Hulu's 'Black Cake' serves up mystery, murder and family secrets
The series is based on the best-selling novel and co-executive produced by Oprah Winfrey
LOS ANGELES -- Every family has secrets. Some are small, some are life-changing.
In "Black Cake," a woman's secrets are finally revealed and her adult children are left trying to make sense of the life their mother led, while also dealing with secrets of their own.
"There's, you know the big secret, which is how did Covey, this young girl in Jamaica, becomes Eleanor, this woman living in Southern California in a suburb," creator and executive producer Marissa Jo Cerar told On The Red Carpet.
"There are so many other secrets, though, that aren't as big and that I think are universal and relatable to anybody who's a member of a family."
Each episode of the eight-part series reveals another layer to the complicated story.
"Every episode ends on a cliffhanger and there's a new secret and a new turn because I want the audience to get invested in these mysteries, but to stay for these really rich, beautiful characters," Cerar continued.
The series is based on the best-selling novel by Charmaine Wilkerson (a former reporter at ABC7 in Los Angeles). Cerar said she and Wilkerson worked closely to make sure the adaptation would remain faithful to the original source material.
"The collaboration with Charmaine Wilkerson was a dream, like truly dream scenario. Because she understands, and I don't know how because this is her first novel, that the book will always be the book and the adaptation is just a different medium. And dialogue is different in books than television and movies," Cerar said.
Also working with them? Oprah Winfrey.
"Working with Oprah is a dream I think for most people... meeting her, seeing her, breathing her air," laughed Cerar. "She loves books, as everyone knows, she made America read. And she wants to protect the material and so I knew that no matter what happened, she loved the book as much as I did, so we were going to be in great hands."
The first three episodes of "Black Cake" stream Wednesday on Hulu, with new episodes streaming each Wednesday.
Disney is the parent company of Hulu and this ABC station.
