Interview with Samuel Adewunmi (Frank)
Category: Press Pack ArticleFrank is Kyazike’s older cousin, a man with his own van and grand plans in life. He’s from the ends, is invested in his community and he’s known Queenie since her High School days. He has seen her on occasion with Kyazike over the years. Frank is emotionally intelligent, well-read, and articulate – an intellectual match for Queenie although he stayed in South London whilst she left. He thinks and speaks from the heart and his role is Challenger to Queenie, he’s her Truth Teller - straightforward and unapologetic but with a good heart.
Before you landed the role of Frank, how much did you know about Queenie?
I hadn't read Queenie beforehand. But I knew it was a local phenomenon. I know loads of my friends had read it and had really enjoyed it. So when the auditioning came around it was something that people were really excited for. A lot of my friends felt like they could play Queenie and a lot of my friends also knew of Kyazike’s character. I knew a lot of actors that also auditioned for Frank. So I didn't know much but the buzz around it was pretty big. I think it came out during lockdown so for a lot of people it was one of those famous lockdown reads, like some of the TV shows that we watched that that blew up because we were all at home. I'd heard really good things about it beforehand.
What was it like taking on the role of Frank and how did you prepare?
It was exciting, to be honest. There were a couple of auditions and I remember doing a chemistry read with Dionne, who I thought was absolutely fantastic. Once I got the role, it definitely made it much more of an exciting thing to be a part of. I knew Aisha Bywaters the casting director and trusted her a lot as well. I think, like any job that you get as an actor, there's always that buzz and then the immediate dread of ‘oh my god, everyone knows about this book’ and you're gonna have to try and do it justice. Thankfully, Frank isn't a prominent character in the books so the preparation for the role was to read Queenie but then to really get a sense of Frank through the scripts. And then have a chat with Candice as well. So really, the preparation was trying to understand what the book was saying what sort of message it was trying to put out and some of the themes and trying to match that to what I'd read on the scripts. And just creating a character that I felt would help to promote all those things without necessarily having much of a background from the source material.
What was it like working with Candice? Did she give you any advice?
Candice is cool, she didn't actually give me any advice, just be yourself. She was more like I trust you and Frank isn't in the book but this is the sort of thing that I want him to represent. I won't give too much away but she was like there’s not many, if any, representations of black men like Frank on british tv or film. She just wanted me to bring elements that were already in the script, she was very easy going with it. Not too much pressure and she allowed me to interpret what was on the page and to try and make something out of that. Which you don't always get the opportunity to do and in some moments is also kind of daunting, sometimes you feel like you're a ship lost at sea. But thankfully, we had such a great team and people always around to answer questions and steer you in the right direction. Having worked with Candice and gotten to know her better, I think she's really cool. I wonder what she's going to be doing next. I imagine she could probably get into directing at some point because some of her notes were very much like that. You can tell it's her baby. It's something she's incredibly proud of. It was always good to have the person that created these characters to be able to be there and allay any concerns you have but also steer you in the direction of their vision if sometimes it wasn't always clear to you at the time.
What was the dynamic like with the other cast members?
It was fun working every day, to be honest as challenging as it was with any production. Dionne is an incredible talent and is a really beautiful, solid girl. Bellah as well is ridiculously talented for this to be her first acting role. It was great the days that Demmy Ladipo was on set, he would always bring so much joy and light and humour and I think on a on a job where comedy is so prevalent, but also there's this real undercurrent of drama as well, to have people on set that could bring both the depth and the lightness was incredible. Also to work with Joseph Marcell, who any young person that grew up in the 90s/early 2000s would recognise. to be on set with him was surreal.” I would think I used to watch you when I was like a little kid and now I’m doing what you, and so many others like you, inspired me to do alongside you. To be on set with him was so surreal. I would think I used to watch you when I was like a little kid and now here I am doing what you inspired me to do alongside you. There were lots of pinch me moments, lots of laughs, lots of joy and lots of support for one another which I think is invaluable in any production. I really enjoyed working with the cast it was brilliant.
Did you enjoy filming in South London?
I’m from North London originally so I’m not the fondest of South London but to be honest that's not really real because it was amazing. I've got so many friends from South London. And I've become very acquainted with South London over the past six or seven years of my life. To shoot in Crystal Palace, Brixton, Peckham, and places that I've walked past and places that I've been in and to make that such a part of the show, it's like South London itself is a character and there's a real charm to it. You know, there's a very specific energy in South London and I think Candice and the team did really well to make that prevalent. You could really feel it as well when you're shooting. It was dope driving around Crystal Palace as well because Frank is a van driver. Just seeing places and even friends walking through Crystal Palace was great.
Any favourite moments from set?
Yeah, the first day is always incredible because you get to meet everyone, you get to really start to feel what the production is going to be like and what it's going to be like to collaborate with everyone. So that was that was cool. I never sleep the first night before there’s just so much adrenaline and nerves and excitement, that was definitely a fun day today. There were loads of amazing days. A lot of my scenes are with Dionne and Bellah so working with them every day was a joy. They're just great. They're a fantastic dynamic duo and to watch them work together and to be in scenes with them, it sounds like I'm just trying to blow smoke up their arses, but it genuinely was a joy to work with them both. But probably my favourite moment was working with Joseph, it was a short amount of time but he's a legend in the game and it's not often you get to meet and work with your heroes and people that have inspired you. So I'd say the day I got to shoot with Joseph was a really, really lovely day. It was a tough scene that day as well. There was a lot of heartfelt moments so to do that was a very full circle moment for me personally.
What do you hope audiences take away from Queenie?
I just hope audiences enjoy the show. It's a roller coaster. I remember what I felt when we were first in the read-through and how emotional it was and how much we were all laughing and excited to embark on this journey together. I hope audiences share those feelings of excitement, of joy, of sadness, of laughter.