It’s one thing to play a lawyer on TV. It’s another altogether to be sought out by the Olivia Pope to play one. But for Emayatzy Corinealdi, that’s reality: Kerry Washington set her singular vision on Corinealdi for the role of ambitious criminal defense attorney Jax Stewart in the hit Hulu series Reasonable Doubt, which is now rolling into its second season.
For fans of Scandal and How to Get Away with Murder, the series naturally fills the smart, sexy, dramatic gap left in the absence of the two super-zeitgesy legal shows. And Corinealdi seamlessly slides into the shoes of a strong Black female lead who, sure, is maybe a little messy and definitely complex.
Because let’s be clear: This isn’t your mama’s legal drama.
You’re going to hear the word f*ck… a lot. And if #BookTok makes you blush, you better gird your loins because the sex scenes are steamy. In Season 2, as Jax’s crumbling personal life (there was that whole deadly affair) coincides with the biggest criminal case of her career (one of her closest friends goes on trial for murdering her husband), things only stand to get even more compelling, especially since Morris Chestnut is joining the cast as the fellow lawyer Jax calls in to help lead the case.
Onscreen and off, Corinealdi is also a mom, so motherhood plays a huge part in her life —something she was happy to talk about when we caught up via Zoom just ahead of Reasonable Doubt’s Season 2 premiere on Aug. 22.
Here’s what she had to say about hanging out with Kerry Washington, what’s to come for Jax, and how motherhood has changed her.
Scary Mommy: We have to talk about Season 1 because, ma’am, it was spicy! How empowered were you to read a script with a woman who is so very multi-dimensional and really sort of unapologetic in her messiness?
Emayatzy Corinealdi: Man, I was so empowered, so inspired, all the things. When I read the script, I said, ‘Oh, OK. This is what we’re doing. Yes.’ Because I had another job opportunity at the time, and I was going to do that. Then, when I read this, I said, ‘I see why you guys are on me to read it.’ Everything that we felt when we all saw that pilot was what was on the page. You felt that. It just jumped off. It was clear the world that Raamla Mohamed had created, and it was clear who this character was, what was important to her, and where this could go.
SM: Jax is who she is, but she also goes to church. You don’t often get to see that duality onscreen — far more often, women are portrayed in the Madonna-whore Complex.
EC: I feel like she represents the reality of the women that I know who are trying to just make it all work spiritually, emotionally, all of it — trying to find out where we all are in the game of life without any judgment. So, I completely respected that and related to that. I liked the idea of the conversation that it would invite with Jax being a church-going woman along with some of the choices that she made … That’s what makes her character so interesting because some of the things don’t always fit or don’t always seem to fit. But who are we to decide what a person who goes to church, what that looks like all the time?
SM: How very cool that Kerry Washington, who directs and executive produces Reasonable Doubt, sought you for this role. What’s been your favorite thing about working with her?
EC: When people say that phrase ‘a girl’s girl,’ Kerry is just truly that. She’s that. She’s just the kindest person who wants to see you win, who’s going to do any and everything she can to help you win. To have this role, and then for it to be coupled with Kerry Washington shepherding me and making sure that I have everything I need because she’s been here, has been wonderful. I’m not sure that she had that same experience for herself, yet she’s given me that. It’s been everything.
SM: As an elder millennial, I’m obsessed with the Save the Last Dance callback of Sean Patrick Thomas being in the show. Was that a little moment for you, too?
EC: Oh my gosh, absolutely. Who was not a fan of Save the Last Dance? Meeting Kerry for that reason was just a thing. When they did that TikTok together, it was just the cutest thing. I think all of us were just being taken back, transported to the time. It was a lot of fun.
SM: Raamla Mohamed, who worked with Kerry on Scandal and Little Fires Everywhere, is the showrunner and leads an entirely Black writers’ room. Can you speak a little bit about what it means not just to have a seat at the table but, really, to have the whole table?
EC: It really changed just the way I even approached the work in a lot of ways without me knowing that. I didn’t know what the experience of having an all-Black writers’ room and Black directors would do. It created such an ease, such a shorthand. It just felt like everyone could relate to the experience, so you didn’t have to explain anything. All of the jokes landed, all of that. It just made me wonder like, ‘Oh, this must be what it feels like for my peers when we have an all-white cast and all-white writers like it’s been.’ That must be what that feels like because it creates such a sense of just freedom and safety, and everyone understood what it was. It was just different in that way.
It really was lovely. My hope is that it doesn’t have to feel so special that it can just be for everyone. You know what I mean? Because it does do something different. It really does. It ignites a thing in you.
SM: Absolutely. Well, you obviously have some truly incredible co-stars… including Morris Chestnut, Michael Ealy, and McKinley Freeman. So, No. 1, how does it feel to be God’s favorite?
EC: (laughs) Well, I am.
SM: Clearly! But I want to talk too about Mama Lu, who is played by Pauletta Washington and represents some really relatable mother-daughter dynamics. What was it like having her as a scene partner in those tense moments?
EC: It was so fun and so refreshing because she is just a mother. She just took me into her arms. My mother passed away a few years ago, and so Mrs. Pauletta came in and it felt as if I had this motherly relationship with her just effortlessly. When you add to that the baggage that she and I had, it felt as if we had lived in that. Somehow, it felt just so real and palpable. I think that was because we just connected so easily from the beginning.
SM: Oh, that’s beautiful. I read that your first big acting role was Young and the Restless, which was your mom’s favorite soap. How do you feel like the landscape in TV has changed since you got that first job to now?
EC: Oh, man, it’s changed dramatically and drastically. Even the way we view films and everything, we’re in a very different time right now. It’s great in a lot of ways because we have so many opportunities. There are so many shows, and you can watch them in so many ways. But it’s also overload. So, when you do have something good, the fact that it can rise up to the top says a lot because people have so many options.
SM: You became a mom during the pandemic, which was such a wild and weird time. What was that journey like?
EC: That pandemic pregnancy was something because it just was so isolating. There was no going to the mall to look at things for the baby. You weren’t able to share your pregnancy with anyone, and that was tough.
I feel like I missed the part of it in that sense, but at the same time, what a blessing it was because I was able to be with my child — to just sit and bask in my pregnancy, and when she was born, it was just us. The world was not moving. It was a gift of time to just be.
SM: Do you feel like becoming a mother has changed the way you approach roles?
EC: Absolutely. I remember before I had a child, I would always hear people say that motherhood changes you, and it changes the way that you look at your work. I remember thinking, Well, I’m sure it does, but I mean, what’s really going to change? Now, I completely understand because absolutely everything is through that lens. It changes the roles that you select, and it changes the way that you approach the roles. You’re just coming at it with much more experience, however that looks.
SM: With Season 2, what can you tell us about what we can expect for Jax going forward?
EC: We really get to see Jax trying to rebuild herself, trying to pick up the pieces from where we left off from Season 1: the trauma she experienced, how that has affected her life, her marriage, everything. At the start of Season 2, we get to see a vulnerable side of Jax that we haven’t seen before.
That really gives us some insight into this strong, powerful, and resourceful woman — what it looks like when she is broken and how she is going to navigate this thing. Because you can’t really hold a strong woman down. So, you want to be on the ride to see what she is going to do. How is she going to bounce back to become the woman that she knows that she is, along with the woman that we want to see?
SM: Let’s talk about Morris Chestnut because everybody is very excited about him joining the show. Are there any hints you can give us about what might unfold there?
EC: The one thing that I will say is that you’ll get to see Jax trying to navigate handing over control, while at the same time needing it. She’s aware that she’s not completely in the mental space to take on Chanel’s case fully, so that’s why she reaches out to Corey. But at the same time, it’s still difficult for her to let go of control. You’ll get to see a bit of that power struggle between the two of them.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
