Thuso Mbedu

The Railroad star on prep, grief and love.

So is working on a big American production different to working in South Africa?

Yes, I think the biggest contrast was the fact that we would shoot four scenes a day at the most, whereas back home, we’re shooting about 16 scenes a day. If you get four takes in South Africa, you are the problem!

How did you prepare for the role?

Barry sent me audio research. I listened to them telling their story, they spoke very broken English, which is an English that if I were to go to South Africa now, I could hear. That made it much closer to home for me – it stopped being a Black American story and became the story of an African who was brought to America.

How did you cope with the show’s more brutal scenes?

We had a counsellor on set when things got really tough but mostly I’ll have my earphones on and listen to ‘On The Nature Of Daylight’ by Max Richter. I lose myself in that song. I would always walk to set with my head down, only to look up to the eyes of Cora because it was too heavy to experience Cora’s world twofold .

Do you think this show is fundamentally about grief and love?

Grief is love with nowhere to go, you know? The

Underground Railroad wasn’t written as a love story, but that’s what it became.

To ride the railroad you have to give testimony. Is that about the importance of telling this story?

Definitely. Especially for the Black body who we have been constantly told to get over our story. So I hope that people will then take away and understand the texture of the lived experience of Black people. It’s very important to be able to tell your story, because that also helps you to process and deal and navigate your way forward.