ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to Lady in the Lake stars Byron Bowers, Josiah Cross, and Y’lan Noel about the Apple TV+ drama. The trio discussed their characters and getting to work with stars Natalie Portman and Moses Ingram. It is now streaming on Apple TV+.
“When the disappearance of a young girl grips the city of Baltimore on Thanksgiving 1966, the lives of two women converge on a fatal collision course. Maddie Schwartz (Natalie Portman) is a Jewish housewife seeking to shed a secret past and reinvent herself as an investigative journalist, and Cleo Johnson (Moses Ingram) is a mother navigating the political underbelly of Black Baltimore while struggling to provide for her family. Their disparate lives seem parallel at first, but when Maddie becomes fixated on Cleo’s mystifying death, a chasm opens that puts everyone around them in danger,” says the synopsis.
Tyler Treese: Byron, as a comedian yourself, what was most fulfilling about getting to play this really juicy, dramatic role with Slappy, but you also get to perform stand-up in Lady in the Lake? That seems perfect.
Byron Bowers: Shout out to Alma Har’el for making that that happen and creating this character for me. Such a genius to take a portion of what life is like for real, like what most comedians really go through, even during that time period when comedians were finding their own voices and didn’t want to tell street jokes no more, and how they would not get work because of that, you know? As a real comedian, I experienced that even in my own career. So we just was able to blend what was happening now and what was going on then in a major way because those comedians that broke through really shaped the work that I do now. So it was amazing to do that, you know?
Did you write some of the stand-up jokes in Lady in the Lake, or was that all in the script?
Bowers: Yeah, I [was] consulting producer on the show, so I had my hand in tailoring some of the jokes as well as some of the authenticity of the Black landscape and the story. So, yeah, some of the sales stuff and the Black wealth, I was able to have my hand in that also.
Josiah, you’ve got some fantastic scenes with Moses Ingram, who is a real powerhouse in this show. What stood out about her as a scene partner, especially in these scenes where Reggie’s in over his head a bit?
Josiah Cross: Yeah, I think you just said it. Her power was just infectious almost. As your scene partner, it kind of like implores you to rise to the occasion of what the scene calls for. In a lot of our contentious scenes together, we’re kind of like bringing out the best in each other. I think in any great scene partner, that’s what you hope for, wish for, and want. Moses embodies all that.
Y’lan, you play Officer Platt. What I love about your character is he bridges both cases of Lady in the Lake, these two different sides. He’s this great connective tissue. What did you like most about his use in the narrative to really bring these two different stories together?
Y’lan Noel: Like you said, I liked the fact that he was the connective tissue. I’m a cop trying to become a detective, and a part of doing that is proving yourself to be good at your job. So, because we are in a murder mystery and all of those, the elements that come with that naturally, an aspiring detective is going to be the glue that sort of keeps it together. So I got to play with Natalie Portman and then, of course, with the powerhouse he just talked about, Moses Ingram. So, I feel like I’m a lucky guy.
Thanks to Byron Bowers, Josiah Cross, and Y’lan Noel for speaking about Lady in the Lake.
