Line Sisters is Lifetime’s latest horror film that follows four sorority sisters, Valerie (played by LeToya Luckett), Dominique (played by Drew Sidora), Cassandra (played by Kierra Sheard-Kelly), and Simona (played by Ta’Rhonda Jones), who reunite at a Black Greek Weekend Celebration fifteen years after covering-up the mysterious death of their dean of pledges.
As the film progresses, the sorority sisters discover they are being targeted and followed by a mysterious stalker, who is set on exposing their “deadly secret.” This horror film will keep you glued to the edge of your seats as the sisters confront their mysterious stalker and come face to face with their deepest fears.
21Ninety had the pleasure of catching up with LeToya Luckett, Drew Sidora, and Ta’Rhonda Jones for a candid conversation about how they navigate and shake off fear, the importance of sisterhood and more!
Jadriena Solomon: One of the major driving forces of Line Sisters is, of course, fear and how the characters decide to navigate through it. LeToya we’ve seen you be fearless enough to enter a whole new industry with acting. And this is also the entire cast's first horror film, which we’re sure comes with a lot of jitters, nervousness and even self-doubt. How do each of you ladies navigate, shake off and push through fear?
Ta’Rhonda Jones: I’ve been a fear driven person for a long time until I realized that fear does not exist. It is this fictitious thing that is convicted in our thoughts to keep us from going in whatever designated path it is that we’re supposed to be going in. I have to wake up and tell myself everyday ‘I rebuke thee fear, I rebuke thee.’ I do remember a time where I suffered with imposter syndrome – especially when I first started in this industry. Until one day Wendy Raquel Robinson and Terri Vaughn ended up having this conversation with me like ‘I see this. And you need to start moving this way.’ And listening to those ladies who have been a vet in the game for a very long time… giving me these great and encouraging words, made me able to push forward. And remind myself that fear doesn’t exist.
LeToya Luckett: For me, fear doesn’t serve you… at all. You don’t make your best decisions out of fear. I think it puts you in very complicated situations. I think that a lot of times we think that we’re protecting ourselves by having that little bit of fear in the back of our minds – sometimes we can trick ourselves into thinking that we’re making a wise decision out of fear. And that’s so wrong. Fear can tell you that you’re not enough. Fear can tell you that this thing won’t happen for you. That you’re second-third best. It could ruin you. And I did find myself, especially in my younger days, that when rejection would happen it would make me believe something different about myself. So then I would start to operate out of fear so that I wouldn’t feel like rejection would come again. And I thought that that was me protecting me but it was doing the biggest disservice. It’s the opposite of confidence, it's the opposite of confidence in God, it’s the opposite of confidence in yourself. It’s that thing that can seriously take you out. So I would advise anybody who makes decisions when they’re fearing whatever that thing is the most… don’t let fear get in the way. It’s the best thing you can do for you.
Drew Sidora: I never carried fear when I was younger, but as I went through my journey – that journey got tough and that became easier said than done. [In that time] I became a single mom and that for me became the biggest storm that I had to wear. It was like ‘well, out of sight out of mind for your career’ and ‘what am I going to do now? I have to take care of this child by myself.’ And for me, I never settled for that to be the period in my life… I really thank God because I know that it was only by his grace and me praying a lot – having a praying mother, and a great village – that kept me focused on my purpose to use my gifts. And that’s the driving force. So there’s no fear that can come in when you’re doing God’s work and you’re using the gifts that only he gave you. Life is hard and mental health is real and I had to tell myself a lot of the time to push through and seek counseling. So I would tell anybody, talk to somebody, seek counseling, and prayer – it really, truly works. It really, truly does.
JS: There are definitely moments in the film where the characters are spooked. What are each of your biggest fears or phobias?
LL: First of all – there were two things with this film. I didn’t want to be out in open ocean waters… I can’t swim. [So I said] ‘I know this is make believe world, but you all need to figure out a pool or a puddle to put us in because I’m not going to be swimming in the ocean at night. I’m not going to do it and I dare you to bring out a spider. If a spider is on set and I know about it, I’m running, I’m checking out. The end. It’s a wrap for who? LeToya Luckett.’
TJ: For me, with this new virtual reality world stuff, it’s a new phobia of mine. I’m scared that if I put those goggles on, I won’t be able to tell what’s real and what’s not real. My brother took me to a virtual reality place where we had to shoot zombies, and I felt everything. I came home sore and I thought I was seeing stuff. [So I said] ‘no, I’m going to play with that. I’m not putting those goggles back on. Ever again. I’m terrified.’
DS: Jesus. Don’t put any spirit, voodoo casting spells in the script [because] it just doesn’t sit well with my spirit. That, I will never, ever participate in [in any film]. The snake was actually past my limit. [So I can say] ‘I’ve done it!'
JS: Of course another major theme of the film is sisterhood. And as we know, sisterhood doesn't always come to us in the form of blood relatives. It can come from being in a circle of best friends, being a part of a sorority, making connections with women in your same field, or even being a part of something as simple as a book club. Can you each describe where you find sisterhood in your own lives, and why you feel it’s so important to have?
LL: I would not survive without my tribe. Yes, I am super close with my family, but I find myself being drawn to or sometimes having a deeper relationship with the people that God put into my life – not through a bloodline. And I have some wonderful women in my life. When I tell you these ladies will do anything for me – they fight for me with prayer, they lift me up when I can’t stand on my own, they’re always checking up on me. [And] to be able to be yourself – your true, transparent, sometimes in pain, sometimes overwhelmed self and be able to have some ladies to lean on and not judge you but love you unconditionally when they don’t have to – they’re choosing to…it means everything to me. I’m so grateful for the women that God has blessed me with.
TJ: That’s what sisterhood is. It’s just limitless love. Love isn’t limited when it comes to sisterhood, it’s just limitless love.
DS: Honestly, when we wrapped I had a little tear moment. Sometimes when you work in this business, it's ‘okay, how many days do we have left?’ But I just felt so present, that when I looked up I was like ‘We’re done?!’… Outside of the movie, we were able to get some healing. It went so beyond this film and these characters, it was really a true, authentic sisterhood that we formed even outside of this film. It was just beautiful and I hope that people can feel [it] and it translates when they’re watching.
JS: As we watched the film unfold, unity, forgiveness and even the notion of advocating and standing up for one another remains at the film’s center. Through your time working on set, or after you each were able to watch the film in its entirety, are there any other life lessons that you’ll be walking away from this film with?
TJ: Yes, holding yourself accountable. For whatever purpose or for whatever reason. If you’re a procrastinator, hold yourself accountable for being a procrastinator. Whether or not you’re lazy – whatever the case may be, just holding yourself accountable. And also, facing your fears. Sometimes when we are fearful, we project our fears onto other people which also leads back to accountability. Stop holding other people accountable for your mess. It’s not their mess, it’s your mess. And because fear is projecting from you, you’re going to project it onto somebody else.
LL: I would say to be more empathetic towards people. You never know what someone is going through. You never know where they are in life. And I think it says so much about you when you can have grace for someone. There’s a moment in the film where even the bad guy – you see how this person got to where they are. And how that hurt led them to make some of the decisions that they made. So be kind with your words, be kind with your actions, serve as much as you possibly can. You never know, you can be somebody’s lifeline. You really, really can. So I think this movie definitely taught me more understanding, more patience and more empathy.
DS: I love what LeToya said about being each other’s lifelines because one thing that resonated with me is that we were all so different, and I loved us being able to be our authentic selves. Each one of us. I was free and eccentric, and that’s what I loved about [my character] Dominique, and my friends and my sister’s embraced me for who I was – as crazy as it may be. [With the character] Simone, it was the same thing. If she wanted to go and rip somebody’s head off, we were right there with her, no judgement… [Also] having forgiveness… and being gentle with each other through our journey because like she said, life is hard. Life happens but being able to forgive yourself, as well as extending forgiveness to others and staying connected with one another. That resonated with me more than anything.
Line Sisters premieres Saturday, February 12 at 8 PM EST/7 PM CST on Lifetime. Check out the trailer for the film below!