0:01

Hey, I'm Ryan Reynolds. At Mint Mobile, we

0:03

like to do the opposite of what Big

0:05

Wireless does. They charge you a lot, we

0:07

charge you a little. So naturally, when they

0:09

announced they'd be raising their prices due to

0:11

inflation, we decided to deflate our prices due

0:13

to not hating you. That's right, we're cutting

0:15

the price of Mint Unlimited from $30 a

0:18

month to just $15 a month. a

0:20

month. Give it

0:22

a try at mintmobile.com/switch. $45

0:25

up front for three months plus taxes and fees. Promote it for

0:27

new customers for a limited time. Unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per

0:29

month, slows. Full terms at mintmobile.com. Time

0:33

for a commercial message from AG1. Trish,

0:35

have I told you I am doing an epic

0:37

swim around the Silly Isles? Um, only about

0:40

every 20 minutes, my mermaid friend.

0:42

But no, how is the weekly trending

0:44

going? I am interested. It's going well,

0:46

and I have just discovered something helpful

0:48

for listeners who, like me, enjoy a

0:50

workout, but perhaps are a bit pushed

0:52

for time when it comes to fitting

0:54

everything in. I first

0:56

walked on head opera swim first thing in

0:58

the morning, and now, before I go, I

1:00

start the day with a glass of AG1,

1:03

which is a comprehensive, convenient blend of over

1:05

70 vitamins, minerals and

1:07

other ingredients. It includes

1:09

gut-friendly bacteria, antioxidants, high-quality

1:11

mushrooms and more. One

1:13

scoop of AG1 once a day contains

1:16

the nutrients you need to support

1:18

your mental performance, energy, heart health

1:20

and immune system. It's an

1:22

ideal pre-workout drink for me right now and helps

1:24

give me energy that I need for my swimming

1:26

and all the other stuff that I fit into

1:28

my day. Well I know how much you like

1:31

a healthy routine first thing in the morning and

1:33

it's good to know it's supporting your immune system

1:35

too. No woman in midlife has time to get

1:37

ill, do you though? Let's face it. No, exactly

1:40

and I have to be in tip-top condition

1:42

Trish. I also like AG1

1:44

because it's been designed by a team

1:46

of world-class scientists, and it's also simple

1:49

and convenient for me. And our listeners

1:51

can try it too if you want

1:53

to replace your multivitamin and more. Start

1:55

with AG1. Try AG1

1:57

and get a free one-year

1:59

supply. a Vitamin D and

2:01

five free AG1 travel packs

2:04

with your first subscription. Just

2:07

go to

2:09

drinkag1.com/postcards. That's

2:12

drinkag1.com/postcards. Pop

2:14

online and

2:16

check it

2:18

out. Yeah, Lady Danbury's

2:20

coming round. Lady

2:26

Danbury. I thought I'd make something that she'd enjoyed.

2:28

And it might match an outfit from her posh

2:30

closet. But no, Adjo was coming round, but I

2:32

am so excited to talk about Lady Danbury. I

2:35

mean, there's a lot of Bridgerton chat. There will

2:37

be a lot of Bridgerton chat. I just finished

2:39

the last season. Oh wow, okay, I haven't. So

2:41

there you go. Have you finished it? No. After

2:44

they made us watch the sex scene together at Gogglebox,

2:46

I was kind of done with Bridgerton for a minute.

2:49

I have to say I needed a break. And

2:52

I no longer can watch, I can't watch

2:54

that episode because I'll just get flashbacks of the

2:56

trauma of watching it with my mother. Let's talk

2:59

about Queen Charlotte with her. Oh yeah. And how

3:01

important that story was to tell. Yeah.

3:04

So I wanted to make something quite

3:06

regal and something with soul, bit

3:08

of depth. Cherries I thought

3:11

would be good. I wanted to get that nice

3:13

color. So we kind of muddled cherries with sarky

3:15

and some white vermouth and then vodka because

3:17

we were like, oh, that's a lot of alcohol.

3:19

But then we added vodka still. And

3:22

it's just magical. We've got this lovely syrup. Hey!

3:24

And then a bit of black cherry syrup. And

3:26

then we're just going to top up with champagne.

3:28

I mean, I just feel like this is who

3:30

we are today, people. Wagza. If

3:32

it's going to rain. If it's going to rain

3:34

in the middle of July. On a freak

3:36

and sunny summer day. That's right. You can

3:38

show you rainy, shiny summer. Show you England.

3:41

Cheers, everybody. Welcome to the table. Thank you

3:43

for having us. Welcome to our table. Thank

3:45

you. So in Antigua,

3:47

we have a thing called ducan.

3:50

It's basically a steamed sweet potato

3:52

coconut dumpling. And then there's

3:54

also a tamale. Oh,

3:56

that looks like it in my language. That's

3:58

good. And of course tamales

4:01

are made with corn and they are stuffed

4:03

and steamed and it's a, they're all sort

4:05

of, you know, they're kind of kissing cousins.

4:07

So I have made a dukamali. A dukamali.

4:10

Dukamali. Dukana and

4:12

a tamale mix it. Because I

4:14

basically have stuffed a dukana, which you

4:16

wouldn't normally do. So I've made the

4:18

sweet potato coconut dumpling and then I've

4:20

stuffed it with onions that are caramelised

4:22

with prunes and garlic and

4:24

prune juice and all the peelings and everything.

4:27

So there was no waste. I made a

4:29

stock from that and then reduced it down.

4:31

So that's inside and there's a bit of

4:33

oyster mushroom. Then we've got

4:35

an ackee and charred corn puree made

4:37

with oat milk. And

4:39

then the little crispy anockee mushrooms, which are

4:42

made with chickpea flour on the

4:44

outside and then you've got mushroom pecoras

4:46

here. So everything is everything. And on

4:48

here, she had a dale made of

4:50

burnt lemon vinaigrette. Yes. Do

4:53

we clap now then? Yes. Yes.

4:57

We said it might take a while. I'm

5:04

so pleased that you've both come and that

5:06

you've brought a dale to our table. Yes. I

5:08

mean, you work in radio. Absolutely. Yeah. And

5:12

for a long time. You're kind of quite regal in the world of radio. I mean, I've

5:14

been looking a lot. Is it BBC

5:16

radio also for a long time? BBC for

5:18

the past. Ooh, since 2001. Okay. We

5:21

must have crossed paths. We might have done,

5:23

yes. The Conmori days, you know, that's when

5:25

One Extra at first was, you know, created.

5:28

And it was an exciting time, I remember. I

5:30

am at One Extra in the minute, but I started

5:33

Radio 4. My first ever job was actually

5:35

working, reporting on 9-11. I was

5:37

on the team at Radio 4 for that, the current

5:39

affairs. Wow. But I

5:41

always knew that I wanted to get involved in music and young people not

5:43

saying that Radio 4 don't. Have young people.

5:45

I'm just saying... I'm on there.

5:47

See? The youngest of the youngs.

5:50

From Radio 4 to Radio 2 to

5:52

Radio 1 to One Extra, your

5:54

news, current affairs, and I kind of worked

5:56

my way through. But I just love music.

5:58

I love stuff that comes. So

6:00

then my first job on Radio 1 was working for

6:02

Razz Kwame. Yeah, yeah. Yeah,

6:04

Razz Kwame. And then

6:06

I did the chart show with Fern and Reggie. And

6:09

then Fern Kay, I worked with Etc. And

6:11

then I kind of moved to One X

6:13

Show. And the first person I worked with

6:15

One X Show was Trevor Nelson. Oh, wow.

6:17

And I was absolutely breaking it the night

6:19

before. I'm not often nervous, but the night before,

6:22

I couldn't eat, nothing was staying down. It

6:24

was horrendous. It was Trevor Nelson! Yeah,

6:26

yeah, yeah. And the worst thing is, I must

6:28

admit, he said he wanted me to do a show,

6:30

which is more pressure. Because I thought, this man

6:32

don't know me from anyone. What am I going to do

6:34

if I mess this up? Isn't that funny? No

6:36

question. So somebody else saw your potential and

6:39

you went, why? What are you talking about?

6:41

Yeah. Imposter syndrome. Yeah, yeah. It's really hard,

6:43

but it never goes. Oh, please

6:45

don't tell me that. It never goes, baby. You

6:48

don't have a first-person syndrome. Yes, I do. You,

6:50

listen, in my head, it's a bit of me

6:52

going, I'm from the Cotswolds. I

6:55

don't know what I'm doing here. I didn't

6:57

train at drama school. I didn't finish my

6:59

degree. I got my A-levels after

7:02

two goes. I

7:04

don't know what I'm doing here. So how did you

7:06

find yourself in the heady world of acting? In

7:08

the 1960s, in the Cotswolds, there

7:12

were three black people and we moved from

7:14

Leeds. So I was four

7:17

with a really strong Yorkshire accent rocked

7:19

up in the Cotswolds. Great. Good stuff.

7:22

So my football team, Leeds. How

7:24

good? Acting was not something

7:26

anyone in the Cotswolds did. You didn't do

7:28

acting. What, you're talking about smart girls. They

7:31

worked for the bank or as a building

7:33

society, or maybe they did the civil service

7:35

exams. You didn't go to university. I used

7:37

to do plays for my parents. I used

7:40

to get all the local kids. I'd dress

7:42

up. I had secret clubs. I'd make special

7:44

books and we'd help during the membership club

7:46

and solve mysteries. Stop mysteries.

7:49

Listen, listen, we found

7:51

a key. It belonged to

7:53

the village hall. And

7:55

then the only thing we used to do, we used to sit in

7:58

the bus shelter with our little

8:00

people. membership books and we write down

8:02

car number plates for so few cars.

8:05

By the time you get up to that there in London, people

8:07

are like, oh my God, I died

8:09

and gone to heaven. There is everything

8:11

here. And I'm still a

8:14

bit like that. Yeah. And you talk about, I read

8:16

an interview where you talked about being quite

8:18

fighty. You had to

8:20

fight. It was a fighty time. It was a

8:22

very fighty time. It's true. I got beaten up

8:24

quite a lot when I was in the infants. I

8:26

thought that's what part of going to school was

8:28

that somebody would go, with your

8:30

head against the wall. But then I got to

8:33

the juniors and I discovered you could head back

8:35

people and they'd stay away. It's true. Yeah. I

8:37

thought I'll employ that tactic

8:39

then. Or I'd do some

8:41

humour or a silly song or Paul, you

8:43

know, being a sailor. Smart. Yeah. And push

8:45

comes to shove. I'll knock you out. Kadoosh.

8:47

Yeah. So there was a lot of that.

8:49

But you must have had this in

8:51

Suffolk. I love nature. I give

8:54

the cultswolds all my love

8:56

for nature and all my love that when

8:58

I got to Brixton, I was like, Brixton,

9:01

come to the cultswolds. I

9:05

never loved nature. Never loved nature. I can't

9:07

be bothered walking that handed. Oh, well, maybe it had the

9:09

opposite effect on you. It had the opposite effect on me.

9:11

Maybe you were like, take me to the concrete. I was

9:13

like, this is shit. We used to pick damnsons. Like if

9:16

you take the flowers off nettles, stinging nettles and suck it,

9:18

it's sweet. This is the stuff I want to know. I'd

9:20

love to go like hill walking with my mother and talk

9:22

about the sweet, mister ver. Mommy's lifts it. Mom's

9:26

got bad knees. She can't be asking. She couldn't be asking. She

9:28

had two knees anyways. So

9:31

basically, sorry, I just want to get this clear.

9:33

So you both leave. I mean, my mum was

9:35

16 when she came to the big city. I

9:37

don't know about you, but she went straight, you

9:39

know, right into the scene, which at

9:41

the time was heady, punk. So this

9:43

is what fascinates me about

9:47

you and I in terms of mirroring each

9:49

other. We both had what I call the

9:51

great awakening, which was punk. Oh my

9:53

God! And it just was the meat

9:55

food. It was the most brilliant thing.

9:58

I mean, I know I waggle. I

10:00

went on about it and I could see

10:02

my kids eyes are like glazed. No, I'm

10:04

very interested. But I just,

10:06

the clash and the slits came and played in

10:09

Berry. Did you see the same joke? I

10:14

saw the clash, Richard Hamlet, the voidoids

10:16

and the looze. Shut up! French

10:18

punk band. Shut up! Shut up!

10:22

I saw them in 77. The clash

10:24

line was like nothing. Oh my

10:26

God. On this level. But

10:28

we can say if you say it, a clash gig changed both of

10:30

your lives. A clash gig changed both of your lives. And

10:32

the slits were the other one. I love the slits.

10:34

Because Ari was the same age as us. Ari was

10:37

14, Ari was 15 years old. And if people don't

10:39

know, I mean, do you know about the slits today?

10:41

Thank you. And people who don't know, then

10:43

you need to get to know. Just

10:45

go on Spotify, go on YouTube, because you need

10:47

to see these. Yeah, first female punk band in

10:50

this country and just tore it up. And

10:52

my auntie is Tessa Pollitt from the slits. Okay,

10:54

there you go. So it's all family and very

10:56

proud of me. I came to friends later on, but

10:59

I mean, if I'd known that when I was 15, I'd have

11:01

started and gone to heaven, you know what I mean?

11:03

So what's the effect of you watching the first time?

11:05

You know what it was? It was... I

11:08

remember thinking, I fucking knew it. I

11:11

knew you could do whatever you liked. I

11:14

really suspected it quite strongly.

11:16

Everybody kept telling me you couldn't. I was thinking, I

11:18

don't believe you. And then I saw

11:21

the slits and went, ha! Because

11:23

they were just wild. They were just

11:25

liberated human beings. Because they clashed in

11:27

the slits, right? And for me, the

11:29

Loos, this French punk band, Loos means

11:32

holes. So they called themselves the holes.

11:34

It was like, yeah. Brilliant. And they

11:36

were all like... Yeah. They

11:38

were French. They were never jackets. They

11:40

were like, yeah. You want

11:43

to fight me? I want to

11:45

fight me, too. And I loved

11:47

Richard Hell and the Voidoy. How do I? I

11:49

still love Richard Hell. I love Richard Hell. And

11:52

then the clash, it was just... And

11:55

apart from being ridiculously beautiful... Paul

11:58

and Joan were like, she... beyond,

12:00

and Joe's children were beyond handsome. They

12:04

weren't magnetic, but meh. It

12:06

was Mick Jones for me. It was in meh! It's

12:09

quite an agunty but smart. No, smart,

12:11

smart, smart, smart. I was

12:13

so obsessed with Joe and Paul, but you're

12:15

right, Mick. But your

12:17

dad was a multi-instrumentalist. So my

12:19

dad, so dad

12:22

was a journalist in Ghana. Oh, wow.

12:24

So all the confusing things are, because

12:26

everybody goes, Kwame and Kraman, the first

12:28

sub-Saharan, all of that, all

12:31

absolutely true. Also, because he was a Marxist,

12:33

and the Cold War was being fought on

12:35

the continent of Africa, the

12:37

CIA were in Ghana before it was even

12:39

Ghana trying to destabilize it, because they didn't

12:42

want a Marxist to succeed. And when they

12:44

declassified all these documents, it was like, eh,

12:46

yeah, all that. So

12:48

he got rightly paranoid that

12:51

his political opponents were trying

12:53

to do him down. Private kingdom. Well,

12:56

Lumumba had gone, I mean. And

12:58

so he insisted that everybody had

13:00

to join the party. And

13:03

dad worked for The Daily Graphic, which was like,

13:05

The Daily Mirror had set it up. It was

13:07

the last newspaper. He was the chief sub-editor. He

13:10

and many others refused to sign to join

13:13

the party. Like a swear allegiance company.

13:15

Because their argument was, the

13:18

foundation of a free democracy is a free

13:20

press that holds power to account.

13:22

So they wouldn't sign. People disappeared, people

13:25

got thrown out of helicopters, people went into

13:27

exile, yes. And one night,

13:29

my father's father was, he

13:32

was the chief surveyor for cocoa

13:34

plantations in Ghana. He used to go

13:36

around on his motorbike surveying agriculture.

13:39

So he was like a civil servant, so he was in the

13:41

know. So he came home one night and he was like, you

13:43

have to leave, you have to leave tonight. Don't tell us where

13:45

you're going. He came to England. He

13:48

was 26, third

13:50

class passage on a bird to England. So

13:53

he's got stories, man. They never tells you

13:55

until, like I was telling, talk to him

13:57

about the bridge of spiders, that film with

13:59

Tom Hanks. spice. He's like,

14:01

yes, I was in Berlin

14:03

as a war warrior. Who

14:05

are you? Extraordinary

14:08

stories. But one of

14:10

the, he said his earliest memory is

14:12

of his mother singing and playing guitar.

14:14

Because his mother was a guitarist in

14:17

a Palm Court Orchestra in the 1920s.

14:19

I have photographs of her in a

14:21

cloche, her flapper dress with the band.

14:23

So, so Mama was a musician. Dad

14:26

plays, you know, the mandolin and guitar

14:29

and flute. And he was in folk

14:31

bands all through my childhood. So the

14:33

reason I first came across punk was

14:36

because dad loved the chieftains and John

14:38

Peel used to play the chieftains

14:40

on his show. So you heard punk on John

14:42

Peel. So I heard punk in 76

14:45

in the middle of the Cotswolds. Wow. You must have been like, what?

14:48

Because my dad was, because we were listening to, you know, yeah,

14:50

my dad's 92 in September. And so I was like, so, because

14:56

we try and go to Ghana every year. And I was like, so dad,

14:58

are we going to Ghana this, this year? We

15:01

went in February. And he was like, well, we'll see.

15:03

And I was like, that doesn't know if he's come

15:05

back to Ghana. Does he think he's going to die?

15:07

But no, later on, he was like,

15:09

no, I had to find out when the choral rehearsals

15:11

are. Because he still sings

15:13

in his choral society and he didn't want

15:15

to miss too many rehearsals before the performance.

15:17

What's your dad's name? Frank

15:20

Charles Echo and Nocchi Andal. What a

15:23

dude. Here's the Frank. I'm just going

15:25

to raise a glass of Frank. I'm

15:27

slightly obsessed with him now. If he

15:29

says there's a weird bald black woman

15:31

hanging outside the wall, it'll be me.

15:33

Take me out of the country. Frank,

15:36

hurry up. We

16:00

brought in a reverse auctioneer, which is apparently a thing.

16:02

Mint Mobile unlimited premium wireless. I'm going to get 30,

16:04

30, I'm going to get 30, I'm going to get

16:06

30, I'm going to get 20,

16:08

20, I'm going to get 20, 20, I'm

16:10

going to get 15, 15, 15, just 15

16:12

bucks a month. So give it a try

16:14

at mintmobile.com/switch. $45 up front for three

16:16

months plus taxes and fees. Promote for new customers for limited

16:18

time. Unlimited more than 40 gigabytes per month. Slows. Full

16:21

turns at mintmobile.com. Hey, I'm Ryan

16:23

Reynolds. At Mint Mobile, we like to do

16:25

the opposite of what Big Wireless does. They

16:28

charge you a lot, we charge you a

16:30

little. So naturally, when they announced they'd be

16:32

raising their prices due to inflation, we decided

16:34

to deflate our prices due to not hating

16:36

you. That's right, we're cutting the price of

16:38

Mint Unlimited from $30 a month to just

16:40

$15 a month. Give

16:44

it a try at mintmobile.com/switch.

16:47

$45 up front for three months plus taxes and fees. Promote it

16:49

for new customers for a limited time. Unlimited more than 40 gigabytes

16:51

per month, slows. Full terms at mintmobile.com. We're

16:59

at a table of, as we've seen,

17:01

four milestones in life, 40, 50,

17:04

and then 60. And

17:12

Adra and my mum are both women who've had

17:14

immense kind of crazy next

17:17

level success in their 50s. And

17:20

for me, it's been a beautiful thing to watch

17:22

happen to my mother. I've also loved watching your

17:24

career just go into unbelievable places. The next hemisphere.

17:27

Yes, the next hemisphere. Oh yeah,

17:29

come on now. And what about you with your career?

17:31

Because it feels like you have more worked steadily for

17:33

years and years in one place

17:35

that is quite, I mean, I want to

17:37

say safe, but that isn't how I feel at the BBC. Nothing

17:41

safe, darling. Not anymore, darling. Do

17:44

you think those days are completely gone? Yes,

17:47

they're gone. However, I think for me,

17:49

it's interesting actually, because my mum came from Trinidad

17:51

in 1963 and I

17:53

think my parents, mum's 90s, 10s, 80s,

17:56

their thinking has been good. You're

17:58

at the BBC. Stay there. Right. Right.

18:02

Don't leave. Right. Exactly.

18:05

You've landed, you've arrived. It's world service. How'd

18:07

you say? They're all world service children, our parents. They're

18:09

all world service children. They believe that whole thing. I

18:11

love the world service. Because as an

18:14

institution it's a beautiful thing. It's

18:18

also a time though where I'm at that

18:20

age where I'm learning from the Gen Zers.

18:22

And what are we? Boomers.

18:25

Boomers. We're the tail ender.

18:27

Boomers. Yeah. So I've

18:29

kind of watched you as boomers live through stuff

18:32

and then now be victorious and happy and content

18:34

and sexy in your 60s. My

18:36

generation is an interesting one as in

18:39

first immigrant child. So say

18:41

my dad is Celia and my mum is Trinidad.

18:43

I'm born here. So already there's three different cultures,

18:46

three different names, right? So

18:48

if you think about it, when they first came and they were

18:50

spat out and they were called all kinds of names, et cetera,

18:52

you knew in your head, okay,

18:54

this is not home. There

18:57

is another called home where I won't get

18:59

spat at, whether it's Trinidad, Ghana, et cetera.

19:02

But then people like me grew up and

19:05

I may not get spat at, but I will get things

19:07

told about me, said to me,

19:09

et cetera. But the funny thing is this

19:11

is my home. I have nowhere else to think of that I can

19:14

refer to. So this generation I

19:16

found, an attitude BBC thing, is

19:18

that I'm now realizing that there has to be more to

19:21

life than what I see. So the, God bless

19:23

you, the James Zias are

19:25

the ones that are saying actually, no, I don't

19:27

have to do this, I don't want to. My

19:29

parents are saying you stick around and do what's

19:31

right. Whereas I'm the middle, but I was like,

19:34

I think I might do something different. And

19:36

having people like Adjua in my life makes me

19:38

realize you don't have to do the same thing

19:40

that everyone else has done. Or what you're told

19:42

to. What you're told to, because also

19:45

they gave you a script that they

19:47

thought they had to follow and they

19:49

did it obediently. But then I'm

19:51

starting to realize that you followed the scripts and you still

19:53

got treated badly. You still get treated like

19:55

sheets, you really know what you want anywhere. And you can

19:57

exceed your own expectations. I think it's a

19:59

really interesting conversation. between those of us whose

20:01

parents have come from somewhere else and

20:03

the somewhere else everybody was like them.

20:07

Exactly. So

20:09

my dad, you

20:11

know, you could be a road sweeper or the president, but

20:14

you all look like my dad. The

20:16

hierarchies definitely were there. There'd be tribal

20:18

hierarchies, there'd be class hierarchies because class

20:20

is everything. But

20:24

you were in your land with people

20:26

who were you. For our

20:29

generation, we are born somewhere where,

20:33

you know, I love Ghana, I feel very

20:35

connected to Ghana, but it's not where I

20:37

was raised. I was raised

20:39

here. So there's something about

20:41

my dad's sense of self is

20:43

born somewhere where everybody is like him. It's

20:46

very solid. And it means that he can,

20:48

he can replant himself somewhere else where he

20:50

may have there is a home. He may

20:52

be abused and all that sort of stuff.

20:54

But he has a sense of self that

20:57

was created somewhere else, even if it was

20:59

a colonized country and you were that it

21:01

was still there were traditions, there were routines,

21:03

there was food, there was history. Yes. So

21:05

for us, we are the children of those

21:07

people who are sort of self confident because

21:10

of where they're from. But we

21:12

are here. So we

21:14

have to find our own sense of confidence in

21:16

a place that goes where you from?

21:18

No, but where you really from? And

21:21

so we're constantly having to justify our existence

21:24

here. But we are, you

21:26

know, I'm born in Bristol. I'm raised

21:28

in Leeds in the Cotswolds. I can

21:30

milk cows by hand if you want

21:32

to. So we're a sort of weird

21:34

hybrid. Yeah, because because we still have

21:36

the pet, our parents are still, you

21:40

know, I spent my whole childhood waiting

21:42

to go home. Yeah, right. Like this

21:44

was an aberration and we were going

21:46

home. Right. And then we didn't because

21:48

politics. And then you get home and

21:51

you they go, ah, English gal. Ah,

21:53

Bruni. Yeah. Yeah. And you go, oh,

21:55

shit, I'm not from here either. Which,

21:57

but for me, that was actually odd.

21:59

again I was like, oh. All

22:02

bets are off then. So all bets are off, I'm not from there

22:04

and I'm not from here. So I really can do whatever the fuck

22:06

I want. Right. Do you know

22:08

what I mean? No rules apply because no

22:11

parameters seem to apply. And everybody

22:13

keeps telling me something that I don't understand.

22:15

Like I grew up here in the UK with

22:18

people going, you know, go home, nigga mind

22:20

you'll be all white in the morning. That

22:22

was my favourite. Daily, daily, I'm sure

22:24

all of us around this table have had enough of

22:26

that shit. And then I got to Antigone, I was

22:28

like, oh my God, everybody's black, it's this incredible boys,

22:31

oh my God. And, you know,

22:33

I got to Antigone's carnival, I was 16, I went mental, do

22:35

you know what I mean? Yes. And

22:37

then they started calling me English, yeah. And I was

22:40

like, oh, I'm not from here either,

22:42

am I? Because culturally people would do all these things,

22:44

I'd think, what are you doing? Right. And

22:47

why are you doing it? You know what I mean? I realise

22:49

I'm so British. So where do you find your fit then? In

22:51

my heart. That's where

22:53

I fit. I fit in me and I love being in

22:55

Antigone and I love being here and I'm at home here

22:57

and I'm at home in Antigone, but

23:00

my real home is internal, is

23:02

something that I eventually got to. It took

23:05

me a while to get to that and

23:07

it's actually quite a nice thing because that

23:09

means everywhere you go, your home

23:12

resides within. That

23:14

confidence is incredible though, I haven't even got

23:16

that as yet. That there is phenomenal to

23:18

me. You've got 11 years, love. I was

23:20

going to say it's an old thing. Ask your

23:22

senior. Yeah. We're

23:26

just still buying cushions for our

23:28

heart and they've got like furniture.

23:31

Still tech companies. But

23:34

there is something incredibly liberating about that, to

23:36

just go, I'm of all

23:38

places and no places and I will make

23:40

those choices for myself. And I'm

23:43

absolutely now, I just feel like I go with

23:45

what my instinct does. So

23:47

if my heart cleaves to something, then I will

23:49

lean into that. And it can be anywhere. And

23:53

I'm like, I will assert that freedom.

23:55

I am a human being on the

23:57

planet and everybody is... is

24:00

my family and everywhere is my place.

24:03

So how do you carry though the weight

24:05

of your expectations of your family, your elders,

24:07

et cetera? I don't. I shut them off

24:09

at this stage. I'm just like, come on

24:11

now. You know, I mean, my dad has

24:13

been waiting for me to finish my law degree. I spent

24:16

time now. Is

24:18

he not aware that you're quite busy with

24:21

your massive acting career at this point? Is he

24:23

like, comforting the world in other ways? No, he,

24:25

you know. How does he have that?

24:27

You know, finish your degree. Yes, not finishing.

24:30

Because there were certain things. You're supposed to

24:32

sick. That were really important for that generation,

24:34

for the first generation, immigrant people, for diasporic

24:36

people, when they hit whatever land it is

24:38

they're going to hit, it's certain things they

24:40

want for their children. So they know their

24:43

children are going to be safe. And prosperous.

24:45

Have a better life. And those things, there

24:47

are markers that university. And you can't take

24:49

knowledge away. Part of me wants to go, you

24:51

see you, dad, you see how you

24:54

just, you had to flee, you came

24:56

here, you made a life for yourself.

24:58

You are doing all the things, you,

25:00

you, I am your child, trust me.

25:02

Exactly. I am your child. Yes. That

25:05

resilience, that determination to go, I'm not going to

25:07

go under, I will reframe my life and I

25:09

will make something of it. Absolutely. That gives me

25:11

joy. That is very true. I'm like, I

25:14

am your inheritance. That is very, very true.

25:16

And be, be, be glad. Listen, these are

25:18

your stories come to life. Yeah. Now

25:21

I want to talk about love actually, because I read a beautiful

25:23

article with your husband, about when

25:25

you first met. How we met. I did get married,

25:27

but you know, when I got married, the

25:30

church was full of people that were like, she ain't

25:32

gonna get married. They're like, I got to see this.

25:34

Really? Are

25:37

you not, so you weren't someone that was thinking about marriage a lot?

25:39

Never. My mother's advice was,

25:42

live with them if you have to, don't

25:44

get married, always have your own checkbook. Wow.

25:47

Think, into the 1970s, if you were a woman and

25:50

you wanted a mortgage, your husband had to sign

25:52

for you. When my mum and dad got divorced,

25:54

and she wants to take over the end of

25:56

the mortgage, she had to get him to sign

25:58

it. My mum was treated. like the Hall

26:00

of Babylon when they got divorced. Friends,

26:03

lost friends. Because nice

26:05

women didn't get divorced. And

26:08

they certainly didn't move out and take the kids and do all of

26:10

that, you know. So how did you approach

26:12

falling in love and wanting to get married? No,

26:15

we didn't. We were together for ages before we got

26:17

married. You smile, oh, she really was. The

26:20

kids upstaged us all the way up the...

26:22

I was like, I am wearing my wedding

26:24

dress. Absolutely. And they're all looking

26:26

cute and they're not doing something. I

26:28

was like, hello, centister. How

26:31

long were you together before you got married? About

26:33

eight years. I really love marriage and really would

26:35

love to get married and see what that heart

26:38

journey's like. OK, what's that about? Is

26:41

it just a curiosity if it's something you

26:43

don't know? Yes, maybe. And also what it

26:45

really feels like to be committed to someone

26:48

in your head for the rest of your life. The

26:50

idea that there would be anyone I would like that

26:52

much. Also, I like tradition. Are

26:55

you going to be in the kitchen cooking

26:57

supper? No. And washing

26:59

the floors? No, but I've always... What do

27:01

you mean tradition? Which tradition are you talking

27:03

of? Good luck, Akita. Can you come over

27:05

and watch a week with Nancy? I

27:07

mean like the tradition, the archaic

27:09

tradition of marriage and

27:13

that kind of union. You mean a wedding? A wedding

27:15

would be great, but I'm talking about marriage. OK. But

27:19

on the other hand, I

27:21

have always been sort of

27:24

slightly more financially... made

27:26

more money than my partners. So actually

27:29

I haven't really had what people would see as

27:31

like a kind of traditional relationship where the man

27:33

is making more money. Or even the same. Or

27:35

even the same. So I've had

27:37

a bit of like... I don't know. That's good. That's

27:39

good because that's who you are and that's what

27:42

you do. And the partner you want... Look, waggy

27:44

finger. No, please. The partner you

27:46

want is the one who goes, hooray,

27:50

you're amazing. Look

27:52

at what you do. I can't believe I'm lucky

27:55

enough to be with you. I can't

27:57

believe I haven't met someone who can do that yet. And stand alongside

27:59

you. And you know, it's

28:01

what's that thing about they'll drive in the Cadillac with

28:03

you, but when it breaks down, they'll get on the

28:05

bus with you. Oh, I love that. I

28:08

love that. I

28:10

love that. It's just a different pool of people

28:12

as well. It depends also where you're at, I

28:14

guess. It's quite hard to meet people. It is,

28:17

because again, back to the parents, if they're told

28:19

us to be the best we can be, okay,

28:21

then our partners, the parents, have to say the

28:23

same. And if we're not finding the same reciprocity,

28:26

God bless you, Lauryn Hill, reciprocity, then it's

28:28

not going to work, is it? You

28:31

got it, right? She's always

28:33

on. It's a different pool of people, that's all

28:36

it is. It just means you haven't met the

28:38

person yet because the standard is

28:40

a different standard. The standard has only been risen

28:42

recently. It's fine. How

28:45

about you, Adele? What's lovely? Oh, that's

28:47

hilarious. Oh, me? Oh, no. I was

28:49

waxing so lyrical about someone else. Tim

28:52

thinking that's me. No, but

28:54

you've also been working constantly for 20 years

28:56

or 30 years. I've also found

28:58

recently that success isn't just

29:00

in your paycheck or in your status.

29:04

And to be vulnerable

29:06

and honest, I haven't seen a

29:08

successful home relationship in

29:11

my family. Okay. So

29:14

people get along and we do well, et

29:16

cetera, and I find different members of family

29:19

every now and then. But I've not seen what

29:21

you were talking about, which is just the companionship. You

29:23

know what else it is? It's more like the balance.

29:26

If I can run the world, I've seen

29:28

aunties and moms do it before. They've had

29:30

to go right-lits. Do this, kids.

29:33

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, and they're graceful and they're beautiful and

29:35

they are bitter because they've been hurt, but

29:37

they still do it, right? So you

29:39

think, okay, I'll do the next thing too, but I

29:41

need to find the balance. And like you,

29:43

I haven't found that because I think also

29:46

they think, oh, she's fine. No, I

29:48

want to be able to find someone I

29:50

can lean into. Yes. Like he

29:52

can lean into me. Yes. That's all it

29:54

is. And the appreciation and

29:56

acknowledgement of that has been the

29:58

last... The last... You need kind

30:00

people. Kindness, yes! Kindness is my top.

30:03

Oh my word. That's your top, Trump.

30:05

It's the kindness, my stepdad is an

30:07

extremely kind man. He's

30:09

a really kind man. Why is that not valued?

30:12

With Melanie. Because we live in a very

30:14

repetitive society that says, never mind kindness, get

30:16

out of my way. And

30:19

actually, I would love to go, hooray

30:22

for kindness. No, you're pushy, get away.

30:25

You're kind, you come. Yes, I mean

30:27

funny, sexy, bubble kind. Having

30:30

ambition, I think people become so laser

30:33

focused on what they want to achieve for themselves,

30:35

that they forget that real success, that was what

30:37

you were saying about what is success. Real

30:40

success I've really learned is about the

30:42

community around you and the people around

30:44

you and everyone rising together. If you're

30:46

just looking about how you can rise

30:48

alone, it's not the same kind of

30:50

rise. Because also community is about legacy,

30:52

and I find legacy outlasts us. Someone

30:54

asked me how far ahead I think

30:56

I planned my life. It's

30:58

five years, ten years, I was saying it's more

31:01

like 200. Yeah, yeah. Because in my head, I

31:03

don't have kids, but what I

31:05

want to leave behind is something for

31:07

my nieces and nephews to enjoy, for generations

31:09

to come. Because also,

31:12

let's not forget that people like the royals

31:14

have learned this, correct? So they know

31:16

who they're great, great, great, great, great, great. They know what

31:18

it means. They know what it means. From who you come

31:20

from. It's all up on the wall in the house. Exactly.

31:23

Great, great, great, great, great, great. Yes, and you know, all of that. We

31:25

should have the kings that we come from adorning our walls. Exactly.

31:27

And some of us don't even know that, because of

31:29

course we know that the bloodline is cut short. So

31:32

in terms of who we are, where we've

31:34

ancestors, who we've come from, but also who's

31:37

coming up next. And I

31:39

think what you're saying about community is really, really important.

31:41

You know where I learned that? Punk.

31:44

Punk. Do you know what?

31:46

You wouldn't expect it. The things we learnt from punk. Because

31:48

not the things people think we learnt. It's like, first of

31:50

all, the thing that I was struck by by punk was

31:52

the free thinkingness of it. The freedom of

31:54

it. I could be in a space with. people

32:00

who were not supposed to be my

32:02

fellows. I could be with skins, I

32:05

could be with punks, I could be with rasters, I

32:07

could be with straight people, I could be with LGBT.

32:11

Everybody was there and everybody

32:13

was there because we all

32:15

loved this free-spirited expression through

32:18

music. And you never knew what the music was gonna sound

32:20

like. You never knew. It was just all like, bah, bah,

32:22

bah, bah. It was so much freedom

32:24

and such a broad church.

32:26

And creativity. And creativity, lyricism.

32:29

And it made us a

32:31

very DIY generation. All

32:33

right. All right. All right. All

32:35

right. All right. All right. All

32:38

right. All right. All right. All

32:40

right. All right. All right.

32:43

So, Adele, your parents. Yes.

32:46

Here I am. Came from Trini and

32:48

Sierra Leone. Yes. And why did

32:50

they come and what did they do? Thank you. And

32:52

how did they make? Two very different

32:55

lives. My mum, God

32:57

bless her heart, was an orphan at the age of 10.

33:00

So, she basically left

33:03

Trini when he was 20

33:05

something years of age to find what she could find.

33:07

She'd been split from her brother and her sister from the age of

33:09

10 to like 26. And where

33:12

was she placed when she became an orphan?

33:14

You know that thing they do was in 1942,

33:18

you don't really get counselling. So you get shipped

33:20

off another member of the family. Yes. So

33:23

there was some family she went to, didn't know who it

33:25

was. So then uncle and auntie and mum just were

33:27

somewhere else. Between,

33:29

yeah, in the early 40s. So

33:32

mum got herself together, I came here in 63

33:34

with a view actually to

33:37

moving to America. So I could have had an American

33:39

accent. Lord God. Imagine.

33:43

So mum was here and then she

33:45

fell into nursing and then became a midwife

33:47

for 35 something years, delivered hundreds and hundreds

33:49

of babies and that became a few things.

33:51

Wow. Wow. And then mother,

33:53

the little girl who's an orphan ended up delivering

33:55

her. Oh, I've just seen the majesty put you

33:57

to such a... Yes. Yes!

34:00

Isn't that beautiful? Whoa! Yes!

34:03

I just... Fuck

34:06

yeah! That is poetry, my God!

34:08

That is beautiful. And she wanted loads of kids

34:11

that only had me, but it's essentially... She had

34:13

hundreds. She had a queen. Do you see why

34:15

we have Adjuaa and that in our presence? Makitha

34:17

said I can't wait for Adjuaa to come. She

34:19

has such king energy. Yes! Yes!

34:21

King! My dad's completely different.

34:23

He, West African, first

34:26

born of his generation, parents were

34:28

very well off. And basically came here to

34:30

study. He became the head... So, his

34:32

first boys came to him. And his trini. No,

34:35

he's trini. He's trini. That's why I look so

34:37

dark. My mom is trini. Yeah, so he's dark,

34:39

skin-stirly man. Imagine... I

34:41

know them. So, when did your daddy come? At the same

34:44

time. They met in 70. Then

34:46

here I was four years later. But they came in the

34:48

middle of London in the 60s. Wow.

34:51

So, they saw James Brown and they

34:53

saw these people and I think you

34:55

lot are so blessed. You make me

34:57

sick. I can't... I can never

35:00

see this, you know? I know. But

35:02

basically they were two completely different worlds that met. Dad

35:05

was head of CRE, head of research.

35:07

He advised Margaret Thatcher on the riots in 1981. All

35:11

that kind of stuff. So, very, very, very, very educated.

35:13

Yes. And then you really are

35:16

aware of just all these different cultures. Because they're an

35:18

awesome mum. It's why it fascinates me where

35:20

you come from. Because I'm essentially an only

35:22

child, right? So I feel I'm

35:24

it of all of these people. But mum

35:26

came from trini. My granddad came from Venezuela,

35:29

grandma Panama. My dad's Sierra Leone.

35:31

My grandma on his side is

35:33

Nigerian. My grandfather Liberian. So, already

35:35

it's like six, seven countries

35:38

to make one little Adele. And

35:40

it always fascinates me to think really how much it

35:42

took to get us where we are. I'm going to

35:44

write about that. I'm writing about that. That

35:46

how you get from all these tree

35:48

branches to this one. Right. Because

35:51

it's the world. It's our history. History

35:54

is enormous. It's like a Russian doll.

35:57

You just keep opening it. another

36:00

and it's so rich and it's

36:02

so not the parochial conversations we

36:04

have about where are you from?

36:06

It's like how many hours have

36:08

you got? I can take you

36:10

in so many different dimensions. Also

36:12

you think about how we teach

36:14

us history at school literally. There's

36:19

a lot of tutors and the Nazis and that's

36:21

all that happened apparently. He paid me the aid

36:23

in his dick and Adolpita and

36:25

that's your lockmate. It's

36:28

just exhausting. Do you know Patterson

36:30

Joseph? Amazing actor, really

36:32

great writer, he wrote this brilliant book called

36:35

The Secret Diaries of Ignatius Sancho and it

36:37

was all these letters about Ignatius Sancho, the

36:39

first black man to ever vote in this

36:41

country. A really fascinating thing and he's done

36:43

a plane. He's done a one man show.

36:46

I came and did it in Antigua at our

36:48

project and I went and took my mum and

36:50

my uncle John and it's just brilliant because he

36:53

juxtaposes Sancho growing up in the 1800s

36:55

with his life growing up in Wilston in

36:58

the 1970s and you get

37:00

this kind of brilliant interweaving

37:03

of time but it's just about these two

37:05

boys. All the time you're like

37:07

it's just two boys and if people taught us history

37:10

the way that Patterson has written Sancho

37:12

means, we'd be absolutely grateful.

37:15

We'd all be historians because it's fascinating.

37:18

I always say history is like you

37:20

know we're exactly the same, some

37:22

of the legislation's different but with better

37:24

plumbing and pain relief. Yes, right.

37:28

Do you know what I mean? But

37:30

essentially all the things we feel are

37:32

the same, fear, joy, delight, curiosity. I

37:34

think that would have been such a

37:36

powerful thing to learn in school, to

37:38

learn that the emotions were the same

37:40

then. Because it makes you understand

37:42

the kind of pain of an enslaved people. It's

37:44

not just like, and then put these people in,

37:47

think about you and your sister and

37:49

your mother and your fears and

37:51

your... Exactly. That's what you've got to do. You

37:54

understand generational trauma. Otherwise you really sanitise

37:56

the story. You strip it of all

37:58

its colour. all its relevance as

38:01

well, which means it's easier to

38:03

dismiss it. And also you lose

38:05

the triumph of the existence of

38:08

us all the way down the line. Yes,

38:10

we really are survivors. We're

38:13

thrivers. Thrivers, that's what I would say.

38:15

We're going to survive. Thrivers. Thrivers.

38:22

I've discovered I'm an eighth Yerba. Oh,

38:25

wow! I'm 38% Nigerian. So,

38:28

talking of knowing where you're from, OK, my mum, as

38:30

a, we went to, we did the show about the

38:32

Caribbean three years ago, so my mum would have been

38:34

in her late 50s. And someone who is

38:37

an interested, smart, you

38:40

know, researched motherfucker and had never, ever

38:42

thought to think, wonder where in Africa

38:44

we're from? Like, we've never thought about

38:46

it, never discussed it. We're Antiguan. And

38:49

obviously we're not just Antiguan. And not

38:51

at all. No, no, not even kind

38:53

of. Not one, I haven't got one

38:56

drop of Caribbean blood. Because,

38:59

of course, because it's just where we were taken.

39:01

Black people are from the Caribbean. We're from Africa.

39:04

It's a geography that you were put in. Yes.

39:07

It's the Taino and the Caribs and

39:09

the Amerindians, who are the indigenous people

39:11

of the Caribbean. Most, you know, you

39:13

do a lot of black people, a

39:15

lot of Caribbean people's DNA or whatever

39:18

it is, with genealogy. And

39:20

it's like, I'm 38% Nigerian. Benin,

39:23

Togo, Mali. West Bantu,

39:25

the German, the Scottish

39:27

course, because they're everywhere. Yeah.

39:30

But it was very active at the time. But

39:32

it was really interesting, because it's something that you

39:34

know academically,

39:37

but not intellectually. But

39:39

to understand it emotionally, when I saw it, I

39:42

was in bits. Those are the things, you

39:45

know, the ethos

39:47

of divide and conquer. Yes. You

39:49

deny people their history, their language,

39:52

their story, their roots, their sense

39:54

of place. Once

39:56

you do that, and then you export

39:59

them. them, like a pair of

40:01

shoes to somewhere else and

40:03

you put them there, we are

40:06

unmoored. And then we come here and it's

40:09

like, well, I can't trace my history

40:11

back to, you know, John of Gaunt. So

40:14

you're not in the... And

40:16

you have no stories of

40:18

importance. It's an

40:20

active meant strategy.

40:23

Yes, deliberate. Because if you unmoor people,

40:25

you can move them wherever you want.

40:27

But it's also, but it's

40:29

not just about race. Working class men in

40:31

this country were not allowed to vote for

40:35

centuries and centuries. If you didn't own land,

40:37

you had to own land. Women, I

40:39

mean, if you still happen to get your

40:42

husband to sign for your mortgage application, you

40:44

know, 50 years ago, these

40:46

tropes are world tropes of ways of

40:49

disenfranchising people so that you can make

40:51

them to your will, which is what's

40:53

so thrilling to me about the Labour

40:55

Party winning this election. There are over

40:57

250 women in parliament. For

41:01

the first time. For the first time. I mean,

41:03

like, what do you mean that we now have

41:05

ministers who are on free school meals and grow

41:08

up in cancer? Who know what it feels like.

41:10

How can you legislate for the nation if you've

41:12

not experienced what the nation experiences? So I'm kind

41:14

of excited about it. The hope that I have

41:17

in my heart so strongly. I mean, I just

41:19

have hope. I mean, and I hope that I'm

41:21

right. But my hope is that

41:23

the new legislations that will happen, the new

41:25

thought that will go into things is going

41:27

to be about really the heart of

41:29

the matter because they know what it feels like

41:31

when there's no food on the table in the

41:33

summer holidays. They know what it feels like when all

41:36

of the youth clubs get shut down

41:38

and there's fuck all to do it, except stand on the

41:40

street with your mates. And they know what it

41:42

feels like when the fact that you're just standing on the streets

41:44

with your mates suddenly becomes criminal. Do you

41:47

know what I mean? And all of the things that we all

41:49

talk about, you know, David Lambie is a foreign secretary. That gives

41:51

me hope. I know. This is a good

41:53

start. He's actually not smart and he's sharp. And

41:55

Diane Lambie is the mother of the

41:57

house. Oh my God. Come

42:00

now! Ooh! That

42:04

will raise our glasses too. Here we go.

42:08

What a reversal is that. He's a

42:10

new child. Who

42:12

knows? Let's just

42:14

give him a good talk about Bridgerton because we

42:16

have to. Do you feel like this is the

42:18

most powerful time? No, so for me being Lady

42:21

Danbury in Bridgerton is this conversation. So,

42:24

you know, one of my cousin's sons,

42:27

what's happened to me and I was so

42:29

happy because Lady Danbury in Season 3, the

42:32

costume designer John, he's

42:34

such a lovely man, John Glazer, and

42:36

he said to me, so what do

42:39

you want for, you know, jewellery? What do

42:41

you want for jewellery? And I

42:43

said, I want jinyamazin sankofa in my jewellery.

42:46

Ooh! So it's a

42:48

dinkra. So this is

42:50

the sankofa, which is, it's two sankofas there,

42:52

but it's like the bird that turns around

42:54

and it goes and collects. And it's when

42:56

I left Ghana in 78, after I was

42:58

76, after I'd seen my grandmother,

43:01

she didn't say goodbye or I

43:03

miss you or blah, blah, blah. She just gave me

43:05

a top with a big sankofa on. And

43:07

it's like, you know, you have to

43:09

go back and remember where you're from. You always have to

43:11

go back and remember. So she was giving me that to

43:13

say, please come and see me again. Yeah. So

43:16

I have Lady Dan. So, Jofi, my cousin,

43:18

he's also my brother, is called Jofi, but

43:20

just means born on Friday. So

43:23

my cousin's son, who's also Jofi and

43:25

his sister's also Ajwa. Oh, yeah. Yeah. We're

43:28

not Ajwa born on Monday. I love how literal we are. I know.

43:31

Nobody's literally. It makes me laugh. It's like,

43:33

oh, she's a girl. We're from the fancy

43:35

tribe. It's Monday. I agree

43:37

with you. It's Monday. What shall we call

43:39

her? But

43:45

he said to me, Aunty, were

43:47

you wearing jinyame in your hair

43:49

pieces, in your

43:51

necklace? And he sent me a photo and went,

43:53

yes, boy. That's the jinyame right there. And he

43:55

said, and I went, it's for those those that

43:57

know will know. Yeah. And

44:00

if not, the other 150 million will get

44:03

to know. They might get to know if they're curious.

44:05

Exactly. And jinyama just means,

44:07

accept God, fear nothing. So

44:10

you'll see it on the side of

44:12

buses, on hairdressers, on wrapping paper, Christmas

44:14

cards. I love that. I

44:17

love that. That's coming into our family. I love it.

44:19

It's like, accept God, fear nothing. That's it, innit? It's

44:22

just like deep, rooty strength. Do

44:25

you feel... I mean, because it's

44:27

not about everybody knows fidgeting at this point. It's completely

44:29

brilliant. I watched season three in about five seconds. I

44:31

was like, don't talk to me. I'm busy.

44:33

She was on one. I just got really into

44:35

it. But do you feel

44:37

at this point that you... Do you feel powerful

44:40

in your career? Are you able to be empowered?

44:42

Are you able to make the choices you want

44:44

to make? Are you there? No. It's

44:47

very hard, that. The continuing

44:49

conversation about lighting black

44:51

skin. Oh, Christ. Well, on

44:54

set. Still? On every show.

44:57

Nothing's changed. You're getting better. So

44:59

I suppose I feel powerful in that I

45:02

will now go... Am I blonde? Yeah.

45:05

What's this? Who did you think was coming to

45:07

set today? But I hate doing it because a bit of me is like,

45:09

oh, I don't want to do it. I don't want to make a fuss.

45:11

I don't want to be like, I just want to... And yes. Because

45:14

I want to come and do my work. I

45:16

want to stay in character. I

45:19

don't want to walk onto a set and have to

45:21

be, Adra goes, uh, uh, uh. I just want to

45:23

come on and be Lady Danbury and do what she's

45:25

got to do and like being totally engaged with that.

45:27

So this is... So, okay. So

45:29

this is a big thing for me. When

45:32

people say we're chippy or we're being militant

45:34

or we're all that stuff, what I want

45:36

to say is I'm just a human being

45:38

and I just want to do the gift

45:40

that I'm blessed with. I want

45:42

to do it in a free way, like I see many

45:45

other people doing. So I'm not asking

45:47

for any special revelation. You

45:49

don't need to, you know, I'm not burning

45:51

a building. I just want to live in

45:53

my gift and I want to clear a

45:55

path that allows me to simply be in

45:57

my gift. Nicole Kidman walks onto the set.

46:00

and the lighting was for black skin, she'd go, what's

46:02

with the weird lighting? And they'd go, sorry

46:04

Nicole, and change it. No one would think she'd been chipping.

46:06

They'd go fuck me, mess up Nicole. Yes,

46:08

but it's a dual psycho thing that goes

46:10

on the whole time, isn't it? Did I

46:13

get that job because, did I not get

46:15

that job because, you know,

46:17

that's constantly there, which is

46:19

very tiring and very distracting.

46:23

And also, that's not my shit. Yes,

46:25

exactly, take your luggage home. I don't

46:27

want to carry that. I don't want

46:29

to think about it. I just

46:31

want to get the job because I'm great or not get the job

46:34

because I'm shit. And get on with it.

46:36

But let me tell you, so the other thing about Bridgerton is,

46:38

so I've just been doing, you know, we're launching season three.

46:41

So I was in Johannesburg and, oh

46:44

my God, Africa flew into Johannesburg. If

46:47

they could afford it, they were there. Oh

46:49

wow. So people from like North Africa, East

46:52

Africa, West, everybody came and I

46:54

just, and it was so fabulous.

46:56

They'd gone to so much trouble. It was brilliant.

46:59

They were just like all the different stalls and

47:01

things you could do. Dress,

47:04

I mean, Africa dressed up. Ooh,

47:06

yay! They had zap,

47:08

just had ballet dancers, they had pianists,

47:10

they had rappers, they had everything.

47:12

It was beautiful, delicious food, everything was

47:15

just fantastic. And what

47:17

I was really struck by was, Bridgerton

47:19

became like this haven for

47:22

the LGBTQI plus of Africa.

47:24

Oh, that was nice. Of course.

47:26

Dress, dance, be fabulous, be

47:28

how you please. So, you

47:31

know, on the one hand you can go, yeah, it's

47:33

a historical romance and, is it your thing? I

47:35

don't know. But it's also

47:37

this fantastic movement of

47:39

a place where people can come and go, I don't give

47:42

a shit, did you see episode three? Oh

47:44

my God. You know, it's like, that's the

47:46

focus. And it's like punk in

47:49

that way. It's like the embrace is wide,

47:51

come on in. But that's quite Shonda, isn't

47:53

it? Like I have to say when the

47:56

Queen Charlotte story was being told, I was

47:58

just like, oh, this is fucking fantastic. Fantastic

48:00

and it was just like I love

48:02

that. I mean it's true about that.

48:05

Yes, so she wanted Lady Danbury

48:07

to come from Young Agatha

48:09

has been sent over from Sierra

48:11

Leone. Yeah. So so

48:13

I was like, okay So if she came

48:15

from Sierra Leone, what tribe would she have been and

48:18

what would her actual name have been? Not

48:21

Agatha, but what would it be? So

48:23

I did some research on this tribe called the Bamende

48:25

tribe, which is the biggest tribe in that region. There

48:28

was a military advisor general

48:31

whose name was Soma and so

48:34

I Hi, Sondra. She's

48:38

so generous because she's Sondra Rhimes and I'm

48:40

like a little speck in one in one

48:42

of her machines. She's a very machat. There's

48:44

many millions of them. Yes.

48:47

I was like, what could I? I

48:49

was just thinking she could have come from the

48:51

river and maybe her given name was because that's

48:53

a quite a traditional thing and you know, especially

48:55

for the poshos that get sent over, you know,

48:59

and she was like, I like and she was like, I

49:01

like that bit. No, I don't like that bit. And I was like,

49:03

what about this bit? Just super super

49:05

generous and open to

49:08

ideas as all smart people

49:10

are. Yes, it's a good idea. Let me incorporate it.

49:12

And so she incorporated it into one of the scripts.

49:14

And so when young Lady

49:17

Danbury, she's just having a go at it.

49:19

This is my name and I'm from... Sondra

49:22

put it all in. Yes, she does. She

49:24

does say her name. She does, doesn't she?

49:26

So then when we get to season three

49:28

and I have you seen all of it? Mum

49:31

has. I haven't. Okay.

49:34

Okay. It's been out there for ages. It's not

49:36

my fault now. She

49:38

has a bit of a falling out with her brother.

49:41

Oh yes. Deep shit. And he calls

49:43

her Summa. And in

49:45

the row, I did it

49:47

in a west. It was

49:49

kind of a accident. Yes. Like

49:52

you do when you're really cross. You go

49:54

into your other place. Because that's

49:56

real. We're all doing that all the time, aren't we?

49:59

And... And also it's such an

50:01

opportunity, I feel like, when you're on something that

50:03

is being watched by so many people to just

50:05

throw things in. Why is she wearing it? Why

50:07

is she going to that funny voice? But even

50:09

the Queen Charlotte story, it was like, it's based

50:11

in so much truth, so much truth. I started

50:13

properly researching it. I was like, it's all bloody

50:15

true. And that's

50:17

the fabulous thing about stories sometimes. Yes.

50:19

Oh, I so love that you did

50:22

that. I find you magnificent in life

50:24

and in that in Bridgestone and everything

50:26

I've ever seen you know, but you,

50:28

and it's like you have King energy.

50:31

And I think it's a beautiful,

50:33

powerful gift. Thank you. A,

50:36

B. I think there's a little bit of

50:38

me that is always for going,

50:41

it's not fair. It's

50:45

like, I want, I would be that kid if

50:47

somebody's being bullied, I'd be in there and be

50:49

like, you can't hit them, I'm going to have

50:51

to hit you. All that sort of stuff. Because I

50:53

think, you know, some of your experiences, they just,

50:55

they just tweak you in a certain way. So for

50:57

me, I'm like, make the space bigger. Because I

50:59

want to be in the space and that person

51:01

might want to be in the space. So it's all

51:03

about do that. So if

51:06

history is doing Nazis, Tudors, let's

51:08

do that. And talk about this

51:10

African heritage woman who brought the

51:12

Christmas tree, not Albert, who brought

51:14

the Christmas tree as a tradition

51:16

to this nation. What's Queen Charlotte

51:18

doing? Oh, yes, she did. And

51:21

I love that they put it in it actually. I was

51:23

like, oh, shit. But that's

51:26

the thing, but that's what it shimes with

51:28

people. Because people go, this has, this story

51:30

has nothing to do with me. Yes, it

51:32

does. And also, you know, do the research.

51:34

When she came to this country, there was

51:36

complaints in the papers about her, her mulatto

51:38

skin, her ugly thick lips, her ugly wide

51:40

nose. She had to powder down for portraits.

51:42

All that sort of, you know, so it's

51:44

like, it's all there. And

51:47

this country, so many people in this country don't even know we had

51:49

this queen. But the other thing

51:51

that it makes you think is, okay,

51:53

so throughout nobility and the, you know,

51:55

because, okay, Jane Austen wrote a novel

51:57

called Sanditon that she never finished. This

51:59

black woman and character that because there

52:01

were wealthy West Indian women who were

52:03

courted by poor nobility who needed to

52:05

bank up the coffers. I could give

52:07

you chapter and verse about other of

52:10

colour nobility's throughout this country where we're told

52:12

we're not here and we don't belong and

52:14

blah blah blah blah blah. There

52:17

are people of African, there

52:19

is Africa DNA rolling around

52:21

your blond children and your,

52:23

you know, because these

52:26

sharp definitions that we make are

52:28

actually in reality meaningless.

52:30

That's why when people are going,

52:32

we want our country back, it's

52:34

like to whom? Which in

52:38

French mate? Which country? Or you might even

52:40

be a bit African. I mean there was

52:42

a black Roman Emperor here

52:44

whose wife was from Libya. We're

52:47

all intertwined forever. And

52:50

the old adage there is more that unites us

52:52

than divides us is just true. We can,

52:54

we have to stop talking out of the

52:57

trees. Just come back anyway, we'll turn the

52:59

lights off and just stay stay stay. That

53:02

went quick. A lovely choose. It's

53:04

lovely to meet you. And I think

53:06

we can probably call this family now.

53:09

Of course we're family. Let's fill this week.

53:12

Absolutely. Look, my plate is

53:14

clean. And I noticed at one point I

53:16

thought I just deleted it. So

53:18

delicious. But have you had any of her? No, but

53:20

she was engaged. I

53:23

hate Molly inside. You

53:25

heard it near first. I

53:29

feel learned. I

53:37

feel really happy. I loved both

53:39

of them so much. I knew Adjo a little bit.

53:41

We both met Adjo a few times, but

53:43

it was so good to just sit and really

53:46

be eye to eye across. That's why

53:48

I love doing this podcast, Mikita, because

53:50

you just get beneath the surface of

53:53

a person. She's got so much heart,

53:55

so much soul and so much knowledge,

53:57

Adjoa. And I felt the same about Adjo.

54:00

Adele's brilliant. And when she said, I'm just

54:02

used to listening, I'm used to talking, she's

54:04

an active listener though. She had her producer eyes

54:06

on. She just said to me, she said, I can't

54:09

turn off. I was sort of producing it as we

54:11

spoke. But it was nice to

54:13

have four industry bitches sit around the

54:15

table and pick that apart a bit.

54:17

It's beautiful for me to talk to

54:19

another black woman my age who experienced

54:21

punk in the same way that I

54:23

did. It made me feel really happy.

54:25

Also, the ancestors definitely landed. The ancestors

54:27

were here. I liked actually when me

54:30

and Adele were talking about legacy and community

54:32

and talking about how important that is to

54:34

both of us and how it helped.

54:37

That's really rising in this world. And

54:39

then you went, and that's punk. And

54:41

that's punk. And I actually went, that's punk. And I

54:43

was like, oh, I get it. Obviously

54:46

I understand punk, but I felt like

54:49

I learned a lot more about that time.

54:51

And I suddenly had for the first time

54:53

in my life, a feeling of what it

54:55

really would be like to be a young

54:57

person in that world, in that room, as

54:59

Adele said, so many different kinds of people,

55:01

and to just feel truly free. Thank you

55:04

for coming to our table. Two brilliant women

55:06

who were so lucky. We're going for lunch

55:08

now. Oh yeah, now we're going for lunch.

55:10

New friends. I said, when Adele left, I

55:12

said, I'll see you lunch. Felt good. Yeah.

55:37

Hey, parents, green light is here to take

55:39

one big thing off your to do list,

55:41

teaching your kids about money with

55:43

a green light debit card and money

55:45

app of their own kids and teens

55:47

learn to earn, save and invest. You

55:49

can send money instantly, set flexible controls

55:52

and get real time notifications of your

55:54

kids' money activity, set up chores and

55:56

put allowance on autopilot to reward them

55:58

for their hard work. Then

56:00

learn about the world of money

56:02

together. Get one month free when

56:04

you sign up at greenlight.com/podcast. Women

56:08

are peace builders. Women

56:11

are humanitarians. Women

56:14

are rights defenders. Local

56:17

women activists in conflict and

56:19

crisis zones around the world

56:21

understand their communities and the

56:23

needs of the most vulnerable

56:25

groups. Women are

56:27

the engines of peace, resilience,

56:30

and humanitarian response across the

56:32

globe. And they need

56:34

and deserve the world's attention and

56:36

support. The United Nations

56:38

Women's Peace and Humanitarian Fund

56:41

is calling on the world

56:43

to meet the critical needs

56:45

and support the transformational impact

56:47

of local women's organizations working

56:49

to build a more peaceful

56:51

and gender equal world for

56:53

everyone. Join us

56:56

today to accelerate funding, amplify

56:58

the voices, unlock the

57:01

power, and scale up

57:03

the impact of women who are

57:05

responding to crisis and building the

57:07

lasting peace for all. Learn

57:09

how you can join the United Nations

57:11

to support women on the front lines

57:13

today at

57:15

wphfund.org/invest in

57:18

women.