Love Is King: Dawn-Lyen Gardner, Dondre Whitfield Talk ‘Queen Sugar’Posted by Dominga Martin
November 9, 2016
Queen Sugar heats up as family ties strengthen and love blooms for characters Remy and Charley.
Since September 6th, a female audience of all backgrounds have been held captive by OWN’s new drama “Queen Sugar”, making this show, the top series amongst women for 2016 on the network. The series created for TV by Director Ava Duvernay, inspired by the book written by Natalie Baszille sparked social media buzz before it aired, when Ms. DuVernay made an unprecedented move to hire female directors to helm each episode.
Each week, a loyal audience has peeked into the lives of the Bordelon family which includes charming but troubled brother, “Ralph Angel” (Kofi Sirobi), who is trying to step out of the conflict of his past, and his older bickering sisters Charley West (Dawn-Lyen Gardner) and Nova (Rutina Wesley). The three siblings have inherited a sugar cane farm, after their father passes away. A farm, that has both united the siblings and uncovered stories that bind and unhinge the family as they build their faith and trust in each other.
However, it is the brewing love affair between Charley West, who’s husband’s very public scandal has tested her boundaries; and Remy, an irrigation specialist who’s magnetic masculinity not only captivated Charley from the very start, but the women who tune in. The two heat up our screens from episode to episode and has everyone talking, waiting for that black love moment that’s steaming up between the two.
Dondre Whitfield, who portrays Remy has been on and off our TV screens for many years, from All My Children and Another World, to The Cosby Show. He is the proud husband to actress Salli Richardson-Whitfield. Yet, it wasn’t until he walked on screen in a super sexy cowboy hat, that everyone began calling him a “sex symbol”.
“I can’t tell you how awesome it is,” Dondre says with a big laugh when posed with the question of instant admiration. He continues: “It really truly is so impactful. I really began hearing the voices of women, particularly our sisters and I think that our image of each other has been damaged a little bit. Sisters don’t see us as the pillars anymore and that comes from the fact that some of our brothers have abandoned their posts, and not taking care of their children, are not taking care of their women or taking care of their community [and so] I think some of that has really been…and I always say…the ”brand of man” has been completely damaged by males.”
He continues.
“Males that don’t understand how to be men, but are often mistaken for men because they’re wearing the uniform of a man. So they have hair on their face, they’re strong [and] at face value a woman would say: “that’s a man,” but really what you’re dealing with is a mentality and skill sets because that’s what makes up manhood. Remy is the kind of guy that embodies all of that and in the end, he would drop whatever he was needing to do for himself, in order to take care of those around him, and I think that’s what you’re seeing and feeling what’s resonating with women.”
The cast also resonated with fellow journalists who gathered at OWN headquarters in New York City to talk about the show and what’s next. For those of us who have been mesmerized with all the great content helmed by actors of color on networks and Netflix, you are no stranger to the beautiful face of Dawn-Lyen, who makes an appearance on Luke Cage, Marvel’s hit show, in which she plays a news reporter. However, it is Queen Sugar which gave her the ultimate shine.
“This is the first character I ever played who is so many things that hurt, and so many things that inspire at the same time,” says Dawn. “For me personally, I had a thing in my head, as an actor who looks like me, who’s light skinned, wears my hair straight, is bi-racial and for a long time what I got from the industry is well, we don’t have a place for you…I didn’t feel like I had a place in this business [and] I feel like this is the first time that I felt like “she” (Charley West) probably feels that way too. Charley has so many things and is so many things that I could embrace and create a place with…like carve it out…this is my place.”
“Her constant ability to be in action, her constant heroism, she doesn’t think first—-she jumps first…and…to a fault. She also, in her pursuit of the life she’s constructed…I think she’s neglected part of herself, her family—they’re people she doesn’t see fully [and] she’s coming into seeing as we continue to watch the season.”
I was curious to find out what’s next for the two characters Charley and Remy after observing the two actors brotherly/sisterly bond of banter off screen, which attributes to the chemistry that is felt through the screen. Each week, viewers watch as Charley gains her strength back after being publicly humiliated by her husband’s infidelity, and we watch Remy carefully, and protectively patch her up. When asked what we can expect, she offered up this:
“You can definitely expect a deepening and you can definitely expect a challenge [because I think] like any great burgeoning love story, you know that these two people are just right for each other. You can’t explain it, you can’t put your finger on it [but] you know they’re just right for each other. That also means that in the best relationships, you are going to trigger and challenge and confront each other and that’s why you’re right for each other—when there’s space and safety to do that…”
“You begin to see that come up towards the end of the season in terms of the kind of life that Charley leads and the kind of life that Remy leads. The kind of choices Charley is willing to make, the ambiguity of them and the kind of choices that Remy habitually, muscularly makes [and] the moral clarity of them. So these are very different people coming from very different…almost training of how they walk in the world, and you begin to see that collide into priorities of what they’re willing to build and why.”
Queen Sugar airs tonight at 10PM. The season finale is November 30th. Season two begins filming in Spring 2017.
