Just Act Normal's Nathaniel Martello-White: "We need more mainstream depictions of the Black experience"

Although he'd just made his directorial debut with Netflix thriller The Strays, Martello-White wanted to carry on directing things he'd written himself. But it was after some encouragement from his agents that the script for Just Act Normal came through and all the fateful pieces fell into place, if you will.

"It just felt like I really connected to what it was in terms of authorship. A lot of the stuff that I'm interested in is looking at Black culture, but in sort of satirical spaces or in genre spaces where we get to elevate our experience to something more universal," he says.

The new series has been written and created by Janice Okoh, adapted from her acclaimed 2013 stage play Three Birds. The original South London-set production starred Michaela Coel and Susan Wokoma, who obviously need no introduction, so it's safe to say that the series had some big boots to fill.

Flipped to Birmingham for the BBC Three series, Just Act Normal centres on three siblings, Tiana (Chenée Taylor), Tanika (Kaydrah Walker-Wilkie) and Tionne (Akins Subair), who are hiding a major family secret about their mother's disappearance.

If people start finding out that their mum isn't around, it could spell disaster for the youngsters and their future of being kept together.

It seems a little random to state that there's a lot to love about a series like this, but that's because, while it deals with such tragic themes, it also isn't a stranger to levity, comedy and charm – all of which are delivered flawlessly through our three newcomer leads.

Martello-White admits that he'd always felt "very ambitious" about the look of the series, which allowed him to return to an "indie, art house sensibility" after the £7 million budget for The Strays.

He references the "joyous palette" of Sean Baker's The Florida Project, and Barry Jenkins's "confidence to just really just sit with an actor's face" in Moonlight. Close-up shots are delivered in plentiful supply in Just Act Normal, providing a near-claustrophobic feel to the siblings and the challenges they come to face throughout the six episodes.

It helped that all three lead actors have "really great faces", Martello-White laughs, meaning that they can all seamlessly hold the frame, with extreme close-ups forming the "visual vocabulary" of much of the series.

His initial pitch to the powers that be of the show was simply: "Can we make it feel like a fairy tale, even though it's about something really serious and weighted?"

Without any spoilers, Just Act Normal and Martello-White manage to achieve just that, which feels like a near impossible task given the subject matter. While it is the kind of series that doesn't shy away from delivering an emotional gut-punch or two, it is one that almost instantly warms your heart.

From the siblings' unlikely surrogate father relationship with drug dealer Dr Feelgood (Sam Buchanan), to Tiana's budding – yet complicated – romance or Tanika having her own Miss Honey from Matilda arc in the form of Ms Jenkins (Romola Garai), there are plenty of laughs to be had.

Martello-White credits Okoh for the humour that's been woven throughout the story and the script, saying: "I think we really felt strongly that whilst this family are against it and trying to complete this impossible mission, they are still a family.

"When the mum was around, even though she had her flaws or issues, she was still a loving mother, they still would have these joyous moments."

He continues: "I think what people misunderstand about Black culture is that we really love to laugh and crack jokes, like, it's just part of our DNA. I think it was great to just bring that out in in the actors.

"Part of my job, I think, especially working with new actors – and I never got this when I graduated from RADA, I never had somebody who looked like me or sounded like me, who kind of knew what it was like, to be stood on a set and deal with that kind of pressure – so my job really was to alleviate pressure from those guys. Almost tricked them into thinking that it wasn't really that much pressure.

"My main thing was to come prepared and then we can play. So I think that joy sort of came through in the atmosphere we grew as well, naturally."

Martello-White was always clear about his intentions of wanting to make a great show from the outset, but also that he wanted the work to feel as fun as it could.

Working with 10-year-old Kaydrah Walker-Wilkie was a particular highlight, with the director admitting that he really loved working with her and that it "was great to just see her grow".

It's undeniable that Walker-Wilkie is a complete scene-stealer in this series, managing to captivate viewers, make them laugh out loud and break their hearts – no easy feat for any actor, but for a 10-year-old? "I think she's one of the best actors I’ve worked with, to be honest. She's so good," Martello-White says with a proud smile on his face.

It seems now more so than ever, there's a real conversation going on around the kinds of representations of young people on our screens. Adolescence has gone on to be one of Netflix's greatest series, but rightfully brought up debates about societal neglect and some children going unnoticed.

In the wake of that and with the release of Just Act Normal now, what do stories like these signal about the depictions of young people on TV?

"We're so exposed to misery, pain and the way things aren't good in the world. One thing I really loved about this show is that whilst it was dealing with something really challenging, these three young protagonists are also just really resilient, they have integrity. They're not perfect, but they're just really trying to find their way through this impossible situation they're in," Martello-White says.

"I think it's easy to forget that young people are having all of those emotions at once and that maybe, actually, with the best intentions, they do want to be good people, they do want to make something of their lives. But let's face it – it seems that, in a capitalist society, the idea of nurturing a community and thinking about the majority rather than just individual is just fading and fading.

"I think it's just harder and harder for young people to feel supported and nurtured. What I kind of love about the story as well is, like, even though they're pulled apart from each other, there’s just a sort of dignity that they have despite the fact that there is this neglect and ambivalence.

"Sadly, I think [for] young people of colour and people of colour in general, there's already maybe that assumption being made about somebody before you even get to know them. So I hope that the show gives a window into the real humanity of people like these characters."

As an actor, playwright and director, Martello-White has seen various sides of the process of bringing a story to life, and with plans to create more in the future, what are his hopes of bringing more stories of being Black in Britain to life?

"I really hope that there's more joining of the dots of all these really exciting things that have happened. We've had I May Destroy You, Wild Cherry’s about to drop, we've had Supacell over at Netflix, Steve McQueen’s Small Axe.

"I hope that, like in America, rather than these things just… in Britain, sometimes it feels like there are just these little spikes where you see Black-led work and then it's, like, five years later, we’ve got to wait five years for that next thing. To be quite candid, I’m sick and tired of that," Martello-White says.

He explains that while many would likely think that these liberal spaces would be great for opportunity and inclusion, Martello-White says that "it's a very hypocritical kind of space".

Black artists shouldn't be given opportunities "out of sympathy or some kind of diversity scheme", Martello-White says, "but because they're really great storytellers and can create great shows".

He admits: "Oftentimes, as an artist of colour, you release a piece of work and it’s like the entire community is judging that work as if it has to include every nuance of what being Black is. I really hope that there is enough work being made that there's less pressure on each project to deliver on all of that."

Having starred in the likes of The Winter King, Deceit, Guerrilla and I Hate Suzie, Martello-White has made the career jump from being an actor to a director, admitting that being in front of the camera has "100 per cent" helped in a behind-the-scenes way.

"Ultimately, there’s just too much in my mind for me to just be an actor," Martello-White tells me, saying that naturally after starting to write, he became curious about directing and making that shift. But in terms of his own material, he understandably admits he was "quite paranoid about people turning it into something that it wasn't".

"Also, as an actor, I sort of started to feel like, I already know what these actors are going through on sets, so maybe I can really be an actor’s director and communicate to them in a way that a lot of directors that I've worked with aren't able to communicate, quite frankly."

The transition from being an actor and writer to a director must be difficult, and Martello-White admits it is the "hardest", saying: "It's like, every day on set, there's always two or three things that go wrong, and you're just sort of humbled by the schedule.

"TV on a band-one show, there’s not loads of money, the schedule is very unforgiving. But you know what? I think having had the experience, I'm really excited to take the directing further."

So, can we anticipate seeing more Martello-White directed projects in the pipeline? "I guess I’m sort of modulating between the three different disciplines," he says, but in terms of his storytelling, he remains "really interested in the line between authorship and commercialism".

"I feel like I'm now post-The Strays, post-Just Act Normal, I feel like I'm really honing in on what that is. I've got a show in development with Sky, which I can’t say too much about other than that it's a kind of werewolf show set in the world of Top Boy," he reveals, much to my own squeals of excitement.

"It's pretty out there, but even that for me was like, 'Oh, I love movies like Underworld and An American Werewolf in London.' We all grew up with Thriller, it’s sort of influenced us.

"I think, for me, it's when I see what Ryan Coogler and Jordan Peele and those guys are doing, I think they're really being bold and confident with genres. They're taking really interesting aspects of the Black experience and kind of recycling them in that mode."

Martello-White admits that he's as passionate about showrunning for TV as he is directing movies, especially because we're in what feels like a real TV moment, as opposed to days gone when film directors just wanted to stick to their silver screen medium.

As of now, Martello-White can revel in the fact that Just Act Normal really is an example of superb storytelling, a showcase of incredible newcomer talent and another impressive string to add to his flourishing directing bow.

It's clear that Martello-White is dedicated to bringing multifaceted Black stories to life through his work, but the need for representation within dramas especially is something that remains integral not just for adults, but for the younger generation too.

"For me, it’s so important that young people see themselves represented in mainstream drama. It’s just important they feel as though their experience is important and that it is valued, because I think people need to feel valued and they need to feel like they are part of this British idea.

"Americans are very patriotic, they’re very proud about being American. I sometimes feel that Black people shy away from this idea of Britishness because they can so often feel just discarded by that.

"I think we need to see more mainstream depictions of the Black experience which, let's face it, the Black experience and the white experience are completely intermeshed. Let's take the brakes off and just allow that work to breathe."

Just Act Normal premieres at 9pm on Wednesday 16th April on BBC Three, with all episodes available to stream on iPlayer now.

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