INTERVIEW: "Guess what? Nobody's gonna be standing after I leave here!"

If you’ve been watching The Morning Show on Apple TV+, then you know that the actress, Karen Pittman, has basically stolen the series this season as she transitioned from the loyal producer, willing to sacrifice everything for the network, to the frustrated employee willing to burn the whole place down.It has been a bit surreal to watch the fictional UBN network wrestle with some of the same ripped-from-the-headlines issues playing out in legacy media empires. It has also been delicious to watch the character known as Mia Jordan enter her villain era, as she calls it.Say What? Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.She tossed aside her sensible cardigans and tapped into her inner Anna Wintour with a jaw-dropping wardrobe and a knock-out strut. She has always had a burning gaze that hints at depths beyond the dialogue in the script, but this year those deep-set eyes are thoroughly weaponized. Mia Jordan is willing to put herself first for the first time, and what she is NOT willing to do anymore is avoid talking about the complexities of race or make sacrifices for people who don’t have her best interest in mind.I sat down recently to talk to Karen Pittman about her character’s evolution on The Morning Show, the places and people who provided inspiration for her character, and her other breakout role this year as an over protective mother in the Netflix series Forever that reimagines Judy Blume’s classic story of an ill-fated teenage romance with a Black cast set in modern day Los Angeles and Martha’s Vineyard.Produced by Mara Brock Akil , Forever was a breakout summer hit, exploring family, class, and generational dynamics that we do not see enough on our screens. As a wealthy Black woman raising a neurodivergent son, Karen Pittman brought a ferocity to the role that hovered between protection and weary disdain for anyone who might prevent him from achieving the goal (or perhaps we should say, her goal) of attending college and securing a respectable and financially stable perch in the job market. She fights for her son, but does she fully see him and his dreams?And, much like her role as producer Mia Jordan in The Morning Show, her portrayal of the hard-charging finance exec Dawn Edwards in the series Forever comes with surprising and deeply satisfying twists. She allows herself to be so intense that she is relatable and yet on the edge of unlikable. And then, when life happens, the character unclenches her fists and reveals deep wells of compassion that provoke awe and comfort in the viewer, in part because we see that the evolution is so deeply uncomfortable for the person we are watching on screen. Meeting a teenager’s needs means letting go of the script she had imagined for the boy that is now stepping into his manhood. That will hit home for a lot of people. Karen Pittman signed on for these roles years ago, but they are arriving on screen at a moment where they feel fully of the current moment. Mia Jordan in The Morning Show is passed over for a promotion at a time when more than 350,000 Black women have been ushered out of the workplace in America, and so many of those who remain on the job are standing on shaky ground. And the fictional parents in the series Forever, who are raising brown children in a world that is increasingly hostile to people of color after years of measurable progress, are mirroring the concerns and conversations that real people are wrestling with all over the country right now.I loved this conversation with Karen, and I bet you will too. Listen, and as always, let us know what you think and what you expect from the season finale?!?Let me know whatcha think in the chat.Big world. Lotta stories. Always listening.MicheleGET READY for the Season 4 Finale!Say What? Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Get full access to Say What? with Michele Norris at michelenorris.substack.com/subscribe