*The Marshall name opens doors, commands fear, and comes with a price in STARZ’s new crime drama Fightland from 50 Cent and STARZ.
Anita-Joy Uwajeh and Charles Babalola portray Cebella “Cece” Marshall and Ezekiel “Zeek” Marshall, the adult children of missing criminal kingpin Kingsley
Marshall. When their father disappears, the siblings are left to protect a powerful family empire just as disgraced boxing champion Duke Kilroy returns to London seeking revenge.
For Cece and Zeek, being a Marshall means carrying the weight of their father’s expectations—even when neither child believes they can fully satisfy them.
“At the core, Zeke and Cebella both understand Kingsley in the same way,” Uwajeh told EUR. “They both, in their own different ways, are trying to gain his approval and his acceptance and his acknowledgment and his appreciation.”
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The difference is how deeply that rejection controls them. Cece refuses to allow her father’s judgment to dictate how she moves through the world. Zeek, however, has built much of his identity around becoming the son Kingsley wants.
Babalola described the Marshall name as both an inheritance and a burden.
“It’s a big responsibility,” he explained. “There’s a pride about being a Marshall. It’s afforded Cece and Zeke a lot of privilege growing up, so I think that plays a big part in Zeke’s psyche.”
To outsiders, Zeek may appear to be another privileged heir raised with every advantage. Inside the family, however, he remains a son chasing validation that never quite arrives.
“Kingsley is Zeke’s North Star. Kingsley is everything Zeke wants to be, but he’s not,” Babalola said. “He just wants Dad’s approval.”
That unresolved pressure becomes more dangerous when Cece and Zeek are forced to determine the future of the Marshall empire. Uwajeh said the siblings are pursuing separate paths but share one central objective: preserving and advancing the family name.
The question is whether that shared goal will keep them united—or give them a reason to sacrifice one another.
Babalola acknowledged that Fightland places the pair inside a ruthless world where loyalty cannot be taken for granted. Still, underneath the competition and emotional damage, he believes the sibling relationship has a genuine foundation.
“It is a savage world they’re both in—a world where family loyalty is tested,” he said. “At the core of this brother-and-sister relationship is love.”
Love may hold Cece and Zeek together, but in the Marshall family, love and trust are not necessarily the same thing.
Fightland premieres today, Friday, July 31, and streams exclusively on STARZ.
Jill Munroe is a Los Angeles-bred entertainment journalist, producer, and host. Follow her socials @StilettoJill or visit JillMunroe.com. Catch her live M-Thu on KBLA Talk 1580 from 6PM to 7PM.
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