Where I grew up, in Aldgate, east London, one of the poorest boroughs in the country, I saw lots that was real - the bankers with their briefcases, the man next door with five wives, the illegal immigrants in Flat 5. I'm from a world you rarely see on screen, and I want to show it off.
Interpretation
Michaela Coel emphasizes the importance of representing underrepresented communities and experiences in media.
In this quote, Michaela Coel reflects on her upbringing in Aldgate, a borough marked by economic hardship and social complexity. She highlights the contrast between the wealthy upper class and the everyday lives of those in her community, advocating for these authentic narratives to be shared in film and television. Through her work, she seeks to expose and celebrate a reality that is often overlooked, aiming to bridge the gap between different societal experiences.
In practice
In a speech about diversity in the film industry.
In Britain, we need to start presenting the option of being a writer in front of black women. We need to present the idea of being a writer into poorer communities because the majority of black people in this country are working class. We need to let working-class people know that their voices are important.
I don't believe in comedy as a TV genre - I think there's drama that is funny. Because beyond the laughs, there has to be cost, and there has to be heart.
I wanted to write a show about an estate that wasn't sad or morbid, like a lot of shows portray working class life to be.
When you've got African parents, you go to uni, do finance, and go into accounting. But I'm not good with systems. I dropped out in my final year of college to become a Christian poet. Then went back to do my A-levels and went to uni in Birmingham to do political science and theology. I lasted 12 weeks.
Growing up on our estate, we were all different colours, but we were all really poor. I never really realised that black was a problem for some people.
We live in a world where if you're white, an upper-class male of extreme privilege, and able-bodied, and you're nothing that takes you away from that norm, then you're going to have - then the world will not assign you problems because of what you are. That is actually the world we live in.
An actress can only play a woman. I'm an actor, I can play anything.
When I land in a country and they ask for 'occupation,' I always just put 'artist.' I think that covers all of it.
Good cinema is what we can believe, and bad cinema is what we can't believe.
To enter a theatre for a performance is to be inducted into a magical space, to be ushered into the sacred arena of the imagination.
Variety is very, very good. Going from medium to medium, if you get the chance to do it, from theater to television to film, which are all distinctly different, keeps me sharp. What works in one doesn't work in the other, and you have to be looking for the truth of the performance, whatever way that medium might demand.
I always say it takes three weeks to know a character and three months to own it. And I think that's probably true of every theater artist. If you really want to see a performance of the show, wait three months.
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