Movies

Uzo Aduba dons a detective’s cape in ‘The Residence’

BBG News

Uzo Aduba knows how to stare.

Initially, Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren captivated with her intense focus across 90 episodes of “Orange Is the New Black.” Later, she asserted authority with her striking gaze as politician Shirley Chisholm in “Mrs. America,” and finally, she displayed a subtle poker face as therapist Dr. Brooke Taylor during season 4 of “In Treatment.

Currently, in the Netflix series “The Residence,” produced by Shondaland and set to air on Thursdays, Aduba embodies the role of Detective Cordelia Cupp – a highly intuitive, avian observer who uses her unconventional detective methods and piercing gaze to unravel a White House murder enigma.

During her investigation to uncover the murderer of the estate’s top usher, Detective Aduba’s character, Cupp, finds solace in quiet reflection and shares her crime-scene insights in a dry, understated manner. Some of the show’s most gripping moments occur when Cupp fixes her gaze on the possible suspects, causing them to squirm uneasily and often reveal their guilt unintentionally.

According to Randall Park, who portrays FBI agent Edwin Park, Uzo possesses an extraordinary skill of managing numerous activities within seemingly still and silent moments. This quality left a profound impact on him.

As the season finale of “The Residence” approaches and Cupp is ready to unveil her solution to the mystery, she’ll feel similar to a buried time bomb or a pot of water simmering on the stove, gradually building tension until it reaches its climax. Aduba explained in an interview video that she feels like this “slowly brewing until it eventually boils over.

In real life, Aduba is constantly at a boil.

The 44-year-old is a passionate narrator, who finds joy in the intricacies as she beams widely or ponders deeply with furrowed brows. When listening, she’s just as expressive, occasionally showing worry with widened eyes or erupting into hearty laughter with her head thrown back.

She appears to delight in exploring the complete range of human feelings, be it immersed in sorrow, expressing apprehensions about embarking on a fresh fitness journey on TikTok, or just preparing shrimp tacos while enjoying Tracy Chapman’s music.

In another phone conversation, Cate Blanchett, who stars with Aduba in “Mrs. America,” expressed it this way: “She makes me yearn to keep living.

Moving into “The Residence”

Over the years, we’ve seen a variety of unconventional detectives on screen, from Inspector Clouseau to Jessica Fletcher, and many in between such as Miss Marple, Benoit Blanc, Sherlock Holmes, and Hercule Poirot. Interestingly, these characters are often white and male.

For decades, the world of on-screen detectives has been populated by characters like Inspector Clouseau, Jessica Fletcher, Miss Marple, Benoit Blanc, Sherlock Holmes, and Hercule Poirot. It’s notable that a majority of these characters are white and male.

In short, they don’t usually look like Aduba.

In her 2024 memoir titled “The Road Is Good,” which translates her full first name from Igbo to English, Uzo Aduba wrote, “Revolution is placing someone like me in any role or genre that’s deemed suitable for a white woman.

Did she view playing Cordelia Cupp as revolutionary?

Indeed,” Aduba responded. “Every detail, including the costumes, was incredibly rewarding to me. It was enlightening to step into the tweed coat, complete with vest, collared shirt, bag, and all – seeing how perfectly it symbolizes that anyone, figuratively speaking, can embrace that cape.

For some time now, Shondaland, the production company led by Shonda Rhimes, has been keeping Uzo Aduba in mind due to potential roles that could suit her perfectly, according to Betsy Beers, an executive at Shondaland.

According to Beers, she was naturally destined for the main role in a production. He believes she’s authentic and offers everything you could want.

For quite some time, I’ve been a big admirer of Uzo, and when I learned she joined this series, I was overjoyed,” Rhimes wrote in an email. “Seeing her breathe life into Det. Cupp, adding her unique blend of charm, wit, and earnestness to the character has been an absolute pleasure.

Despite many series encountering such upheaval over a full season, “The Residence” stood out with its extraordinary turbulence. Initially, the 2023 Hollywood writers’ and actors’ strikes occurred, causing production to halt for extended periods after they had already completed filming four of the show’s eight episodes.

Later, during this break, it was announced that Andre Braugher, who had played the central character in the mystery, passed away following a brief illness in December 2023. When filming resumed in early 2024, Giancarlo Esposito stepped into Braugher’s role and re-filmed his scenes. Aduba’s “luminous energy” became their guiding light as they navigated this challenging period together.

Aduba welcomed a baby girl named Adaiba during a break in filming, and after that, she came back to set as a mother. Her husband, filmmaker Robert Sweeting, was also part of the family.

In the shoot, she remarked that transitioning into motherhood was incredibly intense. She also shared that the cast formed a strong bond since they had all gone through childbirth and loss together.

According to Paul William Davies, who created and oversaw “The Residence”, Aduba’s leadership played a pivotal role in establishing the overall atmosphere for the cast and team members during the transitions they faced.

Davies noted that everyone seemed to give their best performance because the individual at the top of the call sheet was working tirelessly, just like everyone else, and showed kindness and respect to all. This has a significant impact on how a production goes, as it’s inspiring to have someone leading the charge who sets such a positive example.

A “terrifying” leap

From the very beginning, it was evident that Uzoamaka Aduba would shine brightly. However, it was uncertain which type of star her brilliance would take form as.

Initially, it was figure skating that held significance. Born in Medfield, Massachusetts – a mostly white town situated beyond Boston – Aduba found inspiration in Surya Bonaly, the French skater renowned for performing backflips on ice and one of the few high-profile Black figure skaters during that era.

In high school, Aduba spent long hours commuting for training and competitions with the goal of joining the U.S. national team. However, skating was a costly endeavor, and their family budget was strained by supporting Aduba and her four college-bound siblings.

Instead, let me rephrase this for you: She decided to join the track team, and once again, she shone brightly, earning herself a track scholarship to Boston University. At Boston University, she focused on developing her powerful singing voice and nurturing her passion for theater, majoring in voice studies.

Following her graduation in 2005, she shifted base to New York City. For a while, she worked part-time at a seafood eatery close to Times Square, juggling jobs as a waitress, while simultaneously securing roles in off-Broadway and subsequently Broadway plays. One of these roles was a 2011 revival of “Godspell.

By 2012, she had advanced significantly in her acting career, reaching a point where she could comfortably afford her rent and maintain a stable lifestyle without needing additional jobs. However, she yearned for fresh opportunities. She instructed her agent to submit her only for TV and movie auditions, and to decline any theater roles that might be proposed.

In simpler terms, she hadn’t acted on camera before the bold strategy, except for a brief scene in a PBS documentary about slavery. She described theater as a welcoming place, like a “misfit toys island,” but she felt television was mostly out of reach for her.

In my own words, I’d express it as follows: “Beyond being a Black woman, I am a dark-skinned, non-conformist Black woman of African descent, with an uncommon name, sporting a distinctive gap in my teeth, full lips, and a broad nose. Growing up, I could barely find a reflection of myself in the entertainment industry, limited to just a few extraordinary women like Whoopi Goldberg, Alfre Woodard, and Beah Richards. The representation felt scant, and the environment seemed narrow.

That summer, Aduba found herself attending close to a hundred TV and movie castings, only to encounter repeated disappointments as it appeared her deepest apprehensions were coming true.

She shared her feelings, stating, “My bank balance kept decreasing while my expenses rose, causing immense fear.” Adding, “To be completely candid, financially, it was a source of great dread. But what really scared me was the prospect of venturing into television and film at that point in time because I didn’t believe there was room for me. I felt like an outsider trying to enter a world where I wasn’t welcome, and the number of rejections I received only strengthened this feeling.

Earning the industry’s respect

On a scorching hot summer’s day, Aduba swiftly tied up her hair in Bantu knots while heading out for yet another series of consecutive auditions, fully expecting additional rejections. She was nearing her limit of endurance.

One tryout was held for a fresh television series titled “Orange Is the New Black,” which was unusual since Netflix was still sending DVDs by mail at that time.

Jennifer Euston, the casting director, had been impressed by Uzo Aduba’s powerful solo “By My Side” in the Broadway show “Godspell” the previous autumn. Since her agent had mentioned that Aduba was also a track runner, Euston invited Aduba to try out for the role of Janae, a character who was once a track star and ends up in Litchfield Penitentiary.

Aduba nailed her audition, and Euston excitedly sent her tape to showrunner Jenji Kohan.

Euston was informed by Kohan that she wanted her specifically for the character Crazy Eyes, even before Euston had started casting for that role. Interestingly, they gave her the part without first considering other potential actors or asking her to audition again.

According to Aduba’s calculations, she initially appeared as the 53rd cast member on a call sheet with 60 rotating ensemble actors in “Orange Is the New Black.” Initially intended for only a couple of episodes, the character Suzanne (also known as Crazy Eyes), gained significant popularity and became a series regular due to Aduba’s captivating performance. This breakout role ultimately earned Aduba two Emmy Awards.

Euston praised Aduba, stating that she is both down-to-earth and self-possessed, which were crucial qualities for convincingly playing the character of Crazy Eyes.

After “Orange Is the New Black” concluded in 2019, Aduba moved on to the miniseries “Mrs. America,” where she portrayed Chisholm, who was the pioneer as the first Black woman to run for a major political party’s presidential nomination.

In a natural and easy-to-read way: During the table read for the third episode focused on Shirley Chisholm, Blanchett – who was executive producer and also played conservative activist Phyllis Schlafly – was left speechless by Aduba’s performance.

When it came time for the table reading of the episode centered around Shirley Chisholm, Aduba’s performance left Blanchett, both an executive producer and actress playing Phyllis Schlafly, utterly silent.

During the scenes where Aduba portrayed Chisholm’s victories or faced her challenges, Blanchett remarked, “It was as if you could hear a pin drop.” She had absorbed Chisholm’s spirit so deeply, and this moment was truly extraordinary for everyone present. After the reading, we were all speechless. It left us awestruck.

Aduba’s performance in “Mrs. America” won her a third Emmy award, yet this time was tinged with profound sorrow. During the production, Aduba was struggling with the news of her mother’s pancreatic cancer.

Blanchett admires her deeply because this person acknowledges that living fully requires accepting grief. What sets her apart is not getting overwhelmed by sorrow, instead, she bears it with poise and elegance.

As Aduba started penning her memoir shortly thereafter, she transitioned her narrative from recounting her personal Hollywood experiences to exploring her parents’ upbringing in Nigeria, their move to America, and the methods by which her mother prepared her for conquering the world.

In simpler terms, Aduba expressed that it seemed as though, without explicitly stating it, her mother understood that this [book] might be a lasting summary of her life, which became significant to him – the narrative of their shared life. He added that his mother inspired him to believe he could accomplish anything, and unfortunately, he took her confidence in him too lightly.

Aduba expresses her desire to instill in her 16-month-old child the same sense of inspiration she felt. She recently starred in the crime-drama film “Roofman,” alongside Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst, an adventure she described as “liberating” and one that allowed her to try things she hadn’t done before on screen. At present, Netflix has yet to confirm a second season of “The Residence.” Nevertheless, the platform submitted the series for Emmy nominations in the comedy category instead of limited series, suggesting a possible renewal. The showrunner also expressed his wish to continue telling Cordelia’s stories, as he has many more tales to share.

The actor is unsure about which professional paths she wants to explore next. It could be a role in a film musical or a reappearance on the theater stage, but for now, she’s leaving herself with various possibilities.

In essence, an artist’s role is not about residing in a secure environment, but rather continuously pushing boundaries, taking on challenging tasks, and even venturing into risky endeavors,” Aduba explained. “I’m unsure about what lies ahead, but I do know that I don’t want complacency. Whatever shape it takes, I’m ready to explore.

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2025-03-19 13:32

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