La Canneval

This is a very special one. ⤵️

A year ago, for the first time in my life, I finally found myself on a period piece set. And not just any period piece : the first HBO tv series to be made in France.
For little dancer me who had been told that she could never be Odette/Odile in Swan Lake because she was black, for little actress me who had been denied auditions because “you guys didn’t exist in France well until the late 80’s”, this was huge.
I have no ego when it comes to this career, I don’t care what my status is on a set, I just want to be in those spaces and learn from people who are great at what they do. So I did.
I learned so much about set design, costuming, hairstyling and makeup techniques... about lighting, stage fighting, intimacy coordination… and most of all, I had the time of my life and met some very, very special people (they’ll know who they are).
So all of this just to say : it’s so important to keep fighting to exist in spaces you were told you didn’t belong in. It’s so necessary for us, actors of colour, script writers of colour, to course correct and remind audiences that we DID exist in this world, and that some of our ancestors did evolve in white dominated spaces centuries ago.

Huge thanks to Sophie Thurin & Ozal Emier for their sharp eye, their open mindedness and for giving me this opportunity. 🙏🏽

Merteuil/The Seduction is now streaming on HBO Max, and we made it to the homepage, baby. ✨