Have you had a chance to watch Queenie yet?
Source: Courtesy / hulu
The series debuted on HULU Friday and people are calling Queenie a modern day Bridget Jones — remember her?
Based on Candice Carty-Williams’ best-selling novel, “Queenie” is a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman living in south London, straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither. After a messy breakup with her long-term boyfriend, Queenie seeks comfort in all the wrong places and begins to realize she has to face the past head-on before she can rebuild.
“I think my favorite part was definitely all of the people,” Dionne Brown told Global Grind about the show. “I know that there’s a lot a big emphasis on the men in Queenie’s life but she has a lot of really strong feminine energy around her — as I do. I come from a big family. I’ve got a lot of sisters and I’ve got a lot of aunts. I think for me as an actor, the best part of the process is the ensemble because all the characters are lending toward each other to create the story.”
Source: Latoya Okuneye / Lionsgate
“I think the hardest part for sure was the exploration of mental health issues,” Dionne Brown said of the project. Those were challenging, those shoot dates.”
When we chatted with Queenie stars Dionne Brown and Bella about their characters friendship, Queenie’s quarter-life crisis and more, we were excited to see their interaction off the show was just as warm and bubbly as their onscreen relationship. The pair revealed the bonded by eating lots of food (jollof rice and fufu to be specific!) and drinking wine.
Source: Latoya Okuneye / Lionsgate
“We just did what two Black girls do when they see each other across the room and they go, ‘Oh there you are,” Bellah told Global Grind.
“It was very natural, we just dived into it,” Dionne added.
Queenie’s friend group plays a huge role in the show, but her family is also well represented, with cousins, an aunt, and her grandparents, all of whom contribute to helping her navigate a tough time.
“It’s her origins and her family is the genesis of her character makeup, the people that know her the best,” Brown told Global Grind. “They’ve seen her grow and laugh and cry and they love her no matter what no matter what decision she makes.”
Source: Latoya Okuneye / Lionsgate
Speaking of family, Kyazike’s cousin Frank (Samuel Adewunmi) is clearly interested in pursuing Queenie, so we had to ask Bellah and Dionne about rules of engagement when it comes to dating family members.
“I’m not mad at it!” Bellah told Global Grind. “I also feel like if the family member makes sense then why not? Then your friend gets to join the family and we’re all family, right? Unless you know the cousin is a terrible person, then you’re like, ‘Hey don’t do that — I wouldn’t even put you through that myself.’
All eight episodes of Queenie are streaming on HULU now. Adding to the excitement, R&B sensation Bellah, who stars as Kyazike in the series, also released her new single “Way Back to Me” featured on the ‘Queenie’ soundtrack.
