The new Tupac biopic, All Eyez on Me, is officially in theaters, and in honor of the occasion, BET spoke with people who made the film possible.

One of those people is Kat Graham, who portrayed Jada Pinkett in the film. We asked her what it was like trying to recreate ‘Pac’s former girlfriend.

“I wanted to embody empowerment,” she said. “I wanted to embody a woman that despite coming from where she came from, despite anything, she would still go on to be successful. I wanted to do what I can to portray a woman that wouldn’t take no for an answer and what that woman would like at 13 years old and at 20 years old and what it takes in your life to become that empowered as an African-American woman.”

We also interviewed the film’s director, Benny Boom, who stressed that research was key in making All Eyez on Me authentic.

“We did the homework first so the research was done, the homework was done, the right cast was aligned, the right production team was lined up, so, once we got into it, the game started so to speak, we knew we were going to win,” he said.

Watch the full interview segment about how actors portrayed key people in Tupac’s life above.