Dominique Fishback’s Latest Role Is All About Healing
Dominique Fishback is known for playing characters who have survived trauma. Just a year ago, she blew Hollywood away with her portrayal as Fred Hampton’s pregnant fiancée, Deborah Johnson, in Judas
and the Black Messiah. And a few years before that, she earned acclaim for her role as a sex worker in the HBO series The Deuce. Now, in her latest project, she’s gearing up for one of her hardest roles—a 17-year-old traumatized by her parent's death and her upbringing in the inner city.
In Apple TV+’s new series, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, Fishback stars as Robyn, a young girl who aids the titular 93-year-old (Samuel L. Jackson) who has dementia and is determined to solve his nephew's death. Between the various flashbacks and plot twists, you can’t help but be drawn to Robyn and her silent emotional strength.
“She had a tough upbringing,” Fishback says. “And a lot of times, we hear that but we also want to see it. So, I said, ‘What is it about her that shows she’s not to be messed with?’ I came up with [battle] scars, astrology, and birth charts. Her rising sign is Leo, so she has fire energy. Her sun sign is Scorpio, so that’s why she talks about death.”
Though Robyn may include aspects of Fishback’s own life and interests, the character taught the actress more about herself, such as her ability to heal. “At this time in my life, I needed this character for healing,” she explains. “And, I thank God [that] I get to do projects that really align [with myself].”
Here, more on how Fishback prepared for Ptolemy Grey, how she brought Robyn to life, and what she learned from Samuel L. Jackson.
I want to talk about your character. Can you talk a little bit more about how you were able to capture such vulnerability and such compassion in a 17-year-old girl who has experienced so much trauma?
I do feel like there's a sense of alignment [with] God over my projects and the things that I do. He [says]: What is true to my soul about this character? I [wrote] a 28-page PDF building this character, starting with her name, and trying to figure out what it is she loves to do. And I used the name Robyn because of birds—they fly. She has so much trauma that even a flight somewhere wouldn't be far enough. How can she get off the Earth without getting off the Earth? What if she can get into a rocket ship and go out of space and meet an extraterrestrial being like E.T. and find home? And before she can leave Earth to do that, she meets Ptolemy.
Tell me a little bit more about how you brought your personal experiences and the things you love into Robyn.
Honestly, Robyn wanted to do her own thing. She really wants to take the lead. She's a nurturer [and] a caregiver. I never really felt that I was. Other people will say differently, but I never thought that I was [a caregiver]. So, I got the chance to be Robyn in that way.
I am from East New York, Brooklyn. There have been times in my life when I had to be about that life a little bit. So, it was nice to be able to bring that into the character, really bring parts of myself, parts of how I grew up. I think sometimes in life, we wonder why certain things happen. I used to feel that a lot when I was growing up. Why would this happen? Why did this happen? Now, I know that it is for my art. When people see me, they know that there's something real going on and they can feel they relate.
The show touched on some racial issues. There was the lynching of a Black man, and then there were some subtle forms of police brutality. In your opinion, why did you guys touch on these topics in subtle ways?
Well, that's all Walter Mosley [the author of the novel The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey] for sure. I can't take any credit for that. But I appreciate that because these are [real] stories at the end of the day. No matter what race you are, you’re going to have somebody who has dementia in your life. You're going to understand that.
I loved the chemistry between you and Samuel L. Jackson, the kind father-daughter relationship and how your characters were always there for each other. What was it like working with him?
What he [actually] talked to me about was the stuff outside of the craft—the movie star business and what is required. The protection of your team, having hair and makeup, [and] why it is necessary because I don't know that lifestyle. It was nice to hear little insights.
One thing that also I loved was your natural hair. That's something you don't see a lot on TV. Was it your decision to wear your hair naturally or was it always intended for the character?
I really wanted to wear her naturally. And then I thought, well, my sister will be 16 tomorrow and she really loves to color her hair. And well, a lot of teenagers really love to color their hair right now. But not simple colors; really bright colors. And then Diddy, who did my hair on the show, [said]: ‘Well, what about teal? What about purple?’ So, we went with purple.
[We] used different episodes to change her hair a lot because that girls [are] gonna change our hair. It was one particular scene where we fought for—he's on the phone [and] she's like twisting her hair because [Black] hair is gonna be different later on. We prep our hair at four o'clock or five o'clock in the morning before school. I love the nuance of being able to add that in and confirm [with] the director that this is perfect. Black people will appreciate this [scene].
I want to talk about the overarching themes of death and caretaking in the show too. How did your character, who's seen death all her life, handle getting close to someone who was eventually going to pass?
That was really important to me. My first day on set was when Samuel L. Jackson’s [character] was at the funeral. They don't know each other so well. I'm so much of a loving person, and I know to console people but Robyn doesn't have that. She's like, Do I hug him? When she's talking about [her parents’ death], she's very much like, Oh, they died. This death thing is nothing. She lost both her parents. She doesn’t have any family, [and] she's seen [death] all her life. What is it to her to act like [death] is a sad thing? People die. But then because somebody cared about her, protected her, and loved her so much, she’s now like, ‘I've never known anybody I didn't want to die.’ And what does that look like for her?
I really love that aspect of Robyn, especially when she doesn't see how great she is. Can you speak a little bit more about this inner turmoil between people telling her she's great and her not believing it?
Well, I don’t know if people always told us she was great. I think they might have told us she wasn't. And she learned to believe that. But she is everything. She took the time [to clean Ptolemy’s place]. She didn't really know him. And, sometimes people say, ‘Oh, she needed a place to stay.’ I never felt like she did it because she needed a place to stay. I always knew that it was beyond that. It was pretty much her redemption. I think that she was so angry with her mom that maybe, in the end, she didn't feel like she treated her mom as well as she could have. And her taking care of him was like her motivation [and] her emotional drive for doing it.
Where do you see Robyn going forward in life?
Thankfully, she has the resources now, right? When you come from an inner city, the resources there are slim to none. You really have to climb and fight. And she’s finally gotten some kind of leg up, even though she's terrified of money. [Ptolemy] showed her that it can be used for good. And because he's giving it to certain people, she also sees that [money] can be used for good.
I think that she's going to do whatever she aspires to be. She's probably not going to get into a relationship or stay in a relationship very long. I think she's going to go to college. She is going to, if not go to space, do something with NASA.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.