Reading Mo on Zoey’s Extraordinary Reading List Helped Alex Newell “Fall in Love with [Himself] More”

After impressing the audience with his incredible voice Joy, Alex Newell Returns to Music Television with New NBC Series Zoey’s Extraordinary Reading List. The 27-year-old, who identifies as a non-gendered gay man, first became known for his role as Wade “Unique” Adams on Joy in 2012 and has fully developed the resume since then, including in Broadway’s Once on this island musical and releasing his first EP Power. Now, after all of his success as an artist, Newell is returning to his television roots.

The show focuses on a woman named Zoey (Jane Levy) who suddenly develops the ability to hear people’s inner thoughts through popular songs. Newell plays the influential neighbor of the genre and the future friend of the main character Mo. Although most of the first season described Mo as Zoey’s witty and fun companion, an upcoming episode will show Mo in a whole new light. The episode, which airs March 1, shows how Mo struggles with the intersection of his faith and his sexuality, which strikes him near his home for Newell.

“This is my story completely,” Newell told POPSUGAR. “Not word for word, but it is literally something that I experienced in my church.” In fact, Newell talked in advance with the authors of the series on how to handle the story. “It’s a lot of people stories that it all encompasses, but it was really one of those things where [show creator Austin Winsberg] asked me, “You have such confidence, where are the flaws? And I always say to myself, “Well, there are a lot of flaws. It’s just that they’re all personal. I know who I am. Why try to hide it? “

Newell added that the end scene of the episode was particularly moving. “[It was] wonderful to come to the end of this whole episode [with] a cathartic moment of “This is who I am, and you can take it or leave it if you want.” “We have to start having conversations about the people who are so strong and the confidence they have, what’s really going on with them,” he said. Especially in our own community. We have so many things already working against us that in our own communities [we need to] lift you. ”

While Newell’s personal story influenced his narrative arc on the screen, playing Mo also inspired him in his daily life. “Playing something that reflects so much who you are, you know new things about yourself that you really didn’t understand,” he said. “I catch myself noticing the little tics I do like Mo. I really see the south side of me coming out a lot. Mo is a direct carbon copy of my mother and all my aunts and everyone I have ever met ., lots of female presences. I fall more and more in love with myself by playing Mo. ”

Overall, Newell really enjoys playing a multidimensional character like Mo on TV. “I can speak for those who do not have the voice to speak,” he said. “I’ve always done this. Any work I’ve done on TV, I like to do this. I like being myself on TV because there is someone who is a direct reflection of me there who needs to have her story told. ”