Exclusive: Antonique Smith Talks ‘Luke Cage’ Season 2Posted by Wilson Morales
June 21, 2018
Starting June 22, Season 2 of Marvel’s Luke Cage will return with all-new episodes on Netflix.
Luke Cage is executive produced by Cheo Hodari Coker and Aïda Croal as co-executive producer, along with Jeph Loeb, and Jim Chory.
Mike Colter returns as the titular Luke Cage, with Simone Missick as Misty Knight, Rosario Dawson as Claire Temple, Alfre Woodard as Mariah Dillard, Theo Rossi as Shades and Finn Jones as Danny Rand aka Iron Fist.
After clearing his name, Luke Cage has become a celebrity on the streets of Harlem with a reputation as bulletproof as his skin. But being so visible has only increased his need to protect the community and find the limits of who he can and can’t save. With the rise of a formidable new foe, Luke is forced to confront the fine line that separates a hero from a villain.
Among the newcomers to Season 2 are Mustafa Shakir, Gabrielle Dennis, Annabella Sciorra, multi-talented actress and Grammy nominated singer Antonique Smith.
Antonique Smith will be playing the role of Detective Nandi Tyler, a new character to the Marvel family. Nandi and Misty Night’s relationship runs deep and began when they were in high school. Time has done little to lessen their animosity towards each other and the tensions only intensify when Nandi takes over Misty’s position after her hand is cut off (during the Defenders series).
Smith is best known for her role in Fox Searchlight’s film Notorious portraying ‘Faith Evans’ in the biopic based on the life of legendary rapper Notorious B.I.G. Her other film credits include a lead role in Victoria Mahoney’s “Yelling To The Sky,” a strong supporting role in the motion picture John Singleton’s “Abduction” and a lead role in the Netflix film “Deuces.” Antonique’s TV credits include starring guest and recurring roles on numerous hit TV shows including “Law & Order”, HBO’s “Bored To Death”, A&E’s “100 Centre Street” and the Fox limited drama series “Shots Fired,” and most recently “Chicago P.D.”
As a singer, Smith played the lead role of ‘Mimi Marquez’ in the musical Rent, and earned her a 2015 Grammy nomination for “Best Traditional R&B Performance” for her debut single, “Hold Up Wait a Minute (Woo Woo).” Having co-written her Grammy nominated single, she has also written songs for several television shows including Shots Fired, where she co-wrote the show’s theme song along with several other original songs that were featured in the show and composed a piece of the score with great Terrance Blanchard.
Blackfilm.com recently caught up with Smith as spoke about her character and being included in the Marvel world.
How did you get to be part of the cast?
Antonique Smith: I got from Cheo and he told me that he was doing the second season and really wanted me to be involved in it. I auditioned and Nandi Tyler was born.
This is a new character created for the series and not part of the comic books. How would you best describe her?
Antonique Smith: She was created for the show and created for me actually, which is quite an honor. Nandi is a detective. She is a bad ass detective. If you had seen the other Marvel series, The Defenders, you saw that Misty Knight had lost her arm, and her strength is weakened and not at the precinct. Nandi takes the opportunity to come in and takes full advantage of her supposed weakness at the moment and we have a history. Nandi and Misty were in high school and let’s just say that they were not besties. So, when I enter the scene, the atmosphere is a little thick between Nandi and Misty.
How much of a fan were you of the Marvel world?
Antonique Smith: I love comic books. I’m a big fan of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and it’s such an honor to be a part of it. The superhero I knew the most growing up was Spiderman and honestly, I can’t remember the other superheroes from back in the day of Marvel. It was a lot more of the DC world that knew, from Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.I didn’t know who Iron Man was, didn’t know who Thor was, but let me tell that when Iron Man came out in theaters, it was mind blowing. I felt that I had never seen anything like ever before. I’m like, “This is crazy.” They have been on such a roll, they are the best. I’ve been a fangirl for Marvel now for some years and I love all of their superiors and of course now, my new favorite is Black Panther. Wakanda Forever.
With Luke Cage, had you seen all of season 1 before you were cast or did you have to catch up?
Antonique Smith: I was a fan of the first season. I really loved it. With everything that’s going on in our country right now and it’s a little crazy in the streets, and the fact that we have a bullet proof black man, to me, I wish we could all be bullet proof because unfortunately it seems we need that right now. Just the fact that someone was brave enough to do that in this climate and make a point of it. Cheo made a point of that. Black men are getting killed in the streets and this black man is bullet proof and that’s dope. I really thought that was incredible. Cheo and I had worked together on Notorious when he was one of the writers of the film and I have known him for a long time and we had been trying to figure out something to work together on again. I wasn’t in the first season but I loved it. On the my first day on the set, Mike Colter had said to me, “I’ve been trying to get you on the show since last season.” It was an incredible, fun, sweet and cool experience for four months.
How was working with Simone Missick and creating that rivalry on screen?
Antonique Smith: The funny thing is that there is such a sisterhood between me and Simone on set and just the encouragement and love between us from the first day on set. I knew her husband Dorian for a long time and I had never met Simone. On my first day on set I’m in the makeup chair and she walks in, and we hugged. I told her I knew Dorian and she said, “Yes, I know. He talks about you all the time.” From the first moment in meeting her, it was just love. Although, we had to have to those tension moments in our scenes together, when it was cut, it was back to sisterhood. I think that’s a testament to both of us as actors that we didn’t have to a rivalry in real life. It was total love off camera and it was wonderful.
You’re also an accomplished singer so do we get to see that aspect of your career in the series?
Antonique Smith: Nandi is not a singer but a detective but it’s cool when people appreciate the other gifts you have and try to them in there. In one of the episodes, you will get to see one of my other skills.
How are you balancing both careers as a singer and as an actress?
Antonique Smith: Let me tell you that it’s not easy to juggle both. I try to focus one at a time, and right now, I’m in actor mode but I do have musical performances slated. That’s the stuff you see on my social media if you follow me. You’ll always know when I’m performing. I do that often and in between everything. When we put out “Hold Up Wait a Minute (Woo Woo)” we (me and my brilliant manager Darryl Farmer) promoted it and it got me a Grammy nomination. Thank you Darryl for that. Around that time, I didn’t do any acting for about three years. After the nomination, I went back into acting and did Stock Option, Deuces on Netflix, Shots Fired, and now Luke Cage. My EP is out, but fans have been asking when the full album will be out. I haven’t finished yet. It’s difficult to do both at the same time, especially as an independent artist. If I had a million dollar budget like some well-known names, but when you’re in the indie world, it’s difficult to have everything all together. At some point, I will get the album because people have been definitely asking.
