Hulu’s critically acclaimed comedy Woke returns for a second season on Friday, April 8, 2022. The new season picks up immediately after the events of the season one finale and finds cartoonist Keef Knight (Lamorne Morris) struggling to figure out how to handle his sudden status as a rising political activist.
Lamorne Morris and his co-stars/on-screen roommates Blake Anderson (“Gunther”) and T. Murph (“Clovis”) teamed up for roundtable interviews at the 2022 WonderCon in Anaheim to discuss Woke season two. The new season deals with timely social issues including racism, white guilt, overnight activism, sexism, and homelessness. And during our interview, Morris said he believes both seasons attempt to address the fact there are two sides to every coin.
“What do you do when you want the microphone and then someone gives it to you? Okay, now you have it. What do you do when someone gives you the microphone and then they give you a bunch of money? Do you still care about those same values? That’s the question we ask this season,” said Morris.
Morris believes he’d answer those questions the same way his character does.
“You know what’s interesting? Lamorne, personally, thinks that there’s a compromise somewhere. I understand – and we all understand – the issues that need to be addressed. But a lot of times that comes with a caveat,” said Morris. “It’s like, ‘Hey, how are we going to get this done?’ You might have to get some money from somewhere to make this thing happen. It’s a constant circle of compromise, of give and take, because the world isn’t one-sided.”
In Woke season two, Keef has to figure out a way to balance being true to himself while not upsetting anyone. Morris, Anderson, and Murph also feel that same pressure.
“There’s certain bits that you want to do, interviews that you want to go crazy on this one, and then you think about the ramifications of it. People might not get it. I might accidentally say the wrong thing. Like, ‘Aww, sh*t.’ It’s all the time. You think about it all the time because you do have to also…it does come with the job though, having to have that ability to be considerate of the space you share with other people,” said Morris. “You know, just because you’re the actor doesn’t mean you get to do the thing all the time when you want to – even if it’s a joke.”
On a lighter note, playing a cartoonist for two seasons hasn’t had any impact on Morris’ artistic skills, although he has attempted to learn how to draw.
“I tried – I really tried. You know how they say you put 10,000 hours into something and you become brilliant? That’s bullsh*t,” said Morris. “I couldn’t draw a perfect circle to save my life. Never have been able to. When I got this role I worked my ass off. I got markers…I got paper…I started tracing things to see if I could do it on my own…”
“You couldn’t even trace?” asked an incredulous Anderson.
“I don’t know if I have a shaky elbow or what,” said Morris, laughing. “I can’t seem to get it right. […] I never perform well under pressure. Wait a minute…no, that’s not what I meant!”
Woke co-creators and executive producers Keith Knight (the inspiration for Lamorne Morris’ character) and Marshall Todd also made the trek to WonderCon along with executive producer Anthony King.
Knight can see a clear divide between himself and Morris’ Keef Knight, with Keef portrayed as a much more naïve version of himself at that point in his life and career.
“I was already doing cartoons about police profiling and brutality when the incident with the police happened to me,” explained Knight. “It’s for the audience – the journey of that.”
Knight continued: “Lamorne and I have had similar sort of…our existence are on a parallel thing. It’s just him in acting and me in cartooning, so I think we have a lot of things in common. But the elevator pitch for the character is he’s the Charlie Brown of activism. He’s trying to do the right thing and things don’t go as well as he had hoped, to the audience’s joy and amusement.”
Knight describes season two’s theme as being the commodification of woke.
“What happens when Charlie Brown becomes the most popular person in school? Suddenly Keef has this platform and people are listening to him. Corporations are sidling up to him so, you know, what happens when it doesn’t go as planned? I think that was a huge thing. But also one of the big subjects – especially in San Francisco – is homelessness so we address that in the show.”
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Check out both interview videos for more thoughts on season two, the characters’ relationships, and upcoming storylines. All eight episodes of season two will be available to binge-watch on Hulu beginning April 8, 2022.
