Meet The Black Queens of The New Season of Netflix’s Thriller ‘You’
Actresses Tati Gabrielle (The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) and Shalita Grant (Santa Clarita Diet) turned up the heat on this season’s You. The third installment featured a larger dose of melanin as the two Black queens unknowingly cause disruption in the murderous newlyweds’ lives.
With an uber-satisfying season that ended with a bang that left fans already anticipating the next season, it would only be right to give the two black actresses their flowers as they increase the representation of Black women in Hollywood.
we’ve been saying this for 3 seasons, sis pic.twitter.com/hQs3FHT0Eb
— YOU (@YouNetflix) October 15, 2021
The suburban town of Madre Linda was meant to be Joe and Love’s new start with their son Henry. After some shocking events, it later took a more jagged turn as a mommy blogger, Sherry Conrad (Grant), and librarian Marienne Bellamy (Gabrielle) walked into the mix.
Grant admitted that she enjoys taking on characters with traits completely opposite of her own. Her condescending, superficial character as Sherry was a thrill for that particular reason. She said in a statement:
“One of the things that I found the most exciting about Sherry was just how horrible she was and how she weaponizes her femininity. Because I know what it’s like to be in these super straight, super hyper-feminine spaces where women are competing for men’s attention, I know what the a-hole looks like. It was really fun to put it on and trigger a lot of people.”
Peach and Sherry would have been great frenemies. #YouNetflix #YOUSEASON3 #You pic.twitter.com/tT0deAt6Gt
— watch FOUNDATION on Apple TV+ (@IsaacToafa) October 25, 2021
The 33-year-old also raved about her co-star, Gabrielle, and added:
“Tati, she’s great. She’s f-cking amazing. I actually couldn’t get to work with her too often, but when I did it was just awesome, but it was also terrible because I had to be horrible to her. In the library in episode seven, that was actually the first time that I met her.”
Furthermore, she shared that she believes the opposing personalities between Marienne and Sherry made their addition to the cast plays an integral role in demonstrating the true complexity of Black women.
In addition, Gabrielle also flexed her talents by switching it up from Prudence Night to a dedicated, single mother battling for custody of her daughter. She stated:
I always believe that art and what we do should reflect the real world in full. It should not be a caricature of it. It should not be what somebody’s imagination thinks that it is; it should be as much of a true reflection as it can. It means a lot to me to be able to. Those are the conversations I have around my characters once I get into them and making sure that they’re multilayered. Making sure that they have the fire that every Black woman does have.”
Joe and loves knife rack.#YOUSEASON3 pic.twitter.com/8hVgUiUrXG
— Bearded King 🇭🇹 (@ThatZoeJames) October 23, 2021
You season three is now streaming on Netflix. For fans who may have missed the intense trailer, check it out below.
