Wanda and Leon are the love story “Snowfall” fans can’t let go of, and Isaiah John says Leon’s soft spot for Wanda comes down to one thing. She’s the woman he chose to be vulnerable with.
Video
Baller Alert sat down with Isaiah John and Gail Bean, who play Leon and Wanda on “The Drop: A Snowfall Saga.” We asked the question fans have been yelling at their TVs for years: why does Leon still do whatever Wanda says, even when they aren’t together?
“I think it’s just that love,” Isaiah said. “She’s just the woman that he chose to love and to be vulnerable with.”
According to Isaiah, nobody else gets that version of Leon.
“He’s not like that with nobody else, for real,” he said. “That’s just what she’s able to do with him. He’s just like, all right, this is my baby. I’m gonna give her what it is she needs.”
He also said Leon isn’t giving Wanda a blank check this season.
“There is certain boundaries and things that he’s setting in place around that,” Isaiah said. “He’s coming to a lot of realizations through ‘The Drop’ in this first season of where he feels like he stands, even in her world and in her journey.”
The “Snowfall” spinoff premiered September 8 on FX and streams on Hulu. Wanda and Leon are now front and center as they push into the West Coast rap game. Creator and executive producer Malcolm Spellman says building the show around the couple was the plan from the start.
“Those two have so much [expletive] history from the previous season,” Spellman said. “A couple that has that much history between them, that can break them up or keep them apart, but it also is a reason for them to stay together.”
The story is personal for him too.
“If I’m honest, it reminds me of my own relationship,” he said.
Spellman also admitted he’s playing the long game with fans’ emotions, and he wants them to feel it.
“That was one of the most exciting things for me, through every season, tracking Leon and Wanda,” he said. “I want the audience, by the time we get to the last season, so [expletive] mad at me, ’cause they got close to getting together and then didn’t.”
He called the couple “the main guide rail for me emotionally through the series.”
Off screen, Gail and Isaiah have years of history of their own, and they’ve clearly picked up a few things from each other.
For Gail, it starts with how seriously Isaiah takes his craft.
“There’s a respect there that I have for him,” she said. “You could just look at his body of work, and when you look at him in The Drop, even though he was very talented in Snowfall, he’s also still grown.”
She said acting opposite him shows her how much he cares about getting the story right.
“The sincerity he has for these characters and just for storytelling, his respect and care of making sure that it’s authentic and that it’s done right,” Gail said. “Him just even as a leader, how he embodies and walks into a room or on a set. I’ve learned how to lead through observing Isaiah.”
Isaiah’s answer was about watching Gail step into the lead role. He said he saw the original Snowfall’s star carry the weight of being number one on that show, and now he’s watching Gail do the same.
“I’ve seen Gail’s trajectory in her career since we met, and I get to sit back and watch her handle being number one, ’cause it’s not easy,” he said. “It’s a full-time job. Gail works a lot.”
He said he keeps reminding her how well she’s handling it.
“I kept telling her, Gail, you’re doing it,” Isaiah said. “You’re handling it, and you’re doing it well, and you’re doing it with so much dignity. A lot of women get to look up to that and see her be a boss in her own personal life.”
What he’s taken from her is balance.
“I learned from how she’s able to juggle everything and still remain grounded in it all,” he said. “‘Cause that’s not easy.”
So is Leon going to stay stuck in the friend zone? Jason “Problem” Martin, a creative consultant on the series, wasn’t worried.
“My boy gonna get his get back,” he said.
