Y’lan reflects on representation
Currently seen on season three of HBO series ‘Insecure’, the actor has the opportunity to expand the dimensions of his character
The first time many viewers were introduced to Y’lan Noel was on HBO’s
Insecure, in which he played a significant part in one of the most polarising storylines from season one. His character Daniel, an old flame of Issa’s (Issa Rae), helps set in motion the inevitable demise of her long-term relationship with Lawrence when she cheats on him with Daniel. In season two, Daniel briefly resurfaced in Issa’s life, but mostly remained on the periphery.
In season three, currently in the middle of its run, Noel has had the opportunity to expand the dimensions of his character with more prominent storylines, which involve sharing his apartment with Issa, who is having financial troubles, and struggling with his music career.
“There was this void where we didn’t really understand how Issa and Daniel’s situation works or does not work,” he said. “So, the writers just wanted to give it its due.”
In a phone conversation, Noel discussed Daniel’s fraught relationship with a peer in season three and how the show is examining black masculinity.
Daniel’s pride gets in the way often, as in episode three when he plays his own beat for Spyder instead of the one Khalil tweaked. He resents Khalil, someone he once mentored, and who is now further along in the industry than he is. Where do you think those feelings are coming from?
I get what it feels like to watch some of your peers pass you in a field that you’re in. I think his pride and ego are getting the best of him, but at the end of the day, Daniel is coming into himself as an artist, and he feels that he brings a very fresh perspective that he doesn’t want anybody diluting, especially not at this stage of the game. I also think that’s something that a young Pharrell or a young Kanye West would’ve definitely done.
It shows artistic integrity. It would be different if him and Khalil were actual boys. I think he does it because it’s a better representation of him as an artist. I don’t know if I would do the same thing, but at the end of the day, fortune favours the brave.
Your role in The First
Purge is a different examination of black masculinity. At the screening I went to, the person sitting next to me at one point called you Black Rambo.
[Laughs.] Yeah, I’ve heard people saying Rambro, which is funny. What’s cool about Insecure is it’s very realistic and nuanced. Whereas
The Purge [series] is like Greek theatre. It goes to the max and stays there. So as an actor, that was really fun because it allowed me to tap into this urge to be physical in a way that I don’t normally get to explore.
We’re seeing more representation and challenges of what black masculinity is and can be on screen. Have you noticed any difference lately in the types of roles you’re going out for as a black actor?
I’ve noticed a difference in the types of roles I’m seeing black actors cast in. So I see Lakeith Stanfield in Sorry to Bother You.
I see Get Out. You’re also seeing The First Purge. As a black actor and as black creators, we are now being able to contribute our individual slices to the entire pie, so that we can be reflected as who we actually are: an extremely complicated group of individuals.