The Afterparty: Tiffany Haddish Talks Why She Took on Detective Danner

The Afterparty, a brand new eight episode series on Apple TV Plus, centers around the events of a high school reunion and its afterparty in which one of the former classmates turns up dead. Everyone is a suspect, and it’s up to Tiffany Haddish’s Detective Danner to figure out who the killer is. Now, everyone obviously has a very different account of how the night played out, but what makes The Afterparty stand out is that we get to see all of it play out from their respective perspectives. What that means is that every episode is a different genre, each one with its own unique style that matches the character’s personality.

In this Goggler exclusive, we sat down with Tiffany Haddish for a conversation about the show’s message of not judging people by what they look like and why she took on the role of Detective Danner.

Umapagan Ampikaipakan: Every episode of The Afterparty is built around this idea that we are the heroes of our own story, and its message of not knowing what the other person is going through, and not judging them by what you see feels like it should be the guiding principle for this world we’re living in right now. I was wondering if you could talk to me about that.

Tiffany Haddish: Well, here’s the thing. You hit the nail on the head, okay? This series is definitely that. It’s the epitome of the human condition. Ten people can be at the same event, see the same exact thing, and you talk to each person, and they are telling you a whole different thing. You have to listen to everything. What are the facts? Who said what? Are they the same thing. Those are the facts. You have to pick apart the truth because everyone’s perception is so different. Everyone’s like: “MY STORY. MY EXPERIENCE!” We are all heroes. 

The villain of the story does not see themselves as the villain. They see themselves as a hero. I mean, in acting class they teach you there is no such thing as a villain, and there are no such thing as small parts, because everyone sees themselves as the hero, as a person that’s bringing good. Even if they are doing something bad, they see themselves as doing some good. 

I mean, every criminal that’s sitting in prison right now is like, “Yeah, I’m in jail. But I needed to get the money to feed family. I had to kill that guy because he attacked my spirit!” Nobody is the bead guy… and… what was the last part of your question? Oh my God. I’m sorry, you got me so hyped, you know? 

UA: *laughs* I wanted your thoughts about the message of the show in not judging people by what they look like, or who you “think” they are. 

TH: You can never judge people by the way they look, or a book by its cover. Or just because you saw them do this thing and that. by, you know, Oh, I saw them do this thing in that thing. Yeah. Okay. They’re always doing nice stuff. But why are they always doing nice stuff? I have learned that in this entertainment business, if somebody is constantly kissing my ass, something’s up. Something ain’t right. They got some kind of motive. Real people don’t kiss your ass. “You did a good job? Cool. All right. I got to go do my thing.” That’s real people. People that’s trying to manipulate and get something. They’re always kissing ass.

UA: I’m putting that on a t-shirt. “Real People Don’t Kiss Your Ass.”

TH: No, they don’t. They congratulate you when you do good, and they keep pushing. That’s real. 

UA: There’s a line in the series about Steve Urkel which I loved. Because I feel the same way about him that Detective Danner does.

TH: That was real for me. Okay. I don’t like when people talk bad about Jaleel White. I just got an issue with that. I don’t like that because he was a character that was on TV at a time when they were not showing Black men in a way where they were smart. Black men are smart. Black men are ambitious, and creative, and innovative. Like that character, Steve Urkel, was an innovative character. Besides a box of Wheaties, which nobody Black owns anyway, have you ever seen a Black man on a cereal box? There’s only two. Mr. T and Steve Urkel. Urkel O’s! And I ate both of those serials, okay, because that’s how Black I am. I’m mad that they stopped making it. But whatever. It is what it is. Maybe I’ll bring ‘em back. Maybe I’ll get rich enough so I can bring back Urkel O’s and Mr. T cereal. 

UA: You know, in the same way we don’t see many Black men on cereal boxes, we don’t see many Black women in roles like this one. It’s always Kenneth Branagh or Daniel Craig. But we don’t see people who look and sound like you playing a police detective in a whodunnit. That must have been pretty exciting to do.

TH: That was the main thing for me. We don’t see many women in this role, or if we do see women in this role, it’s like…

UA: Angela Lansbury from 40 years ago… 

TH: Yes. But also Gabrielle Union, and Angela Basset, and Nia Long. But they were hardcore… dark… attittide… gotta get it done… My character is like, “we gonna get this done, but let’s have a little fun while we do it.” Also, I’m not going to be overly obedient to my superiors because they don’t know what they’re talking about. But I know my intuition is on. Let’s go!

That’s how I feel Danner is. She’s quirky as hell. She’s a little weird. I mean, who carries popcorn in their purse?

UA: More people should.

TH: They should! They would probably have better attitudes. There’ll be less fights.

The first three episodes of The Afterparty premiere on Apple TV Plus on Friday, 28 January, with new episodes dropping every subsequent week.