It has been a whirlwind few years for Perth actor Charmaine Bingwa. Last year when SBS about joining the cast of The Good Fight, Bingwa was coming off the back of well-received theatre work in Sydney and gaining a higher profile after winning the Heath Ledger Scholarship. But since joining The Good Fight things have sped up.
When stepping onto The Good Fight set for her second season on the show (which is also the sixth and final season, airing now Saturday nights on SBS VICELAND and streaming ), Bingwa had increased her visibility with a successful narrative podcast called The Burned Photo and a role in the upcoming film Emancipation starring Will Smith. While there are some questions in the air now regarding the release of Emancipation, advance buzz on the film had been very positive with Academy Award talk surrounding it.
This time, Bingwa spoke to SBS from a set in Cape Town where she’s working on a new project.
SBS: When we spoke to you last, you had just filmed your first season on the show. How did it feel stepping onto the set this year, returning as an established cast member?
Charmaine Bingwa: Yeah, I think for my first season, which was season five, on the show was very overwhelming. It was my first television job ever [laughs] and to just kind of walk into something that’s been so established and that is so well loved with a powerhouse cast of actors… [laughs] I think I hid it very well.
Because I’ve been doing a few projects in between, I felt more confident this season with what direction I wanted to take Carmen in. I have definitely grown into it and grown with the show.
You filmed a Will Smith movie in between seasons. That really ups the stakes in terms of the production levels you are used to.
Yeah. Oh my God. Going and shooting that in the hiatus… it’s definitely an experience that builds you and at that level, I’m just so proud to work with giants like that, it was fantastic. I think it allowed me to come back this season with some more command of my craft and confidence.
One would assume that between seasons the cast and crew of The Good Fight had more of an idea of what Charmaine Bingwa is bringing to set and with first-hand experience of working with you for a season, their impression of you had evolved.
Charmaine Bingwa with Christine Baranski in season 6 of ‘The Good Fight’. Source: Courtesy of Viacom
Yeah, I think so. And it comes out in your work. The more you experience it, the more comfortable you feel and the more interesting choices you can make for your character.
How comfortable are you feeling with the US accent at this point?
I don’t even think about it. I feel like in a lot of my other film projects, I’m getting thrown a multitude of accents. When I arrived in America, I made the choice to just stay in an American accent for seven months. I wouldn’t even speak to my family in another accent. So now it’s just so ingrained in me that I don’t even think about it.
In The Good Fight you have an interesting role in that Carmen Moyo is a bit steely and no-nonsense. She’s not there to win friends. Carmen is different to all the other characters in the show. Even a villain like lawyer David Lee is occasionally a bit affable. What have the showrunners Robert and Michelle King said to you about approaching the character?
I remember speaking to Robert about the audition process and him saying “your take was most different from other actors – it was the most subtle and nuanced and kind of lived in the grey area”.
I’ve definitely made choices because, I think, if you are making more broad-stroke choices, she could come across as really vindictive, manipulative, sassy… almost be a bit cartoonish.
I feel like I went in there with a really specific thing that I wanted to achieve – to be calm and make the performance as nuanced and playing from the top of your intelligence. That’s where you also win the respect of the audience because we get behind somebody who is smart or is clever or is witty. It comes across more intelligent than, I think, manipulative.
I’m glad to see that fans are embracing her because she does make some very dubious and morally ethical [laughs]… ambiguous decisions and moves. I try to make her a character that you have to lean into, rather than one who’s going to you.
It is interesting you talk about the fan reaction, as Carmen is seen being really curt with fan favourite character Marissa on multiple occasions. She makes some very cutting comments. Do you think these comments could only come from Carmen to Marissa for them to land? Carmen seems to have a unique ability to knock Marissa on her arse.
Bingwa as the no-nonsense Carmen Moyo. Source: Paramount +
It’s also hard because Sarah [actor Sarah Steele who plays Marissa] is such a lovable person. It’s hard to be mean to her.
Anything you can do in terms of acting to take it away from any polarities, so like good vs evil, right and wrong. So just to find that and really kind of dig into it… and understand that Marissa isn’t acting like an adult in those situations – Carmen is really telling her to take responsibility for herself rather than admonishing her. That’s the way you turn it into a more sophisticated argument rather than someone being mean to someone. It might be brash, but people understand it.
In talking about your character existing in the grey, in the early episodes of the season there is the suggestion that her actions may have got a man killed and the character just kind of rolls with it. What do you feel that says about Carmen Moyo?
The Kings [showrunners Robert and Michelle King] are very clever about it. There are little bits where you do see the chinks in Carmen’s armour and you do get to see that very subtly it does affect her. But she definitely has a mode of operating and a way of getting herself through the world.
It’s also a commentary to her backstory, which does get more revealed this season, as to what has made her into this person and why. She is a black woman in a world that is not built for black women. And so she finds different ways to operate.
It’s a very beautiful and clever thing for them to build in some conflict between her and Marissa, who they come from, different levels of privilege. Like, Carmen’s dad is not someone politically with advantage and Carmen was not given any job – she had to really fight her way to be there. It’s a subtle commentary on the socio-economic and racial aspects that come with anyone’s particular job.
The show already had an incredible cast, but this year it has been supercharged with adding an absolute TV GOAT in the form of Andre Braugher. Do you get much screen time with him?
Bingwa says Carmen Moyo “had to really fight her way to be there”. Source: Courtesy of Viacom
I get little bits and pieces with him, but I will say I also worship at the temple of Braugher – especially from seeing his approach to acting. He really is a powerhouse and he comes up with such amazing choices. It’s a larger-than-life character and he sings every note so well.
He is brilliant and also a very charming man. He has these quirks, like he’ll sing before every scene that he does. And he’s just such a gentleman and such a fun player. So, it’s been a joy to have him on the series this season.
But this season we also have Carrie Preston coming in. We’ve got Alan Cumming back. Wallace Shawn and a series of favourites from The Good Fight universe.
Surely playing opposite Wallace Shawn is a pretty incredible opportunity?
I mean, it’s phenomenal. My Dinner With Andre is an iconic film and he’s such an iconic actor, writer, director, playwright… I’m such a huge fan, but he is just also the nicest guy. [laughs] It’s a pleasure to do scenes with him. And I’m so glad he came back this season.
This is the final season of the show. How does it feel coming in for what may be the end of The Good Fight/The Good Wife universe of shows?
There’s a lot of freedom in it. I feel like I was able to make vastly different choices with my character. I was free to splash around the paint with such an interesting character and I’m really, really such a huge fan of Robert and Michelle’s work and I’m really happy with how they conclude my character and they make it so satisfying.
As much as it is only a short time I’ve had to live with Carmen Moyo, I think they give her such a complete arc that it’s been very satisfying to play.
Fast-tracked from the US, season 6 of The Good Fight premieres exclusively in Australia at 8.30pm Saturdays on SBS VICELAND, airing weekly. Stream episodes after they go to air - starting with season 6 episode 1:
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