He is afforded the chance to go to the city to refine his skills, so he’s seen more of the world than most of the slaves on the plantation have. He’s a blacksmith on the plantation which means he was highly valued for his intelligence and for his skills. We’ve seen me play different roles and I think what I love the most about having the opportunities is that it is such a different role, even in a sense of playing an enslaved American we are seeing such a different perspective of that through Noah’s eyes. How was your experience playing the intense role as Noah in “Underground”? When you read the real, honest nature of it all you understand why people may have wanted to cover up this time in American history. Most of these characters were created based on real, authentic slave narratives and real testimonies from people who were enslaved. I have a new respect for the whole situation.
Imagine what it must be like living in fear on a consistent basis. Outside of your little cabin everywhere was dangerous.
You can imagine what they had to go through because just waking up was dangerous. My respect has been there already, but you get a different experience once you have education on what their standards of living were. When we started to really go into research of what this was, I found a different respect for the whole dynamic and what African Americans went through. I knew the small paragraphs that people talked about. When I was coming up in school this part of history wasn’t taught nor celebrated. How much did you know about this part of Black history before joining the show? When you think about the career, how long does a show or entity like that last? We’ve done a good job of communicating to the audience what the problem is, however, you don’t know their story. I wanted to be apart of something great, but I didn’t want to be a part of something that was too hard to digest. It gives the strength of what this country is supposed to be built on. The show is about Americans helping Americans. The show is not about whose Black or White. I love it because it really touches on exhibiting strength, understanding heart and sacrificing strength. It is about understanding what people had to go through in order to change those standards. It’s not just about understanding the bad things. It’s very much so a thriller and the way things are played you get to understand the mentality of the people. It’s really shining a light on the progression, which is what got us to where we are today.Īlso, we understand the subject matter, but it’s not heavy. It’s not really pointing the finger at the big elephant in the room, which we all know is there. We talk about enslaved Americans who are Black, but there were White Americans who were also understanding of the situation when it happened and wanted to help. This is the first time I feel like we’ve celebrated the strength and the intelligence of African Americans, but at the same time this promotes the first integrated Civil Rights Movement. This is, for lack of a better phrase, we’ve been saying “it’s not a the occupation, it’s the revolution.” This is about enslaved Americans fighting back, winning and gaining some ground. Sometimes it’s unappealing or hard to take in. In other slave narratives, most of the time we’ve seen our people being victimized. What sets “Underground” apart from previous slave narratives? “Underground” premieres Wednesday, March 9, 2016, at 10 p.m. He learns along the way that it’s not just him and that everybody has to be free,” he says.
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“I love the fact that he knows how to sacrifice his own well-being for the sake of the greater good.
Because of his occupation, Noah was afforded the opportunity to travel and see what the world has to offer, unlike the rest of his fellow slaves. As a collective, the creative team has done an outstanding job at focusing the storyline on the revolution that happened during slavery and not the occupation itself.Īctor Aldis Hodge, best known for his role in box-office smash Straight Outta Compton and on the small screen in “Leverage,” plays the lead character, a young blacksmith named Noah, who is the brainchild behind the revolt of men and women attempting their great escape to freedom in the North. The 10-episode program was put together by executive producer John Legend, creators and executive producers Misha Green and Joe Pokaski, executive producer Akiva Goldsman, and director and executive producer Anthony Hemingway.
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WGN’s new dramatic series, “Underground,” follows a group of courageous slaves who use their ingenuity and perseverance to break free from an abusive plantation in Georgia, despite the life-threatening consequences that potentially wait ahead.
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