Alexa, play Eminem ‘Stan’
We don’t know much about Donald Glover and Janine Nabers‘ Prime Video series Swarm but it appears to be inspired by a certain obsessive fanbase of a certain Pop superstar. Mmhmm, that fanbase that may have threatened your life between 2013-2018.
Check out the creepy teaser below:
According to Vanity Fair, the series tells the story of Dre (Dominique Fishback)–a young woman whose obsession with a fictional pop star takes her to dark, unexpected places.
“I heard from my team that Donald was creating a show and wanted me to be part of it,” said Fishback in an interview with VF. “I was like, ‘Oh, shoot! Donald Glover (co-executive producer and co-creator) knows me. That’s pretty cool.’”
She was originally approached to play Dre’s sister Marissa (Chlöe Bailey) but fought for the lead role.
Source: Prime Video
“I don’t want to be able to catch up to myself as an actor,” she continued. “[Dre] didn’t give a lot of direction about who she was, why she felt the way she did. I really had to go on instinct.”
Nabers and Glover took inspiration from classic TV antiheroes like Mad Men’s Don Draper and The Sopranos’ Tony Soprano for the series that’s shown “through the lens of a Black, modern-day woman.”
“When we shot the last scene of the pilot, every single person stopped what they were doing and gave Dom a standing ovation for three minutes,” recalled Nabers, co-executive producer and co-creator of the series who wrote the hilarious Mr. Chocolate episode of Atlanta.
“I’ve been doing TV for a long time and I’ve never seen that. That was the moment that Donald and I looked at each other and we were like, ‘All right—we got something right.’”
They also brought Atlanta‘s signature offbeat tone to the intriguing project that’s sure to get social media buzzing.
Other cast members include Damson Idris as Dre’s boyfriend, Macaulay Culkin’s brother Rory Culkin, Leon, and Nirine S. Brown with Malia Obama as a writer on the series.
Source: Prime Video
“Dre and Marissa are in their 20s and Malia is in her 20s, so it was really great having someone like her in the room,” said Nabers. “She’s a very professional person. She’s an incredible writer and artist. We really wanted to give her the opportunity to get her feet wet in TV and see if this is something she wants to continue doing.”
Swarm premieres exclusively on Prime Video March 17.