Susan Kelechi Watson on Netflix's The Residence, Plays Good Bones and Blood Quilt, and Balancing It All

Susan Kelechi Watson, best known for her role as Beth Pearson on NBC’s This Is Us, is having a standout year across both television and theater.,

Currently, she stars in Netflix’s The Residence, a comedic murder mystery set in the White House, alongside Uzo Aduba, Randall Park, and Giancarlo Esposito. That shoot began in 2023, was shut down by the Hollywood strikes, and restarted in early 2024, just before Watson came to New York to do two back-to-back off-Broadway plays.

Those shows were James Ijames’s Good Bones at the Public Theater, which explores gentrification and personal identity, and Katori Hall’s The Blood Quilt at Lincoln Center Theater, a family drama centered on four sisters navigating their late mother’s legacy.

In this interview, Watson reflects on juggling these projects, the depth of her characters, and what drew her to each of these compelling stories.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

When did The Residence come your way?
It came to me at the end of 2022, when I was doing Eureka Day in London at the Old Vic. I just really thought it was so smart and well-written. It was an easy yes, do you know what I mean? [Creator] Paul [William Davies] wrote something that is so compelling and fun to read, and I was excited to be a part of it.

Are you the kind of actor who does a lot of research? Did you look into the behind-the-scenes machinations of the White House and how an usher would be involved?
It depends on the role, but for this one, I did have to do research because I had never heard of a White House usher. We had a White House usher meet with us during our first week of rehearsals. I was the only person who really had somebody there who did the same job as the character they were playing.

It was tremendously helpful because I was able to learn everything that a White House usher does. They are basically the head of all the housekeeping and butlers and plumbers, electricians, chefs, pastry chefs. Anything that makes the house run. It’s a huge and important job. You’re trying to make the residents of the household happy, while also making sure it runs according to the standard of the White House.

What is it like to be on a show in Shonda Rhimes universe?
It’s pretty great. It’s even better than I expected. One of the things that stood out to me the most was how diverse the production crews are. You see every ethnicity, all genders. They take every step to ensure that the production stays diverse. What struck me about them is their commitment to that, which is incredible.

I know Andre Braugher was one of your scene partners before he died, in the role that was eventually assumed by Giancarlo Esposito. How much was shot with Andre?
We shot the first four episodes with him before he transitioned.

Oh, wow.
Yeah. It was quite a lot. I can say, one of the joys of my career was getting to know him and see him do his thing in person.

So, those episodes were shot in 2023, and then you went down with the strike, and started filming again in February 2024. Did the rest of the Residence shoot butt up against your run of shows in New York?
No, it actually ended a couple of months before my shows in New York, which was good.

You had time to decompress before doing two plays back-to-back.
I had time to learn the scripts! I had memorized the Blood Quilt script during my summer vacation so that I would be able to fully focus on Good Bones once rehearsals started in August. By the time we started Blood Quilt rehearsals in late September, I knew it was just a matter of  refreshing my memory until it all started to come back.

Tell me about navigating the world of those two plays and two very different characters daily at certain points?
I didn’t find Aisha [in Good Bones] and Cassan [in Blood Quilt], or the worlds they existed in, to be alike at all. It’s one of the things that excited me the most about playing these two very dynamic women in the same season on stage. For example, Aisha commands a room. Cassan is perfectly happy to slip into a room and sit quietly in it. However, there were two major things they had in common: a longing to be seen and a deep sense of loneliness and abandonment that has left a void they haven’t yet learned how to fill.

I did a lot of thinking about who Cassan [in The Blood Quilt] was before rehearsals began so I could come into the process with a sense of character. I knew since I would be in performance mode for Good Bones, I tried to plan ahead and alleviate being stressed about those things in particular.

With so little time to rest between rehearsals and performances, how did you carve out moments to recharge—physically, emotionally, or creatively?  
Outside of sleeping at night, I caught a few moments on a yoga mat (or any comfortable flat surface) during a rehearsal break at Lincoln Center Theater or just before my half hour call at the Public to get into the Alexander Technique rest position. That position is a lifesaver! I learned it in grad school from the master Alexander teacher Ann Matthews and it has really helped get a sista through. If you don’t know it, learn it. You’re welcome.

What was it about Good Bones and Blood Quilt that made the effort and sacrifice of such a demanding schedule worthwhile for you as an artist?  
They are standout works by great American playwrights, led by outstanding directors, with extraordinary casts on two of the greatest stages in the world. I just couldn’t turn down the opportunity to be a part of either one. And in the end, it was worth the sacrifice to do it.