- I've been told that I'm quite witty,
and I think that Wanda is quite witty,
and I wouldn't wanna disappoint those people
that have said that I'm witty so.
Ola, fix your face.
Seriously.
- Who said that?
Who said you were witty?
- Lots of people have told me that I'm witty, okay?
- Okay.
- Lots of people have told me I'm witty.
(upbeat hip hip music)
- The black hair and beauty industry
generates upwards of 5 billion pounds
for the UK economy in a year.
Now everyone is trying to scramble
for a piece of the black pound,
usually without involving any black people, of course.
(upbeat music)
- With every character I have,
I bring in the love and the heart of the character.
So I wanted to not just show one side of Claudia,
which is the fun side, which she's a bit of a villain.
She's out to get what she wants,
but I also wanted to bring, there's reasons behind that,
so I wanted to bring a lot the love,
the love she has for her family.
She will fight for her family.
She will die for her family.
So that's what I wanted to bring into a character.
And your father told me with me,
with me, you can be somebody.
He was true to his word.
We are going to celebrate his life
and honor everything he did to raise this family up.
And I'm not here for any of this fighting.
None of it.
- I think that honestly her story is so much like my own
with her being born in London, moving to America,
moving back to London, being Nigerian, being Yoruba.
I just think that like there's so many elements
about her that I get,
and I feel seen by this character, to be honest.
And so, for me, I just feel like I'm playing a lot of myself
and a lot of the people I know, to be honest.
Stephen Richards, my father,
built something very special here.
And my father put me in charge
because he believed I'm the best person to run this place.
If you trusted him, then you have to trust me.
- Very much a lot of the same variables.
I am also Nigerian with British born and bred
with Nigerian heritage.
Very connected to my Yoruba culture.
But I think one of the major things for me
that's quite amazing about getting to play that character
or something that I'm excited to bring to it
is the queer aspect of it.
It's rare, but it's something I think that's happening
more frequently where people are being given the space
in Hollywood to play queer characters.
You know, I do believe we can arrive at a time
and a space and a day where people can do anything in a way,
of course, within certain parameters.
But it's nice for queer people to be given the space
and the opportunity to play queer roles
and to bring certain experiences to the table.
Simon, like myself, is in a relationship and non-toxic
and also able to express themselves
in vulnerable moments and able to connect with their parents
and that Yoruba thing.
And yeah, I got to tap into a lot of parts of myself
and bring some truth, which I think is what acting is.
It's always coming from a place of truth,
and that was nice, nice to do.
So what do we do about our inheritance?
- I will set a meeting with Gideon,
and we'll figure out how to get rid of it.
Sell it back to-
- Which I, you know I always wanna be an heiress girl.
You see it?
- I sort of like read it and read her as this very,
you know, successful independent woman
who has built this business in her own right,
but has a lot of insecurities and vulnerabilities.
And I think that, you know,
there's a lot that I can share with Alesha in that way
that I think sometimes I can come across as really confident
and really sort of like know what I'm doing
and very independent, but actually deep down,
there are moments where I'm sort of like panicking
or a bit worried or a bit unsure about stuff
and don't have as much confidence.
And I would like to think I brought that vulnerability
to Alesha that we sort of see in the series.
Daddy issues for even more (beep) dad's dead.
He was no father of the year, but you know that.
- Uh uh, I'm opening another bottle.
Y'all are bringing me down.
- There is a vulnerability about Gus
that I think I was able to connect with.
A man who seems to have everything
in some sense going for him.
There is something that he really cares about,
and he allows himself to feel it and let that come through.
Gus is not a guy that's always putting up a front, you know?
If he's feeling a certain kind of way, he'll let it show.
I think that vulnerability was a great thing to see.
This is madness.
How would he do this?
I was supposed to take over.
- Gus, it's- - And to top it off,
the Feds wrote to me today.
Officer acted in accordance with force policy.
How many times have I been pulled over?
- The producers, Abby, they saw something in me,
and they thought that I could embody Wanda,
and I'm really, really glad that they did
because I've had so much fun playing her.
It's the most fun I've had playing a character.
I feel like Wanda is a daddy's girl,
and I would say I'm a daddy's girl as well.
And she also has a lot of, what did I say?
I've been told that I'm quite witty,
and I think that Wanda is quite witty.
And I wouldn't wanna disappoint those people
that have said that I'm witty, so.
Ola, fix your face.
Seriously.
- Who said that?
Who said you were witty?
- Lots of people have told me that I'm witty, okay?
- Okay.
- Lots of people have told me I'm witty.
Many, many people.
- [Character] Are you taking the pic?
- Fried chicken.
- I asked for party jollof rice.
Who asked for carrots, no jollof?
Do you see any Ghanaians here?
This is a Nigerian house.
Oh my god, everything's a mess.
- Shouting at them won't help.
- Well, you know, you could actually do something to help.
(upbeat music)
- I think "Riches" is important for this time
because it shows a black family, an affluent black family
in the UK, which we hardly ever see.
It's an intelligent family.
Everybody looks fabulous.
And just to see the side of it
where they're just like fighting
for what they believe is right.
On that certain level of excellence,
we don't often see that.
- "Riches" is aspirational.
It's addictive storytelling.
You wanna know what happens next.
It doesn't feel like something that I've seen a lot on TV
and certainly not on British TV.
And I think that a lot of people
will be seeing something new,
and perhaps more importantly,
a lot of people will feel seen watching this show.
- I think, you know, it's a story that needs to be told.
There's so much layers to it.
There's so many hidden germs and secrets.
It's intriguing.
I remember reading the script for the first time,
and I read it until like 3:00 AM in the morning
'cause I was literally reading like episode after episode
because it was so good.
- "Riches" is not just important for this time, I think.
I think it's gonna be important for times to come.
I think it's important for times that have passed as well.
I think especially after lockdown.
In lockdown, you were kind of forced to be at home
and experience your home.
Growing up in London, I love how London looks in this.
I love how my hometown looks in this.
It's made me appreciate here a lot more.
(upbeat music)
- Okay, let's start with the lead, Deborah.
She is very stylish.
She's very strong.
She's a brilliant actress,
so she was definitely right for the role of Nina.
She commands her space.
- I think Deborah is absolutely perfect playing Nina
because there's something very powerful
about Nina in a very subtle way.
It's not very overt.
She literally just has to step into a room
and you know Nina Richards has arrived.
And I think Alesha sees Nina as a role model.
Someone who she can really aspire to be like.
And I wanna be like Deborah when I grow up.
That's what I wanna be, that's who I wanna be.
- Yinka is that person that if in this moment
she would like to be included, she'll say,
what would she say, Deb?
She'd be like, were you not coming?
I wanna-
- What we talking about?
What we talking about?
(laughs)
What you saying, what we doing?
- You where you stand with Yinka.
And I wanna say similarly with her character Alesha,
you know where you stand with her.
You know what she believes in, what she's trying to do.
She's very honest.
- What I love about her character
and her portrayal of her character
is that she says a lot of things
that we don't give ourselves permission to say.
I mean, in real life and and on screen,
when she's feeling insecure, when she's over it,
when she wants to go off on her own,
when she wants to be included,
she's so just honest.
- She's very fun.
She's very lovely.
I thought Adey was gonna be my little sister in the show
'cause Adey can be very mature and she is very mature,
but Adey can also be very child, I'm sorry, youthful.
(laughing)
I'm joking.
I'm joking, I'm joking.
Very youthful. (laughs)
- You know, similar to what Ola said,
I think me and Nneka have really, really become sisters.
What was it the other day,
there's a video of us actually fighting each
other overtaking photos.
We literally were like pushing each other
to get a photo with, funny enough, CJ.
But I think why Nneka is like so perfect for Wanda
and what is so nice to see,
Wanda starts out to be this one type of woman
who she knows she comes from privilege,
she knows she has the success
of her family business behind her.
She's quite similar to Alesha in the fact that,
yes, she can put a persona up and she walks around
like she knows everything, which she does,
but there's a side of her that you see
that you sort of have a really, really soft spot for her.
- Ola's got that sort of like brotherly,
caring, protective sort of energy.
So I feel like he's like that as Gus
and he's like that as a person.
- Then we've got Simon.
He's so funny.
It is a great part of him to play to play the brother.
They kind of look alike as well.
They have really good chemistry together
on and off the screen.
- I feel like Manny is just such,
(giggles) he's such a ball of energy,
and I just love how he really makes the character his own
and he's not afraid to try different things.
Like he decided that maybe that they would speak Yoruba
and he had a conversation with Abby about that,
and he would just bring it out in a scene.
He might not necessarily say he's gonna do it,
so you didn't know what he was gonna do,
which made you more alive and it felt more electric.
He was just so much fun to act with and to be around.
I wish I had more scenes with him, actually.
- The thing about Nneka is,
Nneka is like the sweetest loveliest person you'll meet.
I think Wanda's maybe been dealt some bad hands
as you'll get to see in the show.
Nneka was able to find the truth
behind why she is the way she is.
You see her in the first episode very passionate
about the way she'd like her father's funeral
to be taken care of because she loves him so much.
And to somebody who isn't as savvy on television
or character development, you might think,
oh, she's a bit, she's not the the nicest person,
but I think it must be really hard to lose your father
and then to have to plan his funeral and be so young.
- Yeah, I think what I love about Wanda
and what I love about her portrayal,
I feel like she's fighting to be seen
because I think sometimes when people are the youngest
of a family, of such a powerful family,
everyone takes care of the youngest
and wants to like, and makes decisions for the youngest,
but like, who actually sees the youngest?
Who actually gets to know them as a person?
Says you can be this person,
you can go off and do your own thing or whatever.
And I think she's also going on a journey
very similar to Nina's where she's like finding out
who she actually is.
- I love the actresses and the actor
who plays my son and daughters
because I feel like we all kind of look alike.
And also everybody's just totally up
for exploring their character,
pushing against all the fun bits.
I feel like she's brilliant.
- Sarah can actually do anything, I think.
To be honest.
I think that Sarah, her career has shown
that she can play so many different characters,
to be honest.
And I think that that comes from a place
of her being so open and vulnerable and empathetic
and understanding to different types of people.
The way that I saw her play Claudia,
she played her with such a just a badass energy
and just so like fabulous.
But she also played her with this interesting layer
of vulnerability as well where you kind of see her
working desperately to secure herself.
Yeah, she's just amazing.
I can go on and on about my best friend, but you know?
- She honestly brings this layer
of vulnerability to Claudia.
I'm not sure I completely read that on the page
when I initially read the script,
but Sarah gives her such depth,
and you start to think
there is a whole part of Claudia's life
that we haven't seen.
She mentions the things she's given up to be with Stephen.
It's been a sacrifice and a journey for Claudia,
and I wasn't fully aware until I got to watch
the Sarah Niles do her thing.
It it was quite incredible.
- Getting to work with Sarah is,
I don't have one word for it.
The first rehearsal we all had together,
I think from leaving that room on that first day,
we knew that we had something good on our hands.
We laughed a lot, and I think that's incredibly important.
Nobody's trailer was their own.
Nobody's room was their own.
Like we all just went, messed up Adey's.
Was it Adey's or Nneka's?
Messed up Adey's dressing room one time.
- It was mine. - it was Nneka's.
I was gonna say it was Nneka's, it wasn't mine.
It was Nneka's.
- Yeah, Nneka messed up her own,
but we helped her mess up even more.
It was just really fun working with people.
Directors were fun.
Having Abby on set sometimes as well was super fun.
Everything was, it was fun.
(upbeat music)
- I think I've often played roles
where they're quite strong.
They're either in positions of extreme power,
but they're usually, (laughs)
they're usually very tidy characters,
whereas I feel like Claudia's messy.
She's sexy, she's messy,
she's not afraid to have a loose tongue, and she's fun.
She's the one you wanna see
that wants to enter into a space,
and you just wanna see her let rip.
And I feel like we should be allowed,
especially as black women,
to play all those kind of roles
to really be expansive in our emotions, in our freedom,
and I feel like that's why I feel like Claudia
is completely different.
I try to source all the aunties,
all the women that I love who are strong
and bring it into Claudia.
(upbeat music)
I feel like she will burn bridges regardless.
She will just keep pioneering and pushing forward.
If it doesn't work for her, if it doesn't fit, that's it.
She's discarded it.
And I think she's really with the fall of Stephen
and just trying to run with it and see how far she can go.
She's got great values.
Like within the mess, she's got values like family first.
She believes in that she's, you know,
there's no way she wants her family
not to get what they deserve.
And I feel like,
like in relation to other past characters I've played,
and often when we see black women,
there's a lot of dignity, they're very strong,
but they're very organized in their strength
even when something is suffering, you know?
If a family member has passed away or has been murdered,
it's always got to be with dignity and strength.
And I think it's important for us
to see women who have agency like she's, you know,
she's not afraid to use her sexual power
to get what she wants.
She might make mistakes and go along and backtrack,
but she'll just keep trying to get through it and survive.
I think she's survived,
but she does often make mistakes.
And we need to see that.
We need to see the human side.
That mess is a humanity about her, which is really rich.
- Thanks for watching.
- "Riches" Arrived December 2nd on Prime video.
- You don't wanna miss this.
(upbeat music)