FX’s Kindred will be the first Octavia Butler adaptation to make it on screen, premiering December 13th. The television series was brought to life by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins and revolves around the strange occurrences happening to Dana James that are beyond her control. As she’s pulled back and forth in time between the present and her ancestral connection to a Maryland plantation in 1815, Dana races against the clock to make the connection and uncover family secrets.
Although the book is normally categorized as science-fiction, Kindred is a time-traveling story, one that weaves together an intricate story of grief, binding ties, secrets, and survival. Mallori Johnson makes her official Hollywood debut playing the show’s lead, Dana. In an exclusive interview with Elle, Johnson offers an intimate look into leading the revolutionary show and her preparation for this legendary role.
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The recent Juilliard graduate discovered Butler’s novels through her mother and their shared artistic connection. In true premonitory fashion, Johnson “fell in love” with Butler’s work after reading Kindred, only to get to the star role in the television adaptation years later.
Although she was familiar with the story, Johnson had no time to prepare for her breakout role. “I didn’t have much time, but I had enough time to kind of freak out. I was so scared. I had no idea what I was doing.” She’s grateful for the supportive creative team who offered a “helping hand” throughout shooting as she learned to navigate her new role as the show’s “emotional center” and balance the series’ macabre tone. She praised the showrunner, Jenkins, for his ability to create a safe work environment amidst the plot’s realistic depictions of slavery.
With the series insidious subject-matter, Johnson understands that audiences may not want to watch another slave narrative depicted on their screens. However, Kindred represents a new way to approach these historical retellings, offering a reflective quality to the often brutal, exploitative genre. Through her role as Dana, Johnson remembers her ancestors and how they’ve helped her to this point in her life.
He created an environment in which we all felt safe, so we knew that at any time, we could step away. And we were so tight-knit as a cast. We were such a team on that set, and it was really all because of Branden. He wanted to depict the truths of this historical fiction in the most respectful, sensitive way he possibly could, and I feel like he really succeeded in that.
Johnson Supports Changes Between the Novel and Television Adaptation
FX
The renowned playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins adapted the celebrated and famed Octavia Butler novel for television, but some elements of the novel were changed in the process. For instance, the novel originally takes place in 1976, whereas, the series is brought into the present occurring in 2016.
According to Johnson, viewers should expect other changes to the Butler adaptation. When filming, she mentions “going back and forth between the script and the book” several times as reference for her character. While this may be alarming to longtime fans of the novel and Butler, audiences can rest assured that Jacobs-Jenkins’ changes were vital to the story. Even with Johnson’s personal connection to the novel, she embraced the changes, “understanding where they sprouted from in the story.”
Johnson spoke at length of how she married the two versions of Dana for the adaptation, stating:
Jacobs-Jenkins serves as Kindred’s showrunner and executive producer. Janicza Bravo serves dual roles as executive producer for the pilot and the series director. All eight episodes were written by Matthew Shire (Trinkets). The limited series premieres Tuesday, December 13th exclusively on Hulu with all eight episodes being released together. Check out the official trailer to prepare you for this time-traveling thriller!
Eventually, there were two Danas in my head—there was Dana in the book and there was Dana in the show, and they were intertwined with each other. When I needed to draw from something, like a fundamental piece of who this person was and the way that this person would react or feel about something, I always went back to the book and I always tried to see it from that perspective. The book was like an encyclopedia for me to go back to whenever I needed to connect to something deeper than what I was seeing on the page.
