Niecy Nash didn’t read the script for ‘Uncorked’ until after she’d signed up for the film.
The 50-year-old actress stars in the movie as Sylvia, the wife of Louis (Courtney B. Vance) who opposes their son Elijah’s (Mamadou Athie) dream to become a top sommelier because he wants him to work for the family barbecue business and she jumped at the role when director Prentice Penny offered it to her, even though she had little knowledge of the project.
Asked what drew her to the film, she said: "It was Prentice Penny, to be honest with you. I had known him for some years, and we had crossed paths on a couple of jobs.
"And he literally had me at hello. He called me and said, ‘I wrote this role and this film with you in mind,’ and I just was like, ‘Okay, yeah, I’ll do it’. I just loved him. I read the script after I committed.
Niecy enjoyed the filmmaker’s calm temperament and decisive manner of working.
She told Screen Rant: "I felt like he was very prepared. He knew exactly what he wanted. You didn’t show up on the day with him looking around and trying to figure it out. He knew exactly what he wanted, which was reassuring.
"And because he’s worked in other parts of the industry, he understands how to speak in an actor’s [language], which is also important.
"He doesn’t get ruffled easily, so no matter what’s going on he keeps a cool head, as they say in Jamaica. He keeps a cool head."
And the actress felt the project had a lot of "clarity" throughout the filming process because Prentice had also written the script.
She said: "I just think that it gives it more clarity. Because sometimes you can have a split vision; the writer can see it this way and the director wants to do it that way. Now they’re one and the same. You keep the synergy of telling the story that he wants to tell. So, yeah, I liked it."
Niecy Nash didn’t read Uncorked script
