“Season 1 and Season 2 were very different journeys for Poppy,” Octavia Spencer said of the character she plays in Truth Be Told. The Apple TV+ Original is back for Season 3 on Friday, January 20th, and Octavia recently joined her costars and fellow executive producers at a TCA Winter Press Tour for a conversation about the series. “Season 1 was about claiming fame and revisiting a story that she felt that she had wronged someone. It was about, in her mind, at that point, the truth. Season 2, it was a more personal story because it involved a childhood friend, and she started to lose a lot of relationships. And so, she questioned a lot about her life there. The seeds for Season 3 were planted in Season 2, and Poppy has to deal with a lot of loss that she ultimately contributed to. When you're dealing with your demons and living in a very public life, and at the center of that public life is your job, and your job is to be a warrior for justice, you also have to look in the mirror.”
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“Season 1 is when the incident happened up in the Bay Area, and it just got the wheels turning,” revealed series creator Nichelle Tramble Spellman about the true events that inspire this season’s arc, which involves a group of missing Black girls believed to have been trafficked. “We had an incident similar to what we see on the show in our extended family in the Bay Area. So, we got to see up close and personal how hard it could be, how devastating it is, and how the lack of resources actually can sometimes make the problem worse. And in Season 2, when I told a story in the room, we started building in the seeds to tackle this story. And then Maisha [Closson] came on Season 3 to show-run and just did an amazing job nailing this huge, huge problem. And who decides that is the big question that the show tackles. Who's important and who's not, how the service is allocated, what are the police doing, what's the press doing, it's all a part of the question of the season.”
With each season of Truth Be Told presenting a new crime for podcaster and social justice warrior Poppy Parnell to cover, showrunner and executive producer Maisha Closson shared the challenge of pushing forward an ongoing narrative while telling a complete story within a season. “It's a matter of pacing, you have to make sure that there's enough story, that everything is unfolding in an entertaining way,” Maisha shared. “Then of course, because this particular world and story are a little darker, in the writers' room we had to tackle telling it authentically but also making it entertaining. And that’s where I think the cast came in because you loved watching them, but also you believed them in everything that they did.”
The cast feel similarly about the material they’re given. “We're deeply fortified and buoyed by the fact that we're telling stories, even in the microcosm of our family unit with the Killebrews, that are important,” Merle Dandridge said, who plays Zarina Killebrew. “When these families [Nichelle’s] talking about that she knew personally started to become transparent, when they started to be honest about their experience, when they started to share it, that's when we started to move the needle. And in the case of the Killebrews, the fact that you have gotten an opportunity to see them come from their rock bottom, to do the fundamental, foundational work to heal and come together as a family unit, and then this poison comes in like smoke, that it can come to your household. Whether or not you have experience with it, you need to know about it. You need to know that it can darken your door frame.”
“It was a very emotional season because there were so many levels that had to be hit,” agreed Mekhi Phifer, who plays Markus Killebrew. “It was very emotional. It was laughter, a lot of tears, a lot of anger, a lot of frustration, and not knowing. We get a brief overview of what the season is going to be like. We only get one script at a time, though, at least I do. So, it's a constant, oh, this is what's going to happen, this is what's happening? And then zoning into what that emotion is, and just trying to keep it as true as you can, to be as effective in telling your story. It is an emotional roller coaster… You never really get out of it until the season is over. Then once you get that closure, it's like okay, cool, now move on to the next thing. But then hopefully next season, we'll have some more of that great writing and directing, and all that good stuff.”
“I was a huge fan,” revealed Gabrielle Union, who joins the cast this season as Eva Pierre, an unorthodox principal who joins Poppy’s quest to keep the names of the missing girls in the media. Having worked with most of the cast and creative team before, joining Season 3 was a no-brainer, especially when she found out how closely she could relate to the material. “I realized that I'm the best person for this job. I have the lived experience of being a Black teen experiencing sexual violence in the Bay Area and understanding that I have a bully pulpit. I have a very large platform, and we have opportunities like this to expand the conversation and remind people that the most marginalized of us are the easiest to target precisely because folks don't care about the pain of Black and Brown girls. They will make you complicit in your own abuse. So, this conversation and being able to be up here and to work through my own personal trauma through art, there was no way I was going to turn that down.”
“Being in scenes with [Gabrielle] was such a gift,” Octavia Spencer explained. “While our show is based on fiction, it does represent a lot of people who have suffered in that way, and I think [her] lived experience really contributed to a beautiful performance. And I think with all of the talents, Maisha's writing, Nichelle planning the season, Season 3, it's our best season yet.”
Season 3 of Truth Be Told begins streaming Friday, January 20th, only on Apple TV+.