Michaela Coel is baring it all in a new cover story for Harper’s Bazaar. The Emmy-winning creative did not hold back on several things, ranging from her intense on-set chemistry with Anne Hathaway to admitting she felt a bit creatively lost while filming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Coel got candid about the highs, lows, and messy middle of her evolving career. In the March 2026 issue, the entertainer opens up about her latest role in Mother Mary, where she plays obsessive fashion designer Sam Anselm. In true Michaela fashion, her description of tapping into the character was anything but basic.
“I ate her soul. I swallowed it whole. It tasted so powerful and so sad and also crunchy,” she said. Crunchy, sis? Say less.
Coel’s dynamic with Hathaway was just as intense. She admitted the pair’s first script read-through was “a mess” filled with raw energy.
“I like to play and tease my scene partners and just try and keep them on their toes,” she explained. Still, it was all love in the end. Coel said she “really loved dancing with Anne” and now feels “love and empathy” for her co-star.
Their fellow castmate, Hunter Schafer, confirmed that the energy between them stemmed from their deep commitment to the story. Schafer even shared that after long shoot days, she and Coel would hit techno clubs in Germany to blow off steam. Apparently, Coel wasn’t playing around on the dance floor either.
“Michaela was like, ‘I want a higher BPM!’” Schafer recalled.
We love a multifaceted queen.
But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Michaela Coel admitted that during her time filming 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, where she played the Dora Milaje warrior Aneka, she didn’t feel like she turned in her best performance.
She told Harpers Bazaar that she struggled with the heavy green screen work and felt out of her element and spending nine months in Atlanta with limited screen time left her feeling unmoored. Instead of writing or creating, she found herself outside.
“I’m outside, I’m in the club,” she said bluntly. She was meeting rappers and their entourages, partying. It was fun, but she felt she wasn’t fulfilling her purpose. “It was adrift from what I was supposed to be doing, and that made me feel a bit low,” she added.
While she enjoyed herself, she acknowledged it pulled her away from what she felt she should have been doing, and that weighed on her.
The I May Destroy You creator also reflected on how her relentless pursuit of truth in her work can make relationships complicated. She described her intensity as ruthless, admitting that when she pulls back to focus on her craft, partners can feel uncertain about where they stand.
“There’s a ruthlessness to this stuff. Like I said, I’m aggressively in pursuit of the truth, and that can be very tough,” Coel shared in the interview.
Even as it impacts her relationships, Coel was reminded of how difficult that can be.
“It’s like when you move out of a house for a couple of weeks, but all your stuff’s there. So, you know, the person’s coming back,” she explains. “But if you are an anxious person, you will freak out and worry that I have eloped.”
The spread was filled with so many gems about the entertainer and the projects she has up ahead. We learned that Michaela Coel is committed to the art, even when it gets uncomfortable. And if that means crunchy souls and chaotic chemistry, so be it.
Check out the full spread in Harper’s Bazaar written by Charlie Brinkhurst-Cuff, photographed by Willy Vanderperre, and styled by Katie Burnetthere.
