Lena Waithe Is Officially the Busiest Lesbian in Hollywood
Lena Waithe has been on a hot streak ever since making TV history as the first black woman to win a Primetime Emmy for screenwriting on a comedy series; she won the prize in 2017 for Aziz Ansari’s Netflix show Master of None, which also co-starred Waithe.
Since then, the 34-year-old has become such an in-demand creator in Hollywood that she’s juggling boss duties for several projects. Here’s a look at what’s on Waithe’s crowded plate in 2019:
Twenties
Waithe is an executive producer and writer of this upcoming BET comedy series, which is about a queer black woman in her 20s named Hattie and her two straight best friends, Marie and Nia. It’s BET’s first original series centered on a character from the LGBTQ community. According to BET, Waithe wrote Twenties when she was in her early 20s. There’s no word yet on who’s in the show’s cast and when the show will premiere, but Waithe is working on Twenties with former A Different World executive producer Susan Fales-Hill.
In a statement, Waithe had this to say about the show: “Twenties has been a project I've been dreaming about for as long as I can remember. I think a lot of people were interested, but didn't see the vision...I know audiences have been waiting a long time for this one.”
Boomerang
Waithe’s other BET show, which has been renewed for a second season, is a TV sequel to the 1992 comedy film Boomerang that explored the power dynamics and sexual tension between men and women in the workplace. Waithe is a writer and executive producer of the Boomerang TV series, which is a comedy about the children of the three main characters (played by Eddie Murphy, Halle Berry and Robin Givens) from the Boomerang movie. Berry is also one of the executive producers of BET's Boomerang, which stars Tequan Richmond and Tetona Jackson as the second generation.
The Chi
Waithe is an executive producer and writer of this Showtime drama series about black residents on the South Side of Chicago. Rapper/actor Common is also an executive producer, whose cast includes Jason Mitchell, Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine and Jacob Latimore. The show’s second season premiered this month.
How to Make Love to a Black Woman (Who May Be Working Through Some Sh*t)
Casallina “Cathy” Kisakye created this Showtime comedy series, and she has teamed up with Boomerang executive producers Waithe and Rishi Rajani to executive produce the show. The cast and premiere date are to be announced. According to Variety, Showtime describes the series as being about “connection, rejection and…sexual secrets.”
Queen & Slim
This dramatic film, written by Waithe and directed by Melina Matsoukas, is about a black couple on the run from the law after killing a cop in self-defense. Waithe is also a producer on the show, which stars Jodie Turner-Smith as Queen and Daniel Kaluuya as Slim. The movie is scheduled to hit theaters on November 27.
Them
Not much is known about this horror anthology series that Waithe is executive producing for Amazon Prime Video, but Deadline has reported that Amazon has ordered two seasons of the show, whose creative team includes executive producer/writer Little Martin. The first season, Them: Covenant will be about a fictional black couple in 1953, Alfred and Lucky Emory, who relocate from North Carolina to a white neighborhood in Los Angeles—and scary things ensue.
You Ain’t Got These
Sneaker/athletic-shoe culture is the focus of this unscripted series that Waithe is executive producing for Quibi, an upcoming streaming service for shortform video content, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Untitled HBO series with Kid Fury
Critically acclaimed gay podcaster/stand-up comedian Kid Fury has teamed up with Waithe for a comedy series on HBO. The show is still in the early stages of development, but Waithe and Kid Fury are two of the executive producers of the series. Kid Fury is also a star on the show, which Variety describes as a “surreal dark comedy that follows Greg, a 20-something gay black man navigating adulthood and responsibility in New York City while struggling to wrap his head around his undiagnosed clinical depression.”
Westworld
Waithe has a top-secret role in the third season of HBO’s Emmy-winning Westworld sci-fi series. According to Variety, the show began filming its third season this year, but the episodes won’t be televised until 2020.