Toks Olagundoye on “The Neighbors” – EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW
By Abbie Bernstein
In ABC’s THE NEIGHBORS, created by Dan Fogelman, the fairly average Weaver family, headed up by mom Debbie (Jami Gertz) and dad Marty (Lenny Venito), move to a nice new house in a suburban cul-de-sac – that turns out to be entirely inhabited by aliens from the planet Zabvron. The Weavers’ next-door neighbors are Larry Bird, played by Simon Templeman, his wife Jackie Joyner-Kersee, plays by Toks Olagundoye, and their offspring Reggie Jackson (Tim Jo) and Dick Butkus (Ian Patrick) – the Zabvronians are big on naming themselves after Earth sports stars. Jackie is eager to learn all about Earth life from their new friends, while Larry goes back and forth between enthusiastic curiosity and Zabvronian conservatism.
Olagundoye – her first name rhymes with “coax” and her last name rhymes with “roll-a-moon-toy” – is at an afternoon party hosted by ABC for the NEIGHBORS cast and creative staff and the press.
Asked if she’s ever played a character who was a stranger in a strange land prior to portraying Jackie, Olagundoye laughs. “I have been somebody who was a stranger in a strange land many times.” Although Olagundoye’s voice, both on the show and in real life, sounds extremely British, she explains, “I’m from Nigeria, born and raised. We lived in England when I was three and four, then went back to Nigeria, where I went to the American school, and then I went back to school in England when I was fourteen for high school – I went to boarding school.”
Olagundoye says came to the U.S. “For university. I was seventeen years old and I went to Smith in western Massachusetts, and I stayed.” After college, Olagundoye adds, “I moved to New York, I lived in New York for twelve years before I came out to Los Angeles, and I did theatre in New York, I did LAW & ORDER and UGLY BETTY and all the stuff that was over there, and then things got kind of difficult over there work-wise for me, so I decided Los Angeles was the final thing I could try.”
When did Olagundoye decide she wanted to become a performer? She says, “I think subconsciously, I always wanted to be an actress, because I was always really taken in by films. I didn’t start acting until I was in high school, and that was really just a hobby. I wanted to be some sort of doctor until I applied to university, and then at that point, I decided I didn’t want to do the rotations, so I was pre-law, and that lasted about a semester, and I realized that I couldn’t give up acting, I couldn’t live without it. I love it, it makes me happy, I’m fulfilled by it, I feel the most myself when I’m doing it. So I think I really solidly realized I wanted to do it in university.”
Has being from somewhere else – albeit much nearer than Zabvron – helped Olagundoye play the fish-out-of-water aspect of Jackie? “Yeah. I mean, I suppose I have, even if it’s just subconsciously. There have been definitely some situations that they’ve written for us that I relate to.”
Given how Jackie and Larry sometimes squabble, it’s tempting to ask whether Olagundoye has ever had a deeply annoying traveling companion on any of her journeys. “Probably,” Olagundoye says. “I’m not going to cop to it, but probably.”
However, Olagundoye is happy to cop to adoring her co-star Templeman. “Oh, my God, Simon’s amazing. He’s generous and he’s very observant. He’s nothing like Larry. He’s very, very thoughtful and very kind and always very well-prepared, knows what he’s doing, comes up with the most amazing things, and we work off each other really well. I’m having the time of my life with him.”
As for playing a parent, Olagundoye says, “It’s lovely, because I don’t have kids. I would love to have kids and I’m having a good time with the other kids as well – Max [Charles, who plays Max Weaver], Isabella [Cramp, who plays Abby Weaver], all of them, it’s nice to have them on set, because it’s like I’ve got kids for a little while. They’re the most lovely little ones, they really are. They’re very well-behaved and very smart – it’s nice to have them around.”
Jackie does some things that make sense to her, but seem pretty unusual from an Earthling’s point of view. What kind of mindset does Olagundoye use for these scenes – does she, for instance, base her performance on any uncommon acquaintances? “No,” she replies, “I do it the way that I would do it. I do it either the way that I would do it, or the way that my mum would do it, because my mum’s a little bit odd. I’m sure subconsciously I draw things in from people over the years, but I always try to figure out, ‘What is the weirdest way I would do this?’ and that’s usually where I go with it.”
Over the course of THE NEIGHBORS, Jackie has made an effort to fit into the working world. It hasn’t quite taken hold yet, but if and when Jackie does get a job, what sort of job does Olagundoye think her Zabvronian character should have? “I think that Jackie should be running an office somewhere. She’d run an office very well. Well, no, she gets some stuff wrong – but she would try to run an office very, very well,” Olagundoye laughs. “She’s very efficient, she learns quickly and she wants everyone to happy.”
Does Olagundoye have a favorite scene or episode so far? “Oh, my God, I honestly don’t,” she says. “I have so much fun with each and every episode, I couldn’t pick one, I really couldn’t. We have such a good time and they give us so many different, wonderful things to work on and chew on and get through that every episode is special to me in its own way.”
In addition to THE NEIGHBORS, Olagundoye reveals she has several other projects just completed and several more in various stages of post-production. “I do have a couple of indie films in the works. One was released [in December] called DEMOCRACY AT WORK – I believe it’s been sent into festivals – and then there’s another one called SO LONG AS I HAD YOU, which is a short film. There are a couple of Web series that are going to be released soon that I’m in. So little things on the horizon.”
Coming from the world of theatre and hour-long drama, one might suppose that half-hour television comedy took some adjustment on Olagundoye’s part, but she says that isn’t the case. “Not at all. I’ve always wanted to be on [a half-hour comedy]. Always. They’re some of my favorite shows in this world – I lived on FRIENDS for years and years and years, and I really couldn’t be happier. There have been some dramas that I’ve been up for, one-hour dramas that at the time, I was very upset I didn’t get, and now I’m beside myself with joy that I didn’t get them, because there is no job I think that’s better than this one for me.”
by Abbie Bernstein
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Abbie Bernstein is an entertainment journalist, fiction author and filmmaker.
