Washington Black's Sterling K. Brown And Ernest Kingsley Junior Revel In The 'Brotherhood And Mentorship' Hulu's Historical Drama Gave Them

In Hulu's Washington Black, Sterling K. Brown's Medwin Harris takes the titular young man played by Ernest Kingsley Junior on as a protege in 1800s Halifax, Nova Scotia. Washington, aka "Wash," is an escaped slave with a penchant for science and engineering. Medwin is a savvy operator in an enclave for those who've escaped enslavement down south. From the first episode, it's clear that the men enjoy each other's company.

I also got that sense when TVLine recently chatted with Kingsley and Brown about their adaptation of Esi Edugyan's 2018 novel. "I remember our first day on set," Kingsley (The Sandman, War of the Worlds) says in the video above. "One of the first things he asked me, he was like, 'Junior, have you ever been in love?' Like, one of the first questions." Brown laughs as the younger man continues. "I was like, 'Wow, this is going to be a shorthand relationship.' All that to say, instantly, we just had that kind of brotherhood and mentorship."

The eight-episode limited series, which begins streaming today, follows Wash from his start on a Barbados plantation to his young adulthood in Halifax and beyond. The drama has a touch of whimsy mixed among the horrors of the slave trade — a dirigible, a pirate ship and an octupus figure prominently — but the story is rooted in how Wash is able to remain uplifted despite the world's attempts to bring him down.

Medwin enters the story when Wash is an adult, though given the series' use of flashback, Brown is present from the first episode. The Paradise star notes that Kingsley's "superpower" is his ability to be present in scenes. "You recognize that you're talking to someone who is being attentive to the moment. He hasn't pre-planned what's going to happen after you say your line. He is taking in what you have to say, and then he internalizes it, and then he responds," says Brown, who also serves as an executive producer on the show. "And that? That's a beautiful dance partner."

The cast also includes Tom Ellis (Lucifer), Rupert Graves (Sherlock), Iola Evans (The 100), Edward Bluemel (Sex Education), Sharon Duncan-Brewster (Sex Education). All eight episodes of Washington Black are now available to stream on Hulu.

Press PLAY on the video above to watch Brown and Kingsley go deep on making the series, then hit the comments: Are you planning to watch Washington Black?