*29-year-old London-born screenwriter and actress Michaela Coel rose to fame back in 2015 when the first season of her comedy series, “Chewing Gum” debuted on Netflix. The HIGHlarious show follows a young British woman who ditches her religious upbringing to embark on a rather complicated journey to adulthood.
“Chewing Gum” has earned Coel two BAFTA awards for her work as both an actress and the show’s writer. Season 2 is now streaming on Netflix in the U.S., and ahead of its release, Coel spoke to CBS News about her recent success and why she embraces being different.
“Well, this is my thing: I’m the worst liar ever. That’s why I could never have a writer’s room. When I think of the things that I want to write, I can never say them out loud because I know how crazy they sound,” Coel admits. “I know what things sound like when you haven’t actually worked on the script, so I don’t go around saying some of these ideas because they just sound awful. I love it, though, when people’s jaws drop and they have to put their fists over their mouths like, “Oh my gosh!” ”
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Jet magazine notes, “If you haven’t been watching 29-year old British actress Michela Coel’s award-winning Netflix series Chewing Gum, we aren’t sure what you are doing with your life.”
The publication adds that Coel is “not afraid to get messy or to embarrass herself. From Tracey’s chronic nosebleeds to her idolization and attempted emulation of Beyoncé, Coel puts her entire being into her acting, and it shows in the absolute best ways.”
Coel’s parents are from Ghana but she was born and raised in London. She explained to CBS News how being exposed to several different cultures from a young age influenced her.
“Oh my God, it was huge. My mom came [to London] from Africa when she was 25 and we are a very small family. They have all sorts of conceptions about what England is like, and so they shelter you as much as they can because they see the outside world as very dangerous.
What was nice for me was that when I got to secondary school — like high school — I met many other Ghanaian schoolgirls whose parents were also born in Ghana and were raising them here. We automatically had a huge kinship that was amazing. Even now in the industry I find myself sort of an anomaly again. But I’m older now and I’m kind of finding myself and trying to navigate through that whole thing with my head held high and not feeling so insecure about it.”
Read the full interview at cbsnews.com.
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