Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1397791
39 F A L L Q 3 I S S U E F E A T U R E Lawson) have the talk with Blue (Ethan Hutchison) about what happened with George Floyd, what's going on with the Black Lives Matter movement, and how to deal with police encounters in general. That was extremely impactful for me. I grew up without my dad, who was Black, so I never had that talk. I grew up with my mother, who's Jewish. It was something that I never really got to experience as a kid, so cutting that scene was special for me because I felt like I was going through it and also, hopefully, sharing that mo- ment with other young Black and brown boys and girls who need to have that talk and maybe lack that person in their lives. Peterkin: Like you, Alex, I was just raised by my mother. I never met my dad, either. I can't speak about what I've cut in season six because it hasn't aired but in previous seasons, there was this one scene—actu- ally multiple scenes—where Blue loses Kenya, his doll, and Ralph Angel goes to the garbage and tries to find his son's doll. I remember growing up with gender stuff; my mother bought me the Michael Jackson doll, and other people in my family were like, 'He's a boy, why are you buying him dolls?' My mother would just ignore them, but my family was really giving us a hard time. I loved that Blue had a father who confirmed that—what- ever you want to do, whatever you want to be. I wish that I'd had that experience with a father, but I'm glad my mother was strong and there for me. That was a really touching moment in "Queen Sugar" that resonated with what I went through. Aquino: I cut a scene in [episode] 507 where Ralph Angel and Blue are confronted by a police officer while they decide to hold their own protest, and the officer threat- ens Blue. Kofi, who plays Ralph Angel, and Ethan, who plays Blue, were both in tears. There was one take in particular where they went to a really emotional place, and it was beautiful to watch. Another one that I remember dis- tinctly when I was an assistant editor with Shoshanah. It's the scene where Nova walks into the cemetery and stands there, and she takes a beat and says, "Hi, Mama." It just destroyed me because I lost my mom back in 2008. I was like, "How am I going to finish these dailies?" But I powered through it. You're not expecting to have it take you to that emotional place, and in a lot of ways, it reconnects you to those things. I think that's what makes the show so good. Q What might other production teams learn from the culture of Array? Aquino: Obviously diversity is a big goal of Array, and in particular, "Queen Sugar." All the directors were women or people who identified as women. The crew is diverse and even editorial is diverse. It's pretty rare to work on a show that had that many Black people and other people of color. I think it's really important that we get to a place in the industry where we push for that and where it becomes t h e n o r m . T h i s i s w h y A r r a y C r e w was created. E v e r y b o d y w h o's w o r k e d o n t h e show — from the PAs and catering people on-set to the executive producers — are pouring some part of themselves into these stories, into this show. It makes everyone feel more connected. Everyone has a stake in it. And I think that shines through when people watch the show, or at least I hope it does. I think we all hope it does. ■ This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 'The crew is diverse and even editorial is diverse.' P H O T O : C H R I S T O P H E R F R A G A P A N E Alexander Aquino.