
She presented her play Chewing Gum Dreams as her senior project in 2012, and it went on to be produced at theatres all over London, including the National Theatre.
#I MAY DESTROY YOU ON NETFLIX TV#
It was Coel's final project at Guildhall that eventually became her first hit TV show. Chewing Gum was her graduation project at drama school.
#I MAY DESTROY YOU ON NETFLIX SERIES#
Similarly, Coel also pulled from her real-life experience when she made I May Destroy You, basing the series on the sexual assault she experienced. While Coel's coming-of-age comedy series Chewing Gum may seem outlandish at times, it is based on her religious upbringing and her complex relationship with the concept of celibacy.

Chewing Gum and I May Destroy You are based on her real life. She got her start performing poetry at open mics across the city, going by the name Michaela The Poet. She got her start performing poetry at open mics.Ĭoel's initial claim to fame was as a spoken word phenom in London. Both shows offer a peek into her life, but there is so much more about her for fans to discover. Now, Coel is a powerhouse in the entertainment industry with a cult-beloved Netflix comedy and a critically acclaimed HBO series under her belt. Still, according to her July 6 interview with Vulture, the Bible is what inspired her to start writing in the first place. She had a very religious upbringing within the Pentecostal faith, but stopped practicing when she attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. If you have seen her series Chewing Gum, then you actually already have a pretty good idea about what her life was like growing up. These facts about Michaela Coel will help fans get to know the star even better.Ĭoel is a London native, born to Ghanaian parents in 1987. All of Coel's works are incredibly personal, and learning the details of her artistic personal life adds so many new layers to her shows. The actor/writer burst onto the scene with her hilariously awkward E4 and Netflix comedy Chewing Gum in 2015, and in 2020, she came out with one of the year’s most interesting and audacious TV shows: I May Destroy You. You definitely know Michaela Coel’s name by now.
