Underneath the brilliant lights and daring beats of this yr’s 2025 ESSENCE Fest, CBS’s latest cleaning soap shone brilliant. Past The Gates, the luxurious saga of secrets and techniques, standing, and the sprawling Dupree dynasty, has already been renewed for a second season, a swift and important win for a present that solely debuted in February.
The primary daytime cleaning soap with a predominantly Black solid in additional than 35 years, Past the Gates weaves its tales round an elite Maryland household whose energy and keenness lengthen far past their gated group. Created by acclaimed author Michele Val Jean and government produced by Sheila Ducksworth, the present has helped revitalize CBS’s daytime block, with viewership positive aspects and trade buzz to match.
At ESSENCE Fest, the place Past the Gates felt completely at residence amid a weekend celebrating tradition, group, and creativity, BOSSIP caught up with solid members Tamara Tunie and Karla Mosley, together with government producer Sheila Ducksworth.
“It feels terrific,” Ducksworth instructed BOSSIP when requested in regards to the present’s season two renewal. “It’s one other season to deliver you all of the happenings of all the things Past The Gates and with the Dupree household. It’s simply one thing that we simply love greater than I may even say to have the chance 5 days per week to inform these tales with these characters and actually present us a aspect of America, that individuals haven’t seen earlier than.”
5 days per week of fierce household drama isn’t any small feat, and certainly one of its most talked-about characters is the fiery and fearless Dani Dupree, portrayed by Karla Mosley. Dani is the firecracker of the Dupree household who by no means backs down from a combat (or a suckerpunch), particularly if it entails herself or her family.
“Sure, she does,” Mosley stated when requested if Dani is a fighter. “And I feel that’s the factor. All the pieces she does comes from love. She simply can’t assist it, she says, and she or he acts first, after which she doesn’t actually suppose that a lot in regards to the repercussions, she simply retains going, however it all comes from a spot of affection and reality, and simply wanting justice.”
That mix of uncooked emotion and righteous power is matched by Tamara Tunie’s portrayal of Anita Dupree, the commanding but compassionate mom on the coronary heart of the present. Recognized for enjoying robust girls throughout stage and display screen, Tunie effortlessly pumps energy and poise into her position because the Dupree matriarch.
“Who does she fear about probably the most? Anita worries about all her youngsters,” Tunie instructed BOSSIP. “The 2 sisters (Dani and Nicole) are very completely different. Nicole is far more calm and regular, and Dani’s a little bit extra impulsive, you realize, however she loves them each. And she or he loves them in several methods, as a result of she meets them the place they’re in want, and she or he fills that.”
The household dynamics are wealthy and actual, however on the middle of all of it is a continuing present, Black excellence. BOSSIP requested every solid member to outline it in their very own phrases, and the solutions painted a vivid portrait of goal and delight.
“I imply, it’s one thing that it was at all times anticipated and at all times was in my life. So for me, it’s the norm, you realize?” stated Tunie. “However it’s nice to have the ability to symbolize it on tv, and I’m not saying Black excellence is just about wealth or cash or materials issues. It’s about what’s taking place in right here,” she added, putting her hand over her coronary heart. “And the way you’re shifting by way of the world. Whether or not you’re the rubbish man, the postman, or a physician. It’s how you’re shifting by way of the world and what you symbolize and what you’re bringing and placing into the world. That’s what Black excellence is, to me.”
Mosley agreed, reflecting on her private experiences whereas filming within the Peach State’s celebrated southern metropolis, ATL.
“I feel that’s so superbly put,” she stated. “And you realize, it’s thrilling for me to be on the cleaning soap, but in addition to stay in Atlanta, to be right here in New Orleans, to be within the South round so many extra Black individuals, and the place it’s the norms and simply present up as you as absolutely as you’re, and the place youngsters are inspired to talk their minds, and that what they need to say is essential and valued, and our innovation is widely known. I feel that’s actually what it’s all about.”
Then Ducksworth introduced all of it residence with readability and conviction.
“It’s about being the most effective you can be, no matter stage of your life that you simply’re in with being the most effective that it may be,” she instructed BOSSIP. “Once I first went to place the present collectively, it was actually about one thing that evokes, and one thing of the individuals can aspire to. And that’s precisely what this present delivers on. It’s all about simply being the most effective you can presumably be.”
As Past the Gates heads into its second season, its success isn’t only a win for CBS; it’s a triumph for storytelling that facilities and celebrates the richness of Black id. With every episode, the present redefines what daytime drama can appear to be, and at ESSENCE Fest, the solid reminded us why illustration means completely all the things from contained in the gates to past.