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00:00Hey y'all, welcome back.
00:16My name is Shemeika and this is Check the Rhymes.
00:19I am super excited that you're here as always.
00:22Thank you so much for tuning in.
00:23Y'all, do you remember the book Black Beauty?
00:27If you don't, you have time to go revisit it before this new series comes out.
00:30It's called Beyond Black Beauty and it kicks off on Tuesday, October 15th on Prime Video.
00:38And two of the, well, actually one of the series stars and then the creator of the show
00:43is here.
00:44So series star, Kaya Coleman is in the building along with the creator of the show, Pilar
00:49Golden.
00:50We're going to talk about what we can expect and more, so stay tuned.
00:53Hi, Shemeika.
00:54Hi.
00:55Good morning.
00:56Good morning.
00:57Welcome to Check the Rhymes.
00:58How are you?
00:59Well, how are you?
01:01I'm doing well considering hurricane just swept through North Carolina.
01:06Yeah, I'm doing well.
01:11But I'm excited about this series, Beyond Black Beauty.
01:15So Pilar, I'm going to start with you because you're the series creator.
01:19So can you talk about what the series is about and what inspired you to create it?
01:25Absolutely.
01:26The show follows a young equestrian who has Olympic dreams, who's thrust into a new world
01:35that she is not prepared for, and that is meeting this family she's never known in the
01:41great state of Maryland where they own an urban ranch.
01:46And she not only meets this new family, but she also meets a horse who is just as spirited
01:52as she is.
01:54And the inspiration behind the show was, you know, getting the opportunity to highlight
02:02black cowboys and cowgirls, which is something that I was introduced to and just got really
02:09excited to get the opportunity to highlight that culture.
02:12Oh, I love that.
02:15And I see Kaya got excited when you were talking about it.
02:18So, Kaya, what was it like for you to be a part of this series?
02:24It was so exciting.
02:27I was just so grateful to have an opportunity to work with these majestic animals.
02:33Growing up, I never thought I could ever afford to ride a horse, be with a horse, which is,
02:40you know, again, that is a conversation that I think was brought up filming this, was like
02:46why horsemanship is for everything, for everyone.
02:50And working with a great, great cast and crew was just such a great experience.
02:54And Pilar was incredibly supportive throughout the whole thing.
02:57Oh, I love that.
02:59And I was going to ask if you were, if you had to get used to the horses, because I know,
03:06I think I'm like, yeah, I could, I could try to ride a horse, but I'm terrified.
03:10Well, I mean, that's the beauty of this show and it will be translated on camera is how
03:19much Kaya leaned into Jolie.
03:24It's not faking it.
03:25She's not, I mean, she's doing acting.
03:27She's definitely acting, but she really embraced the horse girl mentality.
03:35And so lucky that Kaya, you know, was in 200% with her training, with her relationship with
03:44the beauties, you know, and I'm like you.
03:49I'm like, oh, they're so pretty from afar.
03:51Like, oh, look how nice.
03:56Go ahead.
03:57Sorry, I want to hop in.
03:57I just want to say I wanted to honor, you know, horseback riding as a professional sport.
04:01So I was, you know, I was training a lot, watching show jumping, eventing.
04:06I watched Concrete Cowboy before, and I just like, I really did want to immerse myself
04:10in the horse world and give it justice as its own professional sport.
04:14Did you guys film this before Cowboy Carter came out?
04:19And was that like, as you're, as you were getting ready, Beyoncé's album, the country
04:23album, were y'all kind of like, you know, this is our get hype, get ready to go to set
04:28music, or did y'all film it like way before that?
04:32Way before.
04:33Okay.
04:35Yeah, way before.
04:36We filmed in 2022.
04:38Oh, yeah, definitely way before, yeah.
04:41We had renaissance.
04:43We were blasting renaissance.
04:46That is true.
04:51Kaya, what was that like for you to work with the horse?
04:55And how did you prepare for such a unique role?
04:59Because obviously you had to prepare physically and then emotionally on the acting aspect
05:04of it.
05:06It was an extremely rewarding experience.
05:10Like I was saying, I wanted to give, you know, horseback riding as a sport justice.
05:15And so I did do a lot of like, I said, I was like watching eventing, I was watching
05:19barrel racing.
05:20And when I was on set, like I wanted to lunge the horse, tack the horse, I would like I'm
05:25putting the saddle on, I'm putting the bridle on, I want to hold the, I want to hold the
05:29reins when, when we're just standing around, like in between takes, I'm like in the stable
05:33with the horse.
05:34I wanted people to like, feel that this person, you know, breathes, sleeps and cuddles horses
05:39all the time.
05:40And it just, as I was going through the process, I, Kaya fell in love as well.
05:44And it was just like really sync synchronous, synchronous, synchronous, synchronous is the
05:48word.
05:50That's, I love that.
05:51Are you still horseback riding now?
05:54Whenever I can.
05:55Yes.
05:56Oh, wow.
05:57Pilar, do you ride horses?
05:59Oh, okay.
06:00Do you ride horses as well?
06:03I've been on a horse twice.
06:08And, you know, I appreciate, I think it's important to say, because we had amazing
06:14wranglers, Rick and Sue Parker, important to say, horses are very powerful animals,
06:19but they're also very like, emotional animals.
06:23And as someone who deals with anxiety on a daily basis, like, I'm not a person who should
06:29be on a horse, because we'll be feeling things at the same time, right?
06:36So I, I'm someone who appreciates them from afar, because I just, you know, the two times
06:43I've been on a horse, I'm like, oh, that's nice.
06:47You've come further along than I have.
06:49My dad's like, you should go.
06:50And I was like, I'm with you.
06:52I'm like, anxiety.
06:54I'm good over here.
06:59On them, how big they are.
07:01I mean, they're powerful.
07:05You know, yeah, we were really fortunate.
07:07Horses were so well trained.
07:09And they were like, especially one of our main picture horses.
07:12His name was Kid.
07:13And he was just so gentle and, and like Pilar was saying, they're emotional.
07:17So they sense, they sense you.
07:19And my character is very emotional.
07:21And so I feel like that he could feel, he could feel that like Jolie was sad and stressed,
07:26and he would come over and it was very organic.
07:29We were very fortunate.
07:31Well, this question is for both of you.
07:34What do you hope viewers take away from this series?
07:38Because it already sounds amazing.
07:40But what do you hope that, like, is there a specific theme or just an overall message
07:45that you want them to take away?
07:48Either one of you can start.
07:52I guess, I think for me, the, I hope people take away the power of family and forgiveness.
08:03And the story is important because it reflects communities that actually exist.
08:07And I believe horsemanship is for everyone.
08:10That's a great answer.
08:13What she said.
08:16Also, you know, I've said this before, and I feel like I'm a broken record.
08:21But, you know, seeing a black family on screen that is messy and growth minded and,
08:31you know, hard on each other, but loving each other.
08:34And they're complicated in all the right ways and all the wrong ways.
08:38And allowing a black family to just exist through those complications,
08:43while also highlighting a black family that has generational wealth.
08:49And seeing what that looks like for this specific family.
08:53It's something that I haven't seen before.
08:55So I'm really excited for audiences to see that, you know,
08:59as Kaia said, this kind of black family does exist.
09:02Well, I want to thank you both for chatting with me this morning on Check the Rhymes
09:08Beyond Black Beauty.
09:10It premieres on Tuesday, October 15th on Prime Video.
09:13I will be locked in and loving on these horses from afar.
09:18Thank you both.