‘Hamilton’ Alum Daveed Diggs On How He Became Producer On ABC’s ‘The Mayor’
“Hamilton” alum Daveed Diggs has opened up about how he got involved in ABC’s upcoming sitcom, “The Mayor.”
In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Diggs revealed that his agent — who also happens to be the agent of “The Mayor” creator Jeremy Bronson — was the one who introduced him to the project. “[My agent] was like, ‘Well, do you want to be an executive producer for this pilot?’ And I was like, ‘I don’t know what that means.’ And he goes, ‘That’s all right, nobody does!’” Diggs recalled with a laugh.
Diggs then met up with Bronson to know more of his ideas for the show. “My brain was firing like crazy when we were talking about it,” Diggs shared.
Being a hip-hop artist himself, Diggs said that the show’s premise appealed to his “rap nerd instincts.” “At the time, we didn’t really know where it was going to be set, and I started spouting off ideas like, ‘Okay, if you set it in Memphis, which is a cool town, the music is going to be totally different than if we set it in Baltimore.’ I’m fascinated with the regionality of rap music,” he shared.
READ: How does Lea Michele prepare for her role on “The Mayor”?
Although Diggs ultimately boarded the show as an executive producer, he admitted that he’s still learning the ropes of being an executive producer. “At the first stages, I was just waiting for somebody to call me and ask me my opinion or tell me what to do,” he said. “I didn’t know that I was the one who was supposed to be calling!”
“The Mayor” follows the story of hip-hop artist Courtney Rose (Brandon Micheal Hall), who runs for mayor to promote his mixtape and actually ends up being elected. “The Mayor” also stars Lea Michele as Courtney’s chief of staff Valentina Barella, Yvette Nicole Brown as Courtney’s mom Dina Rose and Bernard David Jones and Marcel Spears as Courtney’s friends, Jermaine Leforge and T.K. Carter, respectively.
Diggs, who won a Tony Award for playing Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson in the musical “Hamilton,” is not attached to act in the series, Deadline reported. But while he won’t be appearing in “The Mayor,” it was announced last month that Diggs will star on TNT’s TV adaptation of the 2013 thriller “Snowpiercer.”
“The Mayor” will air on ABC every Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. EDT in the fall.
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