From collegiate athlete to sitcom star, Nyambi Nyambi’s career has ebbed and flowed through a variety of genres, mediums, and roles, whether it was starring alongside Melissa McCarthy and Billy Gardell in Mike & Molly or joining the ensemble cast of acclaimed drama The Good Fight to returning to his sitcom roots in season two of NBC’s reboot of Night Court, streaming now on Peacock.
“With every role that I’ve played, I’ve learned something. With Mike & Molly, I learned to let go of the homework,” he laughed. “No matter what, I’m going to put in a lot of work, but being able to let that go and being open and malleable… the [character] can go in many different directions. That’s what humans do.”
He went on to share that his role on Titans was his first straight offer, a goal that many actors hope to achieve: no longer having to audition and allowing their past work to speak for itself. “I had about a month and a half with the role before filming, and to have that time to find who this person is and develop a process was great. Coupling that with letting go of the work, I was able to come in with this dynamic but still be open to listening, receiving, and playing. I was able to play in such a way that I was proud of.”
Joining the cast of Night Court, Nyambi shared he had to “hit the ground running. I was joining a cast that was already a well-oiled machine. Jumping in right away and trying to create who this guy is over these eleven episodes we’ve shot so far has been so fun.” He also revealed that a part of his process is assigning a particular animal to each of his characters to play off of their energy, physicality, and demeanor. To his Mike & Molly character Samuel, he assigned a lion, Jay on The Good Fight is an octopus, and Wyatt on Night Court “he’s a cross between a red fox and a red-throated hummingbird, that’s been fun to find that and discover those things based off of what they’ve written.”
During the fan Q&A segment of the podcast, Nyambi spoke about how while The Good Fight had some storylines that may have seemed outlandish, they were all grounded in reality and truth, giving credit to series creators Robert & Michelle King’s “unbelievable ability to predict what is going to happen. They had a bitcoin episode on The Good Wife and that became a huge thing later on. There was a prediction as far as the 2020 election, everything they predicted happened. It’s amazing how in touch they are with everything in the present and how it’s going to affect the future.”
Nyambi also spoke on his initial struggle in finding representation, a step many actors find a challenge when starting out their careers. “I had a situation where Frank Langella tried to hook me up with his agent because he was one of my teachers at Stella Adler and he didn’t get it, even after seeing me in [different roles], he still didn’t get it,” he laughed. “I knew when I made the decision to be an actor that I would be acting when I’m 90. Anything that happened was going to be a blip in this long journey. The three years of grad school were going to be a blip in the career that I created for myself. Everyone’s like ‘I gotta be in New York, I gotta be in LA’ and I thought, ‘I gotta be in great plays and do things that challenge me and help me grow as an actor’.”
He also made sure to advise actors to seek mentorship from older actors who have been in their shoes before and to always believe in themselves. “I always say I have a thousand mentors because I ask a thousand people different questions. The number one thing is to believe in yourself, believe in your artistry and in what you bring to the table, and eventually somebody will get it. All it takes is one,” he said, then correcting himself. “Actually two. The first one is you and the second is somebody else.”
You can see Nyambi Nyambi in The Good Fight streaming on Paramount+ and in season 2 of Night Court streaming on Peacock.
