*Prime Video’s highly anticipated mythical coming-of-age comedy “I’m A Virgo” debuted on June 23 starring Emmy-winning actor Jharrel Jerome.
The series is created, written, and executive produced by Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You), and Jerome serves as an executive producer on the project. All seven episodes of the Amazon Original series are now available to stream in more than 240 countries and territories around the world for Prime members.
Here’s the official synopsis: “I’m A Virgo is a darkly comedic fantastical coming-of-age joyride about Cootie (Jerome), a 13-foot-tall young Black man in Oakland, California. Having grown up hidden away, passing time on a diet of comic books and TV shows, he escapes to experience the beauty and contradictions of the real world. He forms friendships, finds love, navigates awkward situations, and encounters his idol, a real-life superhero named The Hero, played by Walton Goggins (The Hateful Eight, The Righteous Gemstones). I’m A Virgo is a mythical odyssey that questions the purpose of the mythical odyssey.”
The cast includes Brett Gray, Kara Young, Allius Barnes, Olivia Washington, Mike Epps, and Carmen Ejogo.
“It’s a dazzling joy ride,” executive producer Michael Ellenberg said of the series in an exclusive interview with EURweb. “I can’t wait for people to experience is all the different flavors the show has to offer,” he added.
“It’s first and foremost a coming-of-age story. What does it mean to be a 13-foot-tall man in the world? What does it mean to be a 13-foot-tall Black man in the world, both how the world looks up to you, how the world looks down at you. You’re trying to find your place in it, figure out how to live in your power. So there’s all that, first love, family work, et cetera,” he continued.
“But there’s also animation, giant rebellions, a look inside of an eccentric comic book impresario, and Walt Goggins, who’s incredible in the show. So it’s so many different flavors. It’s both intimate and giant, and I think that’s what Boots is about. It’s really heartfelt, really personal storytelling inside a vast universe. It’s why when I saw Sorry to Bother You, I fell so hard for it. I think there’s no one Boots in the world, and I think audiences are going to be pretty dazzled by what he’s created for them.”
Hear more from Ellenberg about the essence of this new comedy show via the clip below:
Kara Young plays a community organizer in “I’m A Virgo” and she told us that “there’s a metaphorical symbology of how large Cootie is in the world, but I also believe that it ties into the fear that a few of us may face when we just enter the world.”
Young added, “And I think that in regards to the challenges that he faces while he’s there, it really is something to watch. So I think that, to me, that just leaves the people, let the people tune in and figure it out as well as we go along, because I think Cootie’s presence in our world is a part of a larger message.”
Hear more from Young and her co-star Olivia Washington about how their characters fit into Cootie’s world in our video exclusive interview below:
When we caught up with series stars Brett Gray and Allius Barnes, they also unpacked their dynamic with the 13-foot-teenager at the center of this tale.
“At the beginning, it’s like he’s a giant and we know Cootie for who he is as his friends, and he then goes on to become both him that we know and this entity for society to sort of puppeteer,” said Gray. “And so I think we’re watching the cognitive dissonance between all of these people just sort of realizing what it’s like to be different and then promoted in this day and age.
Watch our full conversation with Gray and Barnes below:
The post Meet the Cast of Mythical Coming-of-Age Comedy ‘I’m A Virgo’ | EUR Exclusive appeared first on EURweb.
