Everyone looking for a new TV drama to watch can tune their channels to the WGN America network for the series Underground, starring Jurnee Smolett-Bell.
E! News noted that Underground surrounds a group of runaway slaves, who try to escape their southern plantation in the mid-1800s, during the time of the actual Underground Railroad.
Jurnee Smolett-Bell plays Rosalee, a house slave who considers running over 600 miles for a chance at freedom.
The actress sat down with Cosmopolitan.com to discuss her personal connection with her character Rosalee.
"I can relate to her fierce protection of her family and her little brother — I'm incredibly close to all of my siblings. I would do anything for them. And I think we all struggle with society telling us that we're not worth anything. As women, I think we give so much of ourselves. And Rosalee didn't have this option as a black woman on a plantation in 1857, but it's important to sometimes stop and say, 'What do I need out of life? What do I want? What are my desires?' And then to say, 'I'm worth enough to go after them,'" said Smolett-Bell.
She also explained that the series was shot on an actual plantation that was once reserved for slaves.
"We shot on real plantations, and at the LSU Rural Life Museum, which has actual preserved slave quarters," she said.
Smolett is the sister of Jussie Smollet, who plays Jamal on Fox's Empire and will be appearing in a few Underground episodes.
So we gotta ask, will Jurnee make an appearance on Empire alongside her brother?
"I don't know! I don't know if it works like that. We'll see."
Until then, don't forget to watch Underground, airing Wednesdays at 10 p.m. EST.
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