-Michaela, thank you so much
for coming on our show. I appreciate it.
You're speaking to me from London.
Is that -- Is that correct?
-Yes, East London, that's right.
-Oh. And how is -- How are you doing?
How are you hanging in there?
-You know, it's kind of, like, ups and downs.
Sometimes I'm struggling with the anxiety of sort of
not knowing what's going on, like many other people.
So I'm sort of just occupying myself with puzzles.
I go running, but my knees started getting sore,
so now I've been dancing in the park, which has been good.
-Ooh, dancing in the park?
-I've been dancing in the park, yes.
Yeah. Basically I was running a lot, like every day,
but my knees started getting sore.
But anyway, one of the times when I was running,
I was going through my favorite park, and I saw this guy.
And he was just sort of there, stationary,
but doing these huge, like, motions,
dancing with these huge ear phones on.
And I thought it was so cool that, as I was running by,
I just of gave him a thumbs-up and I was giving him kisses.
And he sort of just, like, gave me a thumbs-up back.
But he was just doing his thing.
So then, my brother came to stay with me, yeah.
I was like, "Do you want to dance in the park?"
And so we each have our headphones on.
So he's got his own headphones, I've got mine,
and we just go to the park, and then we start just dancing.
And every now and again, even though we're listening
to separate music, the beat, like, falls in...
-Oh, you hit the same groove, and you're like...
-Yeah, and then we start doing the same, like, movements.
I actually went myself today -- I went by myself.
-Did you get any thumbs up, any kisses blown at you?
-I'm too nervous to look. I just have to keep my head down
and just sort of just do my thing.
-That's the way I dance even at weddings.
I just don't --
"No one look at how bad this is."
-I don't even go to them because my dancing's that bad.
-[ Laughing ]
Let's talk about "I May Destroy You."
Wow! It's fresh, it's different, it's so well done.
Congratulations.
There was a great cover in "New York Magazine" of you,
and, man, you look so cool.
It was just, like, such a stunning cover.
Congrats on that.
You also wrote this whole thing.
You wrote every episode with no writers.
You did. You wrote everything.
-Yes. -How are you doing this?
-I go away, and I just sort of type on the keypad.
I don't plan.
Like, I had loads of drafts --
I think like 20 drafts of each episode.
I just kind of type until it makes sense.
And I have a very dedicated team of exec producers
and a great script editor.
You know, my first two drafts,
I don't think they made any sense,
grammatically, editorially.
I think it just looks like goo-goo-gah-gah-goo.
And they just sort of take it and go,
"Wow. This is really interesting.
What does this mean? What does this mean?"
I go, "It means this," and they're like, "Okay.
Why don't you go back and try again
to write down what you just said."
So then I keep doing that for 2 1/2 years,
and then we have the show. -Wow.
It's semi-autobiographical, if I'm correct?
Do you want to set up the show
for anyone that doesn't know what it is?
-Yeah, I can try to set up the show.
It is semi-autobiographical.
I based the character of Arabella on myself,
especially in the beginning.
She's a writer. She takes a break from work.
She goes out for a drink, and her drink is spiked,
and she's sexually assaulted by strangers.
This was also my story.
So that was the initial inspiration with that character.
But then I asked many more people questions
and realized that so many people
have a story around sexual consent.
So I broadened out, and I kind of have these
three essential characters, Kwame, Arabella, and Terry.
How can I sum it up?
They're navigating sexual life
and the line between liberation and exploitation.
But it's also about loads more. It's also just about friendship
and about how we think and relate to one another today
and how much introspection we really have.
-I was impressed the way you talk about
and address these issues,
but also you balance comedy with seriousness.
'Cause I will let everyone know, it is funny, too.
It's so different and well done.
Do you think about, like, "This thing needs a joke" or...?
-No, no, I don't. I don't ever do that.
I just write, and it comes out like that.
I don't quite know yet the method to
the way it comes out. But I do often go back --
When I try and figure out how the tone emerged as it was,
I think back to my own reality
when I was in the police investigation room
getting ready to give my first witness statement.
And I sat there sort of realizing the course of my life
was forever going to change.
And I was sort of realizing something bad had happened.
And my friend was taking care of me,
and as I looked to him,
I noticed he was playing "Pokémon Go" on his phone.
And that just -- just -- just was like...
-Oh. That's real. That's real.
-Yeah. -Like, "Oh, my --
What are you seriously doing?"
Oh, wow. -It was kind of like,
"Where am I? What is everything?"
-Yeah, "What is everything? Is life real?
"What just --" Yeah. Yeah.
-"What a circus. What's going on?
It's rape and "Pokémon Go,"
and I don't know what to do with those two things.
But here they are, in one room. -Yeah.
And you made it into a show and into art.
And it's great. I want to show everyone a clip.
Here's Michaela Coel in "I May Destroy You."
Take a look.
-This is the same guy, yeah?
That told you you had a drug problem
and then sold you drugs in the same breath.
-It wasn't in the same breath. -What?
-It was in the same night, which is different.
-Listen, he's a hypocrite.
He's controlling. Is being around
a controlling hypocrite good for your recovery?
Let me just check the recovery toolbox.
"Ooh! Surround yourself with people who affirm you."
-And that's you? -Yes.
-That's you? -Yes, it is.
-So if you were to suddenly not affirm me
when I needed affirmation the most, it would make you
someone I should stay away from, I bet.
Controlling and hypocritical?
-My thanks to Michaela Coel.
"I May Destroy You" airs Mondays at 9:00 p.m., on HBO.
You are awesome.
Thank you so much for coming on my show.
-Thanks for having me.