Carmen Ejogo On 'True Detective', Mahershala Ali, & Whitney Houston
(CBS Local)-- Carmen Ejogo has worked with many of the greats in Hollywood, but she finally got to shine on her own in season three of "True Detective."
Paired alongside Mahershala Ali, Ejogo played a complex woman named Amelia Reardon and the experience on the show was one of the most interesting of her career.
"Amelia is this sort of creeper of a character," said Ejogo in an interview with CBS Local. "If you just watch the first couple of episodes, you don't get the sense of how important she is going to be. It's a really wonderfully complex woman that I get to bring to the screen and that makes me happy."
Ejogo spent a ton of time on and off screen with Ali and is proud of the work she and the 2x Academy Award winner created.
"We had a really interesting task on our hands because we had to play a couple that was madly in love, but had nothing in common with each other," said Ejogo. "Off camera, there was a lot of talking and conversations about what we were aiming for. I think at times he was freaking out about what my process was. I think Mahershala and I brought to the screen a really unusual and fresh couple."
In addition to her role on "True Detective," Ejogo also played Coretta Scott King in Ava DuVernay's powerful film "Selma." Ejogo has actually played King twice in her career and got the approval of the woman herself for her most recent portrayal.
"I got to meet her and one of the great compliments of my life was hearing from Coretta Scott King that she loved my performance of her," said Ejogo. "She liked it and I'm all good. It was such an honor to bring someone like her to life. She's an unsung heroine in many ways and her husband is the focal point. His politics and philosophy were very much informed by her philosophy and education. It was such an honor."
While Ejogo has had many wonderful experiences, nothing will ever top the time she watched the late Whitney Houston melt hearts with her voice in "Sparkle."
"I had a great, great, great experience working with her on Sparkle," said Ejogo. "It's a movie that is very close to my heart. It's what Dream Girls was based on. That's a really special film for me. She [Whitney] sings in that film and I remember watching her. It had been a while since she had to do that in front of an audience. It was super emotional on that day and it was a very special day that I'll never forget."