Donald Glover is a father of 3, and more surprising revelations from his conversation with Michaela Coel

Donald Glover and Michaela Coel are two of the most exciting multi-hyphenates to emerge in the TV landscape since, well, ever. In the U.S., Glover has made a name for himself first as a stand up and later adding writer (30 Rock, the Emmy-winning Atlanta), actor (Community, Stars Wars), and rapper (Childish Gambino) to his resume. As for Coel, she transitioned from the stage to the screen with her award-winning 2016 series Chewing Gum. Earlier this year, Coel released the brilliant and deeply personal I May Destroy You (watch now on Crave), which was inspired by Coel’s own sexual assault. The two trailblazers recently interviewed each other for GQ UK and discussed navigating new terrain in TV, challenging friends and the recent arrival of Glover’s third son.While Zooming each other from their homes in the UK (Coel) and Los Angeles (Glover), the pair were happily interrupted by Glover’s son Legend. The entertainer has been notoriously private about his personal life and rarely talks about his family with partner Michelle White. In addition to four-year-old Legend, the couple also share two-year-old son Drake. In the new interview, Glover revealed that the couple welcomed their third son in May, adding that White gave birth only hours before the video of George Floyd being killed went viral.[video_embed id='2000508']RELATED: Donald Glover could be coming back for more ‘Star Wars’[/video_embed]“It was such a weird moment. It was such an intense, weird moment, because I’m watching that video and it’s like eight minutes long, so you’re sitting there and I had just had this amazing, joyful, expanding moment, plus my dad had passed away recently, so [my son] was named after my father... I don’t even know what, really, the word is to describe it. It was just expanding: the empathy and compassion and the terror and the joy of it,” said Glover.The actor also talked about the painful and all-too-familiar situation of Black parents trying to explain police brutality and systemic racism to their children. “’Why are people angry? Why are people marching,’” said Glover, remembering his son Legend’s questions. “’Well, you look like this...’ It’s just heavy.”Growing up with foster siblings and adopted siblings, Glover said that he and White have considered expanding their family even further through adoption. “We actually have been talking about [it], because we have three boys so I’m like, ‘Oh, it might be nice to be get a girl in there.’ So I think all those are great options. But it is hard.”

 

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In 2020, it doesn’t get bigger than this: the two most influential black voices working in television today, on Zoom and speaking freely ? From ego death and mutant subcultures to lockdown Bibles and small-screen medicine, via family planning, interracial sex, the search for identity, empathy and context and much, much more. They spoke. We listened. And here, in full, is one of the most extraordinary conversations we have ever heard. #MichaelaCoel speaks to #DonaldGlover for the first of our November cover stories. LINK IN BIO to read. Photography by @benwellerstudio. Styling by @luke_jefferson_day. Hair by @am_stagrams. Make-up by @michelle.leandra.makeup. Photography Direction by @robinkeygq. Creative Direction @paulsolomonsgq. #SubscribersEdition // #GQ Editor @dylanjonesgq

A post shared by British GQ (@britishgq) on Sep 29, 2020 at 12:00am PDT

Glover and Coel have both made series that have been applauded for creating universes and storylines that don’t feature the typical one-dimensional Black characters seen in Hollywood. Coel admitted that she did have some concerns around I May Destroy You arriving amid protests following Floyd’s murder and the ongoing pandemic. “I thought, ‘OK, I don’t know if this is too triggering for where we are right now.’ I suddenly felt actual terror that we weren’t ready to see or to feel what I was offering – or a lot of people might not be.”Coel and Glover also discussed the current mainstream awakening to the Black Lives Matter movement and what that has meant for their interactions with white friends. “All you can really do is give the medicine out. It’s not your job to prepare them for their reaction. It’s your job to make the medicine,” said Glover, who revealed that he’s secretly on social media and has been watching as people react to protests. “It’s funny, even over here in America, people aren’t sure of how to handle these subjects. But I feel like this is a perfect time for it. It’s not going to be easy. I had a friend of mine, a white male guy, and he was like, ‘I’m doing research [on race]. I’m trying to do as much work as I can and reflect. But it’s hard work.’ It should be hard: stop trying to make yourself look cool on social media doing this. It’s going to be awkward.”While Coel is taking a well-deserved break after the end of her latest groundbreaking series, Glover said that he’s been visiting his studio, called The Temple, and working on a new album. “I still don’t feel like I’m done with that [music] project,” said Glover. “When the coronavirus hit, I was, like – this sounds super crazy – but a woman who I go to, almost a shaman, I told her I wanted to write a Bible.”Glover added that much like Coel’s I May Destroy You, releasing music during lockdown may present the perfect backdrop to the new endeavor. “This is actually the only time some people would have to have that type of medicine, to be able to watch a show like that and really get it. That’s why I like to release stuff on Sundays.”[video_embed id='2044731']Before you go: Gwyneth Paltrow's birthday suit post evokes star-studded response[/video_embed]