‘American Fiction’ Star Erika Alexander on Breaking Into the Awards Race and Reconsidering a ‘Living Single’ Revival

variety.com:

Angelique Jackson Erika Alexander got her start as a teen on “The Cosby Show” before assuming the breakout role of attorney Maxine Shaw on “Living Single.” But it’s her latest performance in “American Fiction,” a satire that critiques our culture’s obsession with stereotypes, that’s put her in a conversation she’s never been in before — that of awards season contender.

Alexander plays Coraline, the love interest of Jeffrey Wright’s Thelonious “Monk” Ellison, a cantankerous author who challenges the industry’s perceptions of “Black entertainment.” On Dec.

5, just hours before sitting down with Variety, Alexander learned she’d been nominated in the supporting category at the Independent Spirit Awards; she attended last year’s ceremony as a guest. “I got dropped off on the highway and walked, scooting around the Porta-Potties,” she says, laughing brightly to keep her emotions about the moment at bay.

They seep in anyway. Though Alexander has delivered standout performances in “Wu-Tang: An American Saga,” “Black Lightning,” “Run the World,” “Get Out” and expanded her impact as a writer, producer, director and activist — in August, a street in her Winslow, Arizona, hometown was christened “Erika Alexander Way” — this recognition represents a career high. “It’s lovely to be talked about like this,” she adds, reaching for a tissue to dab her eyes. “I’ve been in the business 40 years, and yet, never talked about in spaces like this.