Let me start by saying that I am absolutely the wrong person to be writing about Netflix's new limited series, Self Made. The story tells the real-life tale of an African-American woman who defied all manner of conventions to become a self-made millionaire through the sale of haircare products for Black women. The closest I've come to understanding any of that very personal and culturally important space is from watching the Oscar-winning short Hair Love, so I leave it to the new trailer for Self-Made to tell the tale way better than I ever could.
Academy Award-winner Octavia Spencer stars as Madam C.J. Walker, the trailblazing African-American haircare entrepreneur who was America’s first female self-made millionaire. Inspired by the book, "On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker", written by Walker’s great-great-granddaughter A’Lelia Bundles, the Netflix four-part limited series, Self-Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker brings the uplifting story of this cultural icon to the screen for the first time. Against all odds, Walker overcame post-slavery racial and gender biases, personal betrayals, and business rivalries to build a ground-breaking brand that revolutionized Black haircare, as she simultaneously fought for social change.
The four-part limited series also stars Blair Underwood as her husband C.J. Walker, Tiffany Haddish as her daughter Lelia, Carmen Ejogo as Walker’s business rival Addie Munroe, Garrett Morris as Walker’s father-in-law, Kevin Carroll as her longtime lawyer Freeman Ransom and Bill Bellamy as Ransom’s cousin Sweetness. Look for it on Netflix on March 20th--add it to your watchlist now--and take a look at the trailer below!
Self-Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker produced by SpringHill Entertainment and Wonder Street in association with Warner Bros. Television is helmed by co-showrunners Elle Johnson & Janine Sherman Barrois, along with writer and co-executive producer Nicole Jefferson Asher, directed by Kasi Lemmons and DeMane Davis, and executive produced by Sherman Barrois, Johnson, Maverick Carter, LeBron James, Spencer, Mark Holder, Christine Holder, Lemmons, and Jamal Henderson.
