Uzo Aduba On Her First Lead Role, Life After ‘Orange’ And Acting As A Form Of Advocacy

Orange is the New Black, the acclaimed Netflix series that ended this summer after seven seasons, didn’t have one star. It had many. Still, among such a stellar cast, Uzo Aduba, who played Suzanne Warren, stood out. Perhaps it’s because she was in every season of the show, while many other characters came and went. Perhaps it’s because she was so unpredictable – her character’s nickname was “Crazy Eyes,” after all. Perhaps it’s because her backstory was particularly tragic, even among so many tragic backstories. In the final season, when she finally starts to realize that she’s mentally ill, Suzanne asks her mother if she “deserves” to be in prison. Her mother says no.

She was also perhaps the only truly sympathetic character on the show. Suzanne never meant to harm anyone, even under the most trying circumstances, and she always lifted her fellow inmates up. In turn, the other prisoners looked out for her. She was never anyone’s target.

Aduba proved to be a unique talent in every scene she performed, an actor whose dimensions were revealed slowly over the course of those seven years. She showed depth, heart, whimsy and compassion. She’s also an extraordinary singer. And yet, while Orange is the New Black certainly elevated Aduba’s profile, she has until now had only supporting roles.

That changes with Miss Virginia, a new feature film about a real-life activist from Washington D.C. named Virginia Walden Ford, a single mother who in the early 2000s fought for a bill to ensure that children of poor families have the same access to schools of their choice as those of wealthier families. Co-starring Matthew Modine and Aunjanue Ellis, Miss Virginia once again places Ms. Aduba in the company of great actors, and again, she stands out. The film’s director, R.J. Daniel Hanna, says he knew practically from the moment he read Erin O’Connor’s script that he wanted Aduba to play Ms. Ford. They even delayed filming for a full year to accommodate the actor’s schedule.

Below Ms. Aduba shares her thoughts on playing Ms. Ford, the character’s similarities to Suzanne on Orange is the New Black, and her forthcoming new series Mrs. America, in which she plays Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress. The interview has been edited slightly for style and length.

Tell me about the first time you read the script for Miss Virginia.

The first time I read the script, it was maybe 2017, and I was almost wondering if this was a true story. I thought, How have I never heard of this? Then I remember reading it again, and thinking Wow, what a mom. She doesn’t know how to save her son, but thinks there must be a way to make a difference in his life.

I like to start my work from the place of a question, and the question for this was how far would someone go for love? I thought it was interesting to get to the bottom of that question when I was reading the script.

You were shooting the film concurrently with the final season of Orange is the New Black. How was it for you to toggle between such different characters?

I find both stories to be love stories in some way. Suzanne is a love character, and she loves so deeply. Virginia Ford’s story is also a love story. She loves her son but she also loves her community, and she wants to see the people within that community thrive. But I also know that Ms. Walden Ford is not Crazy Eyes, obviously.

What differentiated the two characters for you?

Suzanne has this larger-than-life way of moving through the world, and that’s not how Virginia Ford moves through the world. She is a quiet hero. She didn’t wake up planning to be an activist, she just found herself in that position. I wanted to hold onto that quietness, that stillness.

Being so close to Orange, and seeing how lack of education, and lack of support, having a front row seat to seeing who winds up in our prison system, was a touch point in developing Virginia Ford’s story. On the one hand, I’m living in the system through one character, and on the other I’m trying to keep another person out of it.

I know you are politically active within the LGBTQ community, particularly in Africa. Do you see acting as an opportunity to effect social change? Does that inform the roles you take on?

I don’t necessarily take work strictly for any advocacy leanings. I love when my own beliefs and platforms align with the work, but I think that what I really aim for, more than anything, is to create the space for a person to be heard and seen, for their truth to be understood without judgement. And I really just want to find, if possible, a unique and interesting way of presenting their voice to the world. I think that is where my work begins, and there have been instances when that aligns with cultural talking points, and even more wonderful moments when that aligns with my own beliefs, but I don’t specifically seek that out.

This is your first lead role in a film or television project. Anything you’d like to say about that experience versus your work as part of an ensemble?

I was excited to learn what [playing a lead role] meant. I’d worked on a show for so long that had so many actors, but I’d never had the experience of being the central focus, the titular character, so I was fascinated to find out what it meant to go in day-in, day-out. It was a lot of work, but I learned that it was work that I can do. I always respected our crew [on Orange is the New Black], but it just elevated my respect, because you realize [the crew] is there every single day. It just helped me to understand how much work goes into the making of a story, beyond your own role in it.

Right now you’re working on Mrs. America with Cate Blanchett, playing the congresswoman and author Shirley Chisholm. Is there any connection, for you, between that character and Ms. Ford?

Shirley Chisholm was a leading lady, and hopefully Virginia Ford will be remembered the same way. These are both women who were told they could not, or should not, effect change, and they did. I think that’s a really powerful thing to be a part of.

Miss Virginia is in theaters and on demand now.