“All American” may have looked a little different when it returned for Season 7 on Jan. 29 — but it doesn’t feel different. That was the whole goal of creator and executive producer Nkechi Okoro Carroll who made the choice to shake things up in a big way.
“Daniel Ezra and I had talked about the plan for when we sort of felt Spencer’s journey was complete, and what that completion looked like. We went into Season 6, and I knew I was writing that as his final season. That was kind of the moment when I started to think, does the show wrap up then? But I thought no, there are so many amazing stories, so many characters whose journeys I’m still invested in, with the transition from young adulthood to adulthood for some of our other OG characters,” Carroll tells Variety.
Then she went to Starbucks for a coffee run and the barista recognized her name — something that rarely happens — and asked her if she was the “All American” showrunner. The woman then broke into tears.
“She talked about how the show changed her life, and how she originally dropped out of college because of stuff going on with her family, and didn’t feel like her dreams were worth pursuing. ‘All American’ had made her go back to school,” Carroll says.
They both cried and hugged, and then the woman told her she hopes the show will still be on when her younger brother gets older so that he can see “a show like that, where his dreams feel worthwhile and he feels represented.”
From there, Carroll had a “complete breakdown,” and knew she had move forward with more “All American” — but return it to its roots.
“That really solidified my instinct to keep the show going, bring it back to high school, reset it with a new generation of Beverly and Crenshaw kids that sort of had the same dream, same heart, new rivalry — and keep this dream going for the next generation,” she recalls. “I called the studio and network and shared my vision, and that is how we ended up getting those two additional episodes for Season 6, to really fully complete the journey of the characters and give me some room to start to set up that world.”
While Ezra, Samantha Logan (Olivia), Cody Christian (Asher), Karimah Westbrook (Grace James), Monét Mazur (Laura Baker) and Chelsea Tavares (Patience) exited at the end of Season 6 as series regulars, that doesn’t mean they’re gone for good.
Below, Carroll breaks down what to expect from the new characters and storylines, and hints at who will make cameos down the line.
Did you ever consider making this another spinoff of “All American,” since there are so many new cast members?
To us, it makes sense to keep it “All American,” because the heart and the essence of the show is about the pursuit of the seemingly impossible dream and how they overcome the obstacles to get there. For the majority of our cast, they had done that. They grew up, and they were no longer the youth. This is a YA show with heavy family themes, which I’m super proud of, and something that I’m grateful that multiple generations watched together, but I didn’t want to lose the heart of the show.
Let’s get into some of these new characters. The father-son dynamics have always been so strong in this show. What is the relationship like between Coach (Osy Ikhile) and KJ (Nathaniel McIntyre)?
They’re sort of our new anchors to Beverly. KJ has major D1 dreams, and being uprooted from a championship-winning team to something like this is a little jarring for him, especially because he and his dad have always been best friends. They’ve always been so open and honest with each other, and he feels like, for the first time, there’s something a little off. They realize that maybe the expectations for what the Beverly team can do have been a little muted and they both have something to prove. Taking down Crenshaw as the No. 1 team in the state is very, very high on their list.
Nathaniel Logan McIntyre as KJ and Alexis Chikaeze as Amina
Troy Harvey/The CW
KJ also quickly connects with Amina (Alexis Chikaeze), who also has a longtime friendship-maybe-more with Khalil (Antonio J. Bell). What’s that dynamic like?
All three of their storylines are sort of what I love most about YA shows, and what I love most about the heart of “All American.” Their storylines aren’t just about who likes who, but are really about coming into young adulthood, coming into their own and the reality of what all of that encompasses. Amina is very much stuck in a love triangle of her own making, which has been a lot very interesting and fun to explore between Khalil and KJ, but also for her, we know her mother’s backstory. We know her mother was Mo, who was shot by Preach when he was saving Coop’s life. And now she’s 16, at an age where young girls are looking to their mom for guidance as they’re stepping into womanhood. Coop has stepped into that role as her aunt and Preach is an amazing father, but there’s a hole that’s created by her mom being missing. She has a lot of questions about that, because she’s not 11 years old anymore, and the answers she was given were very appropriate for a child, but now she’s on the cusp of sort of adulthood and wants some real answers.
Where does Khalil fit into the story?
Khalil is our gang-affiliated, seemingly bad boy who just hasn’t really been given a shot until Jordan comes into the picture. And for the first time, there’s someone who isn’t judging him by his past, but just seeing the potential for his future and wanting to invest in him.
How does Jordan factor in there?
There’s so much of Billy Baker in Jordan, more than Jordan ever realized until he feels he sees it for himself. Grandpa Willie tells him at one point, “You’re so much like your father, it makes me so proud to see him live on with you.” And it wasn’t even something Jordan was trying to do intentionally. It’s just from his generosity of heart, of wanting to help this kid who hasn’t been given a lot of chances at life, and he sees something great in him.
At the end of last season, Jordan found out he has a long-lost uncle. Will that story come back this season?
There is nothing Jordan loves more than unpacking a mystery, and there’s nothing Jordan is worse at investigating a mystery. So we couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Knowing that there’s an uncle out there somewhere, someone who’s related to his father, that’s just something that Jordan isn’t capable of letting go, and his pursuit for answers starts to wreak a little bit of havoc — both comedic and dramatic as he tries to find answers. As colorful as that journey is and as fun as that journey is, at times, it’s deeply rooted in him missing his father and the idea that there’s an extension of Billy out there somewhere that he feels a connection to and wants to find whether that person wants to be found or not.
Lauryn Hardy has joined the cast as Tori, a competitive cheerleader at Beverly. Will the show dive into more cheerleading this season?
Absolutely. Lauryn is doing an amazing job as Tori, and she’s sort of our female anchor to Beverly in a recurring role, and also someone who catches KJ’s eye very early. Competitive cheerleading is its own thing, and the psychology behind our cheerleaders being athletes was something I was very interested to explore through Tori, and through KJ and Tori bonding over both of them being competitive athletes at a very high level. Right now, competitive cheer has more attention than Beverly football in the last couple of years, and that’s something that they’re having to contend with.
We know Daniel Ezra is coming back to direct and guest star, and Samantha Logan will be back. Can we expect any other members of the vortex to pop up throughout the season?
Absolutely. Olivia didn’t just leave behind her twin brother, she left behind her best friend. Sam returns a couple of times this season. In fact, almost every member of the vortex comes back in some capacity multiple times this season, and for us, that’s just been so exciting. They’ve been so encouraging of our our new cast, and it’s been such a beautiful extension of their storyline. They’re all sort of transitioning into the big brother, uncle, auntie — sometimes reluctantly — roles. Daniel Ezra, who is currently sitting across from me, is directing right now and guest-starring. Da’Vinchi, who plays Darnell, is coming back since they’re the sucess stories — the NFL players who made it big, but they’re never going to forget where they came from. Chelsea Tavares has been back as Patience a couple of times. Monet Mazur’s [Laura Baker] been back. Karima Westbrook [Grace James] has come in to direct. It’s literally just like we expanded the family. It wasn’t that anyone was replaced, we just grew it.
This interview has been edited and condensed. “All American” returns on The CW on Monday, February 10, at 8 p.m. ET.
