‘She is not a famous person, but I love that this random woman, who suffered the unfortunate fate of being enslaved, has gotten to be the bedrock of this huge mythology.’ The Underground Railroad - the novel… ‘I fell in love with this book because of Cora,’ he says. But it also has this very romantic and fantastical element.’īArry adds that the central character of Cora, whose mother also escaped from the plantation years earlier, really resonated with him. ‘Colson created this book that was very grounded in the actual history. Every time she enters a new state – a new physical state but also a new emotional state – Cora is taking greater possession of her inner self, yet her outer self is not quite free. ‘In this series, our main character and the settings are evolving alongside one another. So when I first read the novel, I got that feeling again of being a kid growing up in the projects, and imagining black people on trains underground. ‘And then you learn it wasn’t actually like that, and it was almost like learning that the tooth fairy or Santa Claus didn’t exist.

‘I remember as a kid hearing about the underground railroad, and picturing black people on trains underground,’ he says. (Image credit: Amazon Prime)īarry Jenkins, Oscar-winning director of 2016 film Moonlight who has turned The Underground Railroad book bu Colson Whitehead (see below) into this TV series, recalls being enthralled by tales of the so-called railroad as a youngster. 'The Underground Railroad' star Joel Edgerton as ruthless bounty hunter Ridgeway.

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