Michaela Coel has revealed plans to build a house in her father’s ancestral village in Ghana.
The award-winning writer, who was born in London to Ghanaian parents, first visited the country in 2018 for a television shoot and felt an immediate affinity for the country.
Recalling her trip, the 35-year-old told American Vogue: “I’d been to Africa before - Kenya and Uganda - but when I came here I was really seeing people who looked like me.
“A friend of mine was with me, and he remembers us getting off the plane and me walking around as if I knew where I was going.
“I remember looking at all the kids playing and it hit me, like, Wow, this could’ve been me and I think I would have really enjoyed that.
“Yes, there are a lot of sad things; poverty, unemployment, struggle. There’s also a lot of peace, friendliness. There’s a lack of anxiety.”
Coel also revealed that she was considering buying an apartment in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, where she lived for six months last year.
Aside from her property plans, the British star spoke about her upcoming role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever in which she plays Aneka, a combat instructor for the Dora Milaje.
Cinema-goers will see her character, who protects the kingdom of Wakanda alongside her all-female warriors, fall for her colleague Ayo, played by Florence Kasumba.
When asked about playing a queer character in a movie set in Africa, where there are strict anti-gay policies, Coel said: “That sold me on the role, the fact that my character’s queer.
“I thought: I like that, I want to show that to Ghana... People say, ‘Oh, it’s fine, it’s just politics.’ But I don’t think it is just politics when it affects how people get to live their daily lives.
“That’s why it felt important for me to step in and do that role because I know just by my being Ghanaian, Ghanaians will come,” the LGBTQ+ advocate added.
Coel, who appears alongside her father, Derek Kwesi Coel, and grandmother Jemima Andam for the cover shoot, also spoke of her experience filming the superhero sequel following the death of the film’s star Chadwick Boseman.
The actor tragically passed away from a secret battle with colon cancer in August 2020. Following his death, it was confirmed that the late actor’s role would not be recast.
She said of her experience on set: “It felt like the entire cast was processing grief. There was a sense that we have to bring this baby home in the name of Chadwick.”
