“Amara is now the school’s president.
Damon has doubts about leaving the campus he calls home.
Simone is struggling to work her way up to the top of the tennis team with Tootie in charge.
We grew up in the South, so we all enjoyed watching it, but I knew of it.
Then I got really overwhelmed, so I stopped looking into it.
[Laughs]
The two series' storylines intertwine a bit, but they’re also their own stories.
Was there any inspiration that you pulled from the original series while building Keisha?
I venture to do what I think would be the most fun as the character.
Afterward, I was like, “Okay.
Luckily, I understood the tone whenever I did it, and I didn’t overthink that.
Those actresses, both Greta [Onieogou] and Sam [Logan], are incredible.
You’d make her your own.
That’s where the fun is.
Do you feel like you’ve pulled from any of your own personal experiences while playing her?
I’ve pulled from quite a few.
It was a big thing that happened to me when I turned 21 when I lost my dad.
There’s a lot.
Even this last episode, watching her audition for Dr. Pace …
I dropped out because I caved under the pressure.
That’s not exactly how Keisha has been raised to understand the world.
That was really cool.
That overlap in life this season was very wild to explore as well …
I feel very lucky.
That’s a good question.
On that backdoor pilot, I tried to ask as many questions to the original cast as possible.
I asked him what the biggest difference of theater and screen were.
His point of wisdom was: “It’s not smaller.
It’s just more specific.”
That was cool to hear.
I was like, “That’s a cool little technique thing that I didn’t know about.
Good to know.”
She’s been a consistent point of support for me throughout this process.
I was like, “How did you adjust?”
He moved out here for “All American,” and I moved out here for “Homecoming.”
I was like, “What was that adjustment like in this world?”
I’ve been doing that.
I keep my college friends very close to me.
The experience on the show has been amazing.
[I’m] adjusting to being in a new city that has very different values from Chicago.
It’s been a little hard.
Does being on each of the show’s sets feel any different?
“All American,” since they’re in Season 5, they are a well-oiled machine.
The set just flows.
They have bits that they’ve established in Season 1.
Now we are over here being like, “Okay, we’re in Season 2.
What fun things can we establish on our own and make this world our own?”
It’s not like we don’t get to interact outside of that crossover episode.
Nkechi’s created an incredible team on both sets.
It feels like one big universe, which is really special.
The end of Season 1 was surprising Bringston being bought by a PWI.
That was crazy and incredibly topical.
But that one was a big one.
Whenever we got the script, I was like, “Oh, my God.
Is the school shutting down?
Are we going into another season?
Will we have a home?”
Not only was it like, “Will the students have a home?”
It’s like, “Will we have a home?”
Because there’s always the conversations of renewal.
Luckily, people seem to enjoy our show, so we’ve gotten to come back to it.
Her feelings about fan-favorite relationships
Who do you think is better for Damon: Thea or Simone?
I can’t even.
I can’t, because I know the second that I do, fans will be on me.
They are very serious about these ships.
I’m a big fan of the mean girl that has a backstory.
Thea is such a fascinating character because she’s not mean just to be mean.
She has a lot of history in her life that’s caused her to be shelled off.
But then I love the juicy messiness of Damon and Simone.
They’re so messy.
Jordan, the whole fight?
It’s messy, and I love messy.
It’s an even split.
it’s possible for you to see them supporting each other in their pursuits of their dreams.
That level of support is not only with their friends they’re very there for each other.
Do you know anything about a potential Season 3?
I have no clue.
You know what I know, I’m sure.
We’re still filming Season 2 right now.
We’re on Episode 8 currently.
We’re wrapping that one up [this week], so we’ll see.
We just started airing.
Hopefully, we find out soon.
We’ll all be happy to come back and play with these characters again, so fingers crossed.
Do you know what happens at the end of Season 2 yet?
Have you gotten those scripts?
Isn’t that cool?
It’s kind of cool.
That’s exciting that you get to live it out as your character does.
It seems like such a powerful way to dive into a character.
It’s different, because I’m from theater.
It’s been really exciting.
What are your favorite things that you gravitate towards?
I like things that are real.
I like things that are based [on] my actual experiences.
My family’s really cool.
My brothers are incredible, and my parents are really incredible people.
I like writing about the people that I admire.
New episodes of “All American: Homecoming” air Monday nights on The CW.
This interview has been edited for clarity.
