Under the bright lights and bold beats of this year’s 2025 Essence Fest, CBS’s newest soap shone bright. Beyond The Gates, the sumptuous saga of secrets, status, and the sprawling Dupree dynasty, has already been renewed for a second season, a swift and significant win for a show that only debuted in February.

The first daytime soap with a predominantly Black cast in more than 35 years, Beyond the Gates weaves its stories around an elite Maryland family whose power and passion extend far beyond their gated community. Created by acclaimed writer Michele Val Jean and executive produced by Sheila Ducksworth, the show has helped revitalize CBS’s daytime block, with viewership gains and industry buzz to match.

At Essence Fest, where Beyond the Gates felt perfectly at home amid a weekend celebrating culture, community, and creativity, BOSSIP caught up with cast members Tamara Tunie and Karla Mosley, along with executive producer Sheila Ducksworth.

“It feels terrific,” Ducksworth told BOSSIP when asked about the show’s season two renewal. “It’s another season to bring you all the happenings of everything Beyond The Gates and with the Dupree family. It’s just something that we just love more than I can even say to have the opportunity five days a week to tell these stories with these characters and really show us a side of America that people haven’t seen before.”

Five days a week of fierce family drama is no small feat, and one of its most talked-about characters is the fiery and fearless Dani Dupree, portrayed by Karla Mosley. Dani is the firecracker of the Dupree family who never backs down from a fight (or a suckerpunch), especially if it involves herself or her relatives.

“Yes,” Mosley said when asked if Dani is a fighter. “And I think that’s the thing. Everything she does comes from love. She just can’t help it, she says, and she acts first, and then she doesn’t really think that much about the repercussions, she just keeps going, but it all comes from a place of love and truth, and just wanting justice.”

That blend of raw emotion and righteous energy is matched by Tamara Tunie’s portrayal of Anita Dupree, the commanding yet compassionate mother at the heart of the show. Known for playing strong women across stage and screen, Tunie effortlessly pumps power and poise into her role as the Dupree matriarch.

“Who does she worry about the most? Anita worries about all her children,” Tunie told BOSSIP. “The two sisters (Dani and Nicole) are very different. Nicole is much more calm and steady, and Dani’s a little more impulsive, you know, but she loves them both. And she loves them in different ways, because she meets them where they’re in need, and she fills that.”

The family dynamics are rich and real, but at the center of it all is a constant current, Black excellence. BOSSIP asked each cast member to define it in their own words, and the answers painted a vivid portrait of purpose and pride.

“I mean, it’s something that it was always expected and always was in my life. So for me, it’s the norm, you know?” said Tunie. “But it’s great to be able to represent it on television, and I’m not saying Black excellence is only about wealth or money or material things. It’s about what’s happening in here,” she added, placing her hand over her heart. “And how you are moving through the world. Whether you are the garbage man, the postman, or a doctor, it’s how you are moving through the world and what you represent and what you’re bringing and putting into the world. That’s what Black excellence is, to me.”

Mosley agreed, reflecting on her personal experiences while filming in the peach state’s celebrated capital city, ATL.

“I think that’s so beautifully put,” she said. “And you know, it’s exciting for me to be on the soap, but also to live in Atlanta, to be here in New Orleans, to be in the South around so many more Black people, and where it’s the norms and just show up as you as fully as you are, and where children are encouraged to speak their minds, and that what they have to say is important and valued, and our innovation is celebrated. I think that’s really what it is all about.”

Then Ducksworth brought it all home with clarity and conviction.

“It’s about being the best that you can be, whatever stage of your life that you’re in with being the best that it can be,” she told BOSSIP. “When I first went to put the show together, it was really about something that inspires, and something the people can aspire to. And that’s exactly what this show delivers on. It’s all about just being the best that you can possibly be.”

As Beyond the Gates heads into its second season, its success isn’t just a win for CBS, it’s a triumph for storytelling that centers and celebrates the richness of Black identity. With each episode, the show redefines what daytime drama can look like, and at Essence Fest, the cast reminded us why representation means absolutely everything from inside the gates and beyond.