Photograph by Irvin Rivera
When Y’lan Noel was growing up, his mother didn’t allow him to watch much television and film. Instead the 35-year-old’s love of storytelling grew organically from playing with action figures and daydreaming. “For some reason I loved putting myself in other people’s shoes,” Noel tells Atlanta in a phone interview. “I was just always interested in what other’s people’s lives were like.”
This approach has really paid off for Noel, who was born in Brooklyn but later moved to Stone Mountain, where he was raised. Noel rose to prominence thanks to his performance as Daniel King in the first three season of Insecure, before landing the main role in the box-office smash The First Purge.
Noel can now be seen in the Apple TV+ series Lady in the Lake opposite Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram. Set in 1960s Baltimore, the drama thriller revolves around aspiring investigative journalist Maddie, who leaves her husband to solve the mystery of two different murders.
To mark the release of Lady in the Lake, which is based on Laura Lippman’s acclaimed 2019 novel, we talked to the actor about the show, growing up in Atlanta, constantly returning to the city, and becoming the main character in one of the world’s most popular video games.
Courtesy of Apple TV+
Where were you raised in Georgia?
My mother and I moved from Southside Jamaica, Queens, to Stone Mountain. She wanted to leave where we were because she didn’t really feel like it was the best place for me. She knew that Atlanta was becoming this cultural and business mecca for Black people.
When did you first become interested in acting?
I was interested in people. My experiences in New York formed that curiosity. But acting wasn’t something that came onto my radar until I was in high school at Southwest DeKalb High School in Decatur. I took a drama class that made me happy. There was something called the Youth Ensemble of Atlanta run by Freddie Hendricks. That really changed the trajectory of my life. Freddie was the first person that called me an artist. He just really validated my existence. Not only as a young Black man, but as an artist.
What attracted you to acting?
I’ve always sort of felt like an outsider, regardless of how included I was in things growing up. That gave me an interest in observing people. I was always just looking at everything. I could put all of that energy into acting, because it allowed me to be as curious as I wanted to be. There were endless possibilities to satiate my curiosity.
Who were your acting inspirations?
It’s interesting. My mom didn’t really allow me to watch too much television growing up. The shows that were Martin and Living Single. But watching television wasn’t something that we did. She was a single mom. We’d spend time talking, being outside, and reading lots of books.
It seems like daydreaming really helped with your creativity—when did you realize it was like a superpower for you?
I never realized it was a superpower until I decided to pursue it. I was at Morehouse College and I remember meeting Spike Lee. At the time, he was teaching at NYU. I was going back and forth about going to New York. But I wanted to continue this incredible legacy at Morehouse because I’d learned so much about myself and about my people. Spike told me to just go for one semester, then I could always come back if I didn’t like it. But it was in classes, when I was in my own mind, where I realized how much of a superpower it was. I could watch without having to engage. I was in New York City, which allowed me to be anonymous and walk around, watch people, see their speech patterns, and bring that back to class the next day. The only thing other than acting that I was interested in—outside of athletics—was psychology. My slight understanding of psychology and my fascination with people have been a great combination.
What was your relationship like with athletics?
I was captain of the track team. I got scholarships to go to college. It got to a point where I didn’t know if it was something that I was willing to die for. Track and field is such an individual sport. You have to be in love with it. Once I found psychology and acting, it just seemed like that had a longer shelf life. The possibilities were more endless. It was more community building. It became the thing that I wanted to focus on more, even though there was more uncertainty. But athletics was the first thing that gave me confidence. Running in the streets in Jamaica, Queens, and my neighborhood in Stone Mountain. Beating my friends. That gave me confidence.
How has being from Atlanta impacted your creative voice and point of view?
I learned so much about the nuances of what it means to be in this skin, to be Black, and be authentically of this culture. Being at Morehouse was so eye opening. There were people from different regions of Blackness—like DC, California, New York, the Midwest—I’d never really experienced that before. It just reaffirmed me. I think that’s fed into the work I do. Something like Insecure showed how nuanced we are. Atlanta really informed the type of projects that I decided to be in.
How did you get involved in Lady in the Lake? What attracted you to the project?
It includes a very authentic slice of Black lives. 1960s Baltimore is not something that we see often in TV, especially not high-quality platforms like Apple TV+. This was my first time playing a police officer. There’s a very earned distrust of law enforcement in the Black community. My character is a loner. That was an interesting challenge for me that I wanted to accept, because I’ve never done that before. I wanted to find ways of humanizing a character that is a bit of a loner and a pariah in his community.
What was your preparation?
A lot of it is daydreaming. But a big part was putting on that uniform. It informed a lot of the way he moves and his psyche. He’s always questioning whether he is serving the right side. The cool thing about him is, regardless of being an outcast, he maintained his integrity. He’s a good cop amongst not so good cops. He didn’t compromise for anyone. That was an admirable quality that made me want to play the character.
What do you hope audiences take away from the show?
The ladies that we follow in this show are in the midst of liberating themselves. They suffer various obstacles. They’re all from completely different backgrounds, but I think, ultimately, the thing that connects all these characters is that they’re pursuing their dreams. At the end of our lives, we want to have lived a life of no regrets.
Talk to me about voicing the main character in Xbox’s Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6.
It’s one of the coolest things I’ll ever do. It’s so big. It’s so well done. It’s my voice. The character looks like me. I’m just pinching myself. It’s just so much fun. It doesn’t even feel like work; it was eye-opening to see just how many people paid attention to the trailer. After the first three days, it had like 60 million views. It’s definitely larger in scope than anything I’ve ever done.
How often are you back in Atlanta?
Every month. Or every other month. I have to see my family and loved ones. Go to the places that I love, where I grew up in. It’s really important for me to go back home and experience my family.
Favorite things to do in the city?
I love to walk on the BeltLine with my mom. I just go on long walks with my mother. That ends up being the thing that I really just love to do.
The post Q&A: Y’lan Noel on his role in Lady in the Lake, his metro Atlanta roots, and the value of daydreaming appeared first on Atlanta Magazine.