Dominique Fishback Talks Taking On ‘Ptolemy Grey’ Without Reading The Script Or The Novel

It’s hard to ignore Dominique Fishback turning in a top-notch performance opposite Samuel L. Jackson in the Apple TV+ limited series, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey.

In the adaptation of Walter Moseley’s novel, the BAFTA-nominated actress plays Robyn, a young woman who inherits the role of caretaker of a 91-year-old with dementia, Jackson’s titular Grey. A medical trial involving a wonder drug gives him sporadic lucidity allowing him to remember his past and try to find out who murdered his nephew.

I caught up with Fishback to find out why she signed on for the project without even reading the script and what a limited series allowed her to do that a movie version would not.

Simon Thompson: I devoured every episode of this limited series and went in almost entirely unaware of the source material. What was your first interaction with The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey?

Dominique Fishback: I got the role first. I didn’t read the script or the book. It was very stressful. I was doing a lot of press for Judas and the Black Messiah at the time, and I had to learn the lines and do a chemistry test with Sam between interviews. When I got the role, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh.’ I knew I had to read the whole thing, and I was wondering, ‘Is this the right kind of move?’ Ultimately, I had to trust the process, trust God, and then I read the script, and it was all okay. Then I read the book. I highlighted so many things about my character, Robyn, that weren’t in the script. It was so necessary. Then I created a 20 page PDF to send to Walter and Sam about this character because I thought it was really important. What is her emotional drive for doing this? What are her dreams? How can we figure out all of these things about her? I put it all in this PDF and sent it to them to get their thoughts.

Thompson: That was a significant risk on your part. I know that this was Walter Mosley and Samuel L. Jackson, so there’s a quality level there, but it was still a big risk to sign on for this like that.

Fishback: Oh, I know (laughs). I would never do that again. Thankfully, it’s a great project. I had so many moments where I was like, ‘What did I do?’ I was so overwhelmed. As I said, I had to trust the process, and I knew that I would be in good hands.

Thompson: You talk about connecting with Sam very early on and getting that chemistry right, and it really works. Sam is very familiar with the book, so did you bond as he guided you through this and helped you find it?

Fishback: He told me that he saw Project Power, a Netflix movie that I did with Jamie Foxx, and he made a call and was like, ‘I think we found our girl.’ So he knew from the beginning that he wanted me to do it, and he told me that before we started filming. It gave me a sense of ownership over the character because I knew he wouldn’t just pick anybody. He’d been trying to work on this project for ten years, and it’s so close to home with his family, so I know he wouldn’t mess around like that. It wasn’t really about the acting so much; it was more about what surrounds it and making sure you have a team that protects you and is looking out for you. He’d be like, ‘Make sure that you know you can get this. This is also a perk. This is what you need, ask for these things,’ and essentially how to be a movie star. Now you’re doing acting, you’re doing craft, and I went to college for acting, so he’s like, ‘Okay, you got that thing, but it’s not just that. It’s all of these things, and this is bringing them together.’

Thompson: So, what was the biggest challenge for you with The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey? Was it getting your character right, or was it understanding what it would be like to deal with someone with dementia?

Fishback: To be honest, I think that Robyn didn’t really know much about dementia, so I didn’t research a lot about it. The character wasn’t suffering from it. She was just trying to be present for another person. I allowed that to naturally be a driving factor in the one-on-one relationship. I would think, ‘When I look into this person’s eyes, what is he actually telling me?’ It was also about trying to be compassionate. There are certain times where Ptolemy says, ‘Oh, there’s a bunch of devils in here,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, exactly.’ Even though my mind doesn’t go there, I’m going to respect his mind. There’s no sense in fighting it because it has taken over his ability to see things, so I want to respect that and make him feel a part of things.

Thompson: Was The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey a quick or long shoot? Did you have a lot of time to work on this, or did you have to work pretty quickly to make it come together?

Fishback: This one was about four months. Sometimes we did six day shoots, so that was hard. It also took off fast. I was doing press for Judas, and I got the role on a Friday, then on the Monday, they said I had to be in Atlanta. So I was trying to pack up my apartment and get there. When I got there, I settled and read the scripts deeply, read the novel, created my PDF, and started feeling a bit more grounded and had a little bit of time. I did do accent work because I am from Brooklyn. There’s a fierceness of Robyn, but there’s also a softness. In New York, we’re very on our words, but in the South, they are not, and I wanted to get that right.

Thompson: Often, with great characters and great stories like this, you’re in a movie and slightly restricted with how deeply or gradually you can explore a character. A limited series allows you more room to flesh them out and explore extra detail as you did with the PDF for Robyn. How much fun is that for you to have that extra creative room?

Fishback: I love it. I also love the limits sometimes because I love getting in and out because I want to do different types of characters, and a movie is great because you do it, and then you move on. In a limited series, you get that movie sense, you film it for the same amount of time, but then you get the time to understand the character’s psychology. You get to have those nuanced moments, those fun moments, and not be all about business all the time. Sometimes I think what’s relatable is that we get to see the quiet and still moments, and that’s really nice.

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey premieres on Friday, March 11, 2022, with the two episodes. New episodes premiere weekly each following Friday.