Prepare to dive into the captivating world of “Washington Black,” Hulu’s upcoming drama series based on Esi Edugyan’s novel. Set in the 19th century, this nine-episode limited series follows the journey of George Washington ‘Wash’ Black (Ernest Kingsley Jr.) as he flees from a Barbados sugar plantation after a shocking death threatens to upend his life. He becomes the protégé of Medwin Harris (Sterling K. Brown), a Black refugee from Nova Scotia who serves as the de facto major of Black Halifax.
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While trying to outrun his past and the hunters on his tail, he meets Tanna Goff (Iola Evans), a young wealthy British woman who passed as white but was secretly born of a Melanesian mother on the Solomon Islands, forcing her and her father to flee London for Nova Scotia. Tanna’s father pushes her into an arranged marriage with William “Billy” McGee (Edward Bluemel), a white merchant to protect her, but she falls in love with Wash and begins to wonder what her life could be like with him.
Washington Black was written and executive produced by “Twilight Zone“ writer Selwyn Seyfu Hinds. It will also be executive produced by Sterling K. Brown, Ellen Goldsmith-Vein, Jeremy Bell, Lindsay Williams and DJ Goldberg, Anthony Hemingway and Jennifer Johnson. Esi Edugyan is a co-producer on this project.
Check out the full cast below.
Sterling K. Brown will portray the gregarious, larger-than-life Medwin Harris, who traveled the world after a traumatic childhood as a Black refugee in Nova Scotia as the de facto Mayor of Black Halifax prioritizes the community over everything except Washington Black, his young protégé. Meeting Wash sends him down a challenging path of self-discovery.
Ernest Kingsley Jr. (series regular) as George Washington ‘Wash’ is a young boy born to a Barbados sugar plantation who finds a way off the island in the company of his master’s brother, a Steam-Punk inventor who has built an extraordinary flying machine. So begins a globe-spanning, Jules Verne-style adventure that eventually leads Wash to Nova Scotia, where he discovers that while the world can be cruel, it’s also full of mystery and beauty and, in the form of young Tanna Goff, love. Wash becomes a man of science in his own right, his optimism and hope fueling his imagination and inspiring all he meets. Question is, can Wash outrun his past, or will the relentless hunters on his tail finally put an end to his dreams of flight?
Eddie Karanja (series regular) will play the ‘Young Wash.’ He is described as a young boy born to a Barbados sugar plantation who finds a way off the island in the company of his master’s brother, a Steam-Punk inventor who has built an extraordinary flying machine. So begins a globe-spanning, Jules Verne-style adventure that eventually leads Wash to Nova Scotia, where he discovers that while the world can be cruel, it’s also full of mystery.
Tom Ellis’ Christopher ‘Titch’ Wilde is an eccentric, passionate steam-punk inventor whose youthful enthusiasm masks an inner vulnerability. A disturbing death at his family’s sugar plantation catapults Titch on a remarkable journey across the sky with young George Washington Black at his side. Titch finds himself thrust into the position of mentor and father figure to Wash — a role he is ill-prepared for because Titch is chasing the shadow of his own father, an inevitable reckoning that threatens to doom him and Wash both.
Sharon Duncan-Brewster (series regular) will play Miss Angie, “a woman from Trinidad who has traveled to Nova Scotia to find the freedom to build something of her own. And she has—the store that bears her name, a community institution, and her own agency as the backbone of her community. But the question is whether she can make that power work within herself and re-build her heart.”
Edward Bluemel (series regular) will play William “Billy” McGee, a character who does not exist in the novel by Esi Edugyan but was created for the limited series by Selwyn Hinds. McGee is a wealthy British businessman who relocated to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1837. For reasons that’ll become clear in the series, he has eschewed local women and accepted an offer to marry Tanna Goff (Evans) from London, a woman with a secret that forced her to relocate to Canada. McGee’s pursuit of Goff puts him in a love triangle that pits him against titular lead, Washington Black (played when older by Kingsley Jr), a state of affairs that threatens to plunge all three of them into danger.
Iola Evan’s character Tanna is described as a young British woman of means, she“passes” as white but secretly born of a Melanesian mother on the Solomon Islands. But her secret eventually spills out, causing Tanna and her father to flee London for Nova Scotia. Determined to protect their social standing, her father pushes her into an arranged marriage with a local white merchant, but Tanna falls in love with 19-year-old Washington Black, a brilliant artistic soul living in the fullness of his black identity. Loving Wash lets Tanna dare dream of a life without walls – free to walk in her true skin, free to pursue her passion of composing music. But how long can she walk with a foot in both worlds before those worlds smash together?
Billy Boyd is recurring as Willard. Willard is the proverbial Man in Black, the hunter dispatched by Erasmus Wilde to find and capture Washington Black. But Willard is no ordinary hunter. He is the dark shadow in Wash’s life. The spiritual and literal manifestation of a system that views Wash, and his genius, as a threat to be contained by any means. And it is only a matter of time before Wash’s light and Willard’s darkness smash together with heavy consequences for all.
Rupert Graves will play Mr. Goff as a series regular, a British scientist who travels to Nova Scotia with his daughter, Tanna (Evans), after fleeing social stain, the dwindling of fortunes in London, and lessened influence with the Crown. Nova Scotia represents a new start. But Tanna’s resistance to the marriage he’s arranged for her, and her unexpected relationship with our titular hero, forces Goff to consider whether he will prove brave enough to put love first, or let his fears lead him to ruin.
Shaunette Renée Wilson will recur as Big Kit, who is a singular, driving force in Wash’s life. She teaches him to dream in the mythic vernacular of her West African heritage. And she teaches him to fight—because Kit is an engine of constant resistance. Fighting to create choice where none exists… for herself, and for this boy she protects. But can she shield him, or will she ultimately die trying?
Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine (recurring) will play Gaius, who is described as a man with a foot in two worlds, that of the oppressor and the oppressed. His access to information from working in the Great House helps him provide a watchful eye and guiding hand to young Washington Black on Faith Plantation. But standing in two worlds can pull a man apart, and Gaius must somehow find the footing that allows him to serve his people, and still stay alive.
Charles Dance will portray James Wilde, the father of Erasmus and Titch (Tom Ellis) Wilde. He is described as an esteemed scientist and inventor whose shadow looms over the entire story, bearing down with the enormous weight of patriarchy, empire and duty. At his core, Wilde is a man fighting to give himself permission to love the way he must, even as he reckons with his failings as a father. Throughout the series, he will attempt to reconcile those things without destroying himself and everything he cares for.
Julian Rhind-Tutt (recurring) will play Erasmus Wilde, the iron-handed master of Faith Plantation in Barbados, where Washington Black begins life in bondage before flying to freedom. A man filled with dark complexities and deep conflict, Erasmus’s internal struggles fuel a bitterness that burns all he touches, especially those under his power at Faith. Much like his brother Titch, Erasmus is fighting to escape the legacy of abandonment and Empire before it all dooms his soul.
Washington Black is being created for Disney’s streaming service, so it will be a Hulu Original in the United States and we should expect to see it on Star+ in Latin America and on Disney+ everywhere else.