Making of ‘Genius: MLK/X’ with 7 Emmy contenders
National Geographic’s limited series “Genius: MLK/X” focuses on iconic civil rights leaders Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Kelvin Harrison Jr.) and Malcolm X (Aaron Pierre). Exploring their formative years and pioneering accomplishments with their formidable wives, Coretta Scott King (Weruche Opia) and Betty Shabazz (Jayme Lawson) leading by their sides, King and X are two visionaries who ultimately rose to pioneer a movement.
Joining Gold Derby’s special Making of “Genius: MLK/X” panel are award-winning executive producers Reggie Rock Bythewood and Gina Prince-Bythewood, director Channing Godfrey-Peoples, editor Adam Penn, executive producer and writer Jeff Stetson and executive producers and showrunners Raphael Jackson Jr. and Damione Macedon. Watch the full video interview above.
The fourth season of this NatGeo anthology series is the first to feature two main subjects. “We respect the franchise, obviously I have immense respect for Dr. King and his genius,” says Rock Bythewood. “But those of us who really paid great attention to the civil rights movement also recognize that we would not have as great a movement without Malcolm X. He was pivotal, they aligned many times. Sometimes they had difference of opinions, but we really saw a very strong narrative in doing ‘MLK/X’ as opposed to ‘MLK.’ Fortunately Imagine and NatGeo saw it our way.”
Prince-Bythewood adds, “And why now is always a question that we ask ourselves and we all know we’re in a time where history is being rewritten or erased. And to have a platform such as this, to have the ‘Genius’ franchise, to be able to tell the story of these two geniuses and really reclaim the right narrative, which doesn’t wholly pit these two men against each other, but shows the way, as Reggie said, they’ve been aligned. How they both had the same goals. They just had two different ways of going about it.”
SEE Aaron Pierre (‘Genius: MLK/X’) on playing Malcolm X: ‘He has always been a hero of mine’
Stetson based the first episode of “Genius: MLK/X” off his play “The Meeting.” “I was concerned that in this country in particular, in order to embrace Malcolm, you had to reject King, or if you embraced King, you had to reject Malcolm,” he explains. “And I wanted to show that both of these extraordinary men were part of the process that granted us the rights that we have today.”
But creating a series about two men with a side-by-side timeline didn’t come without serious challenges. “It was a little bit terrifying,” says Godfrey-Peoples about directing the project. “But knowing that we were leaning into this really human, character-forward story that got us close to them as men and as women, that really helped me because I’m a character-focused director. I love seeing the humanity in the work. And so this was in keeping with what I had done in other work. So, ultimately it was exciting.
Penn had similar hurdles as an editor, noting, “Well, the biggest challenge was really just the fact that it was two parallel stories we’re telling. It’s not something I’ve ever done before. I found that really exciting and a little daunting because of who these men were. They’re as iconic as you can get. But it was really cool to do that, to tell two different stories. And I always take my cues from the performances as far as cutting style, pace, all of that stuff. And to have these two magnificent actors who have different styles as the leads was really cool and really interesting and fun. Working with Channing, it was amazing. I would do it again in a heartbeat. She’s a dream.”
SEE Weruche Opia (‘Genius: MLK/X’) on the ‘overwhelming’ responsibility of playing Coretta Scott King
Macedon adds that it was also important to include a more in-depth look at both Coretta and Betty. “Those two women are civil rights icons in their own right, and they are more than just the wives of and the sisters of and the mothers of. They were integral in making Martin and Malcolm who they were, but also in leading those men to become the men that they became.”
When asked why they wanted to make a series focused on two men who have had multiple film and TV projects about them, Jackson responds, “There’s a ferocious appetite to want to learn and experience it more. When you work with the people in Atlanta and your extras, your cast and crew, and you feel the energy in the history within it, there’s this idea and the notion that the question isn’t why another piece, the question… not even a question. The answer to that question can be that there’s an appetite to learn more and to see and to feel and to know our history. And by experiencing that, it could impact us so much more now within our time and age. There is an appetite out there for the consumer, for the viewer, for someone who we may be blessed to sit down and watch our series, they actually want to learn about these icons. And so that’s a big takeaway. The appetite out there that may be opposite of what the perception is.”
