Among Netflix’s new releases is the movie adaptation of Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical starring the likes of No Time To Die’s Lashana Lynch as Miss Honey. With her key role in the musical, the British actress follows in the footsteps of the beloved 1996 movie where Embeth Davidtz had a generation falling in love with the cottagecore elementary teacher who protected the young and powerful Matilda from her crude family and headmistress. Through playing the role, yes, Lynch knows all about Miss Honey’s status as a queer icon.
‘90s kids have especially been bonding over Miss Honey being their “gay awakening” as of late, including with this viral TikTok from last year. Check it out:
@alysonandrachael ♬ original sound - Taylor Swift
While speaking to Entertainment Weekly about playing Miss Honey for Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical, Lashana Lynch reacted to the elementary school teacher being a symbol in the LGBTQ+ community. Here’s what she said:
It wasn't something I was aware of until I saw some comments on social media and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, this is a revelation to me. One of my queer friends said to me after I got cast, 'Oh my gosh. She was like my gay icon when I was growing up. And I was like, 'Tell me more. What did you see? What was it? Do I need to be aware of anything?'
While Lynch was not aware of Miss Honey's effect on young gay kids when she nabbed the role, she soon learned about it via social media and one of her queer friends. The actress continued to speak to the role, saying this:
When there's a character that is beloved, that represents everything to you and can speak to all people, all races, all sexes, all walks of life, then that is the perfect character. You don't have to do anything else apart from just being, and every community is going to get what they need from this one person. That's really special. That's a secret weapon. If you can have a character like that in every film or every play or every book that everyone from every walk of life can take something from.
Thanks to Netflix's take on Matilda arriving, this has resulted in fans sharing just how important Miss Honey was in their youth from the previous 1996 movie, as seen below.
I love how we as a generation all grew up with the unspoken understanding that Miss Honey was a classic cottagecore lesbian, based on absolutely no evidence except the fact that she preferred living alone and was clearly too smart to like men. pic.twitter.com/NbX5pniSpwAugust 16, 2020
As viewers watch Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical with a Netflix subscription over the holiday season, it looks like Lashana Lynch’s Miss Honey could be doing right by the character. One viewer used a viral meme of Aubrey Plaza asking Drew Barrymore to be her “mommy” to describe her thoughts on the actress’ role in the musical.
me @ lashana lynch’s miss honey pic.twitter.com/TnP32EtJVVDecember 26, 2022
Aside from the Netflix musical, Lashana Lynch has found herself in numerous high profile roles as of late. She was the best friend to Brie Larson’s Marvel hero in Captain Marvel and recently returned to don the suit in another universe as Maria Rambeau in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The actress also played the new 007 in No Time To Die, though she has no idea if that will be explored further.
Additionally, Lynch played a key role in The Woman King cast alongside Viola Davis. You can check out our exclusive interviews with Lynch for the The Woman King here on CinemaBlend and stream Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical on Netflix now.
