Diksha Sundriyal
Apple TV+’s ‘Government Cheese’ follows the story of Hampton Chambers, who is in prison for fraud theft. There, he is introduced to God, and this changes his life forever. Looking forward to his release and going back to his family, he dedicates himself to the pursuits of innovation and invention. This is when he comes up with the idea of a self-sharpening drill, which he calls Bit Magician. He believes that it has great scope in the industrial world and that selling it could turn him into a very rich man. Of course, fate has other plans for him, and he goes through many bumps before he finds the stability he has been looking for. And all along, Bit Magician remains an important part of his story.
The Fictional Hampton Chambers and Bit Magician Have Real Origins
‘Government Cheese’ is a fictional story created by Paul Hunter and Aeysha Carr. Overall, the character of Hampton Chambers and his revolutionary invention of the self-sharpening drill called Bit Magician remain made-up things. However, the starting point for the character and his story is in Hunter’s own life. The writer revealed that a lot of what he wrote about Hampton and his family in the show is borrowed from his experiences. For example, Hampton is in prison for a while and when he comes out, a lot has changed for his family, including the dynamics between them. Hunter’s father had a similar experience when he came out of prison.
While Hampton’s criminal life remains a decisive plot point in the story, it is his inventive spirit and his faith in the success of Bit Magician that pulls him through the worst of times. To impart that sense of innovation in the character, Hunter dove into his own experience as a former salesperson of cutting tools for an aerospace company. At the same time, Hampton’s character was also informed by co-creator Carr’s grandfather and mother, who also had a mind for inventing things. Thus, a composite of all these real-life people breathed more realism into the character, making him more relatable and, hence, sympathetic to the audience.
David Oyelowo was Drawn to Hampton Chambers’ Contradictions
Hampton Chambers is a complicated character who wants to do good but ends up making some very questionable choices. To keep him amicable with the audience, the creators of the show needed someone who could handle this duality of the character with precision, and David Oyelowo proved to be the perfect choice for it. The actor, who is also the executive producer of the show, related with the Chambers family due to his own upbringing in the San Fernando Valley, where he lived for 18 years. Still, when he read the story, he realized that this was something that he was not familiar with. He confessed that he “did not know there were Black people in this way here at that time” and that he hadn’t seen them in a “context that is parabolic and quirky and surreal and fantastical and aspirational as well.”
He was also intrigued by the contradictions in Hampton, which make him more grounded in reality and, hence, more believable as a person, no matter what he does. Through his performance, Oyelowo brings forth this nature, particularly the part where Hampton sees things much more differently than a regular person and always has ideas to fix or improve stuff. Still, his brilliant mind does not stop him from making bad choices, and the fact that Oyelowo manages to make the character lovable even in such light shows his understanding and dedication to the fictional character, who is made more realistic by his flaws.
