Dominique Fishbackdidnt mean to scare you.
Despite playing a murderer on Prime VideosSwarm, Fishback swears her intentions were pure.
Watch on Deadline
DOMINIQUE FISHBACK: Yeah, I was 15.
Dominique Fishback in ‘Swarm.‘Prime Video
I have chills just thinking about it, but it wasnt daunting.
And Id be like, Yeah.
Shes like, Thats really good.
Dominique Fishback inSwarm.Prime Video
Eventually, the director Stephen DiMenna asked me to get up there and do the same thing.
So, I wrote one for my thesis to graduate from college calledSubverted.
DEADLINE: It deals with the struggles of Black identity, right?
And I was so mad.
And I realized that a lot of people from my neighborhood dont get to go to a private university.
It goes back and forth between the slave and modern eras to show comparisons.
I played between 20 and 22 characters.
DEADLINE: Youve cycled through heavy subject matter fromJudas and the Black MessiahorThe Last Days of Ptolemy GraytoSwarm.
Do your characters ever come home with you?
FISHBACK: I think they live in the body rather than in the head for me.
I dont think about them that much.
I dont stay in character.
Im not method in that way.
No wonder why I run from bullets in my dreams.
All I can see is my Brooklyn residency.
Sunset Boulevard seems so far from me.
Because I knew I wanted to act.
And now, seeing my face on one of the biggest billboards on Sunset Boulevard forSwarmis amazing.
So, although Im tired, I can only give thanks to God that my dreams have manifested themselves.
And how did you advocate for yourself?
So, when they told me they wanted me to play Marissa, I said, OK.
But I already knew in the conversation that I wanted to play Dre.
Ive been supporting other people for a long time.
Its great, and I love to do it, but Ive worked at this since I was 15.
So thats the energy I had.
When I wake up every day, I want to be challenged as an actor.
How do you not catch up to yourself?
I dont want to even predict the bang out of roles that I want to do next.
And thats how I approached it with him.
Donald basically said, Well, if thats the role you want, thats the role you get.
And I was like, Did he just give me the role?
It was no audition after that.
But I got to tap into Dre because there was ownership.
How did you come up with her traits?
FISHBACK: That was so fun.
It was me being like, OK, shes emotionally stunted.
What does that mean?
I felt like when shes asked questions, she probably mimics Marissa.
So, if somebody says, Marissa, how you doing?
Shed be like, Girl, Im tired.
She doesnt have a poker face.
it became just allowing her to be impulsive and not too small.
I just tried different things that were free and fun.
From the beginning of the show, she has this dark, sexy feminine energy.
And by the end of the show, she has wounded masculine energy.
In school, you learn how the character differs from the beginning to the end of the scene.
Thats structure, but then everything in between is fair game.
So masculine energy is structure and feminine energy is flow.
And thats how I approached this character in a structured way.
I allowed myself to be influenced by what was actually happening.
Dre has an opinion about everything.
The way a chair feels, the way a table feels.
And that was fun to figure it out.
Where did you settle on her as a person?
Should we be sorry for her?
FISHBACK: I approach all my characters the same way.
And its heart first.
And its me figuring out what it is.
And for her, it was love.
She loves Marissa and she loves NiJah.
And her love is convoluted.
And I think thats universal for all of us.
I never want to make a character just an unrelatable monster.
In fact, I will do my very best to find the things that are relatable.
I read that when I was playing Darlene inThe Deuce.
I realized I dont have to play a sex worker.
I never tried to play Dre as a scary serial killer that people are freaked out by.
And its so interesting because people come up to me like, Yo girl, you scared me.
I couldnt watch it with the lights out.
And Im like, Scared you?
And Im almost jealous that I cant watch it from that angle.
When reading the script, Im like, Well, were going to see how that laugh goes.
And then I just throw myself into the moment.
And I was really happy that people were responding to that laugh.
