With a goal of making “Washington Black” as authentic as possible, the series’ producers devised an ambitious schedule that had actors telling the story around the world.
Ernest Kingsley Jr. plays the title character as an adult in "Washington Black."
“No one reads the book andsays, ‘It’s just going to be shot on a sound stage,’” says Executive Producer Kimberly Ann Harrison. “They know this is going to be an epic adventure around the world.”
Chronicling the life of an 11-year-old boy born on a Barbados sugar plantation, “Washington Black” follows him from slavery to freedom to personal victory as he encounters adults who try to encourage and thwart him on his journey.
It’s a massive tale based on the best-selling novel by Esi Edugyan. To play Black, series creator Selwyn Seyfu Hinds cast two actors – one younger, one older. To be sure they’d provide a seamless transition from one to another, “they had to make me believe,” Hinds says. “The scene for the older Wash was one that, done well, would make you cry.”
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Ernest Kingsley Jr. “elicited that emotion in almost everyone who watched it,” he says. He got the elder role; Eddie Karanja was cast in the younger version.
Matching them, Hinds says, wasn’t difficult. The two “had truth and authenticity in their eyes.”
Eddie Karanja, left, plays Washington Black as a boy. He and his friend Titch (Tom Ellis) go on numerous adventures in the eight-part miniseries.
To foster that connection, Hinds let the two hang out and watch each other, “just to believe they could be the same person. Again, they found a natural connection and it worked.”
Because young Washington Black travels the globe with an inventor (played by Tom Ellis), the production needed a variety of vehicles. Thanks to an eager production designer, everything worked.
“I would not advise you to go try and fly on the Cloud Cutter, but everything else works,” Hinds says. “I told the production team, ‘as much as we can, I need this stuff to be practical.’ And they took the chassis of an old tractor and built something that’s actually drive-able.”
Sterling K. Brown, who’s also a producer, was cast in a supporting role and “has been joined at the hip from the beginning of this entire journey. He might have been the second person to read the book,” Hinds says.
The “This is Us” star wasn’t considered for the leading role. Hinds, however, needed someone with his clout in the production. He pitched a character and Brown said, “Whatever’s best for the story. I don’t want to take away from lead.” But Hinds made sure it would be in keeping with Washington Black’s journey.
Before filming began, Hinds and company had no idea how complex the shoot might be. “Sometimes you’re not afraid because you don’t know enough to be afraid,” he says. “Being surrounded by people who’ve been doing 20, 30 years of television, no one had ever quite done something like this.”
Ernest Kingsley Jr. plays Washington Black in the miniseries based on the best-selling novel.
Now as it’s about to air, “Washington Black” has the ability to move a large audience.
“I want them to be inspired,” says Harrison. “I want them to dream harder, bigger and follow through with that dream the same way Washington did.”
While a sequel is always possible, the producers say they’re not ready to plan another eight-part epic.
“Check back in three months and see if I caught up on sleep,” Hinds says. “I want to recover from this one.”
“Washington Black” premieres July 23 on Hulu.
