Tessa Thompson is feeling blue — specifically, Yves Klein.
“[Valentino] sent me some beautiful sketches, and they were really inspired by this idea of the Yves Klein blue — which I thought was really striking,” said the actress, her feet propped up on a table as her glam team crafted her hairstyle for the evening.
“I have never really worn blue in my life on a carpet,” she continued. “It’s a new color, but for me it’s a color that I’ve been really attracted to recently — and have been using it a lot in my work. So it sort of felt like this really perfect time to explore the color, and also what it means in the art world. I love this idea of the dress almost feeling like paint.”
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Thompson attended the gala this year as a guest of Valentino, and her custom gown designed by creative director Alessandro Michele was ready and waiting on a rack nearby, alongside a pleated golden bolero.
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“When you’re communicating via sketches and then you walk in and see the garment in person, it always feels a really surreal moment,” she added, touting the gala’s focus on “artistry and craftmanship” within the fashion industry.
The actress is currently starring on Broadway in “The Fear of 13” opposite Adrien Brody, and was attending the gala on her one day off from the theater after an eight-show week.
“I slept in, took it easy, I did a sauna,” Thompson said of her morning prep at The Mark Hotel before the gala. “There’s a kind of athleticism to a [Broadway schedule]. I know that people weeks ahead of the Met really prepare, and they’re eating super well and they’re trying to sleep and they’re doing all the things, but I’ve been in that rhythm in general, because I’ve been doing a Broadway show,” she added.
Which brings Thompson back to how the color blue has been impacting her as of late. “ I use all sorts of things when I’m building a character,” she said. “ Usually there’s a color that comes through. The character that I’m currently playing is in a lot of blue, and that’s become representative for me. So it’s an interesting moment to then have this beautiful blue gown,” she added. “I’ve been in a bit of a love affair with blue.”
Thompson, through her Viva Maude production company, is also a producer of the upcoming film “Is God Is,” adapted for the screen from a stage play written by director Aleshea Harris.
“ The last film that I made was an adaptation of a very storied play, ‘Hedda Gabler.’ This play is a newer piece of work, but also an adaptation from stage to screen, and I think it really communicates the things that are so important to me,” she said. “One of the aims in building the company was to develop projects that give opportunities to Black women — to be center in the frame, to be behind the camera and to tell stories that widen our idea of what’s possible and who we are — and what we can be.”
Heading into the evening, Thompson was excited to head over to the museum and see how everyone else interpreted the “Fashion Is Art” theme.
”A couple of my [‘The Fear of 13’] castmates are coming tonight, so it’s very fun,” she added. “I’ll go around and try to find them at their tables.”