Photography by Alex Ingram, styling by Pricilla Owusu-Ansah, grooming by Tarik Bennafla

Words JOSHUA EVANS

Earlier this year, Josh Tedeku stole audiences' hearts with his warm and quick-witted portrayal of schoolboy Jaheim in the hit BBC comedy, Boarders. “In a cast full of characters who are somewhat caricatures and larger than life, I wanted Jaheim to be grounded and play the real-life element of his story while also having lots of fun with it. People really warmed to him, and I really love that.” Fast-forward a few months, and the 21-year-old can now be seen swapping school scholarships for superpowers, starring as troubled South-Londoner, Tazer, in Netflix sci-fi triumph, Supacell.

Penned by renowned British screenwriter Rapman (Shiro’s Story, Blue Story), the deftly-executed drama approaches the superhero genre with a degree of realism it’s not often associated with. It’s a refreshed lexicon that sees the show, situated in South London, richly documenting its five-strong cast of leads’ kaleidoscopic daily lives, with challenges spanning the supernatural and all-too-real kind at play. They each navigate the fate of being granted a superpower, whether they like it or not, (Tazer’s being invisibility), but realities of sickle cell disease and knife crime are among issues also given airtime. “It was a big change [from Boarders] and so fun to explore,” Tedeku says. “I had so much fun playing around with the wires and the green screen. Tazer is very different from Jaheim, but I always enjoy that variety.”

With two seismic 2024 projects already graced with Tedeku’s acting chops, it’s unsurprising that he’s a man with sights firmly set on the long road ahead. “There are so many people I admire who love what they do and love their craft,” he says. “I want to keep working with people who really care about their work and dive into their brains.”

Tedeku speaks to us about how he actively campaigned for a role inSupacell, his love for the sci-fi genre, and the continuing importance of Black representation on screen.

Hi Josh, how’s your year going so far?
Well, it's been a bit weird, obviously, because I had Boarderscome out in February, so just dealing with all of that in the first half of the year was fun. The reaction to it wasn't expected in a way, but everybody really took to it very well. People have been supporting us outside, and just being able to be proud of that work has been nice. But yeah, I've been going on a lot of holidays, just trying to reset, because we knew that we were going back to do season two in the summer. So before getting back to work, I just wanted to enjoy it. Now everything's gearing up with Supacell and going back to [Boarders] season two at the same time, so it's all work, work, work right now.

Congratulations on Supacell! How did you first get involved in the project?
Like a year before auditions, I saw Rapman post on his Instagram that he was casting something for Netflix, so I screen-shotted it and sent it to my agent. I was like, ‘Yo, get me in this room now! One year on, I didn't know it was auditioning, but one of my friends asked me to help him audition for a show called, Supacell. So I went to harass my agent. I got to take a look at the brief, where I saw that my character was in a gang and I wasn’t really keen on that, but then he explained all the layers to him and how the superpowers come into it, and I was sold. It was the best decision I could've made.

Supacell is a completely different beast from Boarders, especially with it being rooted in the sci-fi/superhero genre. Do you consider yourself a sci-fi fan?
Yeah, I'm a big sci-fi fan, man. Nobody ever expects it, but growing up, Doctor Whowas one of my favourite shows; it's still one of my favourite shows. I like superheroes, Marvel, DC. Right now my favourite shows are Invincible and The Boys. It's such an escape, and you can do so many cool things with it. So going into Supacell was like, ‘I’m finally getting to play a superhero,’ but then I had to realise these characters aren't superheroes; they just happen to have superhuman powers. These people are very self-indulgent, especially Tazer, and it's really just a story about what you would do if you got superpowers in real life and how to navigate that.

There’s a particular uniqueness to this show as it's entirely a Black story about Black superheroes by a Black creative, which is such a rarity in regard to representation both on and behind the screens. How was that experience for you?
Oh, it was definitely huge. Just stepping onto the set, I felt much more comfortable and more at home. In terms of vibe, it’s probably the best I’ve stepped onto. It was so easy, free and loose, and I think we need to see more of it. It’s definitely a step in the right direction, and it’s important for the future of the industry that we did that. Even the camera we had was so specific to Black skin. It was amazing to be a part of.

Did you discover any similarities with yourself and your character, Tazer, during the creative process?
I'm definitely on a different spectrum from Tazer. I would never do a lot of the things he does, and I don’t mess with a lot of the things he’s surrounded by. The one similarity we do have is that we’re both introverted. He's very much in his own mind and in his own head and rarely speaks, and when he does, he's quite blunt. I was like that a couple of years ago, where I just wasn't really speaking to anyone. I was just in my own vibe where I didn’t really want to leave my house. Stepping into Tazer was quite easy in that respect.