Okay, we're all pretty hyped for the return of Top Boy: from seeing original duo Dushane and Sully on our screens once more, to seeing what newbie Jamie does next. And then there's that romance between Dushane and Shelley...
The all-star cast, from Ashley Walters and Little Simz to Michael Ward and Kano are back with some newcomers among their midst: chief of whom being British model Adwoa Aboah, who makes her acting debut. Recently, she opened up about her new role and the responsibility of playing a queer character.
Yep, you read that right. Adwoa will be appearing as Becks, the girlfriend of drug dealer Jaq who, in case you don't remember, is a member of Dushane and Sully's Summerhouse gang. Jaq is played by actress Jasmine Jobson, who was nominated for a BAFTA for the role and, while she had another relationship plotline last season, Adwoa has hinted that the show will delve more into Jaq's queer identity this time round.
Adwoah revealed that the plotline will be used to highlight the difficulties faced by members of the Black LGBTQIA+ community, and the tragic realities of the hate crime and discrimination they face. She confided in Refinery 29 UK that while the on-screen couple share a moment of tenderness, they will also be the subject of a violent homophobic attack.
"It’s important the way [the attack is] shown and how it was written, because we were just holding hands and we had this very brief kiss at the end of an amazing date," Aboah revealed. "It doesn’t even matter what people are doing at the time. You might not think these things happen, and it might seem brutal, violent and exaggerated, but it happens like this every day."
With such difficult subject matter, she explained that she spoke to members of the LGBTQIA+ community as preparation and tapped into her own experiences as a woman of colour to inform her performance. "I was able to tap into moments in my life where I felt discriminated. After the death of George Floyd, the conversation around race and gender has become a lot more nuanced," she said.
Everyone's clicking on...
"When I was doing my research, I spoke to friends that I have in the queer community and we shared our unspoken energy of walking around the world in a society that still has lots of work to do."
Top Boy season four is released on Netflix tomorrow (18 March)
Megan Wallace (they/them) is Cosmopolitan UK’s Former Sex and Relationships Editor covering sexual pleasure, sex toys, LGBTQIA+ identity, dating and romance. They have covered sexuality and relationships for over five years and are the founder of the PULP zine, which publishes essays on culture and sex. In their spare time, they can be found exploring the London kink scene and planning dates on Feeld.
