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 The 41-year-old read a copy of
Colson Whitehead's harrowing tale before its
2016 release, and was enamoured by its young
protagonist, Black slave Cora, and her quest for
freedom from a Georgia plantation.
Set in the 19th century Deep South, the 10-part
series, released on Amazon Prime Video on May
14, is Jenkins' biggest television project to
date, with haunting and harrowing images of
slavery brutality.
"Both the scale and scope of the story and the
delicate nature of the subject matter, I think
for many different reasons it was something to
fear," Jenkins told Reuters in an interview.
"But I think that's a good thing. As an artist,
if you're not afraid somewhat of what you're
doing, then the thing that you're creating is
not going to help you expand or evolve."
The story follows Cora, played by South African
actress Thuso Mbedu, as she discovers the
"Underground Railroad", a secret network of
tracks, and embarks on her journey, travelling
from state to state.
"The show is ultimately about survival. It's
about triumph in a certain way, but it's rooted
out of this trauma that is very real and it must
be acknowledged," Jenkins said.
Cora is pursued by slave hunter Ridgeway, played
by Joel Edgerton, who wants to make up for never
catching her mother when she escaped years
before.
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 "There was a whole lot of
preparation that went into Cora, but even going
into the production, I knew that ... I had a lot
of people to lean on," Mbedu said of her
gruelling role, adding that cast and crew made
sure to organise events to unwind.
"I'd have situations where sometimes I'd feel
the residue of Cora bleeding into my own life.
But I was intentional about checking in, self
awareness was very key. We also had a guidance
counsellor on set who would always check in on
me as well, which is something I really
appreciated."
As part of the location scout, Jenkins visited a
cotton field in Georgia, a moment he described
as "intense".
"But then it was also quite beautiful because I
was there with all these folks who looked like
me and we were the descendants of all these
people who stood in this field," he said.
"And the idea that they could imagine us coming
back there to recreate their experience is
something quite wonderful."
(Reporting by Lisa Keddie; Writing by
Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Raissa
Kasolowsky)
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