Posted in: NBC, Peacock, TV | Tagged: exclusive, India de Beaufort, interview, John Larroquette, melissa rauch, nbc, Night Court, peacock

Night Court: India de Beaufort on Approaching Series with "Fresh Eyes"

Night Court star India de Beaufort spoke with us about playing Olivia Moore, first meeting Nyambi Nyambi during the SAG-AFTRA strike & more.

India de Beaufort wasn't aware of the original Reinhold Weege series Night Court when she first heard about the legacy sequel emerging from Dan Rubin and stars Melissa Rauch and holdover John Larroquette. While she made her debut in an uncredited role in the BBC series Next of Kin, she would become regularly active on screen since BBC's children's show The Basil Brush before making her big splash in the 2007 David Schwimmer comedy Run Fatboy Run. De Beaufort would be a TV regular appearing in WB's One Tree Hill, NBC's Chuck, ABC's Blood & Oil, Netflix's All Hail King Julien, and HBO's Veep. She spoke to Bleeding Cool about her role as District Attorney Olivia Moore on Night Court, her character's growth from seasons one and two, early Dan Fielding comparisons, having the jump on newest cast member Nyambi Nyambi, favorite Olivia moment, and her approach to the series.

Night Court: India de Beaufort on Embracing Olivia Moore

Bleeding Cool: What was the biggest change for you coming from season one and the season for 'Night Court'?

De Beaufort: Probably Olivia's hair [laughs]. I gave it a chop, and I used to wear a ton of extensions. Now I don't, which makes my life a lot easier and more comfortable character-wise. We're gently moving her along so there aren't any drastic changes between the first and the second. We're slowly learning more about her and opening her up a little bit by a bit.

I see some elements your character Olivia shares, some of her mannerisms to the way John Larroquette's Dan Fielding from the original 'Night Court' and "wanting to get ahead" type of personality. Was it something that you discussed, or is this something that organically emerged from the writing in your approach to Olivia?

It was never discussed with John or the writers. I saw it on the page, and then when I started doing press junkets, people would say, I see similarities between these two characters, and then I was like, "Okay, cool. That's playing great." I think the writers did intentionally do that. They just never expressed it to me. They assumed that I would read the lines on the page and get a sense for it, that I would that I was mirroring some of his earlier traits.

When did you feel you started hitting your stride as Olivia?

It goes up and down. There are moments where I'm human, and there are days when I think I did a great job, and other days where I think, "I stink. I can't believe people still hire me," and I'm okay with that. I'm okay with being an actor that is never comfortable. If I get too comfortable, I'll stop growing. I'm happy to question myself and my choices, and want to be better. Otherwise, what am I doing here? I'd rather enjoy the challenge, so hopefully I never get too comfortable, but the character of Olivia certainly feels like a comfortable, warm blanket for me at this point.

You have a new 'Night Court' cast addition in Nyambi Nyambi, who joined in the middle of this season. How did he fit in?

Coincidently, we crossed paths on the picket line [during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike], and we saw each other. I knew what I knew, and he knew what he knew, but we had never met before. We weren't sure if we were supposed to say anything to each other or if it was a secret. We both gave each other a look that sort of said everything we needed to say, and then I said, "Hey, why don't you come over to my house and have lunch?" He came and had lunch with me and my mom, and we chatted for a few hours, and I got to know him. He then invited me to a private family event, and we had each other's numbers, so we stayed in touch. By the time he arrived on set, I had already been fortunate enough to get to spend some time with him. When he came, my quality of life, and I said this to him, improved tenfold by his presence because I enjoy his company so immensely. The character of Wyatt is delightful and it feels like we've sunk in into a groove now that he's here.

What is your favorite Olivia moment? Have we seen it yet?

This season I would say probably the episode with the funeral, where she goes to her doorman's funeral [in episode eight, "Broadway Danny Gurgs"]. It's fun that we get to see a side of her that's a little bit more emotional and a little bit more unhinged.

What was your exposure to the original 'Night Court?' Did it affect your performance going in?

I didn't know the original show. I'm English, so I didn't have it. The first time I saw the show was when I watched episodes to prepare for the test so that I could get the tone of the show, which is something I will do with any job I auditioned for. I had absolutely zero context for what I was stepping into. My husband, however, is American and very much made me aware of the sort of legacy of 'Night Court' and the privilege that was mine to be able to come here every day and call this my job. In a lot of ways, I'm grateful that I'm seeing it from fresh eyes. I've now backtracked and watched the [original] show in its entirety, and I love that we get to be a part of something that reminds people of their childhoods. I hope that 20 years from now, I will hopefully remind the generation that's watching now of a happy time in their lives.

Night Court, which also stars Lacretta, returns on March 5th on NBC and is available to stream on Peacock.

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