Adam Patla
Erika Alexander is no stranger to the comedy world, making her mark with a stint on The Cosby Show and as Maxine Shaw on the hit series Living Single. But Alexander is tackling a whole new beast with The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins, a sports mockumentary series from Robert Carlock and Sam Means of 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt fame.
“I had not done it, I wanted to do it, and the best in the business were asking me to do it,” she says. “Sorry, you do it. You say, ‘The universe heard your call, thank you for that.’ It doesn’t always line up that and I couldn’t be happier.”
The series tells the story of Reggie Dinkins (Tracy Morgan), a disgraced NFL player trying to mount a comeback by commissioning a documentary by an equally disgraced filmmaker (Daniel Radcliffe). Alexander plays Reggie’s ex-wife and current manager, Monica, who is just trying to keep everything together amid a consistently chaotic ensemble.
“It’s not easy,” Alexander says in regards to being the grounding presence of the series. “In this case, everything that glitters does shine. You have really great comedy masterclass people doing things that are ridiculously funny in a chaotic way and I’m also kind of the straightest man they’ve got. I play the straight person. And that’s not where I usually live…. I think it came down to me, once I got on set and realized it was going to be harder than I thought because part of me had tuned my instrument to that. I was trying to tune it in a different way and I didn’t feel as strong sometimes. Are these things landing? What am I really doing here? Am I needed? Am I the right person? I’m not even kidding you. And yet, I was like ‘You asked for this so you’re going to have to live in that discomfort.'”
That’s not to say Monica isn’t also a funny force. Alexander masterfully elicits laughter with a mere reaction, inviting the audience to acknowledge how ridiculous everything is and simultaneously playing into the ridiculousness herself. One episode in particular involves Monica trying to get into the dating scene. She tries hitting on a man at a local wine bar who turns out to be dead, potentially due to the wine, resulting in a panicked Monica to spit out her drink amid pandemonium.
“That’s Robert Carlock and Sam Means,” she says. “They were like, ‘Erika, this time let it gurgle out, just open your mouth.’ And I was like ‘Really?’ So I had to time it…. And it’s hilarious! But they knew that. They knew to ask for those different takes.”
Alexander also gets the chance to tap into broader comedic sensibilities with Monica which she describes as a “relief” to be able to do.
“Nobody wants to be the stick in the mud, nobody wants to be the mother to everyone,” she elaborates. “As a Black woman and a woman [in general] I don’t wanna be the person who’s always comforting people or saying it’s gonna be alright or those types of things. She’s as messed up as they are. She’s just hiding it better. And that’s interesting!”
Another interesting facet that Alexander wonderfully pulls forward is the relationship between Monica and Reggie. Despite their history and the shenanigans Reggie pulls, the two still share a lot of love and respect for each other. In Alexander’s opinion, this makes for a far more dynamic relationship to play.
“The differences of their opinion is more interesting than some of the things like, ‘You did this, you were a bad husband’ as opposed to ‘They grew apart, there were too many things under the bridge and yet they love each other and she represents him as a sports manager agent and they’ve got a child,'” she explains. “That already is enough. But she also accepted him. She’s tired of a lot of the nonsense, no doubt. She’s trying to control things she can’t control. And he loves her. He says in the pilot, ‘I wouldn’t have these things without you.’ You remember the sacrifices that she made but also later on he tells the interviewer that all of this is because of this woman. That’s beautiful. he acknowledges her. I think you go where you’re invited and she’s invited into his space and into his heart.”
Alexander’s career spans forty years and myriad projects in various genres and mediums. Her resume highlights a performer who is not bound to boxes and is unafraid of a challenge. Yet, she still has projects to check off her wishlist.
“You know there’s certain genres I’d like to do,” she says. “Obviously I’d love to do fantasy. I would love to do science fiction genres. I’ve been in ensembles but I’d like to be the lead in a comedy, in a romantic comedy. I’d love to play a real life person, I don’t know who exactly, but it would be great to do that. I always said I wanted to be the Pink Panther because it needs to physical comedy.”
Luckily for fans, they will get to witness more of Alexander’s comedic prowess on the recently announced Season 2 of Reggie Dinkins. While she doesn’t know what the second season entails yet, Alexander does have some hopes for Monica.
“What I’d like to see for her is more exploration on how, again, messy it can be that those lines get crossed,” she says. “That she’s trying to be mother, ex-wife, all those things, and how exhausting it can be. How can she get confused. It could be great for her to realize she’s saying the wrong thing to the wrong people…. I’d like more physical comedy.”
Wherever The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins takes Monica next season, one thing is certain. Erika Alexander is going to meet the moment with comedic precision and endless empathy as she has done throughout the entirety of her trailblazing career.
Make sure you check out Erika on The Fall and Rise of Reggie Dinkins. You can watch the entire first season on Peacock now! Watch our entire interview with Erika below!
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