8.2 /10 1 Votes
4/5 Vulture Genre Drama Country of origin United States First episode date 6 September 2016 Writers Anthony Sparks | 7.5/10 IMDb 92% Rotten Tomatoes Created by Ava DuVernay Original language(s) English Network Oprah Winfrey Network | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Based on Queen Sugar
by Natalie Baszile Starring Rutina Wesley
Dawn-Lyen Gardner
Kofi Siriboe
Tina Lifford
Omar Dorsey
Dondre Whitfield
Bianca Lawson
Timon Kyle Durrett
Greg Vaughan
Nicholas L. Ashe
Ethan Hutchison
Marycarmen Lopez Cast Kofi Siriboe, Rutina Wesley, Dawn‑Lyen Gardner, Tina Lifford, Greg Vaughan Profiles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Queen sugar on own premieres september 7th
Queen Sugar is an American drama television series, which was created, directed and executive produced by Ava DuVernay. Oprah Winfrey also serves as an executive producer. The series is based on the novel of the same name by Natalie Baszile. The series airs on Oprah Winfrey Network and premiered on September 6, 2016. On August 1, 2016, the series was renewed for a second season ahead of its television premiere.
Contents
- Queen sugar on own premieres september 7th
- Queen sugar trailer
- Novel
- Development
- Casting
- Regular cast
- Recurring cast
- References
The series follows the life of three siblings: two sisters, Nova Bordelon (played by Rutina Wesley), a formidable journalist and activist from New Orleans, and Charley Bordelon (Dawn-Lyen Gardner), a modern woman, who, with her teenaged son Micah, leaves her upscale home in Los Angeles and moves to the heart of Louisiana to claim an inheritance from her recently departed father – an 800-acre sugarcane farm, and their brother Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe), a single father struggling with unemployment and an absentee, former drug addict mother of his child.
Queen sugar trailer
Novel
Queen Sugar, a novel written by UCLA graduate Natalie Baszile, is a mother-daughter story of reinvention. It tells the story about an African-American woman, who unexpectedly inherits a sugarcane farm in Louisiana.
Baszile started writing her African-American-themed tale of endurance and hope in the American South in the early 1990s, and the text was only ready ten years later. She first presented the manuscript to publishers in 2009 but without any success. After revising the book for another two years, she resubmitted the text, with one agent agreeing to represent her.
Baszile took part in a women writer's retreat in Hedgebrook. A friend of hers who was also at the retreat, the novelist Sarah Manyika, suggested that she read part of a chapter from Queen Sugar to fellow residents. Leigh Haber, Oprah magazine's book editor was attending and loved the novel and passed it to people at Harpo because she thought they might be interested in it. A few months after that, Harpo called to say they wanted to option the book for a project.
The book was published by Penguin in 2014 as the debut novel of Baszile and a few months later, Oprah television network OWN negotiated the deal to turn the book into a television series.
Development
On February 2, 2015, it was announced that Oprah Winfrey Network has ordered Queen Sugar, a straight-to-series drama based on novel with same name by Natalie Baszile. Ava DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey, who worked on the 2014 film Selma, co-created the series, while DuVernay is set to write and direct Queen Sugar. The first season began film in February 2016. The first season will have 13 episodes. DuVernay announced on January 27, 2016 in an interview that the series would feature an all-women directorial team. On February 15, 2016, Neema Barnette joined the series as director and producer. Award winning director Tina Mabry is a producer and will also direct two episodes, and Anthony Sparks, an award winning TV writer and professor, is a supervising producer for the series.
Casting
On January 13, 2016, it was announced that Rutina Wesley would play the leading role of Nova Bordelon. Further casting was announced January 27, 2016. Dawn-Lyen Gardner, Kofi Siriboe, and Omar Dorsey, who co-starred in Selma, were all announced in leading roles. On February 1, 2016, it was announced that Emmy Award-winner Glynn Turman will guest-star as Ernest Bordelon, the patriarch of the family who died in the first episode. On February 16, 2016, it was announced that Tina Lifford, Dondre Whitfield, Timon Kyle Durrett and Nicholas L. Ashe were cast as series regulars. On February 23, 2016, Bianca Lawson and Greg Vaughan joined the cast as regulars, while Henry G. Sanders joined in a recurring role. Meanwhile, Oprah Winfrey Network said that Oprah Winfrey, who earlier was announced as a recurring character, would not have an onscreen role. On March 11, 2016, it was announced that Marycarmen Lopez also was cast as regular.