“Michaela was always trying to get me and Nathan, who works with me, to try and turn our thinking on its head, which was a very interesting process for me. Julie Haskell, casting director, worked mostly from her gut as she brought in actors to read for the roles, but Coel also instilled in her a fresh approach to inclusivity. So she’s deliberately styled every day, and it’s very consciously self-styled so there were lots of conversations at the beginning about how she should look and Michaela had mentioned that she felt that ’90s references were a really great starting point.” The approach was also as sustainable as possible, reusing clothing where they could, as Moore said, “That’s something Michaela’s very passionate about.” It’s kind of how she wants the world to see her. “Obviously Arabella the character is an influencer and she’s all about her image, the identity she constructs for herself through her wardrobe. It’s quite a creative arty area and people there are quite playful and expressive with their clothing, and this was something that we really wanted to translate with our characters.” What we’re doing right here is mad.’”Ĭostume plays a huge role in the series, as Arabella leans into a signature look that runs the gamut of pastel colored hair and chunky ’90s-style knits paired with workboots, to a darkly angelic halloween costume.Ĭostume designer Lynsey Moore said of the looks she created for the cast, “We were really keen to represent East London, and it actually is referencing real people on the street. There were several moments when me and Michaela would look at each other, either on set or in a scene or between scenes, and just say, ‘This is mad. So of course, Michaela’s a friend of mine, and we’ve known each other a long time, but collaborating on this was good and different and trippy because there is always a line between reality and fantasy or imagination, and sometimes that line is thinner than others and when it’s particularly thin it’s very odd to look at the other person. As well as the joy we as actors get from performing, so you really see those two things happening. I think it comes from writing characters and the kind of joy that comes from seeing them realized.
He explained, “Working with Michaela is very easy. There’s a lot of things going on psychologically, so I’m generally too terrified to be anxious about how I perform”įor Paapa Essiedu, who plays Arabella’s friend Kwame, who also experiences sexual assault, exploring Coel’s creation was both strange and very rewarding.
So I remember the first day of the shoot, because that was the first day I was directing. “I think when it comes to acting,” she said, “it’s always the last thing I think about until I’m in the space with other actors. “Piers, who was my person who read all my scripts and looked after me the whole way through said, ‘And you’ll be Arabella right?’ and I said, ‘Yeah.’ I think even if we ended up looking to cast somebody else, I think deep down I would have been desperate to play Arabella, so I was really glad that Piers, the commissioner, said it first and I said yes.”įortunately, Coel wore so many hats in the process she didn’t have time to be too scared to play the part. As for actually reliving that trauma in a way as she played the lead role of Arabella, Coel said she was ultimately unable to imagine not playing the part and was happy EP Piers Wenger pushed her toward taking on the role.
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