Uzo Aduba

20th August 2021

Uzo Aduba first rose to fame playing a character known as Crazy Eyes. It was on Orange Is the New Black, a part of the first class of original TV shows on Netflix. Crazy Eyes, whose real name is Suzanne, was one of the many prisoners in the women’s correctional facility the show focused on. Aduba won two Emmys for her portrayal of Suzanne, one for comedy and the other for drama. Since Orange is the New Black, Aduba has gone on to even bigger and better things. She played Shirley Chisolm in the Hulu miniseries Mrs. America. She’s performed on Broadway. And, recently, she’s starred in the HBO series In Treatment. So we’re thrilled to have Uzo Aduba on the show, and just as excited to have our good friend Tre’vell Anderson interviewing her.

Episode notes

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Uzo Aduba first rose to fame playing a character known as Crazy Eyes.

It was on Orange is the New Black, a part of the first class of original TV shows on Netflix. Crazy Eyes, whose real name is Suzanne, had, well, crazy eyes. She was one of the many prisoners in the women’s correctional facility the show focused on. Crazy Eyes didn’t talk a lot. Watching the show, at first, you might not know whether or not she was comic relief, or a real threat to other characters’ safety.

But as the show goes on, her character rounds out. We learn why she’s in prison, we learn about her parents, her struggles with mental illness.

So it’s easy to see why Uzo Aduba won two Emmys for her portrayal of Suzanne, one for comedy and the other for drama. That’s an honor shared by only one other person: none other than Ed Asner.

Since Orange is the New Black, Aduba has gone on to even bigger and better things. She played Shirley Chisolm in the Hulu miniseries Mrs. America. She’s performed on Broadway. And, recently, she’s starred in the HBO series In Treatment.

So we’re thrilled to have Uzo Aduba on the show, and just as excited to have our good friend Tre’vell Anderson interviewing her. Tre’vell is a veteran entertainment journalist and co-host of the Maximum Fun podcast FANTI.

In this episode...

Senior Producer
Producer
Maximum Fun Producer
Maximum Fun Production Fellow
Video Editor

Guests

  • Uzo Aduba

About the show

Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.

Bullseye has been featured in Time, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeney’s, which called it “the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world.” Since April 2013, the show has been distributed by NPR.

If you would like to pitch a guest for Bullseye, please CLICK HERE. You can also follow Bullseye on Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. For more about Bullseye and to see a list of stations that carry it, please click here.

Get in touch with the show

People

Senior Producer

Producer

Maximum Fun Producer

Maximum Fun Production Fellow

Video Editor

How to listen

Stream or download episodes directly from our website, or listen via your favorite podcatcher!

Share this show

New? Start here...

Liked Uzo Aduba? Listen to these next...