Crime dramas are nothing new, and neither are boxing stories. Every so often, though, a project finds a way to combine both worlds without leaning on familiar formulas. STARZ’s Fightland attempts exactly that, placing revenge, family and organized crime inside a story where every decision carries real consequences.

Set in London, the series follows former heavyweight champion Maduka “Duke” Kilroy after an unspeakable tragedy changes the course of his life. Eight years after serving time in a U.S. prison, Duke returns home convinced someone close to him orchestrated his downfall. His search for answers leads him back into a dangerous criminal underworld where old loyalties have fractured and new enemies are waiting.

One of the focal points of the story is that of Joy Marshall, who is played by Deborah Ayorinde. Caught between her family’s criminal legacy and the man she once loved, Joy finds herself navigating impossible choices as tensions continue to rise. It’s another layered role for Ayorinde, who has one of the strongest résumés in television over the past decade. On the big screen, she’s appeared in projects including Harriet, Fatherhood, and Girls Trip, which was filmed in New Orleans during the 2016 ESSENCE Festival. “I have a lot of friends from New Orleans,” she says. “I’ve always loved the accent.” Most recently, Ayorinde earned widespread acclaim for her visceral performance as Lucky Emory in Amazon Prime Video’s Them, a role that also brought her an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

Now, Ayorinde steps into another intriguing character, this time in a series executive produced by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. While Fightland certainly delivers its share of action, its real stakes come from the relationships caught in the middle of the violence, particularly Joy’s complicated history with Duke and the family forced to live with the fallout.

Ahead of the series premiere later this month, ESSENCE spoke with the Howard University graduate about what drew her to Fightland, working with Nicholas Pinnock, and exactly what it took to bring Joy Marshall to life.

ESSENCE: What was your first reaction when you read the script for Fightland?

Deborah Ayorinde: When I read it, I was really intrigued by Joy and I felt like she was created with so many layers and nuance. I felt like her journey just made sense, but it was also messy. It was just so much to play with, and that really excited me because it felt very true. And I felt like a lot of people will watch her journey and relate to her. 

How did this script come to you? Is this something that you sought out? Is this something that your management brought to you?

DA: My team brought it to me. I kind of got whispers about it. I think in London, a lot of actors talked about it. So, I just heard more about Duke’s character and Duke’s journey. I didn’t know much about Joy. And then it got sent to me and I was just like, “oh my goodness, this is going to be a fun, wild ride to play this woman.”

What was your preparation process like for the character?

DA: I felt like I really understood joy in the sense of Joy is a character that’s looking for herself and unfortunately trying to find it in other people. And though me personally, I’ve always had a quite strong sense of self and a strong sense of my purpose. I could understand and I didn’t have any judgment towards her for her looking for herself because I have such a great relationship with myself. I can only imagine someone not having that. I can only imagine the agony of being in a world that’s just not your own and not being able to have any semblance of yourself reflected in the home you live and the life you live. That is probably one of my biggest nightmares. And so, I was rooting for Joy on that journey of just really discovering that. And I feel like other people will as well. 

Earlier you spoke about being “excited” about the role. What excites you the most about bringing the character of Joy to life and being able to bring her on screen?

DA: What excited me about Joy is I felt like she’s someone that didn’t have to be the hero, didn’t have to save anyone that needed saving and needed help and needed direction. She did not have any answers. And I really loved that. I felt like it was really nice, to be honest. I’m used to playing characters that are really, really strong and really powerful. And those characters really helped me find my inner strength and my power. But it was really nice to have a character give me permission to not have the answers and give me permission to say I don’t know or give me permission to fall apart. I think that was really, really beautiful.

So the Executive Producer, 50 Cent, has an amazing track record as a TV producer. What was it like having him involved with the project?

DA: He just always showed love and support. He came to set, and this was later on in shooting the project. So we had been working for a while and the shooting process wasn’t easy because we had a lot to get done in a small space of time, and it’s a very ambitious series. You have love, you had the fight scenes, you had the this, you had the that, and I think a lot of people watch things and enjoy them, and they’re maybe not aware of all the work, all the blood, sweat, and tears that goes into making something—and he really understood that. I feel like that really brought the morale up, and it excited everyone, made us plow forward to the finish line.

This show has such an amazing cast, but how was it working with Nicholas [Pinnock] specifically?

DA: Nicholas is so funny. (Laughs.) And he’s such a great actor. He plays Kingsley so well, but in real life, he’s so unserious. He’s always making jokes. He’s always making me laugh when I shouldn’t be laughing. He is so good and precise. 

As an actress that has been in the game for over 15 years, is there anything that you learned about yourself during this process?

DA: What I learned about myself is that, “it’s okay.” As an actress, I learned that it’s fine to say “I don’t know. It’s okay to not have the answers. It’s okay to be vulnerable. It’s okay to need help, to need guidance, to need. It’s actually okay.” I think that playing Joy taught me that as an actress and also as a woman.

As far as your filmography—you’ve worked across horror, drama, thrillers, etc. How do you think Fightland fits into your career right now?

DA: Fightland as a whole is something different that I’ve done. Now we’re delving into the sports world, but even Fightland’s about a lot more than just the boxing, but that’s a world that I haven’t stepped into, even though Joy is sort of adjacent to that world. But I don’t know, I really try to play my characters with truth. And by way of that, I feel like my characters, my role, my projects go from A to Z, like you mentioned, from horror to comedy, to this, to that. And I feel like Fightland, when I zoom out and look at all of it, will just be yet another different space that I’ve stepped into, a different world than I’ve stepped into. And it also goes back to the thing I was saying about being the hero. I feel like I’ve played a lot of characters that are so strong. 

And that has been amazing because they’ve taught me my inner strength. But to play a character that, in moments, displays that strength very differently. But in moments can be weak; but I didn’t judge her in those moments.

What’s been more challenging these days? Film or television?

DA: I feel like I’m always up for doing something different. I’ve done a lot of TV, so I would love to do more films. I think it’s less about the medium and more about the character and the story that makes something challenging. And also what makes something challenging is what I have to do to be able to access that character. If a character is close to who I am, then I feel like I don’t have to go so far outside of myself. Or if that character possesses things that maybe I haven’t been able to allow myself to explore, then I feel like that is challenging as well to be vulnerable in that way. So yeah, it’s less about the medium and more about the character. 

“Family” is arguably the foremost theme of Fightland. Why do you think family is important? 

DA: Because that’s where the biggest stories lie. That’s where the biggest drama lies. No one can get to you like family. (Laughs.) So I feel like with family, it’s just you have the closeness, but you have the biggest fights. And also it’s something that everyone can relate to. Whether you have family or whether unfortunately you don’t, I feel like you can relate to.

Fightland” is set to premiere Friday, July 31 at midnight on the STARZ app. On linear, it will debut on STARZ at 8:00 PM ET/PT in the U.S.