Award-winning actor Gail Bean carries the world of Snowfall into a new decade as Wanda Bell moves from surviving the crack epidemic to pursuing power in the West Coast Hip-Hop scene. Bean reprises her acclaimed role in The Drop: A Snowfall Saga, a new FX drama set in 1990s Los Angeles. The series follows Wanda and Leon Simmons, played by Isaiah John, as they attempt to reinvent themselves after the devastating events depicted in Snowfall.
The original series explored the arrival of crack cocaine in 1980s South Central Los Angeles and its catastrophic, menacing effects on Black families and neighborhoods. The Drop advances that history into the next era, when West Coast Hip-Hop became a major cultural force. At the center of that transition is Wanda.
In Snowfall, audiences watched Wanda spiral into addiction, fight her way into recovery and ultimately leave Los Angeles for Ghana with Leon. Her transformation was a parable for the human damage caused by the drug trade inserted in the Black community. The Drop gives Wanda control over her own future, something missing from the first series.
Wanda’s New Vision in the Hip-Hop Industry
Wanda believes music has the power to transform American culture. She begins assembling a team to help take West Coast rap into the mainstream, but faces record-labels, gang politics and other street influences. At the recent National Association of Black Journalists convention, Bean and the rest of the cast discussed the looming show. Bean offered a concise but revealing preview of where the story is headed: “We get to meet Wanda’s family, and we get to see what’s going on between Wanda and Leon.”
Wanda tries building a future in music amid systemic sexism as Leon rejects the streets, pushing a free legal clinic in the community. The situation places the two on opposite sides of a familiar struggle. Bean recognized the importance of returning to a character she has portrayed for much of her professional life: “I’ve been with Snowfall since 2017, so it’s raised me. Almost a decade with FX. Phenomenal. And playing alongside Isaiah John, playing the Wanda Bell to his Leon Simmons.”
Expanding the Legacy of Snowfall
The spinoff introduces Wanda’s cousins Lamar and James Kinsey, played by Asante Blackk and Peyton Alex Smith. Simmie “Buddy” Sims III portrays Artillery, a troubled local rapper whose talent could become an important part of Wanda’s plan. The Drop is expected to examine how the collapse of the crack economy overlapped with the rap music industry in Los Angeles. The story also extends the legacy of the late filmmaker John Singleton, who co-created Snowfall with Eric Amadio and Dave Andron.
The Drop: A Snowfall Saga premieres September 8 on FX.
