Catching up with ‘Louie’ actress Susan Kelechi WatsonBy Wilson Morales
May 8, 2013
Currently playing in New York is the Off-Broadway production of ‘Core Values,’ starring Reed Birney, Paul Thureen, Susan Kelechi Watson, and Erin Wilhelmi. It’s about a travel agency boss who realizes some important things in life when he takes his staff on a retreat.
For Watson, whose theater work also include roles in Intimate Apparel, A Naked Girl on the Appian Way, and Phylicia Rashad’s revival of Lorraine Hansbury’s A Raisin in the Sun, it’s a return to the stage of doing steady work on television.
While Watson has done guest spots on various TV series such as NCIS, Medium, Private Practice, and most recently Golden Boy, she gained recognition for playing comedian Louis C.K.’s ex-wife on season 3 of the FX comedy-drama Louie. Playing the mother to two white certainly created a buzz to her benefit.
Blackfilm.com recently caught up with Watson as she spoke her current work on stage and TV.
What’s your role in Core Values and how fun is it getting back on stage?
Susan Kelechi Watson: This is fun because it’s also comedy with really a great writer, and a great director. The writer also writes for the TV series ‘Vegas.’ I’m part of a wonderful cast. It’s the first time I’ve done something on stage in New York in a while. I think it’s going to be a ball. It reminds me a lot of ‘The Office’ in a way when I first read it. Ironically, I had watched seven seasons of ‘The Office’ before I knew about this role. I had said to a friend of mine about doing something that was similar to ‘The Office.’ Once this role came across my desk, I said that this was going to be awesome. I am Nancy the senior sales representative and one of four characters. It’s a four person piece. I am described as a woman who is about her work and is not necessarily really warm to her co-workers. She just comes to work to do her job and goes home. She does it well, but she’s not particularly sentimental in any way. That’s always fun to play; the person who can be truthful and blunt and people take it because that’s who she is.
What’s it like playing the wife of Louie?
SKW: I don’t think it ever gets old. It’s always really fun to talk about and to do. It’s one of those things where I was just as surprised as everyone else when it happened because I didn’t expect that, casting wise. I had done a lot of auditions, and again casting-wise, that happens so rarely, that it didn’t cross my mind that they would even consider me for that part. At this stage, it’s just a fun thing to be a part of something that’s different. We didn’t always see inter-cultural relationships be acted out on television. This one stands out because of the circumstances and it requires a bit more of your imagination.
For those who haven’t watched the show, are you playing the role of his black ex-wife, or his wife who just happens to be black?
SKW: I’m his ex-wife and the kids are between us. The character had been set for two years and I don’t think they were planning to bring in the ex-wife at all and now that he has, I think it inspired more stories about the character. It’s something that I look forward going back to and the fact that it’s in New York doesn’t hurt either. I’m a New Yorker.
So, it’s a non-color role?
SKW: Yes. If you talk to Louis about it and we have discussed it, he just cast who he feels understands what he’s trying to do with that character. I think we connected in that way. He connected with what my vision was and somehow our visions for that character linked up. It was regardless of color, age, or anything. It was a case of we get it and let’s do it together.
We’re seeing a few more “interracial” couples on television, even though the roles have nothing to do with race or color. Is this becoming a trend?
SKW: Here’s what I, and most artists, hope for. That it’s more about what you bring to the role than what you physically look like. It’s a beautiful thing to be a part of our (black) culture that I’m in right now. I love that. It should be about the person’s talent and what they are bringing to the table.
As an actress looking for work, do you need to have funny bones when doing comedy?
SKW: I’m the ultimate studier of comedy. I grew up in a very funny household. My dad is the king of one-liners, my brothers are great at telling stories, and my mom is funny without knowing it. I don’t know if I go in thinking it, but it’s always a treat that some of the things I do is funny. It may not be a joke or a punchline, but the undertone or the theme is something universal that we can all laugh at. It’s in me somewhere, but I love going in for comedy work. Anytime I get a chance to do that, it’s a treat.
With the work that you are getting on stage and television, are films are harder platform to break in?
SKW: I try to look at it like one thing at a time . As you build your career, you know where you want to go. I’m definitely moving towards films. That’s definitely a goal. I’m definitely going to put it out there.
