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Hello, and happy Woman Crush Wednesday, everybody. Today we’re celebrating one of the most multi-talented and brilliant minds in entertainment right now. This British star has crushed it at everything from poetry to singing to acting (and every type of writing someone could possibly do), and if you’ve seen anything she’s been a part of, than you know what a star she is. We can’t say enough good things about it, give it up for this week’s WCW, the magnificent Michaela Coel!
WHO’S THAT GAL: Michaela Coel
WHY WE’RE CRUSHING:
Coel created, wrote, and stars in (as well as in a co-director of nine of the episodes and executive producer of the whole series) I May Destroy You, a comedy-drama-mystery television series co-produced by BBC Television and HBO. The multi-talented star premiered her show on Sunday June 7 on HBO, and the platform will continue to release new episodes on Sundays at 10:30pm EST. Set in London, where gratification is only an app away, the story centers on Arabella (Coel), a carefree, self-assured Londoner with a group of great friends, a boyfriend in Italy, and a burgeoning writing career. But when her drink is spiked, she must question and rebuild every element of her life.
The show is already receiving rave reviews, including The Guardian recently giving it five stars while describing it as “an extraordinary, breathtaking exploration of consent, race and millennial life that works on every level,” NPR praising Coel’s “brilliant lead performance,” The New York Times saying of the show “at just about every step, it’s touching and quietly hilarious,” and so much more. Coel has poured her heart, soul, and even her own trauma into this brilliant show, so make sure you do yourself a favor and start watching it now.
WHERE YOU’VE SEEN HER BEFORE: Coel’s first professional onscreen role was in two episodes of British crime drama series Top Boy in 2013. From there, Coel hit the ground running on screens big and small and showed no signs of slowing down. Just a year later she had her feature film debut in sci-fi monster film Monsters: Dark Continent, all the while working on the project for which she would be best known (and which would earn her a BAFTA for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme and Breakthrough Talent in 2016): hit sitcom Chewing Gum.
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After creating the show, from 2015 to 2017 Coel starred in and wrote for Chewing Gum, a BBC Channel 4 cringe comedy series about a 24-year-old shop assistant Tracey Gordon (Coel), a restricted, religious virgin, who wants to have sex and learn more about the world. The show was an overall hit, receiving rave reviews and helping open the door to even more opportunities for the gifted star. In 2016, Coel had a recurring role as Lilyhot on British sci-fi television series The Aliens, before going on to appear in two episodes of Black Mirror, star in drama miniseries Black Earth Rising, and act as guest judge in an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK on television all within the following three years. Coel also took to the silver screen following her time on Chewing Gum, appearing in 2017 blockbuster Star Wars: The Last Jedi and then starring in 2018 musical Been So Long. With so many successful, impressive credits within the last decade under her belt, Coel is bound to be creating even more incredible work in this new one, and we can’t wait to see what she does next.
WHERE YOU’LL SEE HER AGAIN: While it’s not yet clear what projects are coming up next for Coel, we can be sure that they will be worth the wait (especially if she’s the one behind the wheel). In the meantime, once you’ve binged all of her work for the first, second, or twentieth time, you can always stay up to date by following her on Twitter.
