Niecy Nash-Betts Talks ‘The Holdovers’ and ‘Scandal’ Auditions, Becoming a Queer Role Model and Why She Thinks ‘Origin’ Deserves More Awards Recognition
Marc Malkin Senior Editor, Culture and Events Niecy Nash-Betts may be the nicest person in Hollywood. In a town where getting your next role could be cutthroat, Nash-Betts actually tells her actor friends to audition for roles that she may already be reading for. “Before I was even cast in ‘Getting On’ on HBO — I had not even gone in yet — I called every actress I knew and was like, ‘This is going to be something.
Get in on this,’” Nash-Betts tells me on the latest episode of the “Just for Variety” podcast. “My daughter was like, ‘Why are you telling all these girls?
Somebody’s going to get your part,’ and I said, ’No, my part is my part. If it’s my part, it was meant to be. And if it’s not, how wonderful is it that I was a conduit for one of my friends getting a job?’ No, there’s room.
We can all get in there.” She recalls being at a gala that honored Kerry Washington. “They was showing the clips from ‘Scandal,’ and it was funny, I looked around and I saw all the actresses in there mouthing the monologue because everybody went in for it, but we still all gave her a standing ovation, but it’s like, ‘Girl, we know them lines, too,’” Nash-Betts says.
