Talking BET+’s ‘Diarra From Detroit’ With Creator Diarra Kilpatrick

Sure there’s an easy explanation for why Diarra’s Tinder date (Shawn Wallace) stood her up — he ghosted her — but is that the real reason? Diarra doesn’t think so in the new, BET+ original series, Diarra From Detroit. For more on the mystery, check out this interview with series creator and star Diarra Kilpatrick below:

Rachel Bellwoar: The other teachers at Diarra’s school refer to her as “Captain Extra,” and not in the complimentary way she deserves. As the creator, executive producer, writer, and star of Diarra From Detroit, is that a nickname you can relate to?

Diarra Kilpatrick: I can’t lie, I can be pretty extra, expressive… dramatic. Especially when I’m with the people I love. I don’t need much to put on an entire show. My son was being over the top expressive the other day, he was kinda grunting out of frustration and I was like ‘oh damn that’s me.’ He definitely got that from me because my husband, Miles [Orion Feldsott], is the chillest guy in the world. He’s also an EP on the show and I think every Captain Extra needs a General Chill.

Bellwoar: Did you ever have any trepidations about playing a character who shares the same first name as you?

Kilpatrick: I did. I think it’s a bold choice and that time, I was making a point of being bold. Also I thought maybe people would stop mispronouncing my name if it were in the title of a TV show. Turns out, so far, not so much.

Bellwoar: How did you come up with the case Diarra attempts to solve this season, and did you always want it to be a season-long mystery versus a case-of-the-week show?

Kilpatrick: I’m a big fan of the season-long mystery.  I love the onion-peeling and the opportunity it gives for twists and turns. It can feel like a filmic ride. I was inspired by a lot of true crime nuggets ripped from the headlines of the Detroit News. I married the true crime bits with my true life bits. The goal was to mash-up a noir story with a slice of life comedy. One long mystery allowed for enough breaks in the story telling to be with our hero and not just rush to the next plot point.

Bellwoar: Why was it important to you that the series be set in your hometown and what was the biggest challenge in making New Jersey a convincing stand-in for Detroit?

Kilpatrick: Detroit has so much to offer as a setting. There are worlds within worlds that are so rich, textured and complicated. And the characters are unmatched. Detroit also feels fresh because we haven’t seen Detroit as much as a NY, LA or even Chicago.

Subbing New Jersey for Detroit was very challenging. I knew the crews would be good and that saved us a lot of time but New Jersey looks nothing like Detroit. Aside from the architecture, It’s very hilly and Michigan is completely flat. One of the things I remember most about my childhood are the sunsets. The sky seemed to go on forever because there isn’t a hill or valley in sight. I have a certain nostalgia for a Michigan sky. Every time we were outside I was sweating because I wasn’t sure we were selling it. I was like, I thought this was brick city? Where’s the brick on the houses? I need brick. My perfectionism took a real beating. And I wanted Detroiters to feel like we nailed it. In the end my locations manager Matt Lamb did a beautiful job and was so patient and thorough with me. And we did the absolute best we could.

Bellwoar: I don’t think there’s a character on TV with a better taste in coats than Diarra. Was that an important piece of wardrobe to nail down?

Kilpatrick: When I was writing I did imagine that Diarra would have access to her mother’s and maybe even grandmother’s coats because she had moved back into her childhood home. So, I’d reference that in the script that she was wearing her mother’s fur coat. I didn’t realize until much later how much my own mother and grandmother’s coats meant to me. Their fur coats were a symbol of pride. They signified that they were going somewhere special. The coats announced their regality. And I think I was subconsciously inviting the ancestors in to cover me.

That’s the deep answer.

The other part of it is simple. I like fashion. I told our costume designers Paige [Geran] and Anitra [Michelle] how much I love Sex in the City. I’ve seen all the episodes 100 times and I will still rewatch for the clothes. And I like to give an audience a completely superficial reason not to look away. Come for the story and the acting but stay for coats.

Bellwoar: I love that the series never forgets Diarra’s day job and that she still has to go to work no matter how juicy the case gets. What do you think makes Diarra such a great teacher?

Kilpatrick: She cares. My mom was a teacher. To be good at it you have to care. At the end of the day, she has a giving heart and will go the extra mile if she thinks she can make a difference. Thank God there’s a lot of good teachers like that. I had many of them and I wanted to represent for them.

Bellwoar: One of the relationships that’s been a joy to watch evolve is the one between Diarra and her frenemy/neighbor, Moni (Claudia Logan). Where did the idea for that storyline come from?

Kilpatrick: I grew up in Detroit with a lot of girls who lived in the same little housing community. It was section 8, mostly single mothers and their kids. There was so much love and heart there. We would play in the summers. Ride our bikes, jump rope. When my mother got her degree we moved away and I never saw most of them again. It made me wonder about the childhood friends we make and it’s a bit of a fantasy of what it might be like to reconnect.

Bellwoar: So much of the dialogue on this series is quotable but I have to single out the reference to the Nicholas Brothers in the first episode as the line that made me smile the most. Is there a line you’re especially fond of from the episodes you wrote this season?

Kilpatrick: I love that you love that line. The Nicholas Brothers part was pitched during a punch up in the room by one of our assistants, Amanda [Pierson]. I think the original line was I’ve been tap dancing around it so much I feel like Sammy Davis Jr. And she pitched I feel like ‘the Nicholas Brothers in Stormy Weather‘ which of course was so much more specific. I can see the look on her face now when she pitched it, so nervous and unsure and it won the day.

I love a lot of the lines. I think the trauma shower line has connected with a lot of people.

“Being a black woman makes everything more difficult. You can’t even take a trauma shower without worrying about getting your fucking hair wet.”

It makes me chuckle and I love that I said that in the room not expecting it to go in the show. It was just a fact. And the room was like you have to put that in there. Sometimes I don’t know when I’m being funny.

Bellwoar: With streaming on BET+, was there more freedom when it comes to language and nudity than if the show had aired on BET?

Kilpatrick: BET+ has been great. There have been very few artistic limitations. Of course we had budgetary limitations. It wasn’t HBO but they let me tell the story I wanted to tell and I’m grateful.

Bellwoar: Before Diarra from Detroit, you also wrote and starred in the ABC series, American KoKo. Is that available for streaming anywhere?

Kilpatrick: American KoKo is exclusively on my website. Go check it out!

Bellwoar: Thanks for agreeing to this interview, Diarra!

New episodes of Diarra from Detroit stream Thursdays on BET+.