Thursday, March 28, 2024

‘Reasonable Doubt’ Star and Creator Talk Jax’s Drama-Filled Life | Watch EUR Exclusive

Hulu's Reasonable Doubt artwork

*”REASONABLE DOUBT” is the new Hulu drama that follows Jacqueline “Jax” Stewart (Emayatzy Corinealdi) a high-powered criminal defense attorney from Los Angeles. Jax navigates the justice system through wild interpretations of the law and sometimes questionable ethics.

She’s currently separate from her husband Lewis (McKinley Freeman,) balancing an emotional connection with Damon, an old client from the past (Michael Ealy,) all while defending a billionaire tech mogul (Sean Patrick Thomas) accuse of murdering his mistress and business associate.

Check out the trailer via the YouTube clip below.

We caught up with Corinealdi who noted that she loves that Jax is complicated and messy.

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“You know, I can be messy. I can be hypocritical and all those things, too. Jax has so many layers to her. And that’s the one thing I loved about her the most. It can be messy; life is messy. And that’s the thing I’ve related to the most. The people that I know, no one lives are just perfect or always a mess,” the actress explained. “Some people are always a mess. But it’s better when you have a bit of a balance. And I think that’s what Raamla (series creator and showrunner) achieved so well—showing this woman that many of us know. Maybe we are her, but we see aspects of ourselves, you know, it’s like a mirror,” she continued.

“And portraying Jax that way was my favorite part about it because she doesn’t have it all. She thinks she has it all together. And a lot of ways, she does outside looking in, but then she starts to realize that maybe there are some areas that I can work on to become a better version. And that’s the most fun part to me,” Corinealdi said.

“Reasonable Doubt” is executive produced by Kerry Washington (who also directs the first episode) and Larry Wilmore and is the first scripted drama from Onyx Collective. It is loosely based on real-life celebrity criminal attorney Shawn Holly, who is also an executive producer. Holly was a member of Johnnie Cochran’s OJ Simpson defense team and later advised a roster of clients, including the Kardashian and Jenner families, Lindsay Lohan, Justin Bieber, Tupac Shakur, and Katt Williams.

Raamla Mohamed (Little Fires Everywhere, Scandal) serves as Creator, Executive Producer, and Showrunner, leading an all-Black writers’ room. In addition, every episode is directed by Black directors.

Mohamed explained how the series came together.

“Holly met with Kerry Washington and Larry Wilmore, and they loved her and wanted to do a show about her. Then they came to me and started talking about what that series would be. What I loved about Shawn was her ability to compartmentalize. No matter who her client was, she could still look at the law even if she didn’t love the client. I love the way her mind works. So that was an inspiration for Jax’s job. I’m also from LA. I grew up in Windsor Hills; I live in Baldwin Hills. Shawn is from LA, too, so it was important to me to add that black LA element as well.”

Mohamed says some of the drama was pulled from personal stories. She says she did that for her friends because she knows they will appreciate it. Her goal was to make it “Black and real,” plus a little grimy. Mohamed also says that as a huge Jay Z fan, not only is the show title a Jay Z song but each episode is also titled after one of his songs.

“Reasonable Doubt” also stars Aderinsola Olabode, Thaddeus J. Mixson, Angela Grovey, Tim Jo, Sean Patrick Thomas, and Pauletta Washington. You can catch new episodes on Hulu.

Check out my full conversation with Corinealdi below.

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