Meet Birgundi Baker Star of 'The Chi’ on Showtime
Birgundi Baker, the star of Showtime’s The Chi talks about harnessing the power of art to raise awareness about the Black Lives Movement, how she pursued her passion of performing, how she’s staying creatively inspired and the newest season of the show. Also, you can catch her playing the role of Nia in While We Breathe—a Facebook Live and YouTube live event on July 29th.
Birgundi was photographed by Samuel Paul; Makeup by Samuel Paul. She was styled by Toye Adedipe; hair by Kelly Wood
It’s great to meet you! Before we begin, how are you doing during this time period?
I’m doing okay, life is different, as it is for everyone, as you know. There really isn’t a lot of work that we can do outside of our homes, so I am just trying to find my place in the art world but still in my home.
How are you spending your days, are you cultivating any hobbies?
There is this free writing class on Instagram hosted by Adepero Oduye (@crownpeace). It gives you one topic and ten minutes to write or 30 minutes to write, but you cannot stop. You have to keep going. Even if you do want to stop, the last word that you wrote, you have to keep writing it over and over until you think of something else to write, so I have been trying to keep up with that. I also have a five year old daughter who keeps me busy during the day.
Did you pull the double duty of parent and teacher before the school year ended?
Yeah, we got all of her text books from her teachers—we tried the virtual school and it was just not working at all. The kids are playing at home with their toys and the teachers are spending an hour to try to get them to focus through the phone, so we decided to just do it.
Moms and dads are super heroes when it comes to that. I feel like We are at the precipice of real change. How are you navigating the Black Lives Matter movement?
I think the main thing right now with the Black Lives Matter movement is to educate yourself on what is going on, but I don’t think you can do that without educating yourself on what has happened. As an artist, I think books are great, but my mind automatically goes to art like TV and movies and things you can actually see. Netflix has a really good collection—they put together for Black Lives Matter with black TV shows, not only do they give you black entertainment, but they have documentaries that really educate you on things that African Americans have been through. They have the messages that we are trying to get out. They are true stories but they are very similar to today. As an artist, those are things that not only educate but you can also enjoy while being educated.
“I just remember being in the front and all of the kids were watching me do the dance moves; I remember feeling like, I have this, I can do this.”
Birgundi wears a turtle neck by Simona Corsellini; jacket by Simona Corsellini; skirt by L’AGENCE
Thank you for that information. I think that education is key to fully understand and inact change. I’d love to get to know more about your background. Where are you from and when did you know that you wanted to act?
I’m from Raleigh, North Carolina. I always knew I wanted to be an actress and that I wanted to do something in the arts at a very young age because I grew up in a big family and everyone was in the arts, so I was around it all the time. My aunt went Juilliard so my mom sent me up to New York to watch the student shows and the plays. I just fell in love with it. She put me in dance and that kind of attracted me to the whole theater world.
Can you remember your first performance?
I was in a dance performance and I was a Purple People Eater, I wore a bright shiny purple costume with one horn and an eye on the side of it. I just remember being in the front and all of the kids were watching me do the dance moves; I remember feeling like, I have this, I can do this. Then you move on to different levels in dance classes. My mom put me in chorus and acting lessons and I entered a contest with Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and I won and I was on the front of box. I was eight years old; I had to fly to Florida to shoot all of the advertising and I got my first taste of being a working actor, being on the clock, rehearsing and being in front of the camera—I knew that was what I wanted to do.
I read you went to Howard University, what did you major in?
First, I majored in dance because I was scared to major in musical theater since I was a really good dancer. I enjoyed acting the most but I felt like I need the most help with my voice. It was all over the place. I really wanted to get in and to not take the chance of auditioning for musical theater and not making it—I am not as good of a singer as I am a dancer. I was afraid and I took the easy way out and majored in dance and I was miserable. I would go to the musical theater shows and I would cry not because they were good (laughs) but because I wanted to be up there. I was only using one-third of what I loved to do and so I quit dance and I had to do an extra year because I switched, but it was the best decision. I feel like that extra year made me better than I would have been if I would have started out in it.
“I think the main thing right now with the Black Lives Matter movement is to educate yourself on what is going on, but I don’t think you can do that without educating yourself on what has happened. As an artist, I think books are great, but my mind automatically goes to art like TV and movies and things you can actually see.”
Did you have your sights on Broadway or more TV?
At first, I would have done anything especially coming with a musical background. Of course I was expecting to do a lot of theater, but once I got a taste of TV, I wanted to it—it’s easier on the body, the voice and you can do so many things at one time, like two TV shows and movie. With a play, you are doing the same one for a year.
You’ve held roles in ‘Empire’ and ‘Black Lightening’. What was the journey like to land those roles, was your patience ever tested?
What tested my patience was getting an agent, I sent out my headshot, resume and I had reached out to people who I knew had agents but it was so hard to get representation. I did a showcase and there were agents there and I got an agent from that showcase. Once I got an agent it just went from there. My first audition was Empire and I got that, then I got Chicago P.D. and Chicago Med. I think it had to do with Chicago at the time, there were all of these shows and Chicago is actually a very welcoming place for new artists. They have shows where they have their lead characters locked in but then they need all of these guest stars, so there are a lot of roles and small opportunities for actors. The first big thing for me was Heathers, because I was living in Chicago and it was filming in LA so I got to fly out, which was big thing. It had a musical rendition in it, so it was the first time I was able to use my musical theater background on TV.
For your latest project ‘The Chi’ you started as a guest star and now are a series regular, congratulations. Can you share more about your character, Keisha Williams and and what you love most about the show?
The first two seasons, I was in a supporting role, you could catch her popping into scenes with her little brother or boyfriend. This season, I am the main character and I am basically the face of what’s going on with black women today which is they go missing. Right now there are about 75,000 black girls missing, at least what we know, we don’t know about the cases we aren't told about. My character is basically a representation of this—she’s a sister, a daughter, a girlfriend, a student, a runner. What I love about her is that I think she is someone who everyone can identify with her in some way and that familiarity makes you fall in love with her, so when she does go missing, you really care. This has been a problem around the world but also in Chicago specifically for some time. It’s not based around a specific story, but we have taken little details that have actually happened.
What has been the fan’s reaction to the show?
It’s funny because people ask me as if it’s really me, like, where are you? Are you okay? (laughs) People are really into it and they are seeing that this is a really a problem.
If you look out on the horizon of your career, what do you dream about doing?
I love drama, that’s my favorite thing to tackle and what I want to be known for. My next goal is to do a movie, which is next on my list. But eventually I would like to write and direct.
Do you have any summer plans?
I think I am just going to be visiting family. I have been visiting often, it’s good, I mean you can’t be around too many people, but it’s good to be around people you care about, it can be really depressing to sit around at home. Just the change of environment when I go to North Carolina is great, it’s more green with more open spaces.