“We have a story where Rondell Lancaster [Brely Evans], our working class heroine, is trying to save her family restaurant — Thelma’s Place — from being gutted by a ruthless real estate developer. [Gentrification] is a real thing happening in Atlanta.”
Stephanie’s attorney father is Stephen Carlisle (Steven Williams, 21 Jump Street), and his nemesis is pharmaceutical magnate Hunter Purifoy (Brian “Boz” Bosworth, Stone Cold).
“Stephen and Hunter have this age-old Hatfields & McCoys-type feud. We tell the story of two rival families as we explore the opioid epidemic in this country.”
Giddens promises that Ambitions will show friendships among characters as well as the Shakespearean-level conflicts found in Stephanie and Evan’s marriage.
“We have a friendship on this show with Rondell and Amara Hughes [Essence Atkins, Half & Half] that I hope will recall the Karen [Michele Lee] and Val [Joan Van Ark] friendship on Knots. We want to show these two women as besties.”
Ultimately, Giddens’ goal is to create the kind of soap that is a throwback to serials that made the genre great!
“Agnes [Nixon] quoted the old vaudeville adage, ‘Make ’em laugh, make ’em cry, make ’em wait.'”
Soaps fans won’t have to wait too long! Ambitions debuts tonight, June 18 at 10 p.m. on OWN.
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