‘Fightland’ Cast Talks STARZ Crime Drama

While Fightland delivers hard-hitting boxing matches, high-stakes crime and a revenge-fueled storyline, the cast behind the new STARZ drama says its emotional heartbeat lies within its families.

During a recent press day for Fightland, stars Richard Pepple, Anita-Joy Uwajeh and Charles Babalola told BOSSIP’s very own Lauryn Bass that beneath the violence and power struggles are layered relationships built on loyalty, conflict and authenticity. Whether portraying members of the Kilroy or Marshall families, each actor said grounding their performances in genuine human emotion helped bring the series to life.

Richard Pepple Says Gary’s Contradictions Make Him Human

Richard Pepple, who portrays Gary “Gazzer” Kilroy, said his approach to every role begins with finding the humanity in the character, regardless of the circumstances surrounding them.

“Like everything I approach, I try and draw on personal experiences, or at least find the humanity to those characters,” Pepple said.

He credited the show’s writing and collaborative creative process for allowing the character to evolve naturally.

“A lot of the work’s done for you when you’ve got good writing,” he said. “You feel like you’ve got something to play with, and then you kind of explore outwards from there. Being given the opportunity and the space to do that allows things to flourish.”

As Pepple spent more time with Gary, he discovered a man defined as much by his contradictions as his loyalty.

“What surprised me a lot about him was a lot of the things that he hated and despised, he was actually guilty of, or had perpetuated somewhere,” he said. “Which then makes him a very conflicting and complex character.”

Pepple also hinted that audiences may initially misjudge Gary’s strained relationship with his son.

“I think viewers will misunderstand that he doesn’t love his son,” he said. “They might think there’s no road back for them, but I think viewers will be very surprised when they start to communicate in a way that they haven’t before. It’ll open up a very different side of the story in both of those characters.”

For Pepple, Fightland creates a new immersive experience that will keep viewers on the edge of their seat.

“I think Fightland is another great example of bringing audiences into a world they haven’t seen before,” he said. “With the great actors, the great directing and the story we’re trying to tell, I think it’ll keep people following week after week.”

Anita-Joy Uwajeh And Charles Babalola Leaned On Real-Life Family Experiences

For siblings Cece and Zeek Marshall, authenticity wasn’t something the actors had to manufacture. It came from their own lives. Anita-Joy Uwajeh said she and Charles Babalola relied on their personal experiences growing up with siblings to establish the emotional foundation of their on-screen relationship.

“Both of us have siblings and share many similarities in the dynamic of our actual home lives,” Uwajeh said. “We were able to bring that to this and lean into that so it could come across as real, truthful and honest.”

She described acting as an inherently collaborative process, explaining that the trust between the two actors became essential to portraying the Marshall family convincingly.

“Acting, at its core, is about ensemble and working with somebody else,” she said. “I can’t do what needs to be done to portray Cece without being there for Charles, and without Charles being there for me.”

Babalola agreed, pointing to one of his favorite scenes with Uwajeh as a defining moment for their sibling dynamic.

“There was a very back-and-forth nature that is indicative of their relationship,” he said. “It was fun to spar with Anita because I’d read it in my audition, but when we got to set and I felt Anita’s energy and what she brought to it, it made me respond differently as an actor.”

Trust Became The Foundation On And Off Screen

As the season progressed, Babalola said the trust the pair developed behind the scenes became just as important as the scripts themselves. Without revealing spoilers, he recalled filming one particularly emotional sequence later in the season that required complete confidence in one another.

“There was a scene in the final episode that was heavy,” he said. “By that point, the trust and communication between us as actors and humans was already there, so we really just leaned on each other and tried to portray the scene as authentically as possible.”

For both actors, authenticity remained the guiding principle throughout production.

“Authenticity is key,” Babalola said.

That commitment to honesty extends beyond individual performances and reflects what the cast hopes audiences ultimately connect with throughout Fightland. While boxing, crime and revenge drive the plot forward, Pepple, Uwajeh and Babalola believe the emotional relationships between parents, children and siblings are what give the series its lasting impact.

Fightland premiered July 31 on STARZ, with new episodes streaming weekly on Fridays.