Javicia Leslie
Living On High Potential
by Jay S. Jacobs
It seems that in the last five or six years, Javicia Leslie keeps popping up all over our television sets. The first time that many of us noticed her was as the gay sister of the lead character in God Friended Me, one of the most clever shows on TV for a much too short two seasons. She has also spent five seasons as part of the ensemble cast of the popular BET serial The Family Business. She spent two seasons as the title character of Batwoman, becoming the second Batwoman when original star Ruby Rose decided to leave the show. Also in the Arrowverse, she was in several high-profile episodes of The Flash.
Now, she is trying on yet another role, as a squad room detective named Daphne in the anticipated ABC series High Potential with Kaitlin Olson, Daniel Sunjata and Judy Reyes. Daphne is a smart-but-slightly-eccentric police officer who befriends Morgan – the squad’s cleaning woman – when it turns out that her high IQ, photographic memory and amazing cognitive skills turn Morgan into a crime-fighting asset.
A week or so before High Potential was set to debut, we caught up with Leslie to discuss her new show and her career.
What was it about the High Potential script that made you want to be a part of it?
I have really been lucky in my career to get a lot of strong, protective and powerful roles. Daphne is very much in alignment with that, being a detective, being a person who wants to help people and save others. It is just very connected to, honestly, like my last five or six roles. I just felt like it was meant to be.
I've only seen the first episode of High Potential, and obviously our readers have not seen even that much. Could you just briefly give us an idea of what the show's about, without giving away any spoilers, of course.
The show follows a team of detectives. We're Major Crimes, already in our bag, doing what we do. Especially in the first episode, which kind of sets the tone for the rest of the season, we're working on a case, and we believe we have our suspect. Kaitlin Olson, who plays our lead, Morgan, she's our cleaning lady for our office. She comes in and [has] high potential intellect – which means that she has an IQ of 160 – she's able to see things and clues in the case that we weren't able to see. When we came back into the pen the next day, we noticed that she had changed who we thought was a suspect into actually being a victim. It opened up our eyes to a lot of things that we didn't catch, that she catches. For me, I'm super, super hardworking, dedicated to my job, somewhat of an overachiever. I love Morgan the moment I meet her. We really get along and that becomes a really good companionship throughout the season. We just go solve really unique cases with her help.
I was noticing even in the first episode, even though you and Morgan didn't have that much time together, you could almost see the beginnings of the fact that your character has certain little eccentricities that reminded me of Morgan and made Daphne seem like she'd be more open to Morgan's different ways than some of the other people, like, for example, Daniel Sunjata's character…
Exactly….
He's very exactly by the book. Do you see these characters growing together into a good team?
Oh, my goodness, yes. We're almost finished shooting. Just going through the episodes, it really is a journey as they become really like a family. It feels like everyone has different connections with everyone. Obviously, our team before Morgan was very close. So to bring Morgan in, it's just like an added layer. Like an added mind – and an exceptional mind – to how we solve our cases. It makes it more fun as well because what she does is so unique. I would say I'm probably the one that's a little bit more bendable, because even though I'm an overachiever, and I really do admire Karadec… which is Daniel's character… I think seeing her come in with such a unique perspective lightens me up and allows me to be able to see things differently. Throughout the season, you watch Daphne really start to catch on to the same things that Morgan's catching on [to], really quickly.
Kaitlin is best known for her comic work. Is it fun working with her? She brings a different attitude, and although the series is very dramatic in many ways, it's got a lot of funny parts too. As an actor, is that fun for you to balance those diverse tones?
So much fun. So much fun. Every time we do a new role, it gives us a new opportunity to play in a way that maybe we haven't played before. I feel like that's what this role does. It allows me to play in a way I haven't played before, with the comedy, but also still balancing the dramatic and severity of the situation, because we always want the cases to be taken seriously. There are going to be things that happen throughout the episodes that are going to be lighter and funnier, but it's very important that we've talked about as a production, as a cast, as a crew, that we want the cases to be something that we really, really take seriously.
Beyond Kaitlin, there's a terrific cast with people like Daniel, like I said, Judy Reyes, and even Taran Killam is there. What is the cast work to like to work with?
Oh, my goodness, it's so much fun. We have four detectives who we're probably in every day with each other. Then when we get our other cast members, it's just so much fun because they all are such characters. They all have such unique voices on the show. Obviously, these are some comedic geniuses that we're getting, so it's hard to take seriously sometimes. Certain people, it's always so much fun to play with them and try not to laugh during the takes. (chuckles)
What parts of Daphne are the most like you, and which parts are more difficult for you to reach as an actor?
That's a great question. I would say, the most like me is I love to lead. Daphne is a leader in her own way. I love to go ahead and take charge and get things done. Something that might be difficult for me, as Daphne… you know what's interesting? There are a lot of technicalities when you're playing a detective that I hadn't yet learned. Like how to quickly put handcuffs on and things like that. So, I would say the technicalities were more of a stretch, but they were also really fun, because it allowed me to have a new skill set that I didn't have before.
Obviously, it's fairly early in the series, and you're still getting to know the writers and everything. But are there certain almost fantasy ideas that you'd love to see Daphne be able to play out in the show as it continues?
I feel like there's always this unique perspective as not only a female cop, but a Black female cop in Los Angeles. I think that's a storyline that we can kind of dig into. I just feel like there's just this perspective that the Black community and the police are always against each other. When you do have Black people go intentionally into the police world, to me, it's brave. It's like, I'm willing to put my life on the line to show you that I will protect you as well. I feel like that's Daphne's perspective. She wants to be an example to show people I look like you and I can protect you.
Have you ever known anyone that has had very special natural skills like Morgan's cognitive abilities?
I did. There was this young man in college when I went to Hampton University. You used to be able to go up to him and say, “Okay, October 19, 1973.” He'll say, “It's a Wednesday.” He always knew the day of the week no matter what. I do know that he has a very high IQ. I don't know if it's just because he has a higher IQ, or if there is a math equation to be able to do it really quickly. But he gets it right every single time.
Beyond this show, you also just finished the fifth season of The Family Business on BET. What is it like being part of that show for so long, and working with great actors like Ernie Hudson and Valarie Pettiford?
It's so much fun. That show, we're really just a family. We're all very hands on with the project. Our opinions matter, our ideas matter, because we know our characters so inside and out, because we've been doing it for so long. We've been filming that show since 2018, I believe. so we really know our characters. Anytime we have ideas, and we take it to Carl Weber, the creator, the writer, the producer, he loves it. He's just like, “Yeah, let me add that in.” It just really makes the show super fun. It's also one of my favorite shows, because it is somewhat of a melodrama. It is somewhat like a soap opera type of feel. So you can go so extreme, and it's never too extreme. I get to try things that in my more grounded shows, I don't really get a chance to try. But in this show, we're allowed to take it far and be dramatic and things like that. It makes it a lot of fun right now.
The fifth season just ended literally weeks ago. Any idea whether there will be a sixth season, or when you'll know?
I am pretty sure that it's going to get a sixth season. That's such a well-loved show, especially on that network. Then when it went to Netflix, it truly went viral. So, I think the show is definitely going to get a sixth season. I don't know when yet, but I'm super excited for it.
You've been very busy with series work in recent years. Beyond those two, you also were the second Batwoman in that series when you took over for Ruby Rose. What was it like to take over an established series and remake it into your own character’s image?
I felt like I was so supported by our showrunner, Caroline Dries, because she knew that when she brought me on, she wanted to change everything. So as far as the storylines are concerned, it never felt hard to get into it. It was more so we were hoping that we could win the fans over, because if you already have a lead cast all of the sudden [Kate Kane], in the second season ain't [Kate Kane] anymore. You're going to get startled. You're going to be uncomfortable. But I had an amazing cast that was the same cast from the first season, so you still had your favorites. Then I also had Caroline, who did a great job supporting me, supporting what this meant to the world, what it meant to certain communities, making sure that the storyline supported that. By season three, we were in our bag. We got to bring in really fun characters from the Gotham world, from the Batman world. I'm a huge Batman fan, so for me, I was like a kid in Disneyland. It was so much fun.
Speaking of superheroes and villains, you were also in the final season of The Flash. Is it fun being part of that kind of universe? And does it surprise you that you've done so much work in that genre recently?
I think that I didn't realize how much that meant to like superhero fans. When you're working, you're in Vancouver, you’re grinding. You're not really paying attention to a lot of things. A lot of times you shoot episodes months before they come out, so you're just in it. That show, even though I think I did like all together like a four-episode arc for that season, and then I did a few episodes the prior season. It's like, you can do one episode of that show, and everyone will remember you because of how big and how strong and how powerful that fan base is. I love that I got to play in that world, because I love the community of supporters in that world.
I've got to say one of my favorite series of recent years was God Friended Me, and I was really disappointed that that only got two seasons. What was it like to be part of that show?
That show's so special to me. My cast for that show, we’re all so, so close. It was many of our first full series regular roles. I just felt like we were really lucky. A great cast, great directors, great producers, great writers and showrunners – Steven [Lilien] and Bryan [Wynbrandt] were absolutely amazing. They picked the five of us up from LA, they put us in New York. I knew no one. It was just like we all were all there for each other. I got to experience New York. I got to work in New York. I had the chance to work with so many great actors that are based in New York who just came in as guest stars. Then I had Joe Morton playing my father, which was like theater boot camp. That show really was the best way to start my career. I'm very grateful for it.
Beyond your acting, you've also been very involved with philanthropy, specifically founding the Chandler Foundation. Tell me a bit about the Foundation, how you got involved, and what exactly it does.
I really wanted to make sure that I could give back to my community in a way that I felt I was missing when I was younger. I'm from Prince George's County, Maryland, and when it came to sports equipment, if you weren't at a private school, if you're at a public school, you weren't really getting the best equipment, and books, and things like that. A lot of times they had been at the school for years and years. One of the things that I really wanted to do was be able to provide that equipment for schools in the area that I live in, which is in Los Angeles. I did that. I donated basketballs, footballs, golf sets, things like that, so that these children get a chance to try any and everything. It's not just the same things all the time. Tennis rackets, tennis balls, just I wanted them to have it all there. That way they can at least have a chance to try. Then I really decided after that, okay, I want to go back home and do something for the kids in my neighborhood. So I did a back-to-school drive where I gave out stuffed backpacks that had all of the beginning things that they need; pencils, pens, composition books, stuff like that. And then free haircuts and free braiding. I also invited the local police department to come out so that this is another way that the community can interact with the local police officers and really start to create a real relationship in connection with them. So for me, it's just more so getting everyone out, getting everyone involved, and giving everyone the opportunity to start the school year with everything they needed.
Are there any other causes that are very special to you, and do you feel that your visibility as an actor can help you to promote them?
Yeah, definitely. Anyone that knows me knows like pets and animals are my heart, specifically dogs. So, like my dog I adopted and then for a while I worked with that adoption agency, just helping to promote them and helping to increase awareness when it comes to adopting dogs versus buying them from breeders. Because obviously, there's a lot of dogs that are overpopulated and that need homes. They just tear up my heart so much. I follow an Instagram site called The Dodo and literally it's just videos of dogs being saved and re-homed. That's something I feel very, very close to.
What are some things that people would be surprised to find out about you?
I'm very open. I don't know that especially [with] any of my true fans, I don't think that there would be many surprises. Yeah, no, I don't know if anything's like a surprise at this point. With social media, everything is so out there.
If you could go into the time force, so to speak, and go into the future and look back at your body of work as an actor, how would you like people to see the work that you've done?
I want them to see roles that have strength, and still vulnerability. That's still very important to me. I want you to still see a woman that has flaws, characters that have flaws, characters that we may toss away and say are damaged, but when you look deeper… I played a character in a web show called “Nine Months After,” and she wasn't perfect at all. She had some very toxic ways, but to me, it was just very real and relatable. I love those type of characters, so I definitely want people to see that from my body of work. But I also really, really resonate with strength and power. Hopefully soon, I'll get into more action films. I know my last action film [Double Life] did great, so I think that's a world that I truly resonate with and love. So I want them to look at my body of work and see a lot of strong, crime fighting, ass kicking roles as well.
Are there any misconceptions out there that you'd like to clear up?
Oh, great question. Everyone keeps thinking I play Catwoman and not Batwoman. (laughs)
Copyright ©2024 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: September 23, 2024.
Photos 1 © 2024 Sarah Krick. Courtesy of Strategic Public Relations. All rights reserved.
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