Lenny Henry is known for playing Sadoc Burrows in the Prime Video series Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. And as fans get ready to see him in the second season later this year, the 65-year-old created, wrote and is featured in the new series Three Little Birds which is now streaming on BritBox. PopCulture.com spoke to James about his new show which is inspired by his mother’s stories of her leaving Jamaica in the 1950s for Great Britain.
“It’s your parents’ story,” Henry told PopCulture. “This is who we are. Our ancestors, our forefathers came to Britain and walked cold streets with briefcases and suitcases. They walked around, they saw boarding houses with signs in the window saying, ‘No Blacks, no Irish, no dogs.’ These stories, whenever I was a kid and I heard these things, I couldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe what my parents overcame. Then when I was doing the research for this and I realized I had to talk to other people other than my parents and my family, I realized that it was a story that was universal. This is a lot of immigrant stories.”
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Three Little Birds focuses on the adventures of sisters Leah (Rochelle Neil) and Chantrelle (Saffron Coomber) and their friend Hosanna (Yazmin Belo). The trio travel from Jamaica to Great Britain to start a new life but face multiple challenges due to their race. This is a story Henry wanted to tell because he felt like his mother and other Jamaicans who journeyed to Great Britain during that time needed to be recognized for the adversity they faced.
“For me, I sat down with Russell T. Davis, who was my mentor for the early stages of development and talked about how tragic it must be to leave your home country, to go to a mother country on a passport that says you are British,” Henry said. And then to arrive and have people not recognize you, not know who you are, not know where your country is. I thought this is something worth talking about. Also, I wanted to celebrate those people, particularly those women. I love my mom, I love my mom’s stories. To tell something akin to her story is something I’ve always wanted to do for a broader audience.”
