Niecy Nash finds sisterhood on TNT’s ‘Claws,’ in Hollywood

LOS ANGELES The exquisitely painted nails are out in full force on “Claws,” but sisterhood is at the heart of TNT’s dramedy set in a Florida nail salon.

It starts with Desna, the formidable owner of the Nail Artisan of Manatee County salon who’s played to the hilt by the vivid, ever-versatile Niecy Nash (“Getting On,” ‘’The Soul Man,” ‘’Masters of Sex”).

“My character is everyone’s mother. She mothers the world,” Nash said in an interview. “It’s not about her making it for herself. It’s, ‘I want to make this happen for all of us.’”

Nash describes the series, debuting 9 p.m. EDT Sunday on TNT and at 10 p.m. EDT on Twitter, as a combination of funny, surreal and very dark moments: “I mean southside of midnight dark. Pitch-black dark.”

Her co-stars include Carrie Preston (“True Blood”), Jenn Lyon (“Justified”), Judy Reyes (“Scrubs”) and Karrueche Tran (“The Nice Guys”).

The women, or most of them, are “family, and they’ve created this situation where they can prevail together. They don’t have to do it alone,” Preston said during a panel discussion.

Nash sees a similar bond within Hollywood’s growing ranks of African-American actresses, directors and producers, among them filmmaker Ava DuVernay, director Victoria Mahoney and actress Aisha Hinds.

“We are all, to a large degree, at least my ‘tribe,’ in support of one another. We celebrate each others’ shows, we tweet about it, we post about it,” Nash said.

“I can go to an audition and see five girls I know, and three of them I called to make sure they got there,” she said. “And instead of looking at each other with an evil eye, we’re praying for each other, laughing, checking on each others’ families. That’s what makes this all the more sweeter. This sense of community is just amazing.”

But she lamented that similar opportunity for other women of colour is badly lagging.

“I’m happy to be a part of (a group) that’s celebrated now, but in the big scheme of sisterhood I’m still waiting on the other sisters,” she said.

On-screen diversity can be especially meaningful for youngsters, as Nash can attest. She was just 5 when she saw the “gorgeous” singer-actress Lola Falana on television and immediately informed her grandmother that she intended to be “black, fabulous and on TV.”