Niecy Nash, if you’re not booked, Alex Newell has a gig for you. The star of “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist” says he wants the Emmy-winner to play the mom of his character Mo on the NBC series. And if Nash can’t sing, well, they’ll figure it out. That was just one topic of conversation when Newell joined the Four Quadrant podcast in an episode taped on June 11, 2020, when, frankly, there were more pressing matters.
READ MORE: Jane Levy on taking the mic in “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”
“When George [Floyd] was murdered it was kind of surreal and shocking but not at all at the same time,” Newell says. “Growing up black in America is something, personally, that my mom taught me without teaching me if that makes any sense? It’s always been in the back of my mind that I am black and I do have to have precautionaries about how I act, how I talk, how I interact with other people. And seeing this happen yet again was kind of, it’s such a tragic thing, but at the same time, everyone has nothing but time to reflect on it right now because we’re all stuck inside. And it gives me so much hope that we can change for a better tomorrow because all we can do is have this conversation.”
There were non-consequential topics, however, and “Zoey’s” is a major bright spot in Newell’s increasingly impressive career. As Mo, he plays the neighbor of Zoey (Jane Levy), an SF tech director whose life gets thrown for a loop when she learns she has the power to hear (and see) the “heart songs” of people around her. For much of the first season, Mo is the only person Jane shares this secret with and that proximity means Newell has a lot of chances to sing on the show.
Newell is a veteran of “Glee,” starred on Broadway in “Once on This Island,” and has appeared on numerous tracks including the no. 1 dance club hit “Kill the Lights,” among others.
It was a busy time for Newell before COVID hit. He blew the roof off the Independent Spirit Awards singing “Laura Dern,” was a guest on “RuPaul’s Secret Celebrity Drag Race” and released two new singles. Overall, we touched on all those subjects and did a deep dive into the fantastic final musical sequence of “Zoey’s” first season.
Join the conversation with Alex in the Soundcloud embed below or on iTunes. If you do listen on iTunes please rate, subscribe and share it with your friends!
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