Stacey Abrams really wants you to take the census.

“It is so important for underrepresented communities to respond to the census, especially immigrants.

You dont need to be a U.S. citizen to take it.

The power is allocated based on who gets counted.

Why do you think it’s important to have recognizable faces and actors in a political PSA?

I want to push back on this being political.

We need communities that are often kept out of the process, often ignored by these decisions.

We are simply saying that you are a part of our American story and you should be counted.

Most importantly, there’s an urgency.

The census only happens once every 10 years, there is no do-over.

And so we need every single power base that we can find.

How did you and your team go about rounding up all this talent and locking in those participants?

How essential do you think it is for actors and storytellers to use their platform for civic conversation?

The census is about our daily lives.

If you want to go to college, your Pell Grant is decided by the census.

If you want to start a business, the resources in your community are determined by the census.

We need their voices because they can cut through, but it’s too often seen as political talk.

They can be seen as truth-tellers.

And that’s what’s so critical in this moment.

We need people to understand this census is about them, not about politics.

Fundamentally, this is a long process.

You’re appearing inAnd She Could Be Next, which is premiering on PBS at the end of June.

I’m honored to be part of how we evolve and what we see as leadership.

If we keep doing the exact same thing, we’ll get the exact same results.

Ava DuVernay is one of the executive producers.

How much interaction did you have with her, and how much was this her vision?

They were present the campaign, but it was always in the midst of other things that were happening.

But I had a real opportunity to get to know Ava during that time.

She and I have actually remained in good contact.

She did such an extraordinary job there.

I believe in the policies that I was prescribing.

But I also know that it’s not enough to want.

You have to know how to get it done.

There are three pieces.

The book really tries to lay out the roadmap I see for progress in America.

So it’s making sure that we’re having that conversation in this written form.

This conversation has been edited and condensed.