Nicole Byer as Principal Dede in “The American Society of Magical Negroes.”

Nicole Byer is in the fantasy age. The actress and comedian stars in “The American Society of Magical Negroes,” Kobi Libya’s satirical comedy that deconstructs the “magical Negro” stereotype by imagining a literal secret society of Black individuals with magical powers tasked with helping white people keep society together.

Since the discharge of the film’s first trailer, reactions have been mixed, with some questioning the general impact of a movie specializing in this subject, while others favored the investigative nature of breaking the “magical Negro” trope. Byer, who plays Principal Dede, was drawn to the “polarizing” nature of the project.

“The title itself is very polarizing and relies on the film and television trope of the ‘magical Negro,’ which is like a nameless black face who is only there to serve the white hero,” she explained to us. “I thought, ‘Oh, how are we going to turn this upside down,’ and when I started working on the script, I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is such a funny, big premise wrapped in a romantic comedy.'”

“I love it when people do something interesting with a genre, and I really thought Kobi was making some really great progress, and I really wanted to be a part of it,” she added.

Talking about playing Dede, Byer told us it was “cool” to tackle the principal. “I’ve never really had the opportunity to play someone so different from me,” she said. “It was fun discovering her mannerisms… I decided to lower her voice a bit to give her a bit of a growl and gravitas. It was really nice to live in all this.”

In closing, Byer shared her hopes for what people can take away from the film, which re-examines Black roles in storytelling. “When people think about diversity, I feel like it’s a bit of an eye roll, and I roll my eyes too, but I think, let’s get rid of diversity and call it inclusion. Let’s include people and their experiences.”

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“I think this movie is a coming-of-age story where a biracial man finds his voice,” she added. “I’m not a biracial man, I have a very loud voice, I take up space, but I also saw a little bit of myself in Aren’s character. Justice (Smith) created it in such a beautiful, layered performance… there are so many layers to address and I think Kobi did a really beautiful job.”

“The American Society of Magical Negroes” premieres on Friday, March 15.