Actor Angela Lewis talks to AllHipHop’s Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur about everything in her recent life. But, for the moment, the most important thing is the season finale of “Snowfall,” the hit show on FX that chronicles the insidious drug trade that decimated Black and Brown communities in the 80s.
Angela plays “Aunt Louie,” a drug queenpin that has grown considerably since the show debuted in 2017. In this exclusive conversation, the bases get covered. The Detroit native explains how her background has helped her navigate a character in such a gritty, yet elegant, manner. She also talks about “Aunt Louie” and her role in the pantheon of gangster leads. On the lighter side, she addresses Damson Idris’s perfectly coifed 80s ‘fro, which Chuck takes exception on.
AllHipHop: Definitely. First of all, I got to ask you, how you feeling about this new season? A lot of new developments, especially for Louie, your character. How you feeling?
Angela Lewis: I feel good. Louie is very layered these days. I mean, she’s always been layered, but it’s nice that people get to see all of her layers and we get to tease it out even more. So I’m really excited, I’m happy that people are talking about her. It’s love and hate at the same time, and I’ll take that.
AllHipHop: Well, she’s making those power moves. You can’t be boss without crossing a few people.
Angela Lewis: That’s right, and that’s okay.
AllHipHop: Absolutely. The series finale is right here, how are fans receiving it in your eyes? I mean, it’s a lot of anticipation. In fact, I wish we could have did this after so we could really talk about it.
Angela Lewis: People are very excited. Everybody’s got their thoughts on what’s going to happen, how everything is going to go down. So it’s been really fun reading people’s predictions. It’s been a lot of fun.
AllHipHop: The last episode had me tripping. I was actually tripping (it deals with LSD). I was like, “What is going on here?” Now, we’ve seen our share of Black people, this type of narrative, the drug game. But this feels different. It’s obviously a family affair, but it also feels different in a number of ways.
What are your thoughts on that? And why don’t we get tired of it, and especially with “Snowfall”?
Angela Lewis: Yeah. I think one of the things that’s important about “Snowfall” is to remember that we are talking about something that really happened. We are talking about how… Hello. We are talking about how the government was involved in the plague on our community. And we never stray too far from that in terms of our storytelling.
And we are always trying to sprinkle in real life situations, real life realities of the time. And we never let Franklin and the family forget what they have been a part of, what has happened to the people, to the family, to the neighborhood, to the larger community. And especially the community that they started in, that they’re from, this is what is happening.
And as long as we have that humanity component, I think that’s what keeps people coming back. There’s the shootouts and all the exciting things that happen that keep you jumping and screaming at the TV, but the humanity part, the family part, that’s what keeps people coming back.
AllHipHop: Absolutely. Women in history or historically in Hollywood, have been regulated to the love interest or the voice of reason, a number of different things. Thinking “Menace II Society,” so on and so forth. Your character is definitely an exception to the general rule. Where would you place her in the history books of Hollywood and TV?
Angela Lewis: Oh man, I don’t know. I feel like I leave the legacy part for other people and for after. I just try to stay in the moment and I try to bring my A-game, and I try to bring as much humanity and layers and complications to Louie as I possibly can. And if that makes her stand out, if that puts her in the history books, that’s icing on the cake. And that makes me feel good to hear you say that and to hear other people say that.
But I think if I get caught up in how she’s going to be historic, then it’ll start getting corny. It’ll start getting weird. I can’t worry about that. I just try to bring the truth and I try to bring my whole self and her whole self to the character and to the moments.
AllHipHop: So I have one critique of Snowfall. I have one problem. You know what it is?
Angela Lewis: What?
AllHipHop: Damson’s hairline. His hairline be perfect. It’s like they got the T-liner from 2025 (the future), because I’m like, “How’s this man’s hair like this?” Back in the ’80, we was mad peasy. It wasn’t sharp like that. I Googled every picture from West Coast, Los Angeles, I could find. I could not find nobody whose hair was lined up.
Angela Lewis: That’s funny. I don’t know if Damson’s going out like that though. They all say he got appeal to the ladies.
AllHipHop: And that, he is.
The season finale of Snowfall airs tonight on FX. Check local listings for time.
Photos courtesy of FX, Matthias Clamer
