GALO: Let’s talk about the atmosphere on set. All of you are comedic actors. Are you guys just cracking each other up most of the time?

SB: The fun that you see us having on the show is actually the fun that we’re having in real life. It’s such an affable set and we all get along really well. We’re dealing with major comedians and it’s really hard sometimes being able to keep a straight face, I gotta say. It’s just so funny.

And then there are times that the actors are allowed to open up a scene and see where it goes. It’s really entertaining and I’m a fan of the show. Even if I work in the show, I can be a fan of it [laughs]. So I sit there and I watch, and being like a fan and enjoying the show is just hilarious.

And everybody’s having a really good time. We have a very comfortable set. We’re like a family. Everyone gets along great. I’m just so grateful to be working on a comedy, you know? The morale is high and it keeps us laughing. It’s really been a joy to be around those guys and gals.

GALO: Baltimore is nothing like Los Angeles. Were there any interesting places you visited when you had days off?

SB: I really liked the aquarium. And then obviously the Ravens are awesome. The time they won the Superbowl [in 2013] was pretty amazing. We were there and it was just nice to experience it. And it has some of the best seafood, ever. The buildings and the architecture are so beautiful. It’s a really gorgeous city. And it has its parts that are sketchy, but it’s a beautiful place. It has beautiful symmetry.

GALO: How did your first acting audition compare to your audition for Veep?

SB: My first professional audition was for a show called Cold Case. It’s night and day. When I first started, there were a lot of nerves and a lot of questioning, whether or not I could make it work. That doesn’t go away, but it does get easier as I get older and more experienced. On Cold Case, I think I walked into a room in character, because I played a rough-around-the-edges person. I wasn’t aware of the fact that, so often, casting directors don’t need to see you in full character. They just have to get a sense of who you are. I did a great job and all, but it was just a lot to keep in character throughout the whole audition. Casting directors just want to see your personality, too, and see if you can work with a team.

I think I learned how to be more relaxed in auditioning, and not make it a pass or fail situation. Actors, including myself, are really hard on themselves, because it’s so much competition and there’s so much going on. From that time, auditioning for Cold Case in 2009, to this time auditioning for Veep, I’ve just become more of a relaxed person. I trust more that if the work is there and that if you do the preparation, you can let it all go when you’re in the room. It’s the growth between learning how to relax and do the work.

GALO: I had read that you first delved into acting at the Los Angeles Theatre Academy. Had you always been interested in pursuing it as a career?

SB: I’d always been a pretty creative person. I’d always liked art and I’d always liked dancing and going to museums; reading a lot of poems at an early age. I’d have to say that my mother was the one who tipped me over to choose acting as an actual career. So, I would equate my mom to that.

GALO: You have a lot of experience in stage acting. You were involved in productions including A Raisin in the Sun, Hamlet and The Glass Menagerie. Are there any stage roles you developed a deep connection with?

SB: Yeah, there’s so many. There are just so many great roles out there. There’s a play called Burn This that I really like by Lanford Wilson. It’s about a dancer who lives in New York and it’s really well-written. I’d say I have a connection with that, for sure. I really do love the stage. I think it’s such a great medium. I miss it a lot and I eventually will go back to stage [acting]. There are so many great American plays. All of the Tennessee Williams stuff, I love. I think John Guare is one of the best playwrights of our time.

GALO: Do you find stage roles more or less challenging than film or television roles?

SB: I’d say both of them have their challenges. With stage, obviously there’s an instant gratification. You’re out there and it’s kind of like improv. Whatever happens in that moment, you’ve just got to go with it. There’s no take two or take three. There’s no stopping the camera, which is an interesting skill to develop as an actor. It teaches us to be right in the moment and to be able to catch whatever’s thrown at you.

Television acting is fun, too. It’s just a completely different muscle. It’s kind of a patient person’s game. You’re really fine-tuning the work and being able to be excited even though there’s no audience there. And knowing that the final product comes out so great and then you’re able to share all that work with the audience later on. They’re just different mediums and I respect them all the same.

GALO: In your spare time, you’re a community activist for a variety of organizations. One I came across was the Boys & Girls Club in Los Angeles, which aims to provide a safe environment and academic opportunities for all different types of youth. How do you contribute to this organization?

SB: I have a really good friend who’s the director of the one in Hollywood. What I do is I volunteer there. There are a myriad of [classes] in their curriculum. They’ve got a theater program, they have music for the children, and they have book readings and sports. There are so many outlets, so I try to go in as often as I can and read to them. I will even go in and just help keep the facility up. In some way, shape or form, being able to contribute to them, because it’s such a great program…it really does keep kids off the street and it keeps them occupied when they’re not in school.

You can see Sufe Bradshaw on “Veep” on HBO, which has its third season premiere on April 6 at 10:30 p.m. ET.


Video Courtesy of HBO.

Featured image: Actress Sufe Bradshaw. Photo Credit: Russell Baer.

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