Actor Edward Bluemel didn’t know his character in “Washington Black” might have a secret life until he got to his third audition.
By then, he figured, his choices weren’t off the mark. “I’m playing a character who’s very good at covering up his secret lives and sort of worming his way through the world,” Bluemel says. “I think that’s where he became really interesting to me.”
Edward Bluemel plays the intended for Tanna Goff in "Washington Black." Unfortunately, she doesn't know his secret life.
The character is eager to wed the daughter of a scientist, but she’s interested in Washington Black, an illustrator, adventurer and inventor. They, too, have secret lives.
Iola Evans who plays Tanna Goff, the woman in the love triangle, says her character hides her mixed race background as “necessity demands.” “This is maybe a more extreme version of what people have to do for their own protection and security. One of the joys of this story is to work toward a more authentic, fulfilled existence.”
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Iola Evans plays Tanna Goff, a woman who's torn between two men in "Washington Black."
When she’s forced to make a choice, she sees value in both options. Bluemel’s McGee “represents obligation and a set of roots…but then he also happens to be quite charming, which was sort of unexpected,” Evans says. Washington “represents a more authentic existence. I have the privilege and the challenge of having my toes sort of in two worlds to start. Part of Tanner’s journey is taking responsibility for her own life and making choices for herself.”
Ernest Kingsley Jr., who plays Washington Black, says his character’s decisions are often based on what he’s doing at the moment. “The whole thing about living double lives is (a matter of) creating a world for both of those lives, then choosing which one I’d lean into at any given point.”
The double identities work for the story, the three say, because it’s so sprawling and complex.
Iola Evans and Edward Bluemel could wind up a couple. But another, Washington Black, captures her eye in the miniseries, "Washington Black."
Black goes through several identities because he’s often escaping a previous one. Thanks to mentors, he’s able to leave those less-than-ideal lives behind. The miniseries, Kingsley says, should encourage others to “feel more inspired to dream their own dreams and have more faith to continue to go through whatever they’re going through.”
Bluemel agrees. “It’s a story of hope,” he says. “It obviously has some harrowing stuff in it but there’s also a fantastical element and joy in it. For me, it’s about taking hope against the odds.”
To tell the story, the three were in variety of locations. Scenes shot in Iceland, Kingsley says, were “really, really cold. There were some locations that were freezing, and we were breathing icicles. And other times it was really hot.”
Ernest Kingsley Jr. stars in the eight-part Hulu miniseries "Washington Black."
Evans says the temperature swings fed into their performances. “They affect how you breathe.”
To get a sense of Washington’s many identities, Evans and Kingsley went on sketching trips and tried to capture what they saw. “It was terrible,” Kingsley says.
Still, the variety proved helpful.
“That’s one of the great things about getting to do a job like this,” Evans says. “You get to go to all these wonderful places.”
Bluemel says the locations help tell the “enormous” story and set up Washington Black as the saga’s backbone. The twisting, turning story works, he adds, because “I could play all the different iterations of the character as authentically as I possibly could.”
“Washington Black” airs in July on Hulu.
