The Long Campaign to Tell Hemings’ Story

When it comes to good timing, don’t bet against Tina Andrews.

Andrews, a former soap opera actress who abandoned her performing career several years ago to concentrate on screenwriting, knew she was onto something 16 years ago when she first became obsessed with the story of Sally Hemings, the slave who had a controversial 38-year relationship with Thomas Jefferson, the nation’s third president and the author of the Declaration of Independence.

Consumed by the secret love affair that Hemings claimed produced six children, Andrews did exhaustive research, wrote a play in the mid-1980s called “The Mistress of Monticello,” and a subsequent script about the relationship that made the rounds at the studios but provoked little interest.

But Andrews refused to become frustrated, either by the lack of interest or the fact that the keepers of Jefferson’s home and legacy steadfastly debated and downplayed the relationship. She continued trying to push the Hemings idea while immersing herself in other projects such as 1998’s “Why Do Fools Fall in Love,” the musical biography of Frankie Lymon that starred Halle Berry and Larenz Tate.

These days, there is probably not a happier writer-producer in Hollywood than Andrews. “Sally Hemings: An American Scandal” starring Sam Neill as Jefferson and Carmen Ejogo as Hemings, has evolved into a four-hour miniseries that she wrote and co-executive-produced. It premieres Sunday on CBS as one of the network’s main events for the February sweeps.

That the epic is debuting just a few weeks after the release of a report by the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation is icing on the cake. The foundation, which had resisted the idea of a Jefferson-Hemings relationship, now acknowledges their link.

Andrews is more than aware that the recent revelation should provide a boost in viewership for her long-awaited project.

“It’s just kismet for this to have worked out the way it has,” said Andrews as she relaxed in her spacious Malibu home. “This is proof that there is a higher power, that the planets and the moon and the stars have all converged at the right time.”

“Sally Hemings” and its interracial romance also has a more personal meaning for Andrews. In the ‘80s, when she starred on the soap opera “Days of Our Lives,” her character, Valerie Grant, became involved in daytime’s first mixed-race relationship. “There was quite a bit of controversy, to say the least,” she said. “I was taken off the show.”

Though she was depressed, Andrews’ father told her to turn her misfortune into something positive. “He told me to write better roles for black actresses,” she said. It was her father who first told her about the Jefferson-Hemings story. “Roots” author Alex Haley, who saw one of Andrews’ first scripts on Hemings, also provided invaluable encouragement and support.

Nice Timing for the Pitch Meeting

The timing of the miniseries is an example of the good karma Andrews experienced in November 1998 when she first pitched the script to CBS. The weekend before the meeting, a DNA study was released that offered the first scientific evidence of a genetic tie between Hemings’ offspring and Jefferson. After the meeting with CBS, the project, which was originally two hours, was expanded to four hours.

Sunta Izzicupo, senior vice president of movies and miniseries for CBS, said that Andrews’ screenplay was “wonderful, with a lot of perspective on important issues. She had a real passion for the story, and it addresses not only the romance, but the aspects of slavery, ownership and freedom.”

Positive buzz about the miniseries has already escalated Andrews’ status as one of the few female African American creative forces to achieve mainstream success writing not only about blacks but whites as well.

She is currently working on “Hollywood Hillz,” which she describes as a hip-hop version of “42nd Street.” She is set to make her directorial debut with “Nappy Days,” a satire about “black women’s hair wars.” And she is already signed to write another CBS miniseries about a major contemporary white historical figure, although she declined to go into specifics.

In “Sally Hemings,” Andrews explores the relationship from its beginnings, when the widower Jefferson was the U.S. ambassador to France. The relationship is portrayed as mutual, loving and romantic--a point of view likely to draw fire from some historians due to Hemings slave status.

Even though she was fascinated by the story of the couple, Andrews did have some concerns as she wrote the script.

“I was very nervous about sullying the image of the great American icon,” Andrews said. “But I wanted this to be an honest portrayal. It was a challenge from the beginning. Jefferson wrote a great document but he didn’t live by it. I wanted to approach the whole relationship from the point of human emotion, seeing a man and a woman who had a chemical attraction to each other. Once I stripped all the other stuff away, it was much easier to approach after I took Jefferson off his pedestal.”

There are several love scenes in “Sally Hemings” between Jefferson and his mistress. “I was told early on that a certain amount of bodice-ripping was acceptable,” Andrews said with a loud laugh.

Even before its debut, Andrews is certain of the place “Sally Hemings: An American Scandal” will play in her life.

“I don’t know if I will ever do another project that will have as much meaning,” she said. “I am so, so grateful.”