The book had already had great success before discussions about a series began, and with this came many opinions. What was the most challenging and rewarding part of playing Queenie?
Dionne Brun: There were parts of Queenie that I had to think about for myself; things I was done with and moved on from, and healed from, as well as things I thought were healed inside of me, but weren’t. Walking through a door that you’ve closed at some point, it’s always a bit like, “Oh, I remember that time.” I remember the moment my heart was broken, and honestly, I felt like I was never going to be right again… I was never going to be myself again. » Things collected [a lot for Queenie] in block two because it was very progressive. A lot was happening around her and within her, but it had also happened over a long period of time. So when we see it on the show, it’s not just the “straw on top”, it’s all the straws underneath, and there are a lot of straws below the one that broke the camel’s back .
I think that was the hardest part: trying to make sure that I described well or that the text read well. We all know how it feels to wake up, and things are heavier than the day before. Then it all sinks in and it’s like, “Oh, I’m still in hell!” So yeah, I would say that was definitely the hardest part – there were definitely days where I was overstimulated to the nines.
And the most rewarding would probably be when we finished this filming session of all the really mentally heavy work. It was like, “Ah, now we’re getting to the end, and it’s starting to get better.” It was better for me because it was just lighter: lighter dialogue, lighter performances, lighter days of shooting.
