In 2012, Uzo Aduba came to Netflix a complete unknown. The role on the streamer’s Orange Is The New Black made her a star and a two-time Emmy winner. (She has since won a third Emmy for the FX limited series Mrs. America.)
In her first ongoing series since OITNB, Aduba headlines Netflix’s murder mystery The Residence which, like OITNB, mixes comedy and drama. (As Deadline reported exclusively last week, the hourlong series, originally announced as a drama, will be submitted as a comedy for Emmys.)
“It feels like a homecoming, in some ways, coming back to Netflix on a series — the only place I’ve done a series — which is so amazing,” Aduba told Deadline in a joint interview with co-star Randall Park, clips from which you can watch throughout the post. “And to come back to another show that is top notch, by my opinion anyway, that has an incredible bench of talent that are also just amazing human beings, is wonderful. It was a true joy making this show every single day, we had so much fun. We were invested in the story and in our characters.. I love playing with Randall. Every single day we got to work together, we had a blast.”
Created by Paul William Davies, The Residence is described as a screwball whodunnit set in the upstairs, downstairs, and backstairs of the White House as one wildly eccentric detective, Cordelia Cupp (Aduba) is trying to solve a murder that occurs during a disastrous State Dinner.
(L to R) Uzo Aduba as Cordelia Cupp, Giancarlo Esposito as A.B. Wynter in episode 101 of ‘The Residence’.
Jessica Brooks/Netflix
Aduba’s Cordelia shares Sherlock Holmes’ perception, noticing the smallest detail that would help her crack the case; and she also is channeling his look with her attire, capped by a cape-like jacket. Also, just like Sherlock and Watson, Cordelia has a sidekick, FBI agent Edwin Park, played by Randall Park.
“Lyn Paolo, our costume designer, did such a great job dressing everybody and costuming everyone for the show, and for Cordelia, we were looking for that cape for such a long time,” Aduba said. “We had tried on dozens of jackets; I don’t know if I’ve even tried on too many jackets in my life before. There was finally one last thing she wanted to come in; it was just the one jacket. She was really looking for that superhero cape, and when it came on, it just worked immediately. She’s such a genius and was able to put something together that had that reverence to the past detective, but also had a modern twist on it, and also met the desires of Paul, who was really looking for something singular, which was absolutely wonderful.”
The Cordelia-Edwin relationship does resemble that of Sherlock and Watson, with the duo sharing a similar dynamic.
“It was so great to watch the growth of that relationship and experience between the two of them,” Aduba said. “Edwin really pushes Cordelia to confront her own vulnerabilities, her willingness to step into a more vulnerable space and let someone in, to consider that there is an equal match in this world, and that match comes in the form of Edwin Park, played by the great Randall Park. It was such a joy.”
Coincidentally, Park stars on The Residence while also recurring at the same time as arch villain Moriarty on CBS’ drama series Watson, which is set in the Sherlock universe. From his unique vantage point, Park answers the question, Who is the better detective, Cordelia or Shelock?
“I think Cordelia. I think Cordelia is the greatest detective ever known, and I think she knows it,” he said. “But one thing that makes her a great detective is — it’s in this show — it is that ability to continue to grow, she literally curses herself out because she made a mistake. As sure as she is about her skill and talent, she admits when she’s wrong. And her relationship with Edwin Park is a form of that, her admitting that she was wrong, because she is very harsh on him at the beginning, and as the season evolves, you really see that growth for both of them.”
Part of Cordelia’s eccentricity is that she is an avid bird watcher with encyclopedic knowledge of avian species. Aduba does not share her character’s passion.
“Birding is not my thing,” she said. “I definitely have respect for the birders; shout out to birders around the world. I discovered why people do it, it’s very peaceful, very relaxing. I went and I learned from two great birders. Can I identify birds readily? Absolutely not. But I do know what one does to go back home and look in –I have a guide of all the birds in North America — to find them. I do know it’s really relaxing, and for the show, it helped me really to understand how [Cordelia] applies those skills to her cases. She looks at things from a bird’s eye view, not from an eye level view of things. She takes it all the way up to 3,000 feet, and that’s what makes her so great at her job.”
So much so that Cordelia would readily take on a new case, with Aduba and Park both hoping for a second season.
“We talk about that all the time, we would love it, in part because we had such a great time in the actual making of this show,” Park said. “But also, the characters’ dynamic is just so fun to play, and Paul is so singular in his writing style and in the way he approaches these mysteries that the opportunity to maybe travel to another country and solve another case would be pretty amazing.”
Added Aduba, “I love playing Cordelia. What I know for sure is that the adventures and the cases will never stop. There’s always going to be something in the world to solve. She has found an amazing partner and friend in Edwin Park, and I wish nothing more for them to continue solving, exploring and journeying around the world.”
