Interview with the cast members of Chewing Gum

16 September 2015

 

While the star of Chewing Gum is undoubtedly Tracey (series creator Michaela Coel), she’s part of a much wider and very close-knit community on her estate. Here, Coel’s co-stars Robert Lonsdale (mysterious heart-throb Connor), Danielle Walters (Tracey’s best friend Candice), Susie Wokoma (Tracey’s sister Cynthia) and Maggie Steed (estate matriarch and Candice’s nan, Esther) talk about their hopes for the series, their shared bond and why their characters are so easy to love.

What did you make of Michaela's scripts?

R: I see lots of scripts and learn to try and love them. It was very easy to love this script from the get-go. It jumps off the page and feels very natural in your mouth. And it's not often you read a script and just laugh.

S: Out loud, yeah. I fell in love with lots of the characters, not just Cynthia. I was interested in the journey of everyone else. I've grown up around people who speak like that, so it was easy for me to say, I want to do this part.

M: The rhythms of the lines are fantastic - it's not just that there are gags. All this crazy funniness and wildness is based in reality.

D: All I ever play is someone's girlfriend. Candice is hard - she doesn't care if people think she's pretty, it's about how she's gonna pay the bills.

How would you describe Candice?

D: Oh my God. She's a character I've always wanted to play. She's fearless, she's funny but she doesn’t even know it, I think she's a bit vulnerable as well - she puts on this front but just wants to be loved. She also loves Tracey to bits - she's a bigger sister even though they're roughly the same age. She's experienced so much more and wants to protect her, in a way.

Did you feel you had anything in common?

D: I knew her, what she thought, how she would move, how she would behave with different characters. Candice says it like it is, no faffing about. My mum says I've got no filter. Candice has a filter but chooses not to use it.

Susie, are you much of a Ludo player like Cynthia?

S: Er..., no! Can't you tell from the programme? I don't have a clue what I'm doing! Cynthia and I are very different. She's somebody who's eaten all the fear in the world on TV, in the news, on the street. There's something really freeing about playing someone for whom the answer to everything is either a, b or c. And then she's battling with the very human desires for sex and companionship. She’s really intelligent and funny, she loves her family. Loves her sister, loves her mum and wants it to be just them because that's all she knows. As she sees Tracey exploring and growing, that's really scary for her. Her family is her safe place.

How urgently does she need a boyfriend?

S: It gets pretty urgent... Part of that is those natural feelings of wanting to be close to another person, part of it is her best friend – her sister – leaving her. She needs to replace that.

What about Esther, Maggie?

M: She's easy to love. She's had a very rich life. She knows she's getting on but she's still going to have a good time. She's a very loving woman and very tough. She has to do the shopping and look after her girls, but also get as much fun inside those four walls as she possibly can. She runs the party house.

Does anything faze her?

M: Not in this series! I'm sure things would, but only for a little while. She'd come up with something. It might be a bit inappropriate, but it'd get us through.

How difficult is it for Connor to come into this close-knit community?

R: He feels far more accepting of anyone else than people are of him. He's a solitary fella, completely content on his own. That's why it's so nice when he meets Tracey. He's fiercely creative, intelligent, honest to a fault. I can't help but think he's wonderful! Other people might think he's a bit dim, but Tracey thinks he's mysterious and fascinating.

You and Michaela share a non-sex sex scene…

R: I think there's quite a few of those. We rehearsed it and had to get through the early awkwardness, having only met a few times. It's walking through treacle, getting past that bit, but then the playful aspect, the genuine electricity and excitement give it depth.

Have you got ideas of where you want your characters to go?

S: I was doing my final line in episode six in a certain way and Michaela came up to me to say, “er, in series two...”. And that changed everything for me! For her to be thinking that far ahead is amazing.

D: This could go on for ten series. There are so many different paths these characters could take.

S: That's down to Michaela being a performer, understanding playing a character and your hopes as an actor playing that character. It's what she'd want for herself.

Is it going to be hard to work on other projects after this?

D: Chewing Gum will help me explain to my agent what I want: more of that. I want to play real people.

M: And for an older actor to have an opportunity like this, someone who still enjoys a bit of sex and rock and roll – these are women you see on the streets.

S: People like that really exist. When we were filming, we saw each of the characters.

What do you hope people will get out of the series?

S: The main thing is how much everyone looks after each other. Not in a soppy way - it's tough. I had a great time on my estate and it really pisses me off when you they’re shown to be really horrible on television. It's about giving voices to characters you wouldn't normally see at the forefront of stories – I hope people want more. It's been a big responsibility. I put a lot of pressure on myself because I wanted to get it right.

D: I'd like people to watch it and feel comfortable about who they are. That a conventionally pretty girl can be hard and vulnerable. That Esther can be whatever she wants.

R: I grew up on a farm in the north so my perception is the same as the average consumer. The estate we filmed in – they were all talking to each other. I didn't know you could have these communities in London. To change that perception of estates as grim and rough is really important.

S: The characters a black woman can be are so limited. With Tracey, it's so satisfying to see the whole gamut of her sexuality, her vulnerability, her strength, her humour.

M: I hope people cry with laughter. You can see the energy on the screen. Nobody's phoning anything in. I think people will be knocked out by it. It's been a privilege to play.

 

 

Chewing Gum is due to TX in October on E4.