Simone Missick's New CBS Show is All Rise

By Darlene Donloe

Simone Missick is one of three black actresses who are leads on their respective CBS shows.

One-third of the Black Girl Magic happening at the network that includes (Tichina Arnold/ The Neighborhood and Folake Olowofoyeku/Bob Hearts Abishola, Missick is the only one starring in a drama.

Missick plays activist Judge Lola Carmichael in the hour-long drama, All Rise that airs 9 p.m. Monday nights on CBS. 

The show, which also stars Marg Helgenberger (CSI) and Wilson Bethel (HBO’s Generation Kill), is about a former deputy district attorney who is a newly appointed judge.  She is new to the job and decides to do things differently from the status quo. She is going to dispense a fresh kind of justice.

During her career, Missick, who is married to actor Dorian Missick, has played Misty Knight alongside Mike Colter on Luke Cage.  She also appeared in the television film A Taste of Romance and the series Ray Donovan.

Simone Missick

I recently caught up with the Detroit native to talk about her latest role.

DD: What’s it like to be a black woman lead in Hollywood?

SM: I’ve had the fortune of seeing other black women as leads. I didn’t come up in a time when there were no others.  I watched people like Tichina Arnold who had several TV shows. I’ve watched Kerry Washington’s success. Thankfully, I don’t feel like I’m the only person out there. I can also look around and see women I know – whose careers I’ve been rooting for – and watch them shine. People like Yvonne Orji from Insecure, Maya Lynne Robinson from Unicorn and Kariman Westbrook from All American. I’ve known these people for a while and they are now getting their due.  It’s great to look around the room and see people you know.

DD: Has is sunk in that, you have your own show?

SM: I’m hazing to be able to be in a show that I’m the lead of with an amazing, outstanding ensemble. Seasoned veterans and CBS royalty like Marg Helgenberger and Tony-Award winning actresses and great actors I get to play with every day.

DD: How’d it come about?

SM: I auditioned.

DD: How many times?

SM: Once.

DD:  Talk about that.

SM: I found out on a Thursday that they wanted to audition me on a Saturday but I had to work all day Thursday and Friday.  I flew in Saturday morning, headed straight to CBS, had a two-hour long audition and flew right back to go to work on Monday. That Tuesday I found out I got the job.

Simone Missick
Photo by Darlene Donloe

DD: How did you prepare for this audition?

SM: The words. That’s all you have is the script. I figured out who I thought this woman was and so I went in and found the humor, the life, the realness. I tapped into women I knew as well as parts of myself.

DD: Who is she?

SM: Lola is smart. She is funny and goofy, insecure, a little neurotic and she’s fun. But, she’s also the most powerful woman in the room with the biggest heart and the desire to change the system.

DD: Are you encouraged or discouraged about black people in Hollywood?

SM: I’m not discouraged at all. I think there can be more. There should be more people of color in the room, in the writer’s rooms, in the producer's meetings, helming films and TV shows on the executive level, behind the camera – there can always be more. But when I go on my set, I am astounded how much inclusion there is. It’s not just racial inclusion. There are so many people represented in front of and behind the cameras. It’s also gender variations, sexual orientations, and cultural backgrounds.  Our show to me represents LA, which represents the world we’re trying to portray on camera.  I go to work every day encouraged and thankful.

DD: What did you expect when you got in this business and what did you get?

SM: I think when I started in this business I thought I was going to be famous by 28. I’m a couple years past that. What I thought is nowhere near what God has blessed me with. My dreams and goals have far exceeded what I’m getting. I’m gotten way more than I deserve. It’s God’s grace.