Kara Young and Mallori Johnson Bonded While Playing Twins in IS GOD IS

Kara Young is making the jump from Broadway to the big screen. Alongside Mallori Johnson, the two-time Tony winner is starring in Is God Is, the film adaptation of Alesha Harris’s award-winning play, now in theaters.

In Is God Is, the duo plays a pair of inseparable twin sisters. Young is Racine, whose hard exterior has dubbed her “the Rough One.” Johnson stars as Anaia “the Quiet One,” who demonstrates a quiet gentility that, to her sister, is sometimes seen as an inadequate, passive approach to the requirements of an unjust world.

Despite their differences, the bond they hold is unwavering. They are on the same wavelength, possessing a shared language that is often expressed through onscreen text, brilliantly executed by Harris. The plot itself chronicles a revenge story, taking the twins on the road where they attempt to find their father and make him pay for sins he committed against his family. 

For the project, the performers began their work together two weeks before the start of filming, collaborating with a dance choreographer to develop a shared rhythm and dynamic, which is integral to the film.

“He came in and worked with us on movement and moving in tandem and finishing each other’s senses and looking in the mirror with each other,” Johnson explained to BroadwayWorld. “More than I can even really express, [I] look up to Kara and love Kara. And it was real. The bond we developed outside of shooting was real. We were with each other all the time and I think it just grew and seeped into the work.”

Young agrees, calling their bond “kismet” and “magical,” also sharing that their connection transcends the bounds of language. “[It was] very twin-like in the sense of how passionate we are about the characters that we have the opportunity to step into and portray.”

She went on to note their respect for the material, which expresses brutal themes of trauma and righteous anger. “We both understood the assignment equally… This is bigger than us.” Watch BroadwayWorld’s full conversation with Young and Johnson.

Is God Is, produced by Amazon, MGM, and Orion Pictures, is now playing in theaters, with a cast that also includes Vivica A. Fox, Janelle Monáe, Erika Alexander, Mykelti Williamson, Josiah Cross, and Sterling K. Brown.