Michaela Coel
Actor, screenwriter, director, producer, and singer.
"To see people laughing or crying or listening, then being inspired to do their own thing? I can't think of anything better than that."
Michaela Coel, is an English actor, screenwriter, director, producer, and singer.
She is well known for creating and starring in the E4 sitcom Chewing Gum (2015–2017) and the BBC One/HBO comedy-drama series I May Destroy You (2020).
Coel began performing her own poems as ‘Michaela the Poet’ at spoken-word nights in small venues across London. Her one-person Guildhall School of Music & Drama graduation show Chewing Gum Dreams wound up at the National before catching the eye of Channel 4 executives.
In August 2014, Channel 4 announced that Coel would write and star in a new sitcom called Chewing Gum, inspired by her play Chewing Gum Dreams. The show ran for two seasons receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews and earning her BAFTA Awards for Best Female Comedy Performance and for Breakthrough Talent for writing the show.
Coel is also known for her work in Netflix productions, including guest starring in the series Black Mirror (2016–2017), starring as Kate Ashby in the series Black Earth Rising (2018) and starring as Simone in the film Been So Long (2018).
She created, wrote, produced, co-directed and starred in the comedy-drama series I May Destroy You, inspired by her own experience of sexual assault. The show launched on BBC One in the UK and HBO in the US in June 2020 to widespread acclaim.
Coel appeared in British Vogue's 2020 List Of Influential Women and Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2020.
Main image: I May Destroy You: BBC/HBO Various Artists Limited
Gallery Images: ©Channel 4/ Retort TV
Bottom image: Sight and Sound Magazine.
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