Wu-Tang: An American Saga is back for a second season on September 8, and the Hulu biopic is ready to give viewers the actual formation of the iconic Wu-Tang Clan. After ten episodes of what could be considered backstory on Bobby Diggs' (Ashton Sanders, Judas and the Black Messiah) family and friends before he became the hip-hop legend known as RZA.
The second season moves quickly in the wake of Bobby's nearly deadly confrontation with Attila in the finale, and the new set of episodes promises to bring in the remaining members of the infamous crew as well as actually bringing them all together. But first, Bobby has to deal with the consequences of his actions while his sister Shurrie (Zolee Griggs) and best friend Dennis (Siddiq Saunderson) work towards becoming a family.
Sanders spoke to Screen Rant about how he prepares to tackle Bobby's evolution into RZA, and what it means to have RZA himself as a mentor and creator of the series.
Screen Rant: It's been almost two years since we've gotten to see you guys. What have you learned about RZA, or Bobby, in that intervening time?
Ashton Sanders: Well, I filmed a project or two before then - so I can't lie, I was a little preoccupied. But stepping back into season 2 was just different; the characters are changing and growing and evolving.
Bobby, although he has the same essence and spirit, his experiences in life have made him perceive things a little different. It's shifted his drive a little more. I think this season, I personally was dealing with the growth of the character. We see all of these guys come into the Wu-Tang Clan, you know what I'm saying? We see them branch into the Wu-Tang Clan, we see Bobby turn into the RZA, we see Ason turn into ODB, and so on and so forth. They're finding their identities and also finding who they are as musicians, as a group together and individually. So, I think it was just different.
I think season 1 was almost a prequel to what season 2 is. I think a lot of people wanted season 1 to be what season 2 actually is. But season 1 was getting to know these people for who they were and are, before the fame and before we knew them, and that was equally important.
I think I was able to learn a lot about this version of Bobby/RZA while filming, actually, and while reading the scripts and being on set. There was so much there, and it almost felt like I was growing with the character; like I was being pulled along his journey while playing him. That's the biggest shift, I would say.
As an actor, what is your biggest source of inspiration outside of the script itself? Is it listening to the music or having conversations with the cast and RZA?
Ashton Sanders: I think it's all of that. It's tapping into the music - obviously, that's happening, because you have to know those lyrics when you're performing. You have to listen to the music. Yeah, it's having those conversations with RZA and anybody else from Wu that may have been on the set.
For me, it was constantly tapping in with him, asking the hard questions. I was one of few of the actors on set who was able to talk to the actual person that they were playing as often as I wanted to. I think that definitely does something.
You would think that it would make you anxious and make you feel this certain level of pressure, but if anything, it's just a little more relaxing and comforting. It's like, "So, how do you...? How was that? Okay, cool." If [he's] diggin' it, I'm diggin' it.
Wu-Tang: An American Saga season 2 premieres September 8 on Hulu.
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Reviewed by Riyad
on
September 07, 2021
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