Michaela Coel

Michaela Coel (born Michaela Ewuraba Boakye-Collinso on 1 October 1987) is a British Ghanaian actor, writer, director and producer. Quotes Sometimes looking out is almost an escape from looking in Perhaps there's a strange privilege being me in America that is denied to people who are African American I May Destroy You' Let Michaela Coel Explore Dangerous Areas In A Safe Place 22 July 2020 Write the tales that scare you, that make you feel uncertain, that aren't comfortable. I dare you I think we can be activists, we can fight, we can strive and we can stress and strain to achieve equality but without love, love of ourselves, love of our sisters and our brothers, we’re still crippled and there is still a gaping hole in a society we imagine having peace in If you can stand there and say that you don't think racism exists, you are a very traumatized person and your trauma has made you blind to what is going on right in front of you I think the biggest fight against love right now, is against queer love and I am an advocate and supporter of that love. Storytelling Can Change The World & Other Things I Learned Interviewing Michaela Coel 19 December 2022 Once upon a time, I was a misfit. How lucky I am to find acceptance, to feel safe here. I mustn’t jeopardise that You’re going to realise that you need to be afraid, because you’ve got a position that you need to keep There’s so much fear of letting go, when it’s the most freeing thing you could do What are we teaching kids when they’re like 12, 13, because these things – or the lack of things that we teach them – will follow them into adulthood We have to try to be brave enough to accept that society is a changeable thing Misfits, if you listen to them, they create change Sometimes pain is something to be grateful for There is power in silence and there is fear in silence My definition of success is being around someone who loves you, who you love Michaela Coel: ‘Sometimes pain is something to be grateful for’ 5 September 2021 When they see the filthy things I’ve written, people think I’m fearless, that I have no filter, but if they knew the scope of inappropriate things that go on in my head they’d thank me for how much I don’t say in the real world, most of us are racially integrated So much of what we see on TV lacks diversity, and that’s to do with privilege. Privilege distances you from reality We have a moral obligation to hold a mirror to the people watching the shows Michaela Coel: ‘People think I am fearless’ 1 May 2016 it’s a question of, would you tell that joke in front of an all-black audience? If you can’t, then you need to shut up I feel like now more than ever, the men that I know are brought up from very young with an idea of what a woman is. It’s those tiny reminders, of being female, of being black and being dark-skinned – which is very important – and coming from a working-class background. It’s a constant awareness To look at my family in real life, to look at people that look like me, that’s what pulls me I would like to walk on the earth that my mum grew up on Stylist speaks to Chewing Gum's Michaela Coel: on speaking her mind, sex clubs and upsetting the status quo 6 December 2016