‘Loving’ Star Terri Abney Talks the Continuing Impact of Loving v. Virginia Case

Loving, which is currently in theaters, is a biographical historical drama that focuses on Richard and Mildred Loving, an interracial couple who had to fight for their right to marry, which included bringing their case to the Supreme Court.

Read the official synopsis below:

From acclaimed writer/director Jeff Nichols, Loving celebrates the real-life courage and commitment of an interracial couple, Richard and Mildred Loving (Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga), who married and then spent the next nine years fighting for the right to live as a family in their hometown. Their civil rights case, Loving v. Virginia, went all the way to the Supreme Court, which in 1967 reaffirmed the very foundation of the right to marry – and their love story has become an inspiration to couples ever since.

Loving stars Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga as Richard and Mildred Loving, respectively. Terri Abney portrays Mildred’s sister Garnet Jeter and she recently sat down with BackstageOL’s Dave Morales to discuss the film’s message and the couple’s impact on American history.

“I’m hoping that [audiences] talk about the love because love is the center of the story, Abney said. “It’s not about the court case.It’s not about the Supreme Court overturning it because at the end of the day, they should have been able to love whoever they wanted to. But it’s about the fact that during the time when it was against the law, and they were condemned and exiled for loving one another, they continued to love one another in spite of, because of, and just because they loved each other. And they fought through that, and it wasn’t easy. You know, Mildred says, you know, we may lose the small battles but win the big war. And so, because of them, they won a Supreme Court case that they didn’t want to win, you know, that’s not what they set out to do. They just set out to be married, love one another, go home.”

“But in winning the case, they helped to change the world and impact the world and they’re still changing the world and impacting the world because their case is at the center of, you know, was at the center of helping to legalize same-sex marriage in America and outside of that, you know, their case is now coming up within the Black Lives Matter movement and even with the presidential race that’s happening right now,” she added. “Their case is at the center of it, and it’s at the center of everything that life should be about, and it’s just loving people.”

Watch the full interview below: