The actress shares how Michael B. Jordan reached out to her about the role and how her grief motivated her.
It's been two years since Lauren London's last acting project, and she's back in full force.
ET's Nischelle Turner chatted with the actress about her role in Amazon Prime Video's new action-suspense film, Without Remorse, opposite Michael B. Jordan, Jodie Turner-Smith and Jamie Bell. London portrays Pam Madden Clark, the pregnant wife of Jordan's character, John Clark, who uncovers an international conspiracy while seeking justice for the murder of his wife. When asked how it felt to dive back into acting after her break, the actress reveals that she filmed the movie back in 2019, soon after the death of her longtime love, Nipsey Hussle, led to her taking a break from working to heal.
"We shot it in 2019 I believe -- and forgive me, my memory doesn't serve me so well after grief and everything," she says, explaining that she was only in Berlin filming for 11 days because she had to go back to her kids. "Michael reached out to me as a friend and he was so unsure if I was even going to ever work again. And he was like, 'Look, I'm unsure if this is what you want to do, but I have to follow my intuition, I have to ask you if can you just read the script.'"
London shares that she was initially apprehensive to accept the role because "there was a lot going on in my world and there were other priorities." But as she began to read the script, she started to feel a kinship to Pam and her story.
"I saw throughout the film she comes to him and... her love for him is still guiding him and I felt so connected to that just in my own personal experience that I felt like I could contribute here," she adds. "Moving forward in my life, I kind of don't want to do anything that I can't really truthfully contribute and I felt like I could truthfully contribute to this project."
Hussle, whose real name was Ermias Asghedom, was shot and killed outside of his Marathon clothing store in Los Angeles and died on March 31, 2019. He was 33 years old. London -- who shares one son with Hussle, 3-year-old Kross -- has publicly and emotionally honored Hussle on multiple occasions in the time since his death and has worked hard to keep his memory and light alive.
London notes that it was important for her to show her children that she was getting back into the world. "We can't stop, you know? We do have a purpose, all of us, and it's important for my sons to see me moving forward with grief, not just curling up in a ball, because I curled up in a ball for a long time," she tells ET. "But especially for my eldest son because he's just a little more aware... But we will continue moving on as we had to, as he would want us to."
Getting back to work was easier thanks to Jordan's presence, whom London refers to as a brother and says made her feel "comfortable and protected" on set. It's a sentiment shared by the actor, who says that London is one of his "homies."
"Her strength was inspiring and truly incredible, you know? Nip was somebody that I admired and looked up to and... I felt like, you know, acting is sometimes a release, to be able to express yourself in a way that you normally can't in other situations, and I felt like, specific to this character and their relationship on screen, it felt like it was an opportunity that -- if she was up to it -- that could be something for her to let some of that out," he says.
He continues: "We missed her, you know, and if this could be a start or, you know, a place to springboard and launch her back into what she does so well, I wanted to extend that to somebody that I cared about."
According to London, it did help that she was able to use her experience as a mother and partner for the role, noting that it's not hard for her to "tap into my tenderness."
"I'm 36, so when I was younger, I didn't have too much experience, and love, and care, and vulnerability, and I think now just at my age and with my experience and love, it wasn't hard," she says. "I also think just being so vulnerable in life and open to it, you go with it."
Without Remorse will be available on Amazon Prime Video on April 30.
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