Candice Carty-Williams is the author and showrunner of "Queenie," a new Onyx Collective series on Hulu.聽
Candice Carty-Williams borrowed 鈥淏ridget Jones鈥檚 Diary鈥 from her aunt鈥檚 bookshelf 鈥渨hen I was too young.鈥
She saw the film versions when she was older and realized she, too, wanted to make something similar.
The rub? Bridget Jones is white; Renee Zellweger is white, Candice Carty-Williams is not.
鈥淏ut that鈥檚 OK,鈥 Carty-Williams says. 鈥淭hese stories 鈥 these facets of womanhood 鈥 are universal, across race.鈥
To make her story resonate with others, Carty-Williams wrote about a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman living in South London. Called 鈥淨ueenie,鈥 the book was a bestseller, establishing its author and leading to a series set to premiere in June on Hulu.
In the show鈥檚 mix: Carty-Williams, who鈥檚 not only the creator and executive producer but also the showrunner.
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鈥淚t was really important to me to be involved from the beginning to the end,鈥 she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 incredibly exacting as a person and every single decision I had to be a part of.鈥
Dionne Brown stars as Queenie, a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman living in south London, straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither. The series "Queenie" airs on Hulu.聽
Most important: Authenticity.
To make sure 鈥淨ueenie鈥 looked like the life she wrote about, Carty-Williams shot the series on location.
鈥淓very single place was a location. Queenie and Tom鈥檚 flat 鈥 that was one location. Kyazike鈥檚 flat, that was another. We really wanted to be true to the location of the book and the world.鈥
The series allowed her to use voiceovers to bridge gaps, listen in on inner voices and take leaps other forms of storytelling couldn鈥檛.
鈥淚t made me nervous,鈥 says Dionne Brown, who plays Queenie. 鈥淚鈥檓 reacting to dialogue that nobody can hear.鈥
On the surface, Queenie may look happy, but she鈥檚 often revisiting trauma that happened to her.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to show domestic abuse or anything that was too heavy because I don鈥檛 want to see that as a Black woman,鈥 Carty-Williams explains. 鈥淚t was important for me to use this fragmented way of showing things.鈥 Music also helped.
鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing what happens when you stuff the drawer and you don鈥檛 clear it out,鈥 Brown says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e all had a conversation with someone and we hear something that wasn鈥檛 said. As a talking point now for me, I鈥檓 more inclined to be like, 鈥楾ell me what you鈥檙e thinking I said鈥 when there鈥檚 a misunderstanding. (Queenie) absorbs everything and she holds it at her center.鈥
Growing up, Carty-Williams watched depictions of Black women that were mainly American 鈥渁nd I remember trying to find myself in these depictions," she said. "They were really confident and understood themselves or were in spaces where their Blackness was often celebrated. I didn鈥檛 feel that in the U.K., so I was like, 鈥楳aybe it鈥檚 time to write the story of someone who wasn鈥檛 that confident.鈥欌
Queenie (Dionne Brown, center) and her friend Kyazike (Bella, left) maneuver life in London in "Queenie."聽
Brown says the shift allowed 鈥淨ueenie鈥 to celebrate the wins but also show the growth in losses.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 super important,鈥 she says. 鈥淚t also focuses on what that means in terms of mental health, womanhood, relationships and love and how we perceive it. The whole thing is like one big question mark.鈥
Surprisingly, when Carty-Williams wanted advice about adapting her book, she didn鈥檛 talk to another woman but screenwriter Jesse Armstrong.
鈥淗e sat me down and he was like, 鈥楳ake sure you write what you want to write,''' she said. "And I was like, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e Jesse Armstrong, you can say that to me.鈥 There aren鈥檛 many Black female authors from the U.K. who have done this, so I had to look to a white man for help.鈥
