From creator Leigh Davenport and showrunner Yvette Lee Bowser (the creator of Living Single), the Starz comedy series Run the World follows a group of Black women – Whitney (Amber Stevens West), Ella (Andrea Bordeaux), Renee (Bresha Webb) and Sondi (Corbin Reid) – whose fierce loyalty as best friends helps them to navigate their personal and professional lives in Harlem. While they each have their own struggles, the thing they all have in common is how much fun they have with each other, as they support and uplift one another.

During a virtual junket for the new show, Collider got the opportunity to chat 1-on-1 with Amber Stevens West about her desire to work in comedy, her love for watching female friendship, being in really good hands with the more adult material, what advice she’d give her character, turning fear into a positive, how much fun they had during the shoot, and her hope to get to continue exploring these characters for future seasons.

Collider: Congratulations on your show and on your real-life baby, and having those two things happening so close together. When this project came your way, why was this a show that spoke to you, at this point in your life?

AMBER STEVENS WEST: There were so many things. It slowly rolled out to me, all of the different things that made the show so special. When I originally first read it, it was a show for Starz, so I knew it was going to be more adult content, in the sense that we were going to be discussing things in a more candid way and showing real relationships in a real way. I had not done any projects like that yet, so that was intriguing to me. And then, I read the show, and it was centered on four women and their friendship and relationships with each other. That is my favorite genre. I love to watch female friendship. I relate to it more than any other kind of show. And it was a comedy, that’s all I ever want to do in my life. I just want to work in comedy. I want to enjoy every day at my job, laughing and making other people laugh.

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Image via Starz

Those were the original things that really stood out to me about this project, but then further down the line, it really started to hit home, how important it was to be showing Black women in this light and the relationship that they have with one another. It’s a really supportive, non-competitive, loving friendship that these women have and I really related to that. I thought it was so important to show that in television. Women can have it all. There’s enough space for all of us to thrive. I didn’t realize how much gravity that held in my life because I never really sat with the fact that I didn’t get to see a lot of characters that looked like me and sounded like me, and I was getting to play one. That felt so important.

Was there anything that you were most nervous about, when it came to the material on this show?

STEVENS WEST: I always felt like I was in really good hands with the show. When I first read it, knowing that it was going to be a show that had sex and it was going to be more mature, being inexperienced in that way professionally, I was a little worried about how that would all look. But as soon as I met Yvette [Lee Bowser] and Leigh [Davenport] and we discussed, really candidly, what the show was going to be and how we were going to operate in making it, I immediately felt at ease. I was in good hands and nothing made me nervous. The chemistry that I had with all of the actors always felt really easy. We just had a lot of fun and there was a lot of trust there. Nothing really ever ended up being scary.

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Your character is somebody who is at this turning point in her life. She’s going from being single, to being a married woman, which is something that you’ve already experienced, with your own expanding family. After playing this character for a season and getting to know her, what advice would you give Whitney?

STEVENS WEST: Oh, goodness, to just give herself a break, move through with grace, and don’t be so hard on yourself. We all question our choices in our life, no matter how big or small they are, and you just have to be accepting of that. It’s okay to be flawed. I can relate to that. I was Whitney. I just went through what she’s going through, a lot earlier than she did. In my early 20s, I certainly was very concerned with doing the right thing, but not spending enough time looking inward and thinking, “Is this really what I want, or is this what I think others expect of me?”

Obviously, women are not one thing, and Black women are most definitely not one thing. What do you love about what these specific women represent, in their own diversity?

STEVENS WEST: Just that we are diverse. We are so different. We all look and sound different. The way that we perceive the world is different. The way that we carry ourselves is different. The one character who embodies that the most, I would say, is Renee. She’s someone who, from the outside, you would look at her and her teeny tiny leopard dress and her new wig every day and her big false eyelashes, and you would decide who she is based on that. She’s so much more than the way that she dresses. She is fabulous and loves to dress up and have fun with that, but she’s also really highly intelligent and sensitive and defensive and loyal and has a very high-powered job. We are very diverse. We can be many things at once.

I love the quote in the show, “Anyone who has ever stood on the precipice of world domination has felt fear. But fear is good. Fear is fuel.” Are you someone who can turn anytime you might feel fear about something into a positive that pushes you forward?

STEVENS WEST: I do. It takes work, but there are certainly moments in my life where I’m like, “I’m freaked out,” and then I sit with myself for a second and say, “No one is making me do this. This is me. I’m choosing to be here. There’s a reason that I’m here and it’s because I want something, so let me just go after it.” If I psych myself up in that way, it turns the tables and gives me my power back. That can help you move through those moments of fear, taking a big leap.

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Image via Starz

Your characters definitely get to have some fun on this show. Was there a most fun day on set, or were they all fun days?

STEVENS WEST: Every single day was fun. I loved going to work, every day. There was not one day I dreaded going in. Doesn’t matter if it was long hours. Every episode, we had so much fun. The show is a comedy. We’re out there having fun. The relationship that we have with each other on screen is similar to what’s off screen, so we were just enjoying each other’s company. We had fun, shooting an episode where we’re in a karaoke bar and we were actually singing, all day long. We went dancing and were out late. We were drinking fake drinks and smoking fake cigarettes, but we were having a great time, just as if it were the real world. We went out into the park and we were playing on the swings. We were dancing in a drum circle. Every episode had these moments that were just us partying and living our best lives, so it’s hard to pick that any one really stood out because every day felt so fun.

Have you had conversations about where these characters and their lives could go in the future, with further seasons? Have you talked about what Season 2 could be? Do you have your own personal wishlist for your character?

STEVENS WEST: I have talked to Leigh a little bit about where she wants to take these characters, but I don’t want to give anything away. Her original pitch for the show was 10 episodes and we only filmed eight, so she already has two episodes, essentially ready to go. I know where those are headed, and boy, I hope we get to make them. You just never want to leave these characters. Their stories are so fun and accessible.

Run the World airs on Sunday nights on Starz.

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