'David Makes Man' star Travis Coles on 'giving visibility to the Black queer world' through his character Mx Elijah
'David Makes Man', a one-hour lyrical drama produced by Oprah Winfrey and created by Academy Award winner Tarell Alvin McCraney, is a coming-of-age drama that follows the life of a 14-year-old black boy named David played by actor Akili McDowell.
The story revolves around the boy, who needs to rise above the gang-infested streets of the poor neighborhood so he has a bright future. Haunted by the death of his closest friend, David relies on his mother to find a way out of poverty. In an exclusive interview with MEA World Wide (MEAWW), actor Travis Coles talks about his character of Mx Elijah and how the show speaks to the queer community.
While Travis comes from a comedy background, he says he chose to switch to a dramatic role purely because of the story. "I love doing comedy," he said, "I still do theater and I still have studied theater as well. So, stepping into this role was being able to experience what it's like to work with some of the great minds of the century. For me, it was an honor. I got to enjoy every step of the process and that was all I needed. As far as comedy goes, I think it's just human and the story has a heart. So it may be a drama series as we are dealing with some heavy stuff, but even in tragedy, you laugh."
He picked up the role because he felt he connected to it as he said: "Playing this character and just reading the script was simply beautiful. I remember I read the script and felt like Terrell wrote something that I had already experienced." Talking about "duality" in the series, he added, "It's about growing up in America as a Black person and what you have to do in order to survive, especially along with trauma. Moreover, the children in the show are so incredible. You know, Akili was just 13 when he was doing this and there was some heavy stuff to enact."
Playing Mx Elijah in the show was quite a breakthrough for Travis. His character is close to David as the stern-but-loving caretaker who often takes care of him in the absence of his hard-working mother (Alana Arenas). Stressing on the importance of "giving visibility to the Black queer world", he said, "Not the gender, but it is about the human side that lies underneath that makes Elijah infallible. It's about how he relates to David, how he survives as an adult queer person in the community and despite everything, how Mx Elijah is respected for who he is." The most important lesson he learned while working on his character was how one "earns respect for their authenticity".
A beacon of hope for all around him, Mx Elijah was one of the most "grounded" characters in the series. "If you're Black, you already have to live with the trauma of how things will be different for you. But if you are also queer, you're going to have a whole other set of challenges and a whole other way of surviving," Travis says, adding, "Mx Elijah helps others because he knows it is all about giving back."
For Travis, it is relatable on a personal level as he loves his family and had to create his own version of a family when he was away from them. "Since Mx Elijah has already faced these troubles, she knows how it is for others and therefore, is there for others," he says.
Travis also shared an inside story about how Oprah got on board as the producer of the show. "Michael B. Jordan and Tarell Alvin McCraney went and pitched the story to Oprah. Actually, Oprah wasn't supposed to be there but she happened to hear it. And surprisingly, she loved it so much that there were tears in the room. She said that it was the best pitch she had heard and that's how she got on board."
Being around Oprah was a "surreal" experience for Travis. "On the reading table, when I rehearsed my dialogues, Oprah came up and said that the show had gone from a story to a legacy and everyone around was so emotional. Confessing he has not met Michael B. Jordan on the show yet, Travis says, "There was a wrap party for Friday Night Lights and I crashed that party." It was there that the actor briefly interacted with Jordan.
Also starring Nathaniel McIntyre, Isaiah Johnson, Ade Chike Torbert, Cayden Williams, Jordan Bolger and Phylicia Rashad, the show premieres on OWN on August 14.