Pop-Culturalist.com

Chido Nwokocha has gone from scoring touchdowns on the field to achieving them on screen. As one of the breakout stars of BET’s Sistas, Chido and his character, Gary Marshall Borders, have kept audiences on the edge of their seats, and it’s only going to get more intense. Pop Culturalist caught up with Chido to learn more about him, his career, and Season 2 of Sistas.

PC: How did you discover your passion for acting?
Chido: It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do my entire life. I always felt like I was clear about what I wanted to do when I was younger. I was like, “Okay. I’m going to play in the National Football League for like five to seven years. After that, I’m going to go into acting.” Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to play in the National Football League for five to seven years, but right after that, I knew I wanted to be an actor. It was really about navigating how to get that going and how to get that started. I got hurt and I wanted to make some changes. I enrolled in some classes, and I caught the bug.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Chido: I’d say my siblings. They’re my support system and my biggest fans. I talk with them almost every day. We grew up in very humble beginnings, so we’re a very tight-knit group. We didn’t have much. They are my biggest supporters. They influenced my start and me chasing my dreams. I had very supportive parents, but my siblings were it. I had an older brother and he passed away. That was a very big motivational factor for me to achieve my goals and be an example for my younger siblings to follow.

PC: What’s one thing that you know now that you wish you knew when you started your career?
Chido: Sometimes you audition and you don’t get the role. You think you didn’t do a good job, but a callback is a good thing. That’s what I learned. The callback is a good thing. You want to win the room. With football, if you run the route, you catch the ball, you score a touchdown, that means you did well. With auditioning, they’re like, “Oh, he’s great.” Then I’m like, “That’s awesome. Do I have the part?” But there are so many other factors that go into it.

At the time, I was struggling with that. I was like, “What do you mean I did well? What do you mean? It was good. How come I didn’t book it?” You kept hearing those things. You test with different projects and then you don’t get it, and then you finally get one. That was one thing when I was younger I wish I had a greater understanding of. I didn’t think I knew until I was going through it.

PC: What can audiences expect from Season 2 of Sistas. What can you tease about Gary’s arc?
Chido: It’s going to be a fun, wild ride. Gary is going to be Gary. It’s going to be a roller coaster—a sea of emotions. He’s going to have you at the edge of your seat not knowing how to feel about him. For me, it’s a fun character to play because I love that the audience never knows what to expect and is sitting there like, “I don’t really know how I feel about him.”

PC: With so many layers to Gary, which is your favorite to play and why?
Chido: My favorite thing is to explore his passion. His love for Andi has been a lot of fun. He’s a very powerful man. He’s a guy that usually gets what he wants, and exploring someone who usually gets what they want and is not getting it as fast as they want is very interesting because it can bring a lot of frustrating emotions. There are all these forms of frustration and tantrums because it’s like, “This is not how it’s supposed to go. I usually get X, Y, and Z as easy as one, two, three, and it’s not flowing that way.” With all the drama and everything that comes along with it.

PC: You filmed this season during quarantine. What was that experience like?
Chido: Wow. It was definitely different. It’s a difficult time, and there’s a lot of uncertainty for everyone, so you’re definitely processing that. You’re dealing with other outside factors with family, friends, and the world in general. Then your own uncertainty with your own industry because we were shut down. When Tyler [Perry] came to us and proposed the plan of going back and filming and entering a quarantine camp, we knew that the plan was in place and that we would feel safe. We were excited to have the opportunity to work again. It was a lot of fun. We were in a bubble. It reminded me of a football camp. For me, it was like summer camp because I was just waking up, I was eating food, I would go work out, go film, come home, and rinse and repeat and do that over again. We were safe. We were taken care of. We were able to work and film and get everything done and put together Season 2 for our fans. We got our ratings and reviews back. They were very high, and it’s awesome that we were able to pull that off.

PC: Like you were saying, the show has been incredibly well-received. What do you think is resonating most with audiences?
Chido: It’s very relatable with the different relationships and characters that are on the show. We’re led by four beautiful women who are doing a great job of bringing these characters to life and navigating what women go through with their careers, relationships, and friendships and how that changes over time as you get older. You can peak in your younger years when you’re hanging out with someone every single day, and then you start introducing other factors as the boyfriends come in and your career takes more of your time and eventually maybe a family and stuff. It’s very relatable and the drama that comes with it. Obviously, there’s a little extra, with my character in particular, but it definitely allows the viewers to relate and enjoy it—take their minds off other things.

PC: This is a breakout television role for you. When you look back at the experience thus far, what’s been the biggest takeaway?
Chido: The biggest takeaway has just been being a part of this successful show. When you think about how many shows and how many pilots get put together every single year and then what actually gets to stick around—versus some shows are done one season, some shows are done five, six episodes in—for me, being on a show where we were able to film it, we got our feet in the water, it was great. The fans were adamant that they wanted Season 2, and being able to do that is just awesome. It’s been a great experience for me to be a part of and hopefully continue to go forward with.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Chido: I recently started Lovecraft Country. I’ve really been into that. I haven’t started anything new just yet, so I’ll be looking for some new recommendations too. But actually, sidebar, I did finish The Office. It’s embarrassing to say. I know, I never watched it, but quarantine gives you opportunities to watch a lot of things. So I watched that. People were right. It’s hilarious.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Chido: I enjoy rom-com. Do you remember Crazy, Stupid, Love with Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, and Steve Carell? I love that movie. I have a few others, but that one just came to mind because I recently watched it.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Chido: I love Nicki Minaj. I think she’s great. Also, Summer Walker.

To keep up with Chido, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Watch new episodes of Sistas every Wednesday at 9/8c on BET.

Photo Credit: Manfred Baumann