‘Getting On’ gave Nash first chance to perform drama
Audiences first got to know Niecy Nash as a comedic actress on shows like “Reno 911.” But the short-lived HBO series “Getting On,” which mixed comedy with plenty of drama, gave Nash a chance to show off another side of her acting skills — something that she’s since put on display in the TNT comedic drama “Claws” and the Netflix limited series “When They See Us.”
“I spent a lot of time in my career being told that I could only do one thing,” Nash told Variety‘s “My Favorite Episode” podcast. “You do broad comedy, that’s your lane. And I’m like, no, I can do something else.
“When I finally got the opportunity, this was the first time to step into those waters. Tonally, it was so different for me. Visually, (it) was very different. I do a lot of TV where I have on five packs of hair, three pairs of eyelashes and 45 Spanx, but this was a very stripped-down character.”
Nash chose the premiere episode of “Getting On,” titled “Born on the Fourth of July,” as her favorite ever. The episode introduces DiDi Ortley (Nash) on her first day as a nurse at the Billy Barnes Extended Care Unit.
“People who can make you laugh can make you cry,” Nash said. “It’s not the other way around.
“When you look at the work that Robin Williams did, and Jim Carrey and some of the people who we consider to be our comedy greats, like Carol Burnett — when they took that turn and did drama, everybody was like, ‘Wait a minute!’ It took a while, but I’m very blessed to be able to thread the needle.”
As the episode opens, DiDi must learn the ropes from fellow nurse Dawn Forchette (Alex Borstein) — while also encountering the eccentric Dr. Jenna James (Laurie Metcalf ) and her bizarre fecal study.
“Getting On,” which ran from 2013 to 2015, earned Nash two Emmy nominations for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series. She said the show was a game-changer.
“There wasn’t a place on television for actors and actresses of a certain age to still get work,” she said. “Laurie, Alex and myself are all women of a certain age, and then you have women and men significantly older than us that could still come and get a great guest star part.”
After “Getting On,” Nash’s phone began ringing with different kinds of opportunities. Ava DuVernay cast her in “Selma” after seeing her on the show, and it also led to a guest arc for Nash on “The Mindy Project” and the lead role on “Claws.”
“The thing I love about (‘Claws’) the most is watching women do things that were typically reserved for men,” Nash said. “You would not be surprised to see men selling drugs for the Dixie mafia or committing crimes for their families, a la Tony Soprano or ‘Breaking Bad.’ Now you get to see women who … boss up.”
As for “When They See Us,” Nash lauded DuVernay for providing a crisis counseling number during production, and she remains moved by her work on the miniseries and its depiction of the five young men who were wrongfully convicted. Nash plays Delores Wise, the mother of Corey Wise, one of the men who was exonerated in the “Central Park Five” case.
“The real Corey Wise saw all four episodes,” Nash said, “and he came up to me and he said, ‘You were my mother.’ That was the best compliment I could get.”