Dominique Fishback on ‘Swarm’

Episode notes

(Photo: Amazon Prime)

For the last decade, Dominique Fishback has been building up her resume with some stellar performances. 

In 2018, she appeared in the David Simon show Show Me A Hero. It was a breakthrough role for Fishback – she played Billie Rowan. Billie was a single mother growing up in a housing project in Yonkers. 

She parlayed that into a regular role on The Deuce, another David Simon series. Then she played Deborah Johnson in Judas and the Black Messiah – a drama based on the true story of Black Panther Fred Hampton. The role earned her a BAFTA nomination, among other accolades.

She has the ability to command a fierce, brilliant presence on screen. She can be disarming and vulnerable in one moment, terrifying the next. These days, you can see her on Amazon Prime’s Swarm. It’s a TV series created by Donald Glover and writer Janine Nabers.

Dominique plays Dre in the show. When Swarm begins, Dre’s sharing an apartment with her foster sister, Marissa. The two are close – the kind of sisters who share everything. That includes a love for Ni’Jah, a pop singer in the vein of Beyoncé. 

Dre’s life unravels pretty quickly. First, Marissa moves out, then she dies. Dre loses her apartment, her job, and before long her grief for Marissa and her obsession with Ni’jah both curdle into something much more disturbing and deadly.

Dominique Fishback joins Bullseye to talk about Swarm and Judas and the Black Messiah, and her love of journaling – a hobby that has helped her learn more about herself and the characters she portrays. Plus, she has played mostly sweet, sympathetic roles – Swarm is a departure from that. She talks about the challenges that presented. 

Content Warning:  This conversation with Dominique Fishback discusses some graphic descriptions of violence.