Coel is also known for her work in other Netflix productions, including guest-starring in the series Black Mirror (2016–2017), starring as Kate Ashby in the series Black Earth Rising (2018) and as Simone in the film Been So Long (2018).
Early life and education
Michaela Ewuraba Boakye-Collinson[2][3] was born in 1987 in East London.[4] Her parents are Ghanaian.[5] She and her sister were raised by their mother in East London,[4] primarily Hackney and Tower Hamlets.[6][7] She attended Catholic schools in East London,[5] and has said that, during primary school, she bullied other pupils, claiming it was caused by her isolation as the only black pupil in her age cohort. The isolation did not continue into her secondary education at a comprehensive school.[2]
From 2007 to 2009, Coel attended the University of Birmingham, studying English Literature and Theology.[8] She took a Ché Walker masterclass after meeting Walker at open mic nights.[9] In 2009, she transferred to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she was the first black woman enrolled in five years.[7] She won the Laurence Olivier Bursary Award, which helped her fund her schooling.[10] During her time at Guildhall, Coel attended the Mark Proulx workshop at Prima del Teatro and took the Kat Francois Poetry Course at the Theatre Royal Stratford East.[8] She graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 2012.[11]
Career
Beginnings
In 2006, Coel began performing at poetry open mics in Ealing.[12] As she continued to do open mics, she was encouraged by actor, playwright and director Ché Walker, who saw her perform at the Hackney Empire, to apply to Guildhall.[2][7] As a poet, Coel performed on many stages, including Wembley Arena, Bush Theatre, Nuyorican Poets Cafe and De Doelen, Rotterdam. She went by the name Michaela The Poet.[3]
Coel joined the Talawa Theatre Company summer school program TYPT in 2009.[13][14] During her time at Talawa, Coel was in the TYPT 2009 production of Krunch, directed by Amani Naphtali.[15] That same year, Coel released an album entitled Fixing Barbie, which featured her work as a poet and musician.[16] In 2011, Coel released the record We're the Losers.[17]
Coel's play Chewing Gum Dreams was her senior graduation project at Guildhall in 2012. The play was first produced at The Yard Theatre in Hackney Wick.[18] The play featured Coel in a one-woman show telling the dramatic story of a 14-year-old girl named Tracey.[7] The play then went on to be produced by the Bush Theatre (2012), Royal Theatre Holland (2012), Royal Exchange Theatre (2013) and the National Theatre (2014).[19] It received positive reviews.[20][21]
Early work and breakthrough (2013–2019)
In 2013, Coel appeared in Channel 4 drama Top Boy and has had leading roles at the National Theatre, including the award-nominated Home and the critically acclaimed Medea.[22]
Channel 4 announced that Coel would write and star in a new sitcom called Chewing Gum, inspired by her play Chewing Gum Dreams in August 2014.[23] "C4 Comedy Blaps" were released as teasers in September 2014, and the series began on E4 in October 2015.[2] Her performance earned her the British Academy Television Award for Best Female Comedy Performance in 2016. She also won a BAFTA for Breakthrough Talent for writing the show.[24]Chewing Gum received overwhelmingly positive reviews.[25]
In 2015, Coel appeared in BBC One drama London Spy.[26] The following year, she played Lilyhot in the E4 sci-fi comedy-drama The Aliens, which was filmed in Bulgaria.[27][28][29]
In 2018, Coel starred in Black Earth Rising, a co-production between BBC Two and Netflix, where she played Kate, the main character. She also starred as Simone in the musical-drama film Been So Long, by Che Walker, based on his own stage play, which was released on Netflix to positive reviews in October 2018.
Critical acclaim (2020–present)
Coel created, wrote, produced, co-directed and starred in the comedy-drama series I May Destroy You, inspired by her own experience of sexual assault.[33] The show launched on BBC One in the UK and HBO in the US in June 2020 to widespread acclaim.[34][35][36] She acknowledged refusing $1 million from Netflix after the streaming service declined to offer her intellectual property ownership of her show.[37][38]
In 2020, Coel was included in Time's 100 Most Influential People.[39] She was also named as one of the breakout stars of 2020 for film.[40] Coel also appeared in British Vogue's 2020 list of influential women.[41] Furthermore, in the 15th annualPowerlist of the most influential people of African or African-Caribbean heritage in the United Kingdom, Coel was ranked fourth for the impact of her work on I May Destroy You.[42][43]
Coel's first book, Misfits: a Personal Manifesto, was published simultaneously in the UK and the USA on 7 September 2021 by Ebury Press. Based on her MacTaggart lecture at 2018's Edinburgh Festival, which touches on Coel's experiences with racism and misogyny, her publisher described the book as "a powerful manifesto on how speaking your truth and owning your differences can transform your life".[46][47]
On 19 August 2024 Coel announced her first TV show in four years. The upcoming TV show will see Coel write, star in and executive produce First Day On Earth, a 10-part series for the BBC, which will begin filming in 2025.[50]
Personal life
At the 2016 British Academy Television Awards, Coel wore a gown designed by her mother, made of Kente cloth.[51] She has said that, like her Chewing Gum character Tracey, she became very religious as a Pentecostal Christian and embraced celibacy.[7] Coel stopped practising Pentecostalism after attending Guildhall.[2]
In August 2018, Coel disclosed that she was drugged and sexually assaulted by two unnamed men during the writing of her sitcom Chewing Gum. The attack would later inspire her to create the TV drama I May Destroy You.[52][53]
^ abcdBrown, Emma (19 December 2016). "The Showrunner". Interview. Archived from the original on 25 December 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2016. Still only 29, Coel was raised in London by Ghanian [sic] parents and trained as an actor at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
^ abMarshall, Charlotte (21 July 2014). "Introducing... Michaela Coel". officiallondontheatre.co.uk. Official London Theatre. Archived from the original on 25 December 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
^"Michaela Coel (2012)". gsmd.ac.uk. Guildhall School of Music and Drama. 2012. Archived from the original on 25 December 2016. Retrieved 25 December 2016.
