Ahead of the U.S. premiere of the second season of Paramount+ series “Dreaming Whilst Black”, I spoke to creator, writer, and star Adjani Salmon for an exclusive junket conversation.
“Dreaming Whilst Black” is the semi-autobiographical story of Kwabena Robinson’s (Adjani Salmon) experience trying to break in to the U.K. film industry as a director, in order to make his dream project, a film titled Jamaica Road. Mirroring much of Salmon’s own path to get his big break in the industry, the show follows Kwabena’s career path, romantic pursuits, family pressures, financial struggles, and more, while shining a light on many of his unique experiences as a young Black creative, all with sharp British humor at the forefront.
This season, we see Kwabena take a big career step as he pivots away from his dream project and accepts his first directing job on a major television series. But it is far from a picture-perfect Hollywood ending as he realizes that getting the job is only the first hurdle. “There’s the old adage of needing to get a foot in the door, but you don’t know what’s behind that door,” said Salmon. “So season two is exploring that part.” Kwabena comes up against the U.K. film industry’s struggle with racial sensitivity, unrealistic time and budget constraints, cast member drama, and much more as he works on the show throughout the season.
Another recurring theme of the show is Kwabena navigating his internal dialogue vs. the struggle to actually speak up when facing major moments in his life. This pays off in a big way with his character development by the end of season two. “If your back’s against the wall or if you no longer have anything to lose, it’s like ‘well, what am I protecting?'” said Salmon. “So we really talked a lot in the writers room about how we could push him to that point that he feels compelled to genuinely speak.” No spoilers here, but it’s a character journey that is well worth watching.
“Dreaming Whilst Black” season two premiered in the U.S. on Friday, February 20th. New episodes air weekly on the Paramount+ Premium Plan.