‘I Got Chills’: Curtiss Cook On Season 4 Of Showtime’s ‘The Chi’
(CBS Local)– Season four of “The Chi” on Showtime wraps up on Sunday, August 1 and this season has certainly been a memorable one for actor Curtiss Cook. His character Douda has been at the center of many complicated personal and professional situations as the mayor of Chicago and that has allowed fans to see the many layers of his character.
CBS Local’s DJ Sixsmith recently talked with Cook about the power of a show like “The Chi” in its willingness to tackle issues like police brutality, racial injustice and community policing. The actor also discussed where Douda will end up at the end of the season, his favorite moments of season four and what a spin-off with his character would look like.
“It was nothing less than amazing. It was a challenge and as an actor that is what we love,” said Cook. “We love having a place where we can come in and we have to do the work. It was wild because when Justin Hillian and Lena Waithe gave me an overview of the show and what my character would be doing and I got chills. I got chills because of what was going on in the country. Our show, which tackles a lot of real life issues and is at the forefront of putting it out in front of spaces, it made me feel so good and proud. Out of all the characters it’s Douda who says I’m done with this. I’m the mayor and I can actually try to do something about it. When he says he’s going to do something, he does it. It doesn’t always happen in the most harmonious ways, but it happens.”
The season four finale of “The Chi” airs this Sunday, August 1 on Showtime at 9pm EST/PST. Showtime recently announced that it was donating $500,000 to support and invest in Chicago’s South and West Sides through organizations such as Greencorps Chicago and Chicago Public Art Group. The series has made a profound impact in a lot of different ways and Cook gives the writers credit for creating a show and characters that won’t be forgotten any time soon.
“Sometimes you get a character that only has one note primarily,” said Cook. “Your job is to come in with that one note and Douda could have very well have been that character. He could have just been the bad guy and the guy that everyone wants to hate. The writers then had this challenge of do we like him, is he good and is he actually doing something positive that is helping us or is he doing it for his own benefit. Having that in front of me was a challenge and a welcome challenge. We are not one-dimensional and we have all of those layers.”
Stream “The Chi” right now on the Showtime app.