Apple TV+’s Smoke is wild! We caught up with Jurnee Smollett & Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine about shocking twists and complex characters.
Apple TV+’s gripping new series, Smoke, plunges viewers into a world of hidden motives and burning secrets. Inspired by true events, the show follows a troubled detective, Michelle Calderone (Emmy Award nominee Jurnee Smollett), and an enigmatic arson investigator, Dave Gudsen (Taron Egerton), as they pursue two elusive serial arsonists. But as they dig deeper, the lines between hero and villain blur, and it becomes clear that no one is truly what they seem. This psychological thriller is already being hailed as one of the most intense and surprising shows of 2025, keeping audiences on the edge of their seats with its constant twists and turns.
Mama’s Geeky had the incredible opportunity to sit down with two of the show’s talented stars, Jurnee Smollett and Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, to discuss their experiences bringing this complex narrative to life. From the intricate research involved in their roles to the challenges of portraying such nuanced characters, their insights offer a fascinating glimpse behind the Smoke and into the dark heart of this captivating series.
Jurnee Smollett on Michelle Calderone: Dancing with Fire
Jurnee Smollett, who portrays the driven yet complicated police detective Michelle Calderone detailed the extensive preparation she undertook for the role:
Mama’s Geeky: Did you do any kind of research into your character, Michelle Calderone?
Jurnee Smollett: I did a lot of research. I spoke to a lot of experts in the field. A former detective. I spoke to a former Marine, some arson investigators, and a firefighter, a few firefighters I spoke to. I did a few different things to prep. Physically transformed. Worked out with my trainer and put on 15 pounds of muscle so that Michelle could feel a little more muscular in her stance. You do all this research, and then you have to throw it away and show up on set and behave.
Mama’s Geeky: What was it like working with Taron Egerton?
Jurnee Smollett: No one in the show is what they seem. Everyone’s wearing a mask, and everyone’s got a secret, and everyone’s lying to themselves. And so with Michelle, here’s someone who’s dancing and playing with fire, and has this real fascination with things that are going to destroy her, whether it’s toxic relationships with her boss, who decides to demote her and transfer her to a job that she doesn’t want to be a part of because she broke up with him. I mean, she has this pattern of destruction and creation. And so when she meets up with Dave, neither one of them want her there. So there’s this weird dynamic initially of like, okay, I have to prove myself. I’ve been underestimated, so I’ve got nothing but this job, and I have to survive. So I need him. So let me disarm him. Let me be mentored by him. Let me ask him all these questions and feed into his ego. She’s much smarter than him, you know, in her mind. And so they’ve got this really fascinating dynamic that sometimes like a brother and sister, sometimes they’re enemies. Sometimes there’s a sexual tension between the two of them. And I loved working with Taron. Honestly, we didn’t talk a lot about it. We didn’t analyze it as much. We just did our work separately, and then came together. And that kind of magic, you know, can’t explain it.
Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine on His Layered Character: The Invisible Man
Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine, whose character in Smoke is a masterclass in subtlety and hidden depths, expressed gratitude for the audience’s connection to his portrayal. “I’m so grateful that my character resonated with you,” he shared. “He’s living so far on the margins and has gone through such an extreme journey, his life, personal life, that as an actor, you just wonder if he could even fill those shoes.”
When asked about the inspirations for his character, Mwine revealed the freedom he was given by the series’ creator, Dennis Lehane:
Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine: He’s living so far on the margins and has gone through such an extreme journey, his life, personal life, that as an actor, you just wonder if he could even fill those shoes. So I’m grateful that it’s resonated with you. And I spoke to Dennis Lehane, creator of the series in the beginning, like, what is the jumping off point for you? Because this character is so extreme. And he just said, your imagination, you know, have creative freedom to play and to let yourself, your imagination, take you where it goes when these words and these actions come across the page. And so that, for me, sort of gave the freedom. Because sometimes as an actor, you feel the burden of, you know, having to fill shoes. And these are impossible, impossible shoes to fill. And we discover things about him that I could barely fathom. So I’m grateful that it’s somehow, something’s coming across the page, the screen.”
Ntare also discussed the physical demands of playing such a transformative role:
Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine: Well, I think what Dennis does, what he’s done with all of his work, and as a novelist, as a screenwriter, and now working for, on the small screen, is that he creates these incredibly complex characters going through the most extreme psychological circumstances that you feel for deeply. So what’s interesting is that it just gets deeper and deeper and more complicated as each episode unfolds. And for me, I’ve had the good fortune to be able to get all the scripts at once. So I had the whole season in front of me, and I was able to map out, oh, this is what happens in the first scene, this is what happens in the last scene. How, what’s the most interesting arc to get to that point? And I think that the transformation I went through physically was probably the most challenging thing from beginning to end. I think I dropped like 40 pounds for like the beginning of the shoot to the end of the shoot or something. Yeah, so the physical, physical part was probably one of the most challenging things.
Be sure to watch the full interview with Jurnee Smollett and Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine to get all the thrilling details about the new Apple TV+ series, “Smoke”!
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