If you have ever watched Diarra from Detroit and wondered whether the cast is actually that close in real life, Dominique Perry and Bryan Terrell Clark are here to confirm your suspicions. The answer is yes, and then some.
Created by, written by and starring Diarra Kilpatrick, Diarra from Detroit premiered on Paramount+ in 2023 and quickly became one of the most talked-about shows that not enough people were watching. The series follows Diarra, a recently divorced Detroit school teacher whose attempt to get back into dating takes a sharp left turn when a man she matched with on a dating app mysteriously disappears. Equal parts dark comedy, thriller and love letter to Detroit, the show built a devoted and vocal fanbase off its sharp writing, genre-blending storytelling and its commitment to writing Black characters with full human complexity. Nobody on this show is a type. They are odd, layered, funny, flawed and deeply recognizable.
Perry plays Jelly, a sharp and self-possessed entrepreneur navigating life, love and increasingly wild circumstances alongside the titular character. Clark plays CP, a Black male teacher whose warmth, wit and grounded presence serve as one of the show’s emotional anchors. Together with Kilpatrick and the rest of the ensemble, which this season includes Method Man, Morris Chestnut, Glynn Turman, Amber Riley and Lil Rel Howery among others, they make up what Clark affectionately calls the ghetto Goonies, a found family of real and wonderfully odd people whose chemistry jumps off the screen because it is simply who they are.
In this conversation with Blex Media, Perry and Clark talk about the off-screen friendship that makes their on-screen dynamic feel so lived-in, why Kilpatrick’s commitment to writing from real life gives the show its singular energy and what fans can expect from a Season 2 that builds to a cultural revelation you will not see coming. Clark also makes his pitch for Season 3, and honestly, we are already rooting for it.
Diarra from Detroit Season 2 is now streaming on Paramount+. Watch the full interview below.