A New Black TV Series

Just a few days ago on December 1, 2022, a new supernatural drama TV show “Wicked City” hit the streaming service ALLBLK. Wicked City is a series created by Kristin Iris Johnson and Serena M. Lee that follows a coven of five Black witches as they navigate their powers while discovering dark secrets.

Meet the Casts

The cast features Shaquita Smith from The Couch, Mercedez McDowell from The Resident, Chantal Maurice from P-Valley, Taylor Polidore from Snowfall, and Chanel Mack from The Harder They Fall. The coven of witches is led by actress Vanessa Bell Calloway from Shameless.

Additional cast members include Columbus Short from True To The Game, Remember Me: The Mahalia Jackson Story, Rhonda Morman from Sister Swap: Christmas, Malika Blessing from The Lost Souls Café, and Rolonda Rochelle from Chicago Fires.

Some of the cast recently participated in a press panel where each actress shared their experiences on set while giving small hints about the show.

For actress Blessing, she had fun finding ways to ensure her powers looked real while on camera. She reached out to her 10-year-old son for help and together they created her character’s mannerisms.

“I just wanted to make sure I was authentic,” said Blessing.

Although the show involves powers and discovering dark secrets, the cast doesn’t want the audience to assume the worst. The women said Wicked City depicts a different side of witchcraft that’s not usually shown in films.

“They’re just regular women and they posse these powers,” said Calloway.

More Behind the Scenes with the Cast

Creator Lee said a lot of research went into what powers each character should have. Most of the cast couldn’t share their individual powers, but at least one of the witches will be able to disappear and reappear.

Actress Mack said the women had to bond offset in order for those genuine relationships to transfer to the series.

“We’re sisters in real life,” said Mack.

To set the tone of the show most of the scenes were shot a night. On one of those nights, the cast was stuck in a thunderstorm but decided to push through. All of the women agreed that they put their all into making this series and hope to encourage more Black writers to push the boundaries of what Black characters can be.

“We want people to create what they really want to see and see that want in the world,” said Creator Johnson.