Snowpiercer star Daveed Diggs wants the show to not just tackle class but race as well.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about everything from Hamilton to his upcoming role as Sebastian in Disney's live-action/CGI The Little Mermaid remake. He also touched on being the lead of TNT's Snowpiercer, based on both the 1982 graphic novel La Transperceneige and the 2013 film adaptation by Bong Joon-ho. Like the story it's based on, the movie explicitly deals with class distinctions, but when Diggs was cast in the lead role, he saw it as an opportunity to explore the way race intersects with class in society.
"Nobody was planning to make a show that was touching on race because they weren't necessarily planning to have a Black protagonist," Diggs said. "But then they got stuck with me. So even though I know it wasn't, some things feel like a deliberate ignorance of race and that's not useful because I'm still onscreen. You can't not deal with it."
For Diggs, Season 1 of the show didn't touch on race in a meaningful way. Season 2 premiered this week and TNT ordered a third season for the show, meaning there's more than enough time to dig deeper into these ideas. When the story starts, the remaining humans on Earth inhabit an ever-moving train as the world has experienced a catastrophic ice age. The poorest live in squalor in the back of the train while the rich live in the front with all sorts of luxuries. Season 1, like the film, saw the rear rise in revolution. Now, Diggs' Layton leads a new society.
At the end of Season 1, the survivors of the revolution are trying to pick up the pieces and maintain a fragile peace amongst the now merged classes with Layton (Daveed Diggs) emerging as the train’s leader. Discovering Mr. Wilford (Sean Bean) is alive and headed their way on a rival train, Melanie (Jennifer Connelly) risks going outside to prevent him from invading Snowpiercer. While she’s out there, it’s revealed that Alexandra (Rowan Blanchard), Melanie’s daughter, who she thought had died, is alive and has become Wilford’s dedicated protegee. In season two, an entirely new power struggle emerges, causing a dangerous rift as people are divided between their loyalty to Layton and to Mr. Wilford, who has a new train, new technology and a game plan that keeps everyone guessing. While Layton battles Wilford for the soul of Snowpiercer, Melanie leads the charge on a shocking new discovery that could change the fate of humanity.
Snowpiercer stars Jennifer Connelly, Daveed Diggs, Sean Bean, Rowan Blanchard, Alison Wright, Mickey Sumner, Iddo Goldberg, Katie McGuinness, Lena Hall, Annalise Basso, Sam Otto, Roberto Urbina, Sheila Vand, and Steven Ogg. Season 1 is available on HBO Max. New episodes air Mondays on TNT.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter