‘Woke’ Star Sasheer Zamata Teases Ayana Is a ‘Little Less Assured’ in Season 2
Preview
Hulu’s Woke is evolving its perspective on what being woke looks like in its second season as Keef Knight (Lamorne Morris) and friends take on different challenges and navigate an ever-changing society.
Premiering in 2020, Woke is a series loosely based on real-life cartoonist Keith Knight, who after a run-in with the police began questioning his relationship with the world around him. Now, after committing to a life of being more aware of the issues surrounding him and reflecting that in his art, Keef is looking for something new to tackle.
Along with Keef’s buds Clovis (T. Murph) and Gunther (Blake Anderson), his friend and San Fran activist Ayana (Sasheer Zamata) is also exploring a new path, as much as she might wish otherwise, in Season 2. “Season 1 Ayana was more of a woke guru,” Zamata tells TV Insider. “She was helping Keef with his journey as far as thinking about how his race affects his art, and how his art connects to his audience. But now this season, Ayana is thinking more about her woke-ness and the work that she wants to do.”
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As the lead reporter on her local publication, The Bay Arean, Ayana is struggling to make ends meet and begins questioning her own practices as Keef takes on a big-budget service project. Zamata teases that she’ll ask herself questions like, “Is the justice work that she’s doing serving her life? And does she actually have a work-life balance that serves her?”
Ayana is what Zamata calls, “a little less assured,” in Season 2 as she leans on Keef, Clovis, and Gunther for help. It’s a fun dynamic change though as the actress notes, “[Ayana] was the one who was providing so much help in the first season and now she needs a lot more help from the guys in the second season.”
Along with struggling financially, Ayana has a bit of a crisis when she discovers that The Bay Arean‘s audience isn’t quite what she imagined. It’s “a real awakening for her because she is been fighting this fight and has been speaking about her culture and thinks that she’s connecting to an audience of the same culture.”
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As Keef’s footprint grows and Ayana begins to see him as a sellout, she’ll learn that her vision of The Bay Arean‘s impact isn’t exactly what she imagined. And in Ayana’s mind, there’s a right way and a wrong way to be woke, and Keef’s way in Season 2 doesn’t align with her vision. This causes some tension between the pals.
“Ayana feels a little betrayed because she came up in the social justice world in a very grassroots way,” Zamata admits, adding that Ayana feels like Keef’s “selling out.” And while Ayana will continue to try and fight the good fight despite obstacles in her way, such as rent and work prospects. And she’ll begin to question, “could there have been a different way she could have gone about this that wasn’t so taxing on her life?”
While saying too much could spoil Season 2’s surprises, it can be shared that Gunther takes Ayana under his wing a bit, even if she doesn’t want to accept it. “Gunther literally invites her into their home,” Zamata reveals. ” And it’s nice to see my character, begrudgingly at first, get to know these guys and then eventually learn to love them because they are very helpful in her life.”
And expect Ayana to take a special “trip” at some point this season as well. “I think it came out really well,” Zamata teases, “and I’m excited for people to see it and discuss it because I think it’s cool to have that kind of energy in this kind of show.”
Get a taste of the energy Zamata is teasing and follow her on the “trip” when Woke Season 2 arrives on Hulu.
Woke, Season 2 Premiere, Friday, April 8, Hulu
