Snowfall Creators Along With Damson Idris, Kevin Carroll Talk Snowfall Talk Season 4

As Season 4 to FX’s Snowfall has begun already, the cast recently got together for a virtual press conference to discuss what fan should and shouldn’t expect. Moderated by Lola Ogunnaike, the panel included executive producers and writers Walter Mosley and Dave Andron, actors Damson Idris (Franklin Saint), Carter Hudson (Teddy McDonald), Angela Lewis (Louie), Isiah John (Leon), Michael Hyatt (Cissy), Amin Joseph (Uncle Jerome), and Kevin Carroll as Alton

Expertly moderated by Lola Ogunnaike, the panel discussion began with Hudson, who plays the troubled CIA agent working an off-the-books operation in South America while also playing marionette to the happenings of Franklin Saint’s booming business.

As Ogunnaike pointed out, Franklin is recovering from his injuries. Cissy and Alton, and Louis and Jerome are at odds. Franklin and Leon are fighting. The crack epidemic is raging. The war in Central America is raging. The gang wars in LA are raging and Ronald Reagan has just won his second term

Here’s a bit of what Mosley, Andron, Idris and Carrol had to say for this season.

Can you talk the many arcs you are working with on the show?

Dave Andron: I think part of the gift of this show is the ensemble, and how much of the community we get to explore through them, right, and how much of the country and the world at large. Anytime that we get to expand the world and bring in a new kind of a new element of what led South Central to go from A to Z over this period of time that we're kind of exploring, we need to embrace that. And it felt like certainly, from the point of view of Irene, Irene Ave, or journalist, it felt like a good time to bring that presence into the world. And look, as far as a character we're always looking for who are the moral centers in this world, right, everybody is a little bit gray. And that's fine. And some people are downright bad. We always look for who are the people who are trying to toe the line. But it's a little bit of an embarrassment of riches, with this incredible cast. We know we can write for everybody and everybody will deliver. We certainly don't have the problem of we don't know what to do story wise this episode.

Walter Mosley: We don't have a problem of what to do that our problem is what not to do. There's so much that you're that we're bringing to the fore. There are these different audiences. They're the people who are in your Jon's, people who live through this and have never been able to see themselves or their world, often on this kind of screen. And on the other hand, there are a whole bunch of other people who are all of a sudden living in a world that's as questionable as that one was then when we're seeing it and who recognize maybe not exactly what happened, but the situation that they find them in. And so, you need to bring as many people as possible and as you're pointing out, and and then try to make it work. There's a kind of an alchemy, that luckily our actors and directors have been able to keep up with.

How’s Franklin evolved as a character?

Damson Idris: To see Franklin grow into the man he is today, I as an actor I have have also grown into the man I am today. So the whole journey has been fantastic. As we move into season four, and Franklin's less sure of himself, and he's more vulnerable and more vulnerable than we've ever seen him. I think, as an audience, and as a viewer, that's going to be fantastic to see because he's not James Bond, and he isn't always going to overcome adversity. You don't know if he's going to win or if he is going to lose. I think this season for that reason, is, in my opinion, the best season so far.

What about Alton additionally appeal to you and what do you make of his story arc?

Kevin Carroll: Like so many young men of color grew up in a household without a father, anytime that we can find elements of healing in the work, it becomes more than a job. It actually becomes a relationship. And it fulfills the part of us as artists that really attempt to make a difference. So for me, there is no stronger position in the industry than playing a black father, especially one where we see him loving on his son, right, wrong or indifferent, loving with his wife, right, wrong or indifferent, and attempting to heal the community, there is no better job in television, I dare you to find one. Right? When we talk about being on the edge of healing.

So it's amazing that this country is I would say, playing with the idea of having this conversation, then, where we are open to hearing the cries of those who may have not found their self empowerment yet who this country is starting to at least pretend like some people are listening. And there is no better time to find a crack in the door and try to open it, even if it's a millimeter more with a sense of healing. So this show was given us that. Dave, Walter, thank you to john Singleton for offering this opportunity. And it'll be interesting to see just how invested we are as a show as a community to continue this conversation because I don't think there's a stronger conversational piece to have in any element of a show. Then starting the conversation of how black fathers contribute to their families, and have contributed in the past.

Snowfall airs weekly on the FX network on Wednesdays at 10:00 pm EST.