DuVernay answered every single question. “Ava invites all of you to the table and she asks you to bring your heart and your soul and your opinion and your pain and your feelings, just all of you. And she doesn’t necessarily say that,“ Gardner says. “It’s the tone that she sets and it’s the permission that she gives for people to be joyful. It’s her intention of a set culture that’s supportive. It’s in all of that, that this incredible intimacy is created.”That intimacy finds its way onto the screen, allowing the viewer to connect with the Bordelons, especially Charley. You feel her pain and want to see her succeed. You’re willing to take that journey with her, and it stems from the care Gardner put into creating this character. Gardner changed her voice for the role, bringing it down an octave or two to something that sounds much more serious and calculated. On Queen Sugar, Gardner — who has lent her voice to McDonald’s commercials and Stars Wars: The Clone Wars — sounds like a woman who doesn’t let her emotions get the best of her.It's believable — she comes from a business world where she isn’t always welcome. While preparing for Queen Sugar, Gardner watched documentaries about powerful women in business — her favorite being one about Indra Nooyi, the first female president of PepsiCo and the company’s first Indian-born chief executive.Gardner knows that Queen Sugar, which has already been renewed for season 2 , is a show that’s bigger than anyone involved. It’s a drama with a mostly Black cast that is looking to contribute to a larger conversation about race and gender, and then push it forward. (A theme for Gardner's career as of late, since her next role is in Marvel's Luke Cage, the first African-American superhero to get his own show.) Queen Sugar is isn't aiming for a specific audience, but for everyone who realizes we aren’t that different after all.“I think we’re starting to see ourselves as bigger than just our own cultural backgrounds," Gardner explains. "I think the ‘we’ is beginning to shift, and the ‘we’ is beginning to expand. I think there’s a larger movement happening and I think we’re all ready and wanting it.”