The overwhelmingly positive feedback for Glass Onion singled out the heavy-hitting ensemble, but particularly heaped praise upon Janelle Monáe as Cassandra “Andi” Brand, a mysterious character whose presence is crucial to the film’s plot. No spoilers here, but Monáe delivers a finely tuned, layered performance that suggests the musician-turned-actress is continuing to level-up in front of the camera. If you’ve just finished Glass Onion and are wondering where you can see more of Monáe, we’ve got you covered. Janelle Monáe started in the performing arts at a young age via the Coterie Theatre’s Young Playwrights’ Roundtable, where she expanded upon her love of musicals and artists like Lauryn Hill and Stevie Wonder and began writing musicals of her own. After high school, she began studying musical theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Fearing that the formal training would soften her edge and sand down her own originality, she dropped out and moved to Atlanta to attend Perimeter College at Georgia State University. There she began writing and performing her own music. After attracting the attention of Outkast’s Big Boi with her recorded music, Monáe featured on Outkast’s 2006 album, Idlewild. Big Boi referred Monáe to Bad Boy Records founder Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, who signed her to the label in 2006. Monáe began work on a concept album inspired by Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and the works of Alfred Hitchcock and Philip K. Dick. The album was about a messianic figure to the android community of Metropolis, titled The ArchAndroid. The album was released in 2010, garnering acclaim for Monáe. And in 2011 she featured on the song “We Are Young” by the band fun., earning Monáe three Grammy nominations, including Record of the Year. As of now, there aren’t any films and TV shows on Monáe’s docket for 2023, but according to Atlantic Records’ CEO Craig Kallman, we might be receiving the follow-up to Dirty Computer. No matter what Monáe does next, you can expect impressive things. Monáe’s talents are like an onion, but certainly not a glass one.
