'Snowfall' Cast On John Singleton Defending Black History [Exclusive]

Source: Courtesy FX Networks / FX Networks

Snowfall Cast Talks Significance Of John Singleton’s Hit Crime Series

We are still mourning the loss of beloved director, producer, and screenwriter John Singleton. But, as difficult as it is for each one of us, we can only imagine how deeply his friends, family, and colleagues have been affected. Prior to their NYC screening of the season 3 premiere episode, the Snowfall cast talked to Bossip about what Singleton meant to each one of them and what it’s been like to carry on with his legacy. For those who don’t watch, Snowfall is Singleton’s creation… a way to tell the truth about how crack really became a widespread epidemic in the Black community.

Damson Idris, who plays kingpin Franklin Saint on the hit FX series, tells Bossip Singleton’s presence is still very much felt on set.

“We have a chair on set with John’s name on it, so he’s still with us,” he reveals. “For me personally, he was my big brother. He was like my sensei. He taught me so many codes. The best thing about John was that he empowered everyone around him. So even in his absence, which isn’t an absence, we’re able to stay confident, carry on his vision, keep his authenticity and make him proud. If he saw this whole season, he would’ve been proud. That’s what lets me sleep at night.”

Angela Lewis adds that though they play a family on-screen, they’ve also become family off-screen and continue to face the loss of their mentor and friend together.

“I think it would’ve been harder to not go on,” Lewis said. “He would have been disappointed. We lift each other up, we have each other’s backs, we are such a family. We cry together, we laugh together, we remember him together, we honor him together, and to not continue would have been awful.”

 Michael Hyatt plays Franklin Saint’s mom on the crime series and she shook the room when she chimed in.

“We have all been injected with John’s guidance, his vision, his greatness,” Hyatt began. “And, what he left us with (as everybody is saying) is a rope that started with him and has just weaved through all of us. What we have developed is a oneness, I think. John started his dream to give voice to the voiceless, to tell the stories that were not being told in the truthful manner that they deserved to be told — and he has injected all of us with that. It is our duty, our responsibility to protect this show and protect John and to continue that task of protecting Cissy, Louie, Jerome, and Franklin and all of the stories that we’re telling… because we understand that we are telling the stories of our ancestors, our cousins, our sisters, our brothers, our mothers, and fathers. It’s not just a job, we are conduits of truth, telling the story to many people who don’t understand it. I was a kid at Howard, or even living in NY… I didn’t know what the f*ck those pipe things were on the floor. I didn’t know any of this sh*t — what consciousness did I have? I am learning a part of my community. If that’s my story, how many of US understand what was happening to us? How many of US believe the stories that we saw on the news… of these ‘wayward people who don’t have a future and they’re doing crack?’ These are the things that we were fed, but thankfully, with someone like John — who says ‘no, that is not what was happening. Let me tell you what was happening’ — now our children, we all have an understanding of what really the f*ck was going on. And, we will take this knowledge into the future, where there will be some other drama where we’re being manipulated. This will allow us to think: ‘Wait a second. What they’re feeding me on television, I don’t have to eat. Because I know there’s another truth.’ That’s what John has done.”

Season 3 of Snowfall premieres tomorrow at 10 p.m. ET on FX. Tune in.