Susan Kelechi Watson Speaks With BOSSIP About “This Is Us”
One of our favorite new shows, “This Is Us” returns from mid-season hiatus tonight. BOSSIP’s Managing Editor Janeé Bolden had the opportunity to sit down with Susan Kelechi Watson (who plays Beth Pearson) just a day after the cast celebrated their three Golden Globe nominations.
Kelechi Watson told BOSSIP she enjoyed her experience, despite not winning:
I had a lot of fun at the Golden Globes. There’s that thing of like, you’re excited because you’re with your cast and the people and you’re people watching and you’re dress watching and it’s like “oh this is the room that I saw on TV.” Then you get excited like we could possibly win and then you don’t win and it’s like ok let’s go to the bar and then you come back and you’re like and this is still fun. WE were just so happy to be there and have the opportunity. It felt like a big dream. The room was so warm. People kept coming up and telling us how much they enjoy the show. I had some really great moments with some people I admire.
She also addressed the controversy over ‘Hidden Figures’ being called ‘Hidden Fences,’ saying:
Sometimes I could feel like it’s actually a flub, and sometimes I think it’s because ‘Fences’ is in the room and then there are times when it’s really on people to be really clear and sure. I did notice that that was said wrong and I thought to myself, “Is everything a fence?” We do have to take time and honor people’s work. People have earned a spot in the room and they should take the time to honor that.
And while some folks clearly have some catching up to do when it comes to respecting actors of color, Kelechi Watson says she’s proud to be part of a show that reflects the diversity of the real world:
“It’s so funny, I break it down like this. You have Rebecca and Jack, played by Mandy Moore and Milo Ventigmilia, and then Kevin, Kate and Randall are one family. So our children’s aunt, uncle and grandparents are white. Then Rebecca is remarried to Miguel, so they also have a Latino grandfather, a black grandfather, black parents. To see all that build and how that happens and how true to life that is and how that happens in our age — I’m proud of that. I look around the set like the gang is all here.”
With so many different episodes full of very different surprises, we had to ask the actress which was her favorite. After a moment of reflection she told us the mid-season finale hit home for her.
“I think it was the Christmas episode,” Kelechi Watson told BOSSIP. “Glenn, who is one of our executive producers wrote that, and it feels like it was written like a book, to me. It was beautifully written, it was like there were chapters. There was Rebecca and Jack’s chapter, then William’s chapter, then Kevin, then Kate and then ours and it culminated at the end with everyone together. It was well crafted the way it builds all the way through. I really loved it.”
That wasn’t the only memorable episode for Kelechi Watson though!
“The most fun one to do was when I got to be high with William,” Susan Kelechi told BOSSIP. “Yeah, the adult brownies were good.”
While she couldn’t offer up any spoilers, Kelechi says this second half of the first season will deal with her father in-law’s deteriorating health and the impact of her expanding household.
“This Is Us” airs tonight at 10pm EST/9 CST on NBC.
More photos from the press dinner below: