That’s not what we do.'
That was a different kind of gear for me.'"
Plus watch an exclusive clip from the show above.
Gabriel Delerme/Netflix
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I was surprised when I found the show was a mockumentary.
What attracted you to that format?
KENYA BARRIS:Well Im a hugeCurb Your EnthusiasmandModern Familyfan.
Gabriel Delerme/Netflix
One of the ways was to not put an actor playing me.
From your perspective, how did the mockumentary format end up working out?
Did it make things easier or harder?
You’re not doing reverses.
This is your first acting role.
How was that experience?
From this point on, I will write differently.
But it was the scariest thing I’ve ever done.
It made me have a respect for actors in a way that I would never thought possible.
They are just amazing, magical people in the way that they do things.
Also, I tell my kids this all the time, face your fears.
Did you find yourself rewriting scenes as you were shooting to make them work better?
We felt like, Let’s sort of take a step back on set.
We had to go back and look and say, “You know what, let’s rethink this.
What’s the point of this?
You know, this couple actually really loves each other.
Lets rethink what we really want to get to.”
We wanted to ensure that this didn’t feel just so angry and so bitter.
How did Netflix react to you wanting to play yourself?
There were conversations for sure.
But there were definitely some concerns, and we’ll see if those concerns are…
The tale has not been told yet, so we’ll see.
We’ll see what people think.
The fictional version of Kenya you play is, for a lack of a better word, a dick.
I think that that’s comedy.
So, that was something I wanted to be self-deprecating.
That’s the sort of evil Kenya version of myself.
That’s the writer’s room, f–ing with everybody.
There’s versions of that that are who I am.
I wouldn’t call myself an a–hole, but I definitely can be a dick.
I think it’s as much me as Larry Davids version of himself onCurbis.
You’re always worried about, Am I a failure?
When is this ride going to end?
When am I going to be found out?
So I think that was what I wanted to do with this.
Yeah, in my real life, that happened.
I sometimes find myself blowing myself because Im happy with something I did.
But Im also in that same way, Im also very critical of myself.
So, Im not as quick to jump onboard the This Is Great Train.
Every episode title includes because of slavery.
Do you consider that the shows thesis statement?
We were in slavery for 400 years.
They say it takes two generations for people to sort of forget the behavior.
We were in slavery for basically 40 generations, 38 generations.
It’s a recessive gene for all of us, and let’s look at that.
I do feel like it’s sort of my guiding light, my North Star.
The complete first season of#blackAFpremieres Friday, April 17 on Netflix.
