Susan Kelechi Watson was a key part of the This Is Us cast over all six seasons until the series finale in 2022, and her big return to TV came in early 2024 as a bomb expert by the name of Cricket on Will Trent. Unfortunately, Cricket was killed off at the end of her first episode, and I for one was bummed that the ABC drama wasn't going to feature her regularly. Now, with her new Netflix show set to debut in the 2025 TV schedule, her comments to CinemaBlend have me hyped for an "over the top" cast. Sign me up for Shondaland's The Residence!
The Residence is coming to viewers with a Netflix subscription as the last big arrival in March among the 2025 Netflix release dates. The show is a whodunnit that will be set in the White House, with 157 suspects for one dead body. Throw in 132 rooms and an eccentric detective (played by Orange is the New Black's Uzo Aduba), and this could be a must-binge for fans of the mystery genre.
And as it turns out, the cast is packed with stars of the large and small screen, including Uzo Aduba, My Name is Earl's Jason Lee, Breaking Bad's Giancarlo Esposito, and Fresh Off the Boat's Randall Park along with Susan Kelechi Watson, to name just a handful. When I spoke with Watson during SCAD TVfest in Atlanta, I had to ask for her thoughts on the rest of the star-studded cast.
She shared that she knew "at least a few people who would be on it" when she landed her role as White House Assistant Usher Jasmine Haney. Watson went on:
I was super excited to hear that Uzo was playing the detective, because I just thought, 'What a brilliant choice.' Just to imagine that role on the page, and then imagine Uzo in it was just so brilliant to me. I just love the way that they were casting everything. Ken Marino, I love him. He's just so funny. Bronson Pinchot. It's just really smart casting. Jason Lee, and just so many others. And then new faces you'll see, like Molly Griggs. You'll see people that you're like, 'Oh, they're dope!' I'm really quite proud to be a part of it. Then you bring in somebody like Andre Braugher or Giancarlo Esposito, and then you're like, 'Oh my gosh, we've taken it over the top.' It's just been a joy to be a part of.
Andre Braugher was originally slated to play White House Chief Usher A.B. Wynter prior to his death at 61 due to lung cancer, with Giancarlo Esposito then cast to take over the late legend's role in The Residence. With a March 20 premiere date for the new series, subscribers are still in for a wait before getting to see the star-studded cast in action beyond the trailer.
Susan Kelechi Watson only had good things to say ahead of the premiere, though! When I asked if shooting a streaming show like The Residence feels different after six seasons of network TV with NBC's This Is Us and then her all-too-short stint on ABC's Will Trent, she shared:
You would think so, but I feel like we shot for two seasons because it took two years to do this. Because we started, and then there was the strike, and then when we came back the next year after the strike, and then we had to reshoot because of Andre's transition. We've gone through a lot with this show, and so it feels like I've been away from television for a long time, but I haven't really. I got this show a few months after I ended This Is Us. [laughs] But now, three years later, just because of everything that's happened.
The Residence was hardly the only show affected by the SAG-AFTRA actors strike and/or the WGA writers strike, but Watson seems more than ready for viewers to check out the new take on a "whodunnit" case with plenty of stars in the case. Take a look at the trailer below:
There will clearly be some comedy to go along with the drama in The Residence, and I can imagine this becoming Shondaland's next Netflix hit, although it certainly isn't taking place in the Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte universe. The new mystery series arrives on Netflix on Thursday, March 20.
If you want to see more of Susan Kelechi Watson ahead of the new drama, you can find all six seasons of This Is Us as well as her short-lived stint on Will Trent streaming with a Hulu subscription. Here's hoping her Residence character lives a lot longer than Cricket did!
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