![]() ![]() ![]() Īrabella is drugged and raped in the first episode, and the more carefree Kwame is one of the shoulders she leans on as she pieces together what happened. More seriously, Coel, who was one of the show’s directors and executive producers, knew immediately that Essiedu was her Kwame, the gay fitness instructor who is one of a trio of friends – also including writer Arabella (Coel) and aspiring actress Terry (Weruche Opia) – who navigate life in contemporary London after experiencing traumas. And, he says, while all auditions are nerve-racking, this one for his longtime friend made him feel especially vulnerable – “because friendships, especially in England, are based on the idea of taking the piss out of each other”. He had jobs in theatre (including Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company at age 25) before taking on TV roles in the likes of Press, Kiri and Gangs Of London. “I got a call asking if I would like to audition for Michaela’s new show, and I’m like, ‘Do you mean the Michaela who texted me 20 minutes ago?’ She didn’t mention anything!”Īlthough Essiedu, who was named a Screen Star of Tomorrow in 2017, shares a “common language” with Coel from their time at Guildhall, the pair had never worked together professionally. “I had been with her when she was writing in Berlin, in America…”Ĭoel had not gone into detail with her friend about what she was writing, and he did not press for specifics. “She had been writing this show for a long time,” Essiedu recalls. The actor has been friends with the show’s creator Michaela Coel for a decade, since their days studying together at London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama. Now, I May Destroy You is lauded as one of the best new shows on television.Paapa Essiedu laughs when he remembers being told about I May Destroy You by the show’s casting director Julie Harkin. In the fall of that year, she pitched the series to BBC and the network obliged, giving her full creative control and rights to the show. ![]() Upon hearing those words, it clicked for Coel: " I'm not crazy. At the end of their conversation, Coel said that the woman on the phone told her, "Michaela? I just want you to know I'm really proud of you. 5 percent, the executive had to present the idea to higher-ups. Nobody does that, it's not a big deal.' I said, 'If it's not a big deal, then I'd really like to have 5 percent of my rights.'" ![]() "And said, 'It's not how we do things here. "There was just silence on the phone," Coel recalled. Speaking to Vulture, Coel recounted a phone conversation with a Netflix executive during which she asked for just 5 percent of the copyright. Play icon The triangle icon that indicates to play talent agency, CAA, after she learned the company would be making a cut from the show. But the streamer declined to grant her any percentage of the copyright, so she turned down the deal. She first started pitching the series in the spring of 2017, according to Vulture, and Netflix bit with an offer of $1 million up front. Michaela Coel has come a long way to create I May Destroy You, the riveting new dramedy series on HBO that delves into the psychological realness and raw emotional journey one goes through in the aftermath of sexual assault.Īfter being creatively sidelined with her two-season sitcom, Chewing Gum, writer and actor Coel wanted to ensure that she had the right outlet and support for I May Destroy You, which is based on her own experience of sexual assault.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |