Donald Glover is giving fans a glimpse of the Beyoncé-inspired Amazon series Swarm via exclusive photos from the show.
The series follows the story of a young woman who is obsessed with a pop star and takes fan through “her life, her fandom, and how it takes her to dark, unexpected places,” Vanity Fair reports. Dominique Fishback from Judas and the Black Messiah takes on the leading role, Dre.
“We just thought it’d be fun to make a post-truth Piano Teacher mixed with The King of Comedy,” Glover tells VF when discussing the series. “Me and my brother Stephen were talking about finding someone like Isabelle Huppert, as far as risk-takers in performances.”
Donald pitched the idea for Swarm to Janine Nabers, an Atlanta writer and producer. She tells VF that they were “creating an antihero story … through the lens of a Black, modern-day woman.”
To help bring the story to life, Glover also cast Chloe Bailey for the role of Dre’s sister, Marissa, and Damson Idris as Dre’s boyfriend. Malia Obama worked behind the scenes in the writers room.
Many of the crew members had previously worked on Atlanta, making Swarm feel like “a sister” to the FX show, Nabers says, adding they live in “the same tonal space.”
“A lot of people did it out of the kindness of their hearts and they did a really great job,” Donald adds. “Dom, Damson, Chloe. I was really blown away at how hard they worked on the tone, ’cause it’s a strange one.”
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