Four years after becoming a cult favorite and critical darling with the release of her Emmy-winning drama I May Destroy You, Michaela Coel has announced her next project. She’ll be writing, executive producing and starring in First Day on Earth, a ten-episode drama series for HBO and the BBC.
I May Destroy You was semi-autobiographical, with the story inspired by Coel’s real-life experience of being drugged and sexually assaulted at a nightclub. The series starred Coel as Arabella, who tries to piece together both the night of her assault and her life in the aftermath. In a statement, Coel called First Day on Earth, in which she’ll star as British novelist Henri, “another very personal story.”
Per the series’ official description: Henri is stuck. Work has dried up, her relationship is going nowhere. So when she’s offered a job on a film in Ghana, West Africa—her parents’ homeland, where her estranged father lives—she can’t resist the chance to reconnect with him and the country of her heritage. But when she arrives neither the job nor her father turn out the way she expected, and soon Henri has to deal with danger and hypocrisy, form new friendships, lose her illusions, and create a new sense of identity— one that might leave her stronger, but could also break her.
Coel, who was raised in London by her mother, a Ghanaian immigrant, said she hopes the series “will engage viewers from all over the world,” adding, “I can’t wait for audiences to go on Henri’s journey with her.” Coel has described her time as the only Black student at her primary school in East London’s Tower Hamlets as “very unhappy,” though she went on to have a better experience at second school, where she found a close group of Black girlfriends.
Like I May Destroy You, First Day on Earth will be created, written, co-directed, and executive produced by the 36-year-old, in addition to her starring role. Succession creator Jesse Armstong will also executive produce the series, which will have additional support from A24 and Various Artists Limited (VAL).
“Yet again, Michaela delivers a highly original, singular story that explores the relationship between England and Ghana via a second generation British-Ghanaian woman who takes up the opportunity to return to the homeland of her parents and finds herself encountering a cast of memorable characters and experiences that force her to face some painful home truths,” VAL producers Phil Clark and Robert Troni, who worked on I May Destroy You, said. “But as ever with Michaela, it is by turns shocking, funny and unforgettable, and done in her inimitable style.”
When I May Destroy You landed on HBO at the start of the pandemic, audiences were enraptured by the pitch-black comedy’s exploration of the devastating ripple effect sexual assault can have on one’s life and identity. Coel, who had already won a BAFTA for her starring role on the Channel 4 comedy Chewing Gum (which she also created), quickly wracked up more awards, including a writing Emmy and another BAFTA for Best Actress. Since then, she’s maintained a relatively low profile in relation to her burgeoning fame; she’s had roles in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Mr. and Mrs. Smith and repeatedly made a splash on the red carpet, but otherwise says she likes to live a low-key life with her close friends and family.
In her 2020 W cover story, Coel told playwright Jeremy O. Harris, “I said to [my mom] the other day, ‘Soon, Mom, guess what? No one’s gonna be talking about me. I’m gonna be writing my next thing. It’s gonna take me three years, and during those three years no one’s gonna talk about me. It’s like I’m gonna be dead to the Internet.’”
It seems, then, that Coel’s forthcoming resurgence is right on time.