Why It Was So Important For Lena Waithe To Flip TV’s Script With ‘The Chi’

From its first moments, there’s something different about Showtime‘s The Chi. Set in inner city Chicago, the expansive yet intimate drama starts by exploring the separate but connected lives of several members of one community. However, after one depressingly unjustified murder leads to another, this community is ripped to its core, forcing the citizens of the South side of Chicago to face the life or death consequences of every little action.

On every level, The Chi is a remarkable show. It’s one of the most diverse series currently on television, focusing on a world predominantly composed of African-American characters and actors, and it comes from Lena Waithe, one of the most interesting and heartfelt creators in our modern TV landscape. It’s also a visually stunning show, filled with soulful shots of characters framed against the bright backdrop of the city the series is named after and optimistically wants to reclaim. But more than anything else, The Chi is a beautiful show. Waithe’s creation is a heartfelt study of the interconnectedness of one community while being a quiet and introspective story about how one horrible tragedy can break down even the most stable people and groups.

During the Television Critics Association’s 2018 winter tour, Decider had the opportunity to talk to Waithe about how this delicately emotional series came to be, what it was like casting Jason Mitchell, the challenges Waithe faced as a comedy writer attempting to made such an ambitious drama, and why this series is so important.

Waithe is likely best known for her work on Netflix’s Master of None, a show she both writes for and stars in. Last year Waithe made history by becoming the first African-American woman to win the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for Master of None‘s fantastic “Thanksgiving” episode. The installment follows Waithe’s character Denise slowly realizing that she’s a lesbian and coming out to her family over the course of a lifetime of Thanksgivings.

“I didn’t even think it was that unique because maybe I haven’t heard that many coming out stories. I was hyper aware of my own coming out to a mother like mine and being in the house that I grew up in, which was not conservative,” Waithe said about the episode. “I think that’s what struck a chord because people assume, ‘Oh, they’re going to kick her out. They’re going to throw the Bible at her.””

“There were so many shades of gray,” she said about he mother’s actual reaction in learning about Waithe’s sexuality. The writer said that her mother was also dealing with a lot of different things when Waithe came out, which she was able to incorporate into the episode. “This [episode] just came out really lovely, and I was really happy with it. I had no idea it would have the kind of impact it did,” she said.

Whereas “Thanksgiving” was clearly a personal story for the creator, The Chi focuses more on universal elements that bond all people. “I believe that we’re all interconnected. Black, white, gay, lesbian, trans — I fell like we all are connected because we’re all human. We all want the same things. We’re all a lot more alike than we are different,” Waithe said about The Chi’s themes of connected communities.

“I think that’s where a lot of my writing comes from, even though it’s very specific because I happen to be a black girl. I happen to be gay. I happen to be from Chicago. I happen to be a woman,” she said. “But I’m still a human. I’m still a human first and foremost. I fall into other categories too, which is cool, but I try to focus on the humanity of characters and people, and that’s what I hope people will connect to in my art, in my work.”

As the series masterfully switches through its many characters and stories, The Chi is able to beautifully cover a huge swatch of human emotions in a relatively short amount of time. Waithe talked about some of the most notable themes of the show, from examining what it means to be a father and big brother in Brandon’s (Jason Mitchell) case to what it means to have a dream deferred or what redemption should look like. “In the first season, I think we really wanted to tackle a lot of that stuff. Sometimes we get it right, sometimes we may falter, but ultimately I think you can’t deny the humanity and the beauty of these characters, of this world, of these people,” Waithe said.

One of the things that makes The Chi pointedly remarkable is its intentionally lolling tone. Though the series officially starts after young Coogie’s (Jahking Guillory) dark murder, The Chi watches like a heartfelt reflection of its characters lives rather than a heavily plot-driven drama. “I think that’s something that we really haven’t seen before because usually there always has to be a motor with every television show,” Waithe said of the show’s tone.

“I know we have some cop story lines and stuff like that, but we really do mostly focus on the people because I always say — no shade to those lovely actors who play the cops — but I don’t care about the cops. They are the lions of the story. We’re the prey, you know what I mean?” she said. “And I feel like the prey deserves to be its own hero. That’s what I tried to do with The Chi.”

A lot of the humanity and emotion from the series can be credited to the show’s phenomenal cast. Waithe admitted that she didn’t have any specific actor in mind when she was writing Brandon’s character, but when casting director Carmen Cuba, who is perhaps best known for casting the Stranger Things kids, brought her Jason Mitchell’s audition tape, she was immediately sold.

“He auditioned with the eulogy scene, and it was just as powerful as it is when you see it in the pilot,” she said. “He brings a real, everyday, every man quality to [Brandon’s role].”

Waithe also revealed that when she was making the original pilot, they had cast an actor who looked more like a leading man. However, switching to Mitchell, who is known for Straight Outta Compton and Mudbound,  immediately changed the tone of the show. “Jason, who I think is adorable, but he kind of, you know with the belly and the smile, and this and that — the character felt more like me almost because Jason and I have a very similar cadence and way of walking through the world,” Waithe said. “I give God the glory there because he brought a real humanity to the character. [Brandon] is someone that you see struggling to keep a hold on his family and trying to have his whole life, which is something that I’ve really dealt with as well, being a writer, leaving Chicago, and building a life for myself out here. I know his struggle really well, and I hope to God we can explore it even more if we get a chance at Season 2.”

The Chi‘s superb casting affected the show so much, Waithe even went as far as to call Cuba her co-writer on the pilot. She also revealed that Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine‘s Ronnie was originally meant to be a bit younger. However, the biggest change was that the addition of Mitchell allowed Waithe to add some more comedy into the series.

“I’m a comedy writer first,” she said. “Showtime was really kind about knowing that I’m a comedy writer and allowing me to have moments [that are lighter]. But they really appreciate it. They were like, ‘Look, we like taking a breathe in between some of these dark scenes.’ But I’m also just a believer that life is not all drama or all comedy. It really is a mix.”

One of the funniest scenes in the pilot revolves around Birgundi Baker‘s Kiesha hiding naked under the bed while her boyfriend Emmett (Jacob Latimore) tries to convince his mom nothing unusual is happening. “People really gravitated toward that scene. It’s teenage sex at its most awkward and real, but it’s also what it means when you live with your mom and her coming home and her kind of telling you, ‘Look it’s my house,’” she said. “It’s crazy because I wrote that scene like literally what? Three years ago now? And they kept it as is, which I really appreciated.”

“[The Chi] was just something that was born out of my head, out of my body, and for people to like it, it’s like people saying, ‘I like you.’ Which I appreciate,” Waithe said.

When asked where she sees the future of television going, Waithe highlighted the importance of diversity. “We still need a more diverse group of stories because the fact that there’s still isn’t a show on prime-time with a queer person of color as the lead is problematic. I’m actively working to fix that. I have a show, I have a place,” she said. “Hopefully, we get a green light [from the powers that be] so that we can change that.”

Waithe spoke about her favorite shows and creators, which included The Handmaid’s Tale, The Crown, Pamela Adlon, and Ryan Murphy, who she said was doing “God’s work.” As for projects that the creator and actor most wants to be part of, Donald Glover‘s Atlanta currently stands at the top of her list. “I’m pissed I didn’t get into Season 2. I was begging my agent and begging Donald to like make something happen. Maybe Season 3,” she said.

“But I did get to work on Season 2 of Dear White People, so I’m very excited about that,” she said. Waithe was a producer on Justin Simien‘s 2014 movie of the same name. Waithe revealed that she will have a cameo in the Netflix original’s second season as a character named Ninny. “I think Justin, he has a really fun Season 2 coming out and that Season 1 was really phenomenal.”

Stream The Chi on Showtime