The British multi-phenate also discusses the response to his personal BBC / HBO drama and why he was happy to do a (minor) edit for the American version.
Address issues like sexual consent, gender, race, class, drugs, victims’ shame, and social media obsession with the raw, unshakable, angry, often hilarious, sometimes deeply disturbing kind of honesty and often hedonistic never before seen on television, I can destroy you It has become one of the unmissable events of the summer.
The 12-part BBC / HBO drama has also further highlighted Michaela Coel, creator, writer, co-director, showrunner, and lead, as one of the most exciting young creatives working today.
Already a BAFTA winner for her pioneering, semi-autobiographical comedy series. Bubble gumCoel drew her own experiences of sexual assault and racism, which she first publicly discussed at the 2018 Edinburgh TV Festival (as the first black woman to give the MacTaggart keynote), and crafted a story that has managed to be fiercely thematic. and debated. -parks and, with only two episodes arriving each week, has kept audiences screaming for more.
While it may be based almost entirely on Coel’s hometown of London, and be told through the eyes of a black Londoner, I can destroy you it has resonated and reverberated across the Atlantic and beyond.
Speaking to Hollywood reporter, Coel explains that there is a minor change in the BBC and HBO versions of the final episode (although that was the only note he had at all times), how to have no agents (recently revealed that he fired CAA while pitching) I can destroy you) has allowed her to relax rather than get caught up in post-shock excitement, and why her near future, at least, involves nieces, plants, and puzzles.
How does it feel to be the hottest thing on TV right now?
Say ah! You know what, it’s something strange to me. I think about the closure. Everything feels very normal in my life. Also, I’m not really on Instagram and Twitter at all. So where do you feel the heat of being the hottest thing on something? Where is? I am watering a plant that I bought. I am starting a new puzzle.
The answer to I can destroy you It has been phenomenal. Have you had a chance to sit down and reflect on it?
Yes, I think I processed it a bit through a couple of these articles, and something seeing a journalist’s perspective allows me to process it a bit. I’ve actually cried [in interviews], because it is quite overwhelming, especially when you work so hard that you often do not reflect or process. We finished post-production just two weeks ago, so I just finished working, so I still haven’t had time to actually process anything.
Given the extremely personal nature of the show, is it a relief that there has been such a big reaction? Did you put any additional pressure on yourself to do something that would be loved?
No. I tell myself this because it helps me stay calm, which is: “You have done the job, you have done your job and now that it is airy, your job is done.” And it’s done. So I put my whole life in those two and a half years, and then I have to leave it there. Because I see this as my son and I can’t force anyone to like my son. I did the best I could. I have ironed his skirt. I have braided his hair. She is leaving, and there is nothing I can do. But deep down you are in total anguish, but you cannot do anything.
What did your friends and family say when you told them you would do a show based on your own personal story?
You know, nobody really said anything. And I think it’s because they weren’t sure if it was a good idea. But you can’t really say to someone, “This is not a good idea.” There were probably preconceptions of what the show would be because I’m going to write a show about being sexually assaulted, and you can imagine what it would be like. But only I know what it will be. So I think there was a lot of careful silence.
There are several scenes on the show that are out there, I certainly haven’t seen them on the BBC before. I understand that the BBC gave you complete creative freedom, but when HBO got involved, did they have any contribution? Did you get a note telling you to tone it down a bit, or were you really allowed to wear it as much as you wanted?
There’s a little take on episode 12, and we have an HBO version and a BBC version. It’s small. You know, it’s like for two and a half years you were really relaxed as I presented you with quite unusual content for the BBC. So there was a moment, and I thought, you know what, that’s fair.
One take is pretty good for the whole show …
Is incredible. They really honored their word, which leaves me speechless. I am very grateful for Piers [Wenger, controller of drama commissioning] on the BBC
There’s been a lot of talk recently after the reveal that you turned down a $ 1 million offer from Netflix because they didn’t let you keep any of the copyrights. I can destroy you, and then fired its CAA representatives because they were pressing for the deal. Have you had any industry backlash or backlash to this?
How do I find out about the industry? How does it work?
Have you had your agents, or any producer or other executive in the industry who knows how to comment on it?
I don’t really have representation. I’m totally … I’m totally living. Hahaha!
Say ah!
I’ve been agentless before. I mean, it is a very strange time for me in many ways. But it also means I’m not responding and I think the people I’m working with understand that right now. I just want to water the plants and do puzzles. So they are leaving me alone, which is very sweet.
What is the picture in the puzzle?
It is like shapes and colors. And they are 500 pieces.
Oh man, not even a pretty landscape. That sounds like one of the most complicated.
No, it will be difficult!
If I had representation, usually at a time like this, they’d probably be getting a lot of scripts and offers for you. Have they been pushed through the door of your house?
I have a personal assistant and a publicist. But what they know is that currently I just need a little break. Just keep everything away … we’ll deal with it later because my mental health needs a little break in order to see my family and friends. Because I work so hard that I don’t really see people and I’m always lucky that when the project is over, my friends and family are waiting for me, “Are you back?” So now I have to experience my life as a friend and aunt, I have a little niece, and I just want to do that for a while and recover.
Do you have a plan to drink? I can destroy you beyond this season?
I don’t want to give anything away. But I think when you watch the final episode, you will know.
This sounds like something you are not thinking about right now, but now that Hollywood has come to realize you in a big way, is there a particular role that you would really like to play, one that you might have a chance to play? now?
I really don’t have a part on my mind that I would love to play. I love great scripts. I can’t say I wanted to play a legal investigator until Hugo Blick Rising of the black earth I ended up in my inbox. Then you never know.
And you probably didn’t know you wanted to play, briefly, a member of the Resistance in Star Wars: The Last Jedi …
Exactly! And then it shows up and you’re like, this is the one which I never knew I wanted.
Slightly off-topic, but do you sometimes feel like you haven’t gotten your credit for years? Without disrespecting Flea bagBut people often talk about the show as if Phoebe Waller-Bridge was the first woman in British comedy to break the fourth wall. But obviously you were doing this a year earlier in Bubble gum …
Yes, it is interesting. It definitely doesn’t seem like a surprising thing. If you look, you know, over the years, I think it is, it’s not surprising, is it?
It is not. But how do you feel about it? You should be grateful that someone else is credited for something you did.
I can’t say what bars. I think because it is not surprising. I must also say that I loved CrashWhich was the first thing I saw Phoebe Waller-Bridge do. I thought it was fucking brilliant. So I respect her a lot as an artist and as a woman in this industry.
This interview has been edited for its length and clarity.
