WGN America may have decided not to renew the slavery drama “Underground,” but fans are still reflecting on Aisha Hinds’ astonishing episode-long monologue from earlier this season, which immediately launched her and the show into the awards conversation when it aired in April.
“The tough life that Harriet Tubman had to live, I think I sort of had a cake walk,” Hinds said in an interview with TheWrap, though calling it a “cake walk” is certainly underselling the work she’s done on the show since joining the cast.
Hinds was tasked with carrying the entirety of the sixth episode of the season, in which Tubman delivers an impassioned speech about her life and experience to a roomful of abolitionists, and her performance drew raves from critics and viewers.
“There was a lot of anxiety going into that episode, and I certainly wanted to sit with the material for as long as I could so I could honor the telling of her story in a way that would be fitting,” Hinds said.
But like the underground railroad itself, Hinds insists that “Underground” was a group effort from start to finish.
“You can’t truly single out one person,” Hinds said. “It’s a collective, and that’s the spirit of the show. When people think about the underground railroad, historically people have always thought about Harriet Tubman associated with it. But she really depended on so many people to make that journey and to execute those missions.”
“And in the same way, we rely on one another to execute this show and to tell these stories,” she said.