EXCLUSIVE | 'Sistas' actor Chido Nwokocha calls Gary a 'multilayered' man, reveals Season 2 will be quite the ride
'Sistas' is a series created by showrunner Tyler Perry and follows a group of single Black women with different backgrounds who bond over the fact that they are all single. As they navigate their lives with each other as crutches, it makes for not only a dramatic but interesting series to follow. Besides the incredible actresses that play those roles, fans have also invested in Gary Marshall Borders, a wealthy CEO of a Fortune 500 company. In an exclusive interview with MEA WorldWide (MEAWW), Chido Nwokocha who plays Gary holds on to spoilers as he speaks on his character, good times with his castmates and what fans can expect from Season 2.
Explaining Gary, Nwokocha said that his character isn't really straightforward. "There's a lot of layers," he adds. The actor, who has garnered a huge fan base said it was a lot of fun to execute a character that "the audience really can't figure out right away." He further explains that, "I think he has a lot of qualities that, make you like him, but then a lot of qualities that kind of have you on the fence about him. I just think getting to dive into a character like this, who is trying to balance, obviously his love for other women and not going about the right way of leaving his wife makes it a lot of fun for myself to play out for the character. And then just for the audience to watch."
When we asked Nwokocha, who has played many different characters so far, if he considered Gary a favorite role, he said, "Yeah, he's definitely the most interesting role." "I've stayed a little longer, and had a lot more time to dive into this character - it's a lot of fun to play," said the actor. "Then just to kind of enjoy the fan's response to him [Gary]... I'm very active on Twitter when the show is on, so I get to just kind of interact with the fans, and it's exciting the back and forth with them."
As most of you already know, Nwokocha used to be a football player, and so we wondered what got the handsome player to pursue acting - a career he's very skilled at. Explaining that acting is something he's always wanted to do, Nwokocha said that while he was passionate about football and was able to play at the collegiate level, he decided to move on to his second passion, acting, when a career in football did not work out. "It was a lot of fun, but I think just at the end, I was like, okay, after this wasn't working out, I'm going to just pursue my passion, which was acting. And I just kind of did my research, took some classes and just took those next steps to get down here to LA and hit the ground running," he said.
As the United States currently faces the social and apt voice that is the Black Lives Matter movement, we asked Nwokocha how it was like to be part of a show like 'Sistas' that empowers Black actors and actresses. He explained that it was exciting to be part of a show that continues to move the industry forward with this in mind. "We're getting an opportunity right now to see a lot of new faces come and show what we can do. And I know that's going to inspire others, just seeing these actors, who you probably didn't know before getting a chance to kind of rise to the spotlight," he said. "I think it's very inspiring. You're seeing a lot of new faces, and with more content that's being written out there for Black actors and actresses, I think that more people will continue to pursue the dream and know it's possible."
While he couldn't (obviously) tease too much for the upcoming Season 2 of 'Sistas' to avoid spoilers, Nwokocha did say that we're "in for a ride." "I think Gary goes through a kind of an interesting transition, that I'm sure the viewers are gonna enjoy following along. It's a rollercoaster, I'll just put it that way," he said.
The actor also revealed that working with his castmates was immense fun, explaining that they are all very close and get along very well. He added that one of the fun times is when "we all get a chance to work out together, in our downtime" explaining that most of the cast members are "pretty, fairly active." "We get a change to lounge around in our downtime, and just do some group workouts - that was some cool moments there. Just hanging out with the cast," he said.
'Sistas' Season 2 will premiere on BET Her on Wednesday, October 14, at 9/8c.