The internet was buzzing after photos and videos surfaced from Bianca Lawson and Kofi Siriboe’s photoshoot for Ebony magazine this week. The steamy shoot had fans not only admiring how good they looked together but also wondering if there was more going on between them. The interview, however, may explain why they seem to have undeniable chemistry.
Biana and Kofi both star on Queen Sugar as Darla Sutton and Ralph Angel Bordelon, a young couple who has experienced their fair share of ups and downs. Fans of the Ava DuVernay series were first introduced to Ralph as a single father while Darla was a recovering drug addict fighting to get her child back. But over the course of six seasons, they were able to come to a healthy place, reconnect, and eventually (spoiler alert) got married.
“Love is such a dimensional element. We first meet Darla and Ralph Angel in a dysfunctional place,” said Kofi. “We don’t know much about them, but we’re learning their story through their pain. And just to see, that even through that pain, the love still existed and that, whether they knew it or not, the pain connected them only because love was the source.”
Bianca echoed those same sentiments when it came to Darla and Ralph’s relationship.
“There were times that they hated each other. They’ve been so angry at each other—disappointed and betrayed. However, I don’t think they’ve ever stopped loving each other,” Bianca said. “I feel like there’s a real friendship between them and that they’re each other’s best friends.”
Kofi also spoke about the importance of their characters showing different ways in how men and women are perceived on television.
“I just think it creates balance,” he said. “If we’re really trying to expand and evolve as human beings—as men, as women—it’s definitely necessary to represent all of the dimensions and layers of relationships. It’s imbalanced how we see men always in a certain way, and women in a certain way. So just switching the roles and taking ownership of the narrative—while still being true and authentic—I think that’s powerful.”
Off-screen, Bianca and Kofi are just as close. The 28-year-old actor referred to Bianca as his “O.G.” as the actress is 15 years his senior and has been acting since the early ‘90s.
“I’ve been doing this a long time, and he’s a little bit newer, but sometimes it’s also just people’s soul and people’s heart,” she said. “You connect with who you connect with for whatever reason and that’s beyond age or experience.”
“One night this thing happened, and I told him how I was so devastated. I was literally sitting on the floor of my hotel room with smeared makeup on my face from crying and he sat there with me [and comforted me],” she recalled. “I think our real friendship gets into the characters somehow. I can tell him anything, and I think he feels the same way.”
The seventh and final season of Queen Sugar premieres on the OWN network on Tuesday, September 6 at 8 p.m.
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Featured image by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for The Hollywood Reporter