Creator and cast of Hulu's 'Reasonable Doubt' talk about the importance of Black love

ByNzinga Blake and Yliana Roland OTRC logo
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Hulu's 'Reasonable Doubt' creator on importance of Black love
Hulu's 'Reasonable Doubt' creator on importance of Black love Raamla Mohamed, creator of "Reasonable Doubt," and leads Emayatzy Corinealdi and McKinley Freeman talk about Black love and storytelling beginnings.

LOS ANGELES -- The highly anticipated Season 2 finale of Onyx Collective's "Reasonable Doubt" on Hulu is fast approaching. To celebrate, creator Raamla Mohamed and stars Emayatzy Corinealdi and McKinley Freeman stepped into On The Red Carpet Storytellers Spotlight to reflect on the heart and message of the season: a celebration of Black love, resilience and the journey to healing. In a candid conversation the three also shared their insights on deeper themes they hope viewers will take away, plus their beginnings as storytellers.

Corinealdi traces her storytelling roots back to a childhood of constant change and moving -- a result of having military parents. "It was always a new place, new school, new people, new friends." Corinealdi says. "I think it set in me this curiosity about people. It created this imaginary world that I would often live in. I would start creating characters, and it just developed."

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Mohamed's path to storytelling started in a more unorthodox place: ghosts in her childhood home.

"My mom told me that the person before us was an old woman who died in the house, and so I used to make up these stories to my friends at sleepovers," she recalled with a laugh.

Her early tales of ghostly encounters grew into a passion for crafting stories that linger long after you turn off the television.

For Freeman, storytelling wasn't always a clear path. "I don't think I ever really thought about being a storyteller growing up," he admitted. "My grandmother used to watch old movies in the basement all the time. I remember one time watching an old Black and White movie with her and she was like 'you know, you could do that.'"

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The show's inspiration and themes stem from the dynamic real-life figure, Sean Hawley, an LA-based defense attorney. Execuitve producers Kerry Washington and Larry Wilmore were excited to help Mohamed in helming the transformation of the powerful character.

"She's Black [and] she's a rock star," Mohamed explained, describing how Hawley's fearless approach to law inspired the show's lead character, Jax Stewart.

Corinealdi's portrayal of Jax is rooted in the character's unapologetic complexity.

"She's a leader, you know, she's a fighter," Corinealdi said. "But she also has all her faults and all her flaws, and they are there. They are they are laid out. And that's what I love about her."

Freeman's character, Lewis Stewart, aims to reflect the depth of Black male experiences.

"The super important part about playing Lewis, to me, is that it shows that Black men are lots of things, and also the one necessary thing when called upon," Freeman said. "I think it's interesting that we live in a world that puts us in situations where we forget that."

At the core of this season of "Reasonable Doubt" lies a commitment to exploring Black love in all its complexity. Mohamed shared her perspective on the show's deeper narrative, describing it as "a love story in reverse."

"I feel like sometimes when we watch TV, the characters start kind of bright eyed and optimistic, and then as seasons go on, they just get darker and more menacing and kind of more evil," said Mohamed. "I really wanted to create a show where you saw people. Sure they have trauma, they have issues, but you watch them work it out and try to figure out how to be better."

"Reasonable Doubt" is now streaming on Hulu.

Watch ABC's On The Red Carpet Storytellers Spotlight interview in the video player above.

Andres Rovira, Luke Richards and Jason Honeycutt contributed to this report.

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