*“Moonlight“ director Barry Jenkins is bringing his talents to the Amazon Prime Video screen to direct and produce the new limited series “The Underground Railroad,” which is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead. The ten episode show tells the story of a slave named Cora Randall (Thuso Mbedu) who escapes a Georgia plantation through the Underground Railroad. Randall discovers the path isn’t exactly what she expected, instead it’s an actual railroad full of engineers, conductors, and a secret network of tracks and tunnels underneath the Southern ground.
On her journey to freedom with a newfound ally Caesar (Aaron Pierce), Cora is being tracked by a bounty hunter named Ridgeway (Joel Edgerton), who is on a quest to bring Cora back to the plantation she escaped – especially since Cora’s mother, Mabel, is the only slave he couldn’t catch.
EURweb correspondent Ty Cole spoke to William Jackson Harper and Joel Edgerton about the characters and the importance of this story in today’s time.
Cole: When stepping into the shoes of characters like Ridgeway, what were some of your takeaways and lessons? What were you feeling when you were in character mode?
Edgerton: Really good question. It wasn’t until I started reading this material that I was like, ‘we have to really ask ourselves the question like who are the individuals that come to these ways of thinking?’ What were they like when they were a child? Who bought them up? How did you get your bad ideas? I was fascinated by the character portrayal of Ridgeway in the book and Barry’s screenplay because we caught an insight into how this man was built.Â
Cole: Why do you think this series is important especially in today’s time?
Harper:Â I feel like this series will start a lot of thorny conversations and really uncomfortable ones that need to be had. This is the only way I know how to contribute to make those conversations happen. I’m simply an actor who wants to be apart of stories that affect the social fabric in some way. Every now and again you get to be apart of a piece that you hope really does that and has the potential to do so. I think this piece is that.Â
“The Underground Railroad” will premiere exclusively on Prime Video May 14th, in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide.
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