Wasn’t Expecting That ‘Fall From Grace’ Twist: “I Was Really Scared!”

Warning: This interview contains A Fall From Grace spoilers.

You can try to guess the A Fall From Grace twist as you watch the film on Netflix, but good luck figuring it out. Even star Bresha Webb—who plays the lead character in the new Tyler Perry movie that is streaming as of today—didn’t guess it. And she read the script!

“I kind of forgot that whole part happened,” she said with a laugh while speaking on the phone with Decider. “So I was still trying to solve the case!”

Webb, 30, is perhaps best known as a comedic actor, including a lead role on the TV One sitcom, Love That Girl!, and small roles in comedies like Night School and Meet the Blacks. Before A Fall From Grace, she had worked with Perry as a director once before, a small part in the 2018 film, Acrimony. That one was a drama, but she still expected a comedy when the director reached out to her again, this time with a lead role.

“I thought I was gonna get to fool around with Madea or something!” Webb said. Instead, she got a deadly serious thriller about an older woman named Grace (Crystal Waters) on trial for killing her much younger husband, Shannon (Merchad Brooks). Webb plays Jasmine, the young public defender assigned to Grace’s case. Jasmine’s boss—played by a gruff and serious Perry—thinks it should be an easy case for his most inexperienced lawyer because Grace wants to plead guilty.  But the more Jasmine learns about Grace’s story from Grace herself, along with Grace’s best friend Sarah (Phylicia Rashad), the more she starts to suspect she might be innocent.

Decider chatted with Webb about working with Perry, working with silver screen legend Cicely Tyson (who appears in the film as an elderly woman living at Sarah’s house), and yes, that twist ending. If you don’t want to be spoiled, save this interview until after you watch the film.

Decider: It’s not exactly clear from the trailer, but you’re the main character in the film… Jasmine, the young inexperienced lawyer that everyone underestimates. How did you find that connection with her?

Bresha Webb: Jasmine’s determination drew me to her, because I’m a determined woman. I’m from Baltimore City, and I came out to Los Angeles by myself, went to college at California Institute of the Arts, and I embarked on my own dream by myself. All I have is my, my, my gift and what God gave me and I went out there. And here I am today. Crystal Fox keeps saying, “Be fearful of a determined woman.” That was what I saw in the script. Tyler Perry wrote such a compelling character for both women. Every woman in this script had a story that was rooted. And we supported each other. You know, Sarah takes a turn! [Laughs.] But at the end of the day, we’re strong women supporting each other.

When people think of a Tyler Perry film, they probably think of his Madea character, and not of a serious film centered on women taking back their agency from men. Did you get the sense that he’s being particularly thoughtful when it came to writing from a female perspective for this film?

Webb: Absolutely. I’m just learning so much more about him and his thought process when he’s developing these scripts. He writes everything from a woman’s perspective because he loved his mother. He knows that there are women that need these stories told. And not just women— men as well, so they can have more respect for women. You know? He saw everything that his mother went through. To talk about ageism in this way, and talk about a woman opening herself back up for love—that’s an inspiration right there. To have a woman be sexy and be romanced in this way, at that age… You don’t always get to see a black woman that way—soft and pretty. He’s always aware of what’s out there and what his audience needs to be serviced. And I am very thankful to that, to him and also to see Miss Cicely Tyson. 

Yes let’s talk about that—Cicely Tyson, a Hollywood icon, is in this film. And you guys have a big scene together!

Webb: I mean, I couldn’t believe it. I wept when I found out that she was going to be in the movie. I was, I didn’t know who they were casting. You know, it was moving so fast, we did it in five days-

Wait, you did this whole shoot in five days?

Webb: Yep!

Oh wow, that is very fast. Okay, I’m sorry, continue. What was it like to film that scene with Cicely Tyson?

Webb: Miss Tyson is an icon and she deserves every single bit of the work that she gave to this film. She really turns the whole movie around. She was dedicated. It was raining that day, it was cold outside, and it was her birthday! She worked on her birthday. And she was thankful! She was like, “Yes! I get to work on my birthday!” And she was 95! But it was cold outside, it was raining, and in between takes I kept saying, “Can we just get this done, guys? I don’t want Miss Tyson to be out here late.” She was like, “No we need to get it done. We’re gonna be fine. However long it takes.” She was a fighter! [In the scene where] she was fighting with me, I was trying to be gentle. And she said, “Pull on me. You can pull me. Don’t be afraid of me. I’m not frail. I lift weights.” She’s funny! She was really playing that character, from the moment she walked on that set. She was Alice.

**Spoiler alert: Skip this next question if you don’t want to be spoiled!**

I have to ask you about that twist ending because it was so unexpected. What was it like filming that climactic scene, when Jasmine walks down the stairs and discovers Sarah and Shannon are keeping kidnapped elderly people in the basement?

Webb: It was so fast—and so safe, of course—but I was really scared. I was really scared the entire time. I had never been down there, so it was a new discovery for me too. I didn’t know what I was getting into. We didn’t really mark the scene. It’s like you’re doing a play. And it was like you’re doing a play, but blindfolded, because you don’t know the set. 

Tyler was like, “Go down the stairs, and it stinks.” So I cover my mouth. Tyler said, “And then…” and then he stopped talking and he suspended it for just a touch… and that’s when the shit hit the fan. You know, I was really scared! In the movie, when I’m watching it I was like, “Wow Bresha you were really scared because you didn’t know what was happening!” I kind of just let it go, you know, and just allowed my instincts to kick in.

Last week Tyler Perry shared a clip on Instagram of all the new scripts he had written that went a little bit viral. 

Webb: Yes. I love what he said, too, in an interview at Sirius radio. When you see something like that you’re like, “Oh my god I have so much work to do I need to catch up. How do I even manage my day?” You know, but everybody has their gifts. He was like, “I’m not expecting people to do what I do, because what I do is what I do.” He’s creating opportunities for other writers as well, you know, for there to be a showrunner and a writing room. But he was like, “I had to lay the foundation and create the space for this.” He knows his audience. He explained, “When I write I hear the characters. I hear what these stories.” It’s very, it’s very spiritual in the way that he talked about it. And I mean, that’s clearly a gift from God. He was like, “I can be in a room for 45 minutes and write 45 pages.” That’s a gift!

What’s a dream role that you would love to play in the future?

Webb: I love working with iconic women and playing iconic women. It’s always been a dream of mine to play Diana Ross, Eartha Kitt, or both. A lot of people know me for my impersonations, but I would love to play women of that stature that have a real story that can, you know, change how women think this generation. When I watched Dorothy Dandridge and Halle Berry’s portrayal of her, I was changed forever. 

And what’s next for you?

Webb: I have so many things coming out. I have an amazing project coming out for Fox with Lisa Kudrow its called House Trained, and I play a deranged squirrel. I’m on Black Excellence on Netflix with Kenya Barris and Rashida Jones. I play Rashida Jones’ best friend and she’s going through something, publicly, you know, just trying to figure it out, and it’s a really funny episode. Again, I come back on Last O.G., make an appearance there with Tiffany and the fam there, this is their third season. I also did a pilot for Starz that is really looking good, it’s called Run the World— it’s like a new Sex and the City. I’m very excited about that, and Patricia Fields is the costume designer so it’s pretty cool, lots of fashion. 

You’ve been doing a lot of projects with Netflix recently: Sextuplets, this movie, Black Excellence. Is there something drawing you to streaming content?

Webb: I mean, hey I like working. Netflix just has a lot of things going on right now, and cool people. Sextuplets is just hilarious. It was just the right place for people to watch it over and over and over again—and people have been. It’s been one of the biggest movies on Netflix since it aired and so, I know Fall From Grace will be right under it, so I’m excited.

Watch A Fall From Grace on Netflix