Welsh actor Rakie Ayola told Newsweek she doesn't think the U.S. is ready for a female president, although she hopes Kamala Harris will win the 2024 election.
Ayola is an award-winning actor known for her work in theater and television, including the BBC drama Anthony and the series The Pact. She now stars in the Netflix series Kaos, a modern-day retelling of Greek mythology that blends humor and drama. Ayola plays Persephone, queen of the underworld, opposite David Thewlis, who plays her husband, Hades. Jeff Goldblum plays Zeus and Janet McTeer plays Hera.
The 56-year-old is attracted to playing layered characters and in 2017 she took over the role of Hermione Granger in the West End Production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
After Hermione graduates from Hogwarts, she eventually becomes the Minister of Magic, the highest role in the Potterverse. When Newsweek asked Ayola if she thinks the U.S. is about to experience something similar, she said she doesn't think the country is ready for Harris to become the first female president.
"Maybe new things, innovative things, progressive things only ever happen when we're not ready for them. Maybe by their very nature, they can't—if we're too comfortable, we just stick with what we have," she explained.
"So I'd say truthfully, no, I don't think the U.S. is ready for a female president, but that doesn't mean they won't vote for one. That doesn't mean that people won't vote for [Harris]."
The actor added: "I hope they do because, you know, I have a great issue with her and [Joe] Biden, but of the options—I mean, I think if I was there, I'd be voting for Jill Stein but I'd also know that that would be a protest vote."
Stein is the Green Party presidential candidate, having previously run as the Green Party's candidate for president in 2012 and 2016. Some have blamed Stein for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton losing to Trump in 2016—the Green Party candidate received over 31,000 votes in Wisconsin and Trump won the state by just under 23,000.
Ayola continued: "I hope that Kamala Harris wins over Trump. But, you know, I'm not there to vote. Is the U.S. ready for that to happen? Not at all but then the U.S. wasn't ready for [Barack] Obama and the reaction to him was everything that's happened since in terms of where politics has swung.
"So I'd say I hope she wins but then I'd also say buckle up everybody because it's going to be a bumpy ride."
Even though some people may prefer to keep political and social issues outside of TV shows and movies, they are often inextricably linked. While Kaos is fun and humorous, it is also deeply political, portraying ruling classes and people who abuse power. The show, created by Charlie Covell, is an allegory of the world we live in now.
When Ayola read the script, she quickly realized that she was determined to play Persephone and be a part of the Kaos world.
"Before I'd read any of it, I knew that Persephone was abducted by Hades, so [I thought] 'This will be very dramatic, very serious, probably quite a traumatic role of play or a traumatic character anyway,'" she told Newswseek.
"Then I started to read it and I'm actually laughing, 'Is that okay? Is that allowed?' I just thought it was brilliant. I thought Charlie's writing was so clever and imaginative and I just found myself going, 'Oh that's genius I love that, I love how Charlie brought that element and crossed it with that element.' I loved where they decided to mix it up. And of course, I love the fact that there's no kidnap or abduction and that [Persephone and Hades] are very much in love.
"They work very well together. And I love the way Persephone was written. Genuinely, by the end of the first episode, I thought: 'I really want to play this character.' And that doesn't happen often.
"Sometimes I think, 'Oh yeah this would be a fun thing to do, I like the people involved and I think I can do something with it,' but in this instance, I thought, 'I really, really want this job' and it was nice to feel that way. Although it's also anxiety-making because then the stakes are so much higher."
Ayola appreciated that in Covell's retelling of Greek mythology, Persephone was with Hades on her own terms and hadn't been forced to stay with him.
"I love the fact that she, at times, is much stronger than him. It's a meeting of equals, but at times she's the strong one that says, 'You have to stand up to your brother. Yeah, I know he's a bit of a bully but you have to tell him what's going on.'
"She very much believes that if you're telling someone the truth, even if they are volatile and capable of incredible cruelty, they will have to listen because the facts are the facts. And I don't think she can believe that someone can be presented with the fact and still decide that they're not the facts they want, you know? So I liked that about her."
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