Movies & TV
“Supacell” Star Adelayo Adedayo Reflects on Her Career, Songs of the Moment & Playing Dionne
Credit: Adelayo Adedayo/Instagram
Some social media reactions after watching “Supacell” had us laughing hard:
Just finished Supacell and I have one question. Why doesn’t Dionne listen????? – Daniel
The way I was screaming at Dionne when watching Supacell – Deji
Dionne was just stressing me out,like just go home and rest – Akua
Never seen someone hustle for her own death so bad just like Dionne in SUPACELL – Somto
I can’t believe Dionne decides to jump in with them on the mission in A-town? Sis you ain’t got powers GO HOME – Jason
Can we blame them? We felt the same way after watching the Netflix hit series “Supacell.” The blossoming love story between Dionne and Michael was heartwarming, especially after the beautiful proposal. We were expecting a fairytale wedding, but things took a dramatic turn. Suddenly, Michael and four other Black South Londoners discover their superpowers, and the revelation of Dionne’s death throws everything into chaos.
When we spoke with Rapman, the creator of “Supacell,” to confirm if Dionne was truly gone, his response was, “In the world that we live in, nobody comes back from the dead.”
Adelayo Adedayo, a British actress, made her feature film debut in “Sket” in 2011. She gained recognition on television with roles in the BBC Three sitcom “Some Girls” (2012–2014) and the ITV2 series “Timewasters” (2017–2019). In the BBC One series “The Responder,” she plays a rookie police officer alongside Martin Freeman, with the first series airing in 2022. In 2023, she was nominated for a British Academy Television Award for her performance in “The Responder,” and she attended the BAFTA event with her mum.
BellaNaija spoke exclusively with Adelayo Adedayo, who plays Dionne – Michael’s sweet, loving fiancée and a dedicated social worker. We discussed how she feels about being part of a chart-topping show, her background, and her Nigerian heritage.
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How I feel today…
“I’m good. It’s nice today in London. It’s hot, which is a blessing for us. We don’t get it very often, so I’m happy.”
The thrill of being on a chart-topping Netflix show is…
“Amazing! Oh, it feels amazing. One of my favourite things about being an actor and telling stories is connecting with people or having people connect to themes or characters or even sometimes just a sentence. People can hear a sentence and they connect to it or it means something to them. And to have so many people connecting, that’s really amazing.”
The reason Dionne didn’t go home when Michael asked is…
“Love. But firstly, that’s on the script. It’s what’s there. When you’re in love and considering that the first time he asked her, he didn’t really fight her on going home, it makes sense. The two of them, having been through everything they’ve been through—without communicating, each doing their own thing, both feeling like the other is in danger when it’s the other one who’s in danger—finally come together. They’ve communicated, they know exactly where they are and what’s going to happen. They don’t have much time together, so would you want to leave? It’s a situation they’ve never been in before. Either way, it would have been hard for them to walk away from each other at that point.”
The part of Dionne’s character I most enjoyed bringing to life on screen…
“…is her caring character. I think she goes hard for the people that she loves. And also just in her job, you can tell that she cares about people, that she will fight for people. That aspect of going hard for the people you love appeals to me. I think that would appeal to anyone because it’s just a beautiful quality, you know?”
The most memorable or challenging scene to film as Dionne was…
“The last scene. It was quite memorable because it was very sad and emotional. There was a lot of blood, and it had been raining. When we first shot it, it was raining, but halfway through it stopped, so they had to keep putting water on the floor and dousing us in water. I had to have these little blood pellets in my mouth. We were shooting at night, around 2 or 3 a.m., in the dead of winter. It was really cold. So, it was quite challenging but helped add to the despair of it all.”
The key takeaway from Dionne’s character and journey is…
“Communication. I hope they take away how important it is to communicate and talk to the people you love, to tell them what’s going on, even if it’s difficult or a very painful conversation. It’s important to talk to the people you love and tell them what’s going on. That’s what I hope people take away from Dionne.”
The character most like their real-life counterpart is…
“Calvin Demba (Rodney). They’re both cheeky and witty and they’ve got a little banter. They’re both funny.”
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If I could have any superpower, it would be…”
“To fly. Nadine’s character flies. We only see it at the end, but I think I would choose to fly because you know what? Yeah, sometimes you want to go rest. You just want to leave the people down below and go in. Do you know what I mean? You want to relax. You don’t want anybody saying anything in your ear, and you want to escape for a little while. And I think that the ability to do that on a tough day—chef’s kiss.”
The ideal way to enjoy pounded yam is…
“Simple. Pounded yam, stew (normal red stew) and okra. Perfect. Some people think this is controversial—but I like pounded yam and champagne. I think they go together so well. If not, ice-cold water with loads of ice cubes. Perfect.”
A little about me
“I’m an only child and a British Nigerian. I studied law, went to law school and then dropped out because I was like, ‘what am I doing? This is not where I’m supposed to be.'”
I made the switch to acting
“When I went to uni, I was acting part-time. And then after uni, to be a fully qualified lawyer, I had to take the LPC, which is a year’s course, specifically law school. And it was during that time I realised… because at university, even though you’re doing a law degree, there’s a lot of theory. You’re talking a lot and engaging with your peers. You have an opinion, you’re allowed to debate. But at law school, it’s not a debate. This is just the law. This is what the law is. This is what you need to know to become a lawyer. And it stopped being indulgent and fun. It became very practical. And I was like, oh, this isn’t for me. What am I doing here? I’m not supposed to be here. So then I was like, okay, I’m just gonna walk away and focus on acting full-time. And I did. And I haven’t looked back.”
How my parents initially reacted
“Not very well. I think my mom was just—well, incredibly nervous because a career as an actor was not ever presented to her. She never stopped me from acting. She loved that I did it. She loves the arts and things like that. But as a career, she was like, ‘this is not something that I know can make you secure.’ And for her and me, as well, to be honest, when I was growing up, actors were in America; they weren’t in London. So it just wasn’t viable to her. It took her a while to go, ‘okay, you can support yourself and make a living,’ which is all she cared about. Do you know what I mean? She just wanted me to be okay.”
Current favourites on my playlist
“Do you know what? This morning, I was vibing to “Happiness” by Asake. What else is in my head? I was also listening to “Dangote” by Burna Boy. My Afrobeats song choice changes every day because there are many great artists. I tend to listen to Afrobeats in the morning because it sets you up for the day. It’s a lot of fun.”
Next on Supacell
“Oh, I don’t know. I can tell you nothing. If I do, I’ll be in a lot of trouble. So I don’t know.”
