*Niecy Nash-Betts is having a good season, with her work on the big and small screen getting well-deserved recognition. The best part about it all is she’s doing it her way, staying true to self.
That means rooting for the success of friends, even it she is auditioning for the same role. May the best woman win.
“Before I was even cast in ‘Getting On’ on HBO — I had not even gone in yet — I called every actress I knew and was like, ‘This is going to be something. Get in on this,’” Nash-Betts shared during the latest episode of the “Just for Variety” podcast. “My daughter was like, ‘Why are you telling all these girls? Somebody’s going to get your part,’ and I said, ’No, my part is my part. If it’s my part, it was meant to be. And if it’s not, how wonderful is it that I was a conduit for one of my friends getting a job?’ No, there’s room. We can all get in there.”
Reminiscing over a notable audition, Nash-Betts told listeners about the time she and some of her peers auditioned for the lead role in “Scandal.” The memory came in clearly while attending an event honoring the woman who eventually won the role of Olivia Pope, Kerry Washington, according to Variety. One scene, in particular, struck a nerve with Nash-Betts, who confessed to seeing her fellow auditioners recite a scene highlighted in a video montage of Washington’s work on the classic hit show.
“They were showing the clips from ‘Scandal,’ and it was funny, I looked around and I saw all the actresses in there mouthing the monologue because everybody went in for it, but we still all gave her a standing ovation, but it’s like, ‘Girl, we know them lines, too,’” Nash-Betts recalled.
The “Scandal” remembrance comes as Nash-Betts finds herself carving her own lane as an entertainer to check for on the big and small screen. On Monday (Jan. 16), the “Rookie: Feds” star collected an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie for her role as Glenda Cleveland in the Netflix film “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.” Upon accepting the award, Nash Betts generated headlines for her powerful and inspiring speech.
Following in the footsteps of her television career milestone, Nash Betts is currently displaying her talent in her latest project, Ava DuVernay’s “Origin.” The film, an adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s nonfiction bestseller “Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents,” centers on the Pulitzer Prize-winning author’s (Aunjanue L. Ellis-Taylor) journey of authoring the book as she faces personal tragedies.
In the film, Nash-Betts co-stars as Wilkerson’s cousin Marion. With awards season active with many films in the mouths of movie lovers and film fans, Nash-Betts feels “Origin” is worthy of getting more awards chatter when discussing the films worthy of such recognition.
“We are a small movie with a lot to say, but it was independent,” Nash-Betts says. “So a lot of it is grassroots. And I think that people think, because they know Ava, ‘Oh, we can guess what this movie is about,’ but this is by far her best work and is nothing like the other work that she has done. And the fact that she was able to adapt that book into what you saw on the screen, is the biggest gift that she has been able to share with the world.
“So I think Ava also should be recognized for that,” she continued. “It was three countries in 37 days to get it all done. It absolutely changes you. And when you experience the film and it changes you, then the next logical step is someone should notice.”
As folks discover and praise “Origin,” the film’s beginnings is not lost on Nash Betts, who voiced how deserving the film and its cast are to be amongst those who regularly collect honors for their work i
“You just have to keep doing the work and you have to trust that grassroots efforts are going to allow it to grow,” the former “Reno 911” fixture said. “It wasn’t a big studio movie. So all of the commercials and all of the things that they put into the engine, we didn’t have that, but if you ask me, the film definitely, and the actors, should be contenders.”
MORE NEWS On EURWEB: Niecy Nash-Betts Talks Diversity in Hollywood At the Golden Globes | WATCH
