Why Y’lan Noel Embraced Darkness (And Sideburns) For His Role In ‘Lady In The Lake’ – Essence

Y’lan Noel tells the story of a man with little respect and a ton of integrity in Lady In The Lake.

The adaptation of the 2019 novel by Laura Lippman is now streaming on Apple TV+. It is a story inspired by the kinds of stories we spend time examining and the kind we forget.  

Noel’s character, a Black cop, represents a lonely individual unable to fit firmly into others’ expectations. He recognized part of himself in the character.  

“I think one of the things that drew me to him was the fact that he was a loner,” Noel tells ESSENCE. “The biggest thing that makes him a loner is his occupation. He’s a cop. He’s a Black cop in a Black neighborhood. It comes with the level of not being trusted, not being accepted.”  

Noel’s character, Ferdie Platt, does not have the confidence he exuded as Daniel on Insecure. This is not a talented man so full of himself he can’t get out of his own way in a studio session. It’s a person struggling to make it through the day in police stations and on street corners that alienate him at every turn.   

“I think part of the reason I sort of gravitate towards those types of characters in terms of the loneliness is I grew up an only child, and I know what it’s like to be misunderstood.”  

Ferdie is not a flat baton-twirling villain or a stoic hero with no needs or ambition of his own. He’s more complicated than that. “It’s just really satisfying for me to…make those types of people three-dimensional,” says Noel.

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