HALLE-LUJAH

Shipp still can't quite get over that she gets to play the younger version of a character originated by Halle Berry in the first four X-Men films. “It's so flattering to be the O.G. Halle," Shipp says. "Someone is saying I look enough like that gorgeous woman to play a younger version? Oh my God. I love Halle. I want to know how she smells. But also, when I first moved out to L.A. at 17, my mom said, ‘Pick an actress who has the type of career that you want. Don't do exactly what they did, but use them as a roadmap.' For me, it was Halle, the first woman of color to win a lead female Oscar. That's why I put her on my vision board at this amazing charity event, when asked to put what woman inspires me. I wrote Halle's name and then I got this role. Talk about manifestation. Someone had to be listening.” Not that Shipp's mutant is exactly the same Berry's; this Storm doesn’t even play for the good guys. “She's rougher. She’s a street rat. Storm is completely out of control. When we're young, we do out-of-control things. We lead from a completely different standpoint than we would 20 years later.”