‘Bel-Air’ Star Jimmy Akingbola Opens Up About His ITV Documentary ‘Handle With Care’: “I Felt Like I Hadn’t Seen An Inspiring, Positive Care Story On TV”
EXCLUSIVE: Jimmy Akingbola, who plays Geoffrey in Peacock’s Bel-Air remake, has opened up about making a “positive story about adoption” to help inspire Black children in care in the upcoming ITV documentary Handle with Care.
Previous shows about adoption have tended to focus on “mining trauma,” the Kate & Kojo, In the Long Run and Ted Lasso star told Deadline, and he wanted to “flip the script but without dismissing these other stories” in Handle with Care.
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“I have had to overcome a lot of difficulties but overall my experience was positive,” Akingbola said of his time growing up after being adopted by a white family at age 2, when he left his Nigerian parents.
“I felt like I hadn’t seen an inspiring, positive care story on TV and instead there is this trend of only putting something on if it is really harrowing. I wanted to go the other way and think how I could inspire a 14- or 15-year-old version of myself. So whenever my fear [of making the show] got to a bad stage I thought if I can just help one young person then that’s enough.”
The number of UK children in care has risen by a massive 28% in the past decade to almost 500,000, and more than 40% awaiting adoption are Black, with Black foster families rare in comparison.
Akingbola, who speaks openly about growing up in a loving adoptive family, stressed that he doesn’t want to devalue previous shows and books on the subject, adding: “There is nuance here — we need to go beyond the clickbait and ‘black and white’ view of these stories.”
Akingbola spends most of his time in Los Angeles and plays Geoffrey, the butler, in Peacock’s top-rated Bel-Air reboot. He said he could see so much of himself in the 1990s Will Smith-starring series.
“When I was younger it was like watching [Will Smith] play me,” he went on to say. “And now here I am telling my story and playing Geoffrey at the same time. You can’t really make it up. I was told the other day that he’s the mist iconic British TV character in the U.S. and am so proud to be playing him.”
Handle with Care
Conceived during the Covid-19 pandemic, Handle with Care charts a heartwrenching, emotional and educational journey taken by Akingbola, who meets other Black people who grew up in care along the way such as Save Me star Lennie James and athlete Kriss Akabusi.
These celebrities also provide a nuanced picture of growing up in care, with Akabusi describing his children’s home as a “safe haven,” for example, and James discussing the incredible impact of his foster mum, Pam.
Akingbola wanted to pose questions around “the meaning of family, unconditional love and how much you can help a child when they are in a difficult position and it’s not their fault.”
Having mainly acted and produced in the past, along with founding diversity consultancy/production company TriForce Creative Network with Fraser Ayres, Akingbola pitched the idea for the doc to ITV programs boss Kevin Lygo after landing a commission for Black topical comedy format Sorry, I Didn’t Know.
It came at a harrowing time for him, having lost four family members in 2020 while the world was in lockdown.
“I should have just been trying to get over the loss of these family members but in a way it felt like the best and the worst time to be doing this,” he added. “I wanted to honor them.”
Being an “actor and producer foremost,” Akingbola said the experience was a difficult one “because I couldn’t hide behind my character.”
“If I were in a pub this stuff would run off my tongue effortlessly, but when you have a camera in front of you it’s really hard,” he added. “I knew I had to remain open and let go of the performer and producer.”
He was inspired by David Harewood’s Psychosis and Me, a BBC documentary about the Homeland actor’s battle with mental illness, which saw a 100%-plus increase in views to the psychosis section of mental health charity Mind’s website.
“[Myself and David] had a heart to heart and he said it wouldn’t be easy but the doc could help people,” said Akingbola.
The likes of Akingbola and Harewood have spoken in the past about the challenge of Black British talent having to move to the U.S. in order to make it big and Akingbola said this situation is slowly improving, citing the likes of Gangs of London stars Sope Dirisu and Paapa Essiedu as evidence.
Akingbola is in the midst of filming Season 2 of Bel-Air and has just wrapped on the second season of ITV’s The Tower. He’s keen to do more film, having starred in the likes of Netflix’s Rogue Agent earlier this year.
Jimmy Akingbola Handle with Care will air on Tuesday 1 November at 9pm on ITV and ITV Hub.
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