“I was and am everything to Ozzie Edwards.” This chilling line came from actress Brandee Evans, who plays Monica, a talent agent who’s been abusing her ex-child star turned adult actor client, Ozzie Edwards, played by Kyle Bary, since he was 13 years old, on season three of Hulu’s hit show “Reasonable Doubt.”
Her performance in the series is a masterclass of conveying control, manipulation, desperation, and delusion. Within episode six of this season, she said to the protagonist of the series, preeminent lawyer, Jax Stewart, played by Emayatzy Corinealdi, “Look, he came on to me first, I built him up when this industry tried to tear him down. We were in love, and you’re trying to devour something pure. He wasn’t a child, he was a star and a better man than I’ve ever met.”
“Reasonable Doubt” is back, and some fans of the show would argue that its storyline is better than ever. Although the premise of this season’s storyline mainly revolves around Stewart and her ups and downs career-wise and personally, her new client’s murder case brings an important theme to the series – the abuse of power in the entertainment industry as it relates to child actors and their handlers. When the viewer meets Evans’ character, Monica, on the show, she seems like a protective, concerned agent dedicated to Edwards’ betterment, but we quickly find out just how harmful their relationship is.
Evans is best known for her role as a series regular in the popular STARZ drama series “P-Valley.” After the show’s July 2020 premiere, Evans was considered the breakout star of the first season, with critics describing her performance as “wonderfully compelling.” The show achieved record-breaking viewership in its first season and continued with a second season that premiered in June 2022. Evans’ performance earned her a nomination for a NAACP Image Award for “Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series” in both 2020 and 2023.
When speaking about her character’s essence on “Reasonable Doubt,” Evans sums it up in one word: troubled. “This is a troubled character. She’s very complex. I told you when I saw you before: ‘When you see this, this is harder than anything I’ve ever done in my career.’ And a lot of people are shocked when they hear that, because they’re like, ‘But Mercedes —who is so multifaceted and complex as well.’ But Monica’s character is a piece of work,” she says to me during our Zoom interview.
Evans believes she was challenged more than in any role she’s ever done because of the storyline. “Raamla, our incredible showrunner and creator, did such a good job telling an authentic story that, when I was doing my research and talking to gentlemen, younger boys, and older boys, they thought it was cool. They said, ‘Yes, I’ve been there and done that, or I hope I get to do that.’ They don’t realize this isn’t okay. And that speaks to what we aren’t saying in our communities. We aren’t shining a light on as brightly as we should, and saying it’s not okay for you to do this to any child, boy or girl, they are them,” she states.
When it came to preparing for her role, Evans shares that the process was intricate and challenging, even with the tools available on set, including therapists. “The producers were very hands-on and checked on us, making sure we felt safe —which was pivotal —but studying for my role was difficult because it wasn’t just about memorizing lines. I had to really tap in and master her body language. I had to embody what she was feeling and what she wasn’t saying,” she says. “I remember thinking, ‘I can’t wait to just make it through episode six because it was so tough. But also, once it was done, I knew it was going to be some of the best work I’ve ever done in my career.”
Unfortunately, the detrimental dynamic shown on screen isn’t taboo in the entertainment industry, especially in Hollywood. We’ve seen real-life examples of it within the cultural zeitgeist, like the groundbreaking documentary “Quiet On The Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV,” which centered on child actors’ stories about sexual abuse and the allegedly abusive environment on Nickelodeon shows in the 1990s and early 2000s, with multiple former child actors and crew members sharing their accounts.
There’s also significant data that delves into childhood actor abuse within the industry. A survey undertaken by the International Labour Organization (ILO) shared that 53.7% of respondents had experienced sexual harassment during rehearsals and 46.3%of respondents had experienced incidents during auditions or interviews. Another study, in 2017, by the Freedom Fund, found that 60% of child actors were working in sexually exploitative environments, which included flirting and groping, and being made to perform sensual massages and engage in sexual intercourse.
Ms. Mama Fatima Singhateh, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on sale and sexual exploitation of children, has stated that predatory sexual behaviour has been accepted as the norm in the entertainment industry because directors, producers, managers, and agents have faced no repercussions for unlawfully wielding power and authority over young and vulnerable aspiring entertainers. “A significant number of instances of sexual abuse and exploitation in that field remained unreported, primarily due to the prevailing power dynamics and a fear of retaliation and the loss of career opportunities. Such factors often result in an environment in which individuals in positions of authority can exploit vulnerable child actors and performers,” she says.
For the series’ creator and showrunner, Raamla Mohamed, this topic was an important one to broach. “We hear a lot of stories about men abusing underage women, but there are also underage men who have been abused and groomed by older women. The latter is less talked about because there is a stigma that men should enjoy the attention of a woman. Like it’s some rite of passage,” she shares via email. “However, it is still confusing, shameful, and harmful in a young man’s development to have his first interaction be with an adult. It was also even more important to watch Ozzie realize the screen that the relationship was, in fact, abuse, which is often not understood by survivors of sexual abuse.”
Evans agrees with Mohamed’s sentiment about the need to share substantial storylines on screen to generate impactful conversations and hopefully, change. “I hope that this season curates deeper conversations. It’s not just about the pretty, beautiful brown faces that we see on the screen, the fabulous outfits, the beautiful music. It’s about the story, and the story comes from something authentic. We want to have our episodes spark meaningful conversations,” she shares.
“Reasonable Doubt” Season 3 is now streaming on Hulu, with new episodes dropping every Thursday.