Aldis Hodge, Jurnee Smollett-Bell Talk 'Underground' Premiere On WGN America! [INTERVIEW]

By Jorge Solis (j.solis@mstarsnews.com) | Mar 09, 2016 01:00 PM EST

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WGN America is just hours away from airing the highly anticipated pilot of their upcoming show, Underground. In an exclusive interview with MStars News,, cast members Aldis Hodge and Jurnee Smollett-Bell talk about what audiences should expect from the premiere.

As we previously mentioned, the period drama takes place in the antebellum South as a band of plantation slaves attempt to make a perilous escape. During this time period, the slaves at the plantation risk everything for a chance at freedom. They all want to head on over to the North and escape to the Underground Railroad. Underground will also examine the lives of slaveholders, slave hunters, and abolitionists.

Before the premiere on WGN America on March 9 at 10pm, the cast of Underground discuss their roles on the show, their motivations, and how the music becomes part of the scene.

MStars News: Tell me about the roles you play on the show.

Aldis Hodge: I play Noah, the slave that brings the idea of bringing freedom to the plantation. He's heard the myth of the whole underground railroad. He encounters that after he tries to run away. He heard about this song that lays out this mystery, this map of freedom. He brings it back to the plantation; he's going to be free one way or another. He needs the right people to get him there.

Jurnee Smollett-Bell: I play Rosalee. She is a house girl. She has been a slave her entire life. And she's never stepped off the plantation. She does not know what the world looks like, past those gates. She's deeply saturated with the brainwashing of the plantation, not just by the owners, by her mom. To keep her daughter safe and alive, she has raised her to keep her head down and do as you're told. But she is a young woman, in this stage of her life, where she starts to question everything. But that sort of question can get you killed.

MS: What is the motivation behind your characters?

AH: He encounters Rosalee. He's struck by her strength and courage. It's the first time he's connected to someone. Even though they're never spoken, they've seen each other briefly, this is someone who is a kindred spirit., who can aid me by complementing who I am. She needs to be there.

JSB: This is no kind of life. That sparks this fire inside of her. There are some things in the pilot that are a turning point for her. She finds this inner strength, that she didn't know she had, which comes out. She has a shy demeanor because sh's been trained that way. In this season, she will become someone different she never thought she was capable of becoming.

AH: They go through a situation privately, where he reveals himself to her. He puts it out on the table, do you want to join, to be a part of this? He gives her the option. She deals with her side of that. Hers is a different perspective. I have a different understanding. She's in the house.

MS: Tell me about the challenges of reenacting scenes from such a dark time in American history.

AH: 99.9 percent, you're not going to make it. Nature will kill you along the way. You're caught, you get killed back at the plantation. Or you're going to get tortured even further. Anybody you have connection with, family or whatever, there are going to be consequences. The idea of it is, we're facing a fight. Going into the honest of it, the show's very honest. We tell an honest narrative.

MS: Tell me about the music by John Legend.

JSB: it's one of things we're so excited about! Music can make or break a narrative in film or television. I think he expresses the gravity of the subject, keeping the pace. The show is not a typical drama. It's really fast-paced. The running and the adventure behind it, it's really going to be charged by the music.

AH: The music in itself is its own character. Music is the blood of any type of show or film. There's so much history that motivates them with the words. The music has its own life. John has experience. hH's done a lot of soundtracks for film, things like that. He gets it. We're in great hands.

Don't forget to check out our interview with Jessica De Gouw and Marc Blucas here. 

Underground premieres Wednesday March 9 at 10pm on WGN America.

© 2024 Mstars News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

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