What most excited you about playing Dana?

Oh, my God, so many things. I felt that there was something so charming and rich and powerful about Dana’s connection to her own ancestry. I fell in love with her. SHE’S SO FIERCE AND STRONG. I WANT to embody that in my own life.

The show does a great job of showing the connection we still have to the legacy of slavery.

We’re not that far removed from THIS HORRIFIC TRAGEDY. THAT’S what’s so beautiful about the show, is that it shows that direct connection. Historically what HAPPENED HAS AFFECTED US SO strongly that we are still dealing with the echo of what happened.

THE SHOW FEELS LIKE IT DEFIES A genre, it’s so many things.

I cannot pin down the genre of THE SHOW. THAT’S THE COOLEST THING about the show; it’s mystery, it’s TRAUMA, IT’S SCIENCE FICTION, IT’S horror, it’s rom-com, all in one.

Were you at all intimated by SUCH A HIGH-PROFILE ROLE?

It was terrifying. I was just coming out of school, so I was still feeling like everyone was my teacher.

What do you hope people ultimately take away from Kindred?

THERE’S AN IMPORTANCE IN US continuing to tell our stories as Black people holding a candle for the voiceless.