This feature appears in V136 now available for purchase

Coco Rebecca Edogamhe is the titular character of the wildly popular Italian Netflix series, Summertime. She plays Summer, an introverted young girl living in a quaint seaside village on the Adriatic coast who yearns to experience more of the world, and sees her chance to do so when Ale, a handsome, single, and famous motorcyclist, rides into the small town from Rome.

Edogamhe, being of Italian and Nigerian descent, represented a sea change in Italian media and entertainment when she accepted the role back in 2020; she is, after all, a Black woman playing the lead of a hit new show, in a country which still suffers from a scarcity of BIPOC representation.

“When Summertime came out, I was nervous, because in Italy there really were no series or movies starring a Black actress,” Edogamhe says. “I thought I would receive a lot of racist comments about it. But, seeing the success of the series, I’ve actually been thrilled. I’ve gotten a lot of positive messages from all over the world. In that way, I realize what I have done is very important. I represent all those second and third-generation boys and girls who have never had representatives. There is still a long way to go, and I want to take part in that change.”

This feature appears in V136 now available for purchase