Pop-Culturalist.com

MaameYaa Boafo and Gia Sandhu are two of the stars of the critically-acclaimed series, The Mysterious Benedict Society.

This season, Reynie, Sticky, Kate, and Constance, the four gifted orphans who were recruited by the eccentric Mr. Benedict, embark on another mission to save the world from the nefarious plans of his twin brother Dr. L.D. Curtain. When the kids discover that Mr. Benedict and Number Two have been kidnapped, they must piece together the riddles and clues within a perilous scavenger hunt set by Mr. Benedict to foil Curtain’s latest scheme. Relying on only their wits, intellect, and empathy, the charming group of misfits embark on a globe-trotting adventure by air, land, sea, and pie truck, calling upon their special skills to solve the mysteries and rescue their lost comrades. Along the way, the kids experience the growing pains that come along with being part of their new “found family,” while remaining true to their unique selves. In the process, they discover what true happiness really means.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to talk with MaameYaa and Gia about Season 2 of The Mysterious Benedict Society.

PC: MaameYaa, one of the beautiful things about adapting a popular book series for the screen is the opportunity to flesh out these characters. While Rhonda is only mentioned in the books, you, as well as the creators, had the opportunity to make her a three-dimensional character. What was it like collaborating with the writers and showrunners to bring Rhonda to life?
MaameYaa: It’s an honor. It’s nice for them to want to do this for my character and to be able to collaborate with them. I always look forward to seeing where they will go with the character. When I auditioned in Season 1, they had me do a couple of accents. We were going in one direction and then they were like, “Let’s go another direction.” They wanted to make sure I was comfortable with it. I also wanted to make sure that I am representing where Rhonda is from properly. It’s wonderful to have an African girl from Zambia be a part of this story. Thanks to Trenton [Stewart] for writing her in. It’s been an honor to know that the writers are excited and that they want to do more for our characters, especially the adult characters such as my own and Ms. Perumal.

PC: Gia, mentorship plays such a huge role in the relationship between your character and Reynie. Who are the mentors in your life that shape the artist that you are today? Did you model that relationship in your performance?
Gia: Very much so. I was a similar age to them when they started this journey. I was probably in grade six or seven. I had two teachers who completely changed the course of my life. I’m so grateful to them, and I’m so thankful that I had the opportunity to spend so much time with people who genuinely cared about me and saw me as an individual. When I think about Ms. Perumal and when I started carving out this character, those two teachers were very much a part of the hope that I found in Ms. Perumal.

PC: This industry has made really slow progress in terms of greater representation on the screen and in projects like this, and the characters the two of you play are bringing that much-needed representation onto the screen. What has it meant to both of you to be a part of this project and to see the fan response on social media?
MaameYaa: It’s meant the world, especially being two women of color and being able to go on adventures and show a slice of life where we do all sorts of things. It’s nice that this show is no respecter of persons. We just happen to be ethnically different, but we are going through the same emotions, adventures, surprises, losses, wins, and all of that like everybody else. I love that it’s not even mentioned in any of our episodes. It just shows that this is a slice of life. This is the world. This is how it’s supposed to be. It’s an honor to be a part of a production that does that.

Make sure to follow MaameYaa (Instagram) and Gia (Instagram). Watch The Mysterious Benedict Society on Disney+.

About Robert
Robert was born and raised in London and moved to Los Angeles as a teen where his love for film and pop culture grew to geek doom and he took his passion to film school in New York where he graduated with a degree in film production and screenwriting. He’s directed several award-winning short films and has worked in the entertainment world for the last ten years including the Sundance film festival and SDCC and have worked for several TV shows for Nickelodeon.