Tiffany Boone and André Holland appear in episode one of The Big Cigar, premiering May 17 on Apple TV+.Apple TV+
Huey P. Newton, the Black Panthers founder, dedicated his life to Black revolution in the 1960s, and as a result he spent the much of it in jail, evading law enforcement or fighting in court. He also spent some of it working with what might seem like an unlikely source of support to try and change public perception of his party: Hollywood producers.
Apple TV+ is pulling back the curtain on those evading years with its new limited series The Big Cigar, based on the Playboy article by Joshuah Bearman. Over six dramatized episodes, André Holland does the hefty lifting as Lewis.
When Newton was falsely accused of murder in 1974, the entire country was looking for him. So he turned to Easy Rider producers Bert Schneider (Alessandro Nivola) and Steve Blauner (P.J. Byrne) for help. Together they planned a fake production, called The Big Cigar (which was actually a code name for Cuba), as a way to smuggle him to the communist country. (Newton was acquitted of the charges when he returned three years later.)
The series spans their efforts, from the moment Newton showed up at Schneider’s door to his successful escape. In between, flashbacks explore how Newton got to that point in history: establishing the party, a voluntary manslaughter conviction that turned him into an icon (and its eventual overturn), his fallout with co-founder Bobby Seale (Jordane Christie), and his conflicts with fellow Black Panther Eldridge Cleaver (Brenton Allen) over the party’s direction and mandate.
Although The Big Cigar is framed around the escape – a tense, prolonged process riddled with kinks and setbacks – this story is deeper than Newton eluding a national manhunt. Through flashbacks it attempts to delve into who this man was at his core and sets the tone for why the Black Panthers were needed in the first place. In the process it brings current issues such as policing and systemic racism to the forefront and proves that not much has changed since the sixties.
It’s a thoughtful exploration told from Newton’s perspective, and follows his mission to move the Panthers away from self-defence and into community-driven programs. Holland gives us an unreliable but honest narrator in that regard, admitting in the first episode that these events are told to the best of his recollection.
Along the way, the series shows how Newton grappled with a movement that was swelling beyond his control, and the effects it had on his personal life. As the party grew in popularity and law enforcement worked overtime to squash momentum, expectations were high. What happens when the messenger becomes the message?
Those themes are discussed in earnest, particularly in the moving scenes between Newton and his father, Walter (Glynn Turman), and within the moments of vulnerability between Newton and his eventual wife, Gwen Fontaine (Tiffany Boone). The man was one way in public and another in private, and Holland expertly handles the character struggle that comes with consolidating the two.
Which brings us to the Hollywood of it all. By working with Schneider and trusting the producer’s vision, Newton faced backlash and disaccord within the party. At the same time Schneider helped give the movement a national platform, further propelling Newton into the spotlight. There, he struggled with trust issues, trauma and his mental health.
This is a story that takes Newton’s side and paints him as a dedicated man with convictions and principles. By doing so, the series helps balance some of the biased media coverage and openly brutal policing and persecution of the time. It’s impossible not to feel for Newton as he handles conflict from all sides, knowing his mission began with a wish for basic human rights and liberties.
As The Big Cigar unfolds, it also digs into the producers’ motivations and examines why and how they became involved in the Black power movement. What does it take to be on the right side of history when lives are on the line? Shaking things up was fun in theory for a rich white producer, but when the money runs out and the stakes hit a little too close to home, not everyone stays true to their word. In that way the series doesn’t paint the men as white saviours, but as people who believed in the cause and were willing to do what it took to inspire and evoke actual change.
It all culminates in a heavy tale of social unrest that still rings true today, told with vibrant acting and cinematography that captures the essence of the time. Director Don Cheadle helps set that tone from the first episode (he helmed the first two), while Bearman’s voice as an executive producer adds authenticity to a story that was first told in that 2012 article.
There are shootouts and shady characters and heartbreaking losses to round it all out, giving the story an underground feel with high production values. You know where the tale is going, but in true Hollywood style the journey is what matters. If you come into The Big Cigar expecting a straightforward story of revolution and escape, you’ll probably walk away with a new perspective. That, and an itch to Google how it all really went down.
The Big Cigar debuts the first two episodes on Friday, May 17 on Apple TV+