“Blindspotting” executive producer and star Daveed Diggs hit the red carpet for the Starz series’ Season 2 premiere on Tuesday night, alongside fellow cast members Jasmine Cephas Jones, Helen Hunt and star and executive producer Rafael Casal.
The premiere was punctuated with a Q&A interview moderated by “Star Trek” alum LeVar Burton, who also stars in the recent season, doing a turn as Earl’s (Benjamin Earl Turner) father.
Tuesday night’s premiere was held at Hollywood’s Neuehouse, but it was a special occasion for Diggs because it was the first time the Tony Award winner attended a “Blindspotting” premiere in person. The show first premiered in 2021, but Diggs was forced to skip due to scheduling reasons.
Diggs and Casal walked the carpet together with smiles, opening up about several of the themes shown in the sophomore season of their Oakland-based drama. The pair tease that the new episodes provide a closer look at mass incarceration and the culture of the Bay Area, as shown through several cameos from some legendary musical talent.
“The Bay Area is really foundational for us. So it’s very cool to get to tell a story about the place where you’re from and I get to kind of share the things that are amazing about that place to people who don’t know,” said Diggs. “But also for us, it’s sort of small particular touchstones, like Margo Hall here. I’ve been doing plays with Margo Hall since I was fresh out of college. I pretty much credit her with teaching me how to act. So, the fact that she’s in our TV show is really important. It’s those little things. There’s like family traditions that are only for our families that show up in a show like this.”
For fans who remember, Season 1 followed Ashley (Jasmine Cephas Jones) as she said goodbye to her small family as she knew it since her fiancé Miles (Casal) was arrested. Season 2 continues to follow their story as she and her son Sean (Atticus Woodward), Rainey (Hunt) and Trish (Jaylen Barron) learn to live with their loved one behind bars.
“The thing we wanted to do when creating this show is try to tell the stories of people who have loved ones incarcerated, which is one of the things that people talk about often sets this show apart, but that is a common denominator for people in the U.S., right? The biggest prison population in the world, over two million incarcerated people, five million people infected by the carceral state, in general. Then you talk about all the family members connected to those people. It affects everybody in this country,” Diggs shared. “Trying to be honest about what it’s like to have a family member locked up is the guiding principle of the show. As long as we can do that, it allows us to be as funny and fun and flashy as we want to be. Because we know we’re honoring the real life experience of many, many people.”
Casal and Diggs are said to be joining each other next within the Disney universe. Diggs, whose credits include “Hamilton” and “Soul,” will next be heard lending his voice to Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” as Sebastian. The film is scheduled to be released in May. Casal is reportedly set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe next in a major role for Season 2 of Disney+’s “Loki.” Though, he played it pretty coy on the carpet when asked about his part.
“I’m allegedly joining, but if I were joining, I would be proud to wear that banner, working with those people would be a blessing — a fantastic experience, I would imagine. I heard from him,” he said, referring to Diggs at his side. “I don’t necessarily have first hand experience… Tom Hiddleston, I hear is a joy — just a dream to work with. Fantastic, from what I’ve heard.”
“Blindspotting” premieres on April 14 on Starz.
