Disney’s streaming adaptation of Washington Black brings a fresh lens to Esi Edugyan’s celebrated novel, transforming the sweeping 19th-century story of slavery and self-discovery into an eight-part television experience rooted in new settings and striking creative decisions — not least, Nova Scotia.

“Anybody who’s familiar with the source work will be surprised. But I think it’s its own piece of art and I’m looking forward to having people watch it and to hearing reactions,” said Edugyan in a recent video call from her Victoria home.

The original novel — winner of the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize — follows the extraordinary journey of Washington “Wash” Black, a boy born into slavery on a sugar plantation in Barbados. In the series, young Wash is portrayed by Eddie Karanja, with Ernest Kingsley Junior taking over as the adult version. Actor Tom Ellis plays Titch, the abolitionist brother of Wash’s owner, who introduces the boy to art, science, and the liberating promise of flight — all before a tragic accident and a fateful accusation launch them into perilous exile.

Edugyan, who said she “very much took a back seat” during production, acknowledged the necessity of adaptation. “It’s probably never a favourable thing to have the writer of the book kind of lurking in the background, looking over your shoulder, saying, ‘Why have you done this and not that?’” she said. “I just kind of understood that this was somebody else’s art.”

Key changes include the expanded role of Medwin, a minor character in the novel now voiced by Emmy-winner Sterling K. Brown. In the series, he serves as narrator and mentor to Wash, offering a rich backstory and romantic subplot that never appeared on the page.

“There was a young man who used to cut my hair in Halifax and one day we were talking — he told me his family had been there, I think, 400 years. Which for an American immigrant like myself, who’s first-generation American, this was just completely mind-blowing,” said co-creator Selwyn Seyfu Hinds from Los Angeles, joined by executive producer Kimberly Ann Harrison. “A big part of what we’re doing is trying to bake ourselves in the nooks and crannies and the history of the place. And I did as best as I could to let that infuse the actual storytelling itself.”

Filming took place over six months across Nova Scotia, including Peggy’s Cove, Lunenburg, and the Fortress of Louisbourg. Additional locations in Mexico and Iceland helped portray settings as diverse as Virginia, Morocco, and the Arctic.

Among the most notable alterations is the relocation of Wash’s signature scar — once worn on his face, now hidden on his chest. “That is quite a departure from the novel,” Edugyan remarked. “That was a very deliberate choice on my part to have that be part of how Washington confronts the world… that he also carries with him this disfigurement, which gives him this sort of double estrangement.”

Hinds described the screen version as “the same house” with expanded wings — complete with new characters, romantic tension, and a reimagined heroine in Tanna, now given a fuller cultural and racial backstory.

“With any adaptation… the first thing is to find the emotional DNA of the story,” Hinds said. “Once I realized that the story that Esi was telling about finding hope and finding agency and finding freedom… everything else makes sense.”

Edugyan, who also saw her novel Half-Blood Blues optioned by Canadian director Clement Virgo, said she’s enjoying the show at her own pace. “Really lush and gorgeous. And the acting is quite wonderful.”