Hollywood’s constellation has always been fascinated by the allure of our island — the warmth of the Jamaican people and the ease of pace make it ideal for those looking to ditch the film set for a leisurely lay on the beach. It’s a fact that celebrated career actress Alfre Woodard has long known since she — along with her husband Roderick and now adult children Mavis and Duncan — has enjoyed the tropical comforts of a Round Hill cottage for roughly the last 20 Christmases.

The cashmere-chic charm of Round Hill aside, Woodard admits that Jamaica simply feels like home. She comes here “because of its living, breathing culture” — an attraction she describes as running deep and defined by the beauty and authenticity of our people.

There’s talk of quick trips to MegaMart Montego Bay, bumping into fans and her inability to use her star status to get ahead in line — it’s a fluid convo that has us completely enthralled and one which leaves us feeling like we’ve known her forever.

It’s clear, she’s a down home kind of gal whose full-bodied humour and piercing realisms comingle to form the perfect balance between intuitive artist and creative strategist, making it easy for us to see why she’s still relevant today, nearly four decades after her breakthrough role in the off Broadway play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf.

SO sat down on Boxing Day inside Cottage 23 at Round Hill Hotel & Villas with the Oscar- nominated, four-time Emmy winner (17 nominations), three-time SAG Award and Golden Globe winner Alfre Woodard for what became a veritable master class.

Style Observer (SO) Why Round Hill?

Alfre Woodard (AW) I feel that Jamaica has given us so much. There was a period when we (my family) were away (from the island) for four or five years, during that period we spent a lot of time in the South of France. Mavis and Duncan would have been in their early teens (on their return) and when we got back, everybody was like, “Duncan. Mavis, look at you, you’re grown.” And the kids were excited, like Mum, they know us! We felt like family.

SO: How did you hear about the hotel?

AW: Through Sheryl Lee Ralph. We had come to Jamaica for a film festival, I believe, and we’d come here and I said, I really want to vacation here. I was looking at some books (resort catalogues) and she said, put those down…This is where you go! Etienne was the same age as Mavis, and Sheryl a good friend of Josef (Forstmayr, the property’s managing director) — and that’s how we started coming.

SO: What keeps you coming back?

AW: It’s posh but not pretentious… It’s posh in ways that you cannot put your finger on, not in object but in agreeability. I feel like I am visiting Winifred, Junior and Angie… like I’m a guest in their house and it feels like family. Frankly, if you’re chasing glitz and glitter, then you are still chasing the idea that possessions bring status or satisfaction. But some people get it sooner than others, that time and relationships are the true wealth and value.

SO: Some would say that it’s easy for you to say that, multi-Emmy winner, etc…Would you say the same thing to your younger self?

AW: Both my parents were rural people… my mother’s people were sharecroppers, my father’s family were landowners. People who have worked on the land understand that it is the great equaliser. It doesn’t care who you are; you till the land, put the seed in and hope for the best. Maybe one year a family’s crop doesn’t turn up and you will have to share, give their families the same things that your family is having. People forget that when they go to the city and start to accumulate.

SO: Tell us something that we might not readily know about you.

AW: Do you know that I’m an exceptional cook? I grew up in Tulsa; my father’s people ran cattle so we always had like a side of beef in our fridge. My husband has a running joke that the motto of Oklahoma is: If it moves, we barbecue it! And I’m not talking grilling, if it’s not taking 12 hours, it’s not barbecue. My mum’s Texan, so I have the tradition of those southern dishes with a twist. What I have learnt to do over the years is come up with some heart-healthy recipes… Smoked turkey wings instead of using pork all the time.

SO: So you’re a good cook; what foods do you enjoy?

AW: The food that I like best is sushi. I like fresh fish, grilled fish, raw fish… We keep a mostly Mediterranean diet. We are lucky to be in California… the way people wander around a dress shop is how I wander around the grocery store going “Oh my god, this asparagus is so pretty.”

SO: Were you not an actress, would you be a gourmand or a caterer?

AW: Not a caterer per se, because people are usually tense when they’re dealing with a caterer… My dream is to have a restaurant, not unlike Norma’s (the late culinary doyenne Norma Shirley who ran Wharf House) used to be… just right out in the water there. I’d want to do it in an island setting, because I want people to relax and I’d do one seating a night and people would have whatever’s on the menu. I have friends that cook, so they could come and make a dish. I have lots of friends who are entertainers, so maybe one night I’d get Lupita to come read poetry or another to sing sup’m. I’d get The Boss to sing sup’m. One seating a night and you’d get all your food and drinks free… and Roderick, my husband, says, you don’t want to run a restaurant; you want company!

SO: What do we not know about the early days of Alfre, the actress?

AW: I went to Boston University (BU) to act. I was never in a school play or anything like that. I was never a child who was a performer, I was an athlete growing up… I was a great team player and I was very strong… ran relay, played softball, basketball. It wasn’t until I was 16 that a nun convinced me to go on stage. I was an odd child… I was odd but wasn’t shy about it, so that made me popular. When I discovered that I actually was an artist, it felt like I had found a sense of freedom.

So I went to BU and got a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting, to which my father said, “I didn’t even know they gave degrees in that.”

SO: You made it as an actress, and you kept your name (as some stars often adopt a stage name). Tell us about your name.

AW: My godmother was a Christian Science practitioner; she helped my mother throughout her pregnancy. And she said the night that I was born, she dreamt of some gold letters written on a wall, and it was my name — Alfre. So all my life, we’d get nicknames; mine was Bootsy, because my mother had me in a coloured hospital and the nurses there were not particularly nice. And there was one nurse named Boots who was nice to my mother, she’d come at nights and feed her ice chips and so that’s how I got my nickname. My godmother would always affirm my birth name, saying: “You know what your god-given name is, right?” I was driving down the Pacific Coast Highway one day, and it just hit me like a pow — All Free. She did that so that every time somebody calls my name it’s a prayer. And even though my godmother (had died) decades and decades before, I knew that revelation was her and that’s when I realised what my name meant.

A part of the tenets of Christian Science is that right at this moment, you are absolutely perfect-you possess an infinite mind and divine love. After you get to a certain age, having something new occur to you is always so exciting.

SO: What has being an actress taught you?

AW: Creativity is a scientific principle and it does not begin and end with me. So I don’t have to worry about it. What you must do as an artist is surrender to the principle, everybody is creative but some of us surrender to that more readily than others. When you are a young artist, you actually believe that it’s just you making this art… but the truth is, you’re almost like a conduit and it’s a principle that exists. Most young artists believe, even subconsciously, that art comes from a tortured place, which is a going thought. But I believe art comes from happiness.

SO: What advice would you give to young actors?

AW: Nothing is ever that important. Everybody in our lives acts like whatever they are saying to you is so important… you’ve got to look this way: agents, lawyers, managers, and the networks. They can’t do a thing to you or a thing without you…Go along, do what you’re supposed to but nothing can happen without you.

SO: The buzz is that there’s so much more today (in terms of roles) for the black actress. What’s your response to that?

AW: I’m sure Diana Sands… there was no better time to be her than when she was. I don’t really pay attention to time. It’s not marketing, it’s the society. It’s a very new thing for an artist to be celebrated in their lifetime; this is something unique to the 21st century. It is a very bourgeois thing to think that art can be valued in terms of money. There are some things that the younger generation do that I am perhaps 25 years off the timeline to do… I did things that Ruby Dee didn’t get to do. But we are all part of a continuum.

SO: What are your thoughts on the ‘rise of the blacktress’?

AW: I take delight in what those girls (Gabrielle Union, Taraji P Henson, Lupita Nyong’o) are doing. I love the fact that they are doing well… I want my children to do better than I have done.

SO: You’ve said you celebrate the achievements of other black women in the industry. Tell us how.

AW: Every year, right before the Oscars, I put on a dinner called the Oscars sisters soirée. I find a place; last year we did it at the Beverly Wilshire. Sometimes we do it in big homes, because we need a table that will fit 35-38 women. We’re doing it at the London Hotel this year for Oscar Week. I’ve been a member of the academy since 1983 when I got a nom’. I wanted to do something in Oscar Week where all the African-American women would be in one place, just to make our presence known.

We all know each other, some of us better than others. But every time we’d hear one of our names called, it would likely be one of our reps swearing about Why that b-tch got the job over their girl.

As if there’re two jobs and all 40 of us, from Cicley Tyson and Jurnee Smollett-Bell, who are 90 and twenty-something, respectively, are turning up for the same job. If there are 100 films done this year, and we’re all brilliant at what we do, we should all be celebrated. I don’t believe there are no roles for black women to do, that’s nonsense! I’ll put it to the directors and casting agents to get creative in how they position roles.

I want us to celebrate each other and applaud when a sister gets a role… I want us to delight in each other’s successes to say: “I didn’t get that role, but I want to see what Taraji or Viola does with it.”

When you’re walking down that red carpet on your big night, it’s good to know that women like you are rooting for you. And you’re not by yourself… not only are your sisters that do the same thing behind you, but all the little black, brown, yellow and red girls who are looking on. You show your pride and swing your hips and know that you have legions behind you.

It seems exclusive, but again the exclusivity isn’t something that adds up in the way that regular Hollywood currency adds up. I did it for all the women who’ve ever been nominated in the acting category, so that’s Whoopi, Oprah, Diahann Carroll and the slew in between… there are people like Jennifer Hudson and Mo’Nique. To be nominated doesn’t mean you’re the best actor; it’s all about film, what films get made, why you were in it. I wasn’t gonna have a gathering and not have S Epatha Merkerson, CCH Pounder or Loretta Devine — fantastic actors, even though they’ve never been nominated. So I always say: This event is about those who have been nominated for the Oscar and those who, in a perfect world, should have been.

It’s hilarious, it’s gaudy… there’s a lot of weeping, hugging, there’s a lot of talking through things and people say stuff in that room, and they’re saying it to people whom they’d never normally give that information to… and none of it has ever been betrayed.

SO: Are you chasing superstardom?

AW: No, I don’t believe in superstars… that’s a disco term. Stars, yes. But superstars… Hmmmm.

SO: You’ve always been a working actress, but you’ve managed to come across as being very selective in your roles. How do you deal with that?

AW: Absolutely selective… When jobs became a possibility I always said I’d never do anything that I’d be embarrassed for my parents to see or anything that I’d be ashamed of. If I thought a role would insult me or anyone else I know, I’d never do it. However you conduct your career from the beginning, that’s how you’d have to continue. Especially if you blow up, people are going to want you to do that ‘thing’ one more time.

SO: Who did you look up to when you started in the business and who do you look up to now?

AW: In life, I looked up to Barbara Charline Jordan, because she was smart and she was in the political system and she was working it. I looked up to tennis player Althea Gibson, athletes and people who did things. I wasn’t a showbiz kind of kid…I didn’t see myself or imagine anything when I saw Lena (Horne) or somebody else doing something. I had really never looked up to stars like that.

SO: Who do you regard as the best actors, ever?

AW: Vanessa Redgrave, Mary Alice and Jolene Page… If I could somehow weave the technique of those three actors together, you could tell me nothing! They’re very different actors, but those are my references. As a professional actor, you should study. It’s a skill, a craft that ought to be honed and studying is the best way to do that. Someone can’t wander into the ER and perform open-heart surgery, but somehow everyone thinks it’s okay for someone to wander onto the film set and start acting. What I will say is that you owe it to yourself to keep your own discipline and keep yourself growing as a film artist. It’s important to keep yourself honest so that you’re always firing.

SO: What’s the discipline required?

AW: I’m shooting a show now called Luke Cage for Marvel on Netflix … I have different directors all the time who are amazing but they’re dealing with 72 different people at any time, from props, grips, five different camera men, hair and make-up. On set, you’re not just the gifted child and everything is focused on you; you’re meant to take care of yourself. There’s a lot of time between action and cut… you stop, make adjustments and do that all day! This can be frustrating. I as an actor have to know how to keep myself focused and disciplined. When an audience sees a film, they don’t often appreciate how many times that scene has to be redone in order to get it right. Also, you’re standing in the rain, the cold, throughout the night…when you’re mama’s sick. You have to find what keeps you disciplined.

SO: What do you love most about acting?

AW: What I love most about film acting is that it’s really a constant state of trying to reach for the perfection of a moment — of an expression. There’s freedom in that because you can get to go again.

SO: You have said your responsibility is to use fame to help others less fortunate. Please expand…

AW: What else would one do with it? I don’t think fame solves people’s problems…for me, it’s not so much about sending the elevator back down to get anybody, but rather getting in the elevator and going to work on the ground. There’s only so much you can say, the thing about having a voice is that you can amplify the voices of people whose voices have not been heard.

SO: How did you get involved with South Africa before the release of Madiba (Mandela)?

AW: I’ve been politically active since I was 10 years old… I started walking precinct with my parents then. I’ve also been socially active since high school, doing the kind of work that our fabulous President Obama has been doing on the ground. I don’t think you can grow up a woman of colour in Oklahoma and not be an activist.

SO: Weren’t you afraid of something terrible happening?

AW: No, because you’re with your parents and the truth is powerful… even if bad things happen when you stand with the truth.

SO: How would you describe your life?

AW: I’ve had a good life. A childhood full of love and creature comforts… really good, strong family ties and loyal friends throughout different levels of schooling. I have a sixth sense about people, even professionally all the people around me or whom I have my children around are more ‘regular’ than most of the Hollywood types. I am sitting here at Round Hill, but this is not how we live our daily lives… we don’t play that. We play with people who are family-centred, who can take a joke, who will fight for each other.

SO: On your marriage…

AW: Thirty-three years married… I knew when I met him that this was my soulmate. I knew that when I met him, there was a common language, that he was the person I wanted to spend my life with. I was telling Mavis and her friend Camille the other day, they’re at that age when they’re checking out guys… it’s great if a guy looks good, but it’s more important that you share a sense of humour. It’s fun to laugh, it’s sexy to laugh, and within humour is all of life.

SO: Your fascination with The Rock continues… in closing, will we ever see that play out on film?

AW: Yes… my husband has actually written a brilliant screenplay about Nanny of the Maroons. Her story is so compelling and I marvel at how one woman could take on and outwit the British during several run-ins. We’re near completion and are actually seeking funding for the project…fingers crossed!