Exclusive:Dani Moseley on BBC Three’s Dreaming Whilst Black: ‘This isn't just a show, it's a movement’

Dreaming Whilst Black follows Kwabena (Adjani Salmon), an aspiring filmmaker in a dead-end job struggling to find the financing to turn his first script into his debut feature; Moseley plays Amy, an old friend of Kwabena’s now working in a production company.

Moseley recently joined NationalWorld’s Alex Moreland to discuss the Dreaming Whilst Black, charting its initial development through to the award-winning pilot in 2021 to the full series now. She spoke about what drew her to the series initially, explained what separates Dreaming Whilst Black from the rest of television, and discussed how she hopes the series will be recieved. 

Just to set the scene a little bit, could you tell us a little bit about how you first got involved with the show, and your journey with it from the webseries through to now?

I am started off on the web series. I auditioned for Vanessa [the character ultimately played by babirye bukilwa], didn't get Vanessa, and I was like ‘forget you then’ [laughs]. Then there was more writing on the email, and I was like ‘what’s all of this?’ – do you want me to support your project? – and then it was like, oh, we'd love to offer you the role of Amy. Who’s Amy? That’s not who I auditioned for!

So, I did the web series, that went really well. Then we got commissioned to do the pilot, and then I had to audition again, because it'd been three years later – auditioned again, that went really well. Then we got commissioned to do the show, and then my role got put out again – they just wanted to double check! And then they realised, “oh my gosh, it is you! You are Amy already. Here you are!” And then I was Amy [laughs].

How are you feeling about the BBC Three version of the show now, and the move to a bigger platform again?

I'm excited! I realised quite early on, this isn't just a show, it's a movement. The things that we're talking about, it isn't just slapstick, or is it just “oh, wasn't that funny?”, we're living it. Like, babs and I would film, and then we'd have dinner with Adjani and Ali [Hughes, Salmon’s co-writer] and Koby [Adam, the director], and we'd sit down and talk about what we've just done for the day, and then talk about what we're doing tomorrow, and still be talking about the themes that are going to be in the scenes that we're going to be doing, and talking about fleshing that out, and what that feels like. 

I've always said, I want to be in things that you don't just be like, “oh, that was a nice show – so, okay, cool, what are we doing Saturday night?” I want it to be like, “oh, my gosh, and when he said that, and then she reacted, I was like, been there, I felt like” and I believe the show will do that. It has its funny moments, but it also has its real moments. That's what I believe sets it apart from most other shows – not even just other Black shows, other comedy-drama shows, because it's got something to say. Something that literally reaches people through the screen and people be like, “That's what I’m living. Okay, rah, I'm not the only person. Nice.” So, I'm excited for the discussions afterwards.

What would you say you’ve brought to the character, personally speaking? How have you influenced Amy?

I'm quite a bubbly character, and I'm very optimistic and very positive. I feel like that definitely shines through. In terms of Amy, me and Amy are similar but not, at the same time – her goals and her dreams are different to mine, but I guess sometimes how she handles things can be similar. Her fashion and her look is way better than mine! I mean, I had a whale of a time on set, just looking great, and everyone just coming out and being like, “gosh, damn, I thought you looked great last time, but now…!” – I know! They’re doing the most, they’re doing the most. So I enjoyed being her dress horse and trying out those different things. 

But yeah, I'd say my positivity, and my excitement and optimism for things was brought out more, in terms of my character – and supporting my friends and people I believe in, that’s important to me as a person, and that's important to Amy as a person as well. 

Dreaming Whilst Black has evolved a lot since the webseries - is there anything about it you think has stayed the same across that time, any kind of essence that’s been consistent throughout? 

The Black experience in Britain, that's been pretty consistent. We haven't really strayed from that, other than telling more stories, more directly, than we did in the webseries, because we were able to do that. But definitely just keep pushing forward with that, and not pretending that it doesn't exist; I remember someone ages ago looked at a version of it, and said that they thought that this show should be set in the 80s, when racism was more prevalent. And I'm just very confused by that, why they seemed to think that it wasn't still a thing, that microaggressions wasn't still a thing? 

It further proves that work like this needs to continue, because people still believe that it's not really a thing anymore, we're not going through it, and it's all a level playing field and it's all equity and equality. It's not. Definitely on the web series, through to this, we continue to show examples of that so we can have those conversations and create positive change.

Dreaming Whilst Black is currently available on BBC iPlayer as part of a boxset, with new episodes also airing on BBC Three on Mondays. You can read our interview with Adjani Salmon here, and check back next week for our interview with babirye bukilwa. 

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