There was a lot to watch last week starting with The Emmys and then Fall Premiere Week. If you were smart, you would have tuned into NBC’s new show on Monday night called Bluff City Law, starring Jimmy Smits and Caitlin McGee.
Alongside this duo is Michael Luwoye, who starred in Broadway’s most recent pop culture phenomenon, Hamilton. Michael auditioned for the role of Hercules Mulligan/ James Madison but instead was offered the role as an alternate for the title role of Alexander Hamilton after Lin-Manuel Miranda left the production, making him the first African American to play Hamilton. Michael made history again when he played both Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr on the same night. For his first broadway show, he hit it big. As Michael explained it to me, “It’s one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life.” He also caused a lot of commotion with his female fans on She’s Gotta Have It as Olu, the enchanting and ever so lauded naked sculptor of cow dung.
Myself and a few colleagues had the chance to sit down with Michael in Memphis to talk about his new role as Anthony Little, a lawyer at an elite firm that specializes in controversial landmark civil rights cases. He’s a first generation, Nigerian-American, from Huntsville, Alabama and for those avid fans, Day 10,484 marked his 6-year anniversary in New York City.
NICOLE: Hi Michael. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Before we dive into the real reason we’re here, we were just discussing your character Olu, from She’s Gotta Have It.
MICHAEL: Now it begins!
NICOLE: There’s only one of us here, who hasn’t seen She’s Gotta Have It, so we had to fill her in.
MICHAEL: What do you need to know? There’s ass, there’s ass, there’s ass. That’s what you need to know…
NICOLE: How does one prepare for nude scenes?
MICHAEL: What preparation? There wasn’t much preparation for that. There really wasn’t. That morning, yes, I did go to the gym. I made sure of that, but it was one of those things. How else do you prepare for that? We shot a couple of scenes beforehand; we shot a couple of scenes in the house and when I was watching it…it was interesting because there’s more to that entire scene. Right before the bedroom scene…I was watching that scene, thinking I knew the lines in my head. As I was watching it, the scene abruptly cuts before the conversation ends and I was like, “Oh! Okay! Great! Great! so my family isn’t going to see that part.” (Laughs)
NICOLE: So did your family watch that episode? (S2E5 #SuperFunkyCaliFragiSexy)
MICHAEL: My siblings and my friends did, but thankfully not my parents.
NICOLE: So let’s talk about your newest role as Anthony Little on Bluff City Law. What gravitated you to this role when you read the pilot?
MICHAEL: What really convinced me to want to play it was a conversation that I had with Dean (Georgaris) and Michael (Aguilar), co-creators of the show. They have been so open and collaborative with the show as it pertains to our input. They’ve been really eager to listen, which has been great. That was the thing that got me. When I auditioned, I didn’t think I was going to get it. I found out I got this my final week of shows with Hamilton and then it was off to the races with it.
NICOLE: The basis of this show is a family law firm. We know there are complexities between Elijah Straight and his daughter Sydney Straight. What can you tell us about your character? Do you have a family? Will we get a chance to see your family?
MICHAEL: In episode five you meet my wife, Maya. We have three kids, but I’m not sure if the kids will be in it or not.
NICOLE: David Janollari (Executive Producer) had a lot of great things to say about you. He mentioned that you would be really great at playing the role because playing an attorney is like being in theater, and in doing that, you excelled. Did you feel any of that while you were auditioning or while you were playing the role? Did your theater background help with that?
MICHAEL: I felt very strange while auditioning for it, because I didn’t really have a good notion of what it was. What being a lawyer was. Once I got cast in the role I actually would go to some cases in Brooklyn, and just sit inside of the courtroom and watch. It is very much like theater. I joked that court is like the baby or the child of theater and C-SPAN; it can be very boring or exciting and it’s very strung out, drawn out. It feels like that now and I’m very excited to do court scenes whenever we get to because that sort of engagement…It’s like a chess match, you want to play with another person, you’re trying to outsmart the other side, and all of that.
NICOLE: David (Janollari) also clued us in that you’ll be using your vocal talents on the show. That surprised us. I guess there’s a little sprinkle of your Hamilton magic.
MICHAEL: I sang in the episode today. It’s episode four. I actually got to sing my mother’s favorite hymn. It was really awesome.
NICOLE: Was that written into the show or did you pick the hymn yourself?
MICHAEL: It was originally going to be “Amazing Grace” and the director wanted it to be something else, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”, but thought that was going to be a little too heavy for the show, so we had a list of songs. As I was searching through them, I saw it. (In order not to spoil it, we’ve omitted the name of the song.)
NICOLE: So we won’t be blessed with hearing multiple song selections from you? It’s not going to be part of your character, that you’re a singer?
MICHAEL: Yeah, just a mention. Unless we’re all, sloshed on the Christmas episode, or something like that, and I think this is the last time that we’re going to be singing. (Laughter)
NICOLE: How do you feel about Memphis? Have you been to Memphis before?
MICHAEL: I love it. I didn’t come here with any sort of preconceived thoughts. I’ve only been here once before. But also, this is like Huntsville, Alabama, so there are some things that are reminiscent – being back here, which is nice. There’s so many less ambulance noises than in New York. You can hear things. You can walk around, you can see life.
NICOLE: I spent a good deal of the day today at the National Civil Rights Museum and I know you’re from Alabama. Memphis and Alabama, are both really central to the Civil Rights Movement. Could you put into context a little bit of that element, with the show being about social justice issues; how that has fit into your experience thus far?
MICHAEL: I think one of the things with this city is that this city hasn’t stopped (being a representation for justice). I think with the history that we have with any place in the south, be it Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, here; there’s a lot of reasons for us to stop. But there’s more to fight for and there’s a better life for everybody, so there’s no need to just cut it off. People are shitty. People are coming in (to the legal system) not really representing people, not fighting for justice, but there’s always that hope. There’s something for us to keep going. I see that with our legal system, and it’s great to be in a place that is steeped in the Civil Rights Movement and continuing to fight for that battleground.
NICOLE: The hashtag for the show is #ChangeTheWorld. What is Michael passionate about? What would you change about the world?
MICHAEL: I think our stock in empathy is something I would change, but also learning about another person’s perspective. I wish that we had more of an understanding of trauma. How other people are triggered through a lot of things and just to be able to say, “I see that you’re going through something and it’s hard for you. And I want to be there for you even though I have no idea what you’re going through, but at the same time there’s something there I’d like to connect with you.” A lot of the things that we do nowadays…it just seems like there’s a lot of division, division, division, division; and I’d love to see that change at some point.
NICOLE: What day is it for you…10,000…? I’m curious as to what counting your days represents.
MICHAEL: Good, good, good question. And I didn’t journal today. (Pause)
10,472 is the day. I’m the youngest of four. My full name is Oluwambefunmi Ayotunde Michael Luwoye. Ayotunde is the namesake of a brother who passed away. My brother is Babatunde. Which means (my) father has come to the world. My name means joy has come to the world or joy has come back to the world. He (my brother) lived to be about eight months when he died. That’s such a short amount of time. There’s some poem, I can’t remember what it is, but it mentions something about how if you’ve lived a full year, at some point you’ve passed your death day. He never did. He never reached that day. Never having a full year; so that was something that has always impacted me, and it just made me feel like it’s important for me to count my days. So, in a lot of the things that I do, I just have a starting point and just count my days from that point.
Bluff City Law is on Monday nights at 10/9c on NBC.
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