Michaela Coel

TW: SA

Michaela Coel is an actor, screenwriter, director, producer, and singer. She is a black woman. She has described herself as aromantic. She was born in London, England. Her parents are from Ghana. Her family was one of the few black families living on the estate she grew up on. She was raised in Pentecostal faith. As she attended Catholic schools, she was bullied during primary school for being the only black student. She also bullied students in return because of this.

During here adolescent years kids would use racial slurs against her. She started studying English Literature and Theology at the University of Birmingham and dropped out to pursue the arts. She enrolled in the Guidall School of Music and Drama. When she enrolled, she was the first black women to enroll in five years. Coel’s senior school project was a play, called Chewing Gum Dreams. The play was about Coel as a teenager, growing up in a religious home. The play got picked up and went on to become a tv show under the name Chewing Gum.

As a black woman working in the film industry, that is run by white cis men, she is near the bottom of the hierarchy. Yet, she has not been intimidated or knocked down in any way. She made a speech in 2018 revealing the racism and assault she had experienced while working in this industry. This exposed how little the industry cared when it came to these issues. While filming in Bulgaria, people took physical action to display their racism toward her and others.

She has had a difficult journey but has thrived incredibly. Netflix pitched her 1$ million dollars for her tv show, “I May Destroy You”, and she turned them down because they wouldn’t give her any percentage of the copyright to her story. She also wanted to be a “senior-level development executive”. They responded to her requests by saying, “it’s not how we do things here.” She eventually pitched “I May Destroy You” to BBC and they gave her all the control she wanted. Writing a story like “Chewing Gum” or “I May Destroy You” has allowed viewers to engage with all of her multiple identities, and experiences.