Exclusive: Sydelle Noel Talks Season 2 Of Netflix’s GlowPosted by Wilson Morales
July 5, 2018
Currently streaming on Netflix is season 2 of its female-led series Glow, which stars Alison Brie as Ruth “Zoya the Destroya” Wilder, Betty Gilpin as Debbie “Liberty Belle” Eagan, Sydelle Noel as Cherry “Junkchain”/”Black Magic” Bang, Britney Young as Carmen “Machu Picchu” Wade, and Marc Maron as Sam Sylvia among its huge ensemble.
Inspired by the short-lived but beloved show from the 80s, GLOW tells the fictional story of Ruth Wilder (Alison Brie), an out-of-work, struggling actress in 1980s Los Angeles who finds one last chance for stardom when she’s thrust into the glitter and spandex world of women’s wrestling. In addition to working with 12 Hollywood misfits, Ruth also has to compete with Debbie Eagan (Betty Gilpin ) a former soap actress who left the business to have a baby, only to be sucked back into work when her picture perfect life is not what it seems. And at the wheel is Sam Sylvia (Marc Maron), a washed-up, B-movie director who now must lead this group of women on the journey to wrestling stardom.
Season 2 follows the women of GLOW as they become local celebrities, confronting the good, the bad, and the ugly realities of their newfound fame. As Ruth and Debbie settle into the day-to-day of making a season of TV together, they confront lingering issues at the heart of their friendship. Sam is still Sam, but now he has a teenage daughter living with him and twenty episodes to churn out. The wrestling is harder, the stakes are higher, and the hair is even bigger.
For Sydelle Noel, who plays Cherry “Junkchain”/”Black Magic” Bang, this has a big year for former track star at the University of Georgia. Not only is she part of this huge women ensemble, but she was also a member of the Dora Milaje in Marvel’s Black Panther.
Blackfilm.com recently spoke with Noel as she spoke about her character Cherry for Season 2 of Glow and what Black Panther has meant for her.
What should we expect from your character Cherry this season?
Sydelle Noel: This season with Cherry you’re going to see more vulnerability from her. You’re not going to see much of her in the first half of the season because you’re going to get a taste of Chambers and Gold. In the first season, she was more of the mother figure, the coach, and she got shit done. This season she goes through an emotional roller coaster and gets hit with hard truth of life.
For new audiences who will start watching the series, what was the attraction to being part of the show?
Sydelle Noel: When I saw Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling and then found out it would be a scripted wrestling show, I knew it would be something special because right now we live in a world where in TV and film everything is being redone and remade and you’re seeing the same procedural drama. The doctor show and the FBI show are all in the same format and there’s no show that has wrestling involved. There isn’t a scripted wresting show. Glow is in its own world and I knew it would be something special and it drew me in because it’s an original thing.
How do you relate to Cherry?
Sydelle Noel: Cherry and I are very similar. She is a bad ass. She’s a woman that doesn’t who hold back. She shows both her strong and vulnerability side, but for the most part I would say that she’s a strong, dynamic woman and she holds up to her word and she doesn’t let anyone get in her way. I can relate to that on all those levels. When I read the character, I was, “This is definitely me!”
Can you talk about working this ensemble of a cast?
Sydelle Noel: This cast is unlike any cast I have worked with before. We have now 15 women and to have that many on a show, there could be some cattiness, but there isn’t here. We all are a group of friends and we love each other. It’s a sisterhood. We support each other outside of Glow. Recently, Betty Gilpin, who plays Liberty Belle, said, “For those of you who need a laugh,” and she showed us her audition tape for the role of Britannica. We literally were all over the place cracking up. That’s the type of people that I work with. We text each other and like I said before, it’s a sisterhood.
What’s the appeal of the show, being women led or the sport?
Sydelle Noel: We are a women generated show. There are a lot of people that were huge Glow fans from back in the day and to have a scripted show remind them of their childhood, it bring them back as well as new fans. Plus, who doesn’t like a wrestling show where they can see women in leotards and glamor and glitter and reminding them of the 80s. You’re seeing the 80s culture come back.
Congrats on the success of Black Panther. Did you ever think the culture awareness it presented would be so huge?
Sydelle Noel: I knew Black Panther was special because I’m a huge Marvel fan and a huge comic fan, and people from the comic book have been waiting for Black Panther to hit the big screen. I didn’t know how huge the magnitude would be. I had no idea we would go over a billion dollars. I remember being on set and Forest Whitaker coming over during the waterfall scene, and he was in the water while we were on the rocks and he could see more of everything than we could, and he came over to our section and said, “If you guys could see what I could see, we have something really special right now.” We just looked around and we took it all in. It was a time when the entire cast was together. We could feel the energy just shift. I had an inkling that this could be huge, but I had no idea that it would be that huge.
It’s very rare where characters with NO dialogue get attention, but as Dora Milaje, all of you stood out and have had numerous stories written about that. How does that make you feel?
Sydelle Noel: It’s crazy. I wasn’t going to do the film at first because of that. My rep told me that I would probably have one line, the iconic “Wakanda Forever” before my character dies, but I was very hesitant before I got the role. I auditioned and had four pages of dialogue and they wanted to see if I could do the accent and all that, and then come to find out that the role was more physical than anything. When it was coming down to the wire, I was told it would be one or two lines. I was like, “No. I’m not going to be in a film where I don’t talk.” My producer and director friend Charles Murray told me, “Fool, if you don’t take this role,” and broke it down for me. It’s not even about the words, it’s the presence that we would make. I wasn’t thinking it that way. I was thinking that people would see me as a background person. When you see it, it’s like no other. The Dora Milaje made such a presence in this movie that people want a Dora Milaje spinoff. At the Cannes Film Festival, Ryan Coogler said he would be in support of that. I hope we do get a spinoff or a prequel, because that would mean that I’m alive. I’m glad I had a friend convince me to take the role.
What’s the best reason to start watching Glow?
Sydelle Noel: Glow is bigger, badder and better than season one.
