The Gifts of Play and Creation with Rashida “Sheedz” Olayiwola

Rashida “Sheedz” Olayiwola is a comedic genius in shows such as Black Lady Sketch Show and the reality hoax sitcom Jury Duty. Black Girl Nerds really enjoyed getting to hear more about her and her upcoming projects in Marvel’s miniseries Ironheart on Disney+ and the animated reboot of Good Times on Netflix. 

RSO: [Gestures to NASA hat.] I wore this for you.

BGN: Did you?

Yeah! This is one of my favorite hats! I was like, “Gotta show the nerd in me.”

Aww! Thank you! [Laughs.] What led you into comedic acting?

I feel like my mom always says that I’ve been actin’ a fool my whole life. It really started to come together in college.

I got the nickname “Sheedz” from my Black Studies professor, and [since then] everybody would say things like “Oh, Sheedz should host the fashion show,” or “Sheedz should host the comedy show,” and they would call me that every time I came to the stage. Then, I joined the Black theater workshop at my college.

As a kid, I’m one of seventy-two grandchildren. We’d be in the basement playing with each other. We would play house, we would write songs, I learned acting as a kid. So when I was offered scholarships to Second City in Chicago and all that stuff, I didn’t know improvisation had a name. I thought it was just “go downstairs, and play.” 

I love to play. It don’t matter how old I get, I’m gonna play.

Can you tell me more about that sort of play when it came to your role as Nikki Wilder in Jury Duty? And your process for becoming Nikki?

The audition came to my team in December of 2021. There was no script. They just said, “You’ve just been told you’re a juror for jury duty, but that you’re also going to be sequestered. Just be yourself.” It was all improv. Then, two days later, they said, “You’re a court officer, be yourself.” 

Then, I had a producer’s session, where they said, “We love you. We want you to be you as an officer.” As a Black woman, I don’t know if I would ever be a cop. But if I was, this is what I would do. 

If this woman has been here for thirteen years [because that was in the character description], she’s not having it, but she cares at the same time. So I was just playing off of all the things I wanted to see, like, “I’m gonna give this Black woman so many gifts.” 

It was a ball, playing her. Even with my nails. I had asked [the producers], “Do you want my nails off?” And they said, “No, she’s been here for thirteen years, why wouldn’t she do what she wants to do?” They embraced who I was. 

It was a lot of building as I went. I was doing a lot of research on what court officers do and their mannerisms. I was like, “She would have an office, she needs a sheriff’s office.” So they built an office for me. 

[Fellow castmates and I] had to be these people for months. I appreciate that character and that gift of what I got to do

Is there anything that surprised you about being Nikki in this fake documentary?

I think what surprised me was how real Ronald [the only person who believed the documentary was real] thought I was. He hugged everybody else [during the reveal] and I had to tell him, “Hey! I’m not [a cop].” And he was shook. 

What excites you about the character you get to play in Ironheart?

I’m glad everybody knows it’s coming out. I’m so excited! Especially after Wakanda Forever came out, and you got to see this dope superhero [Ironheart/Riri Williams], played by Dominique Thorne]. Y’all will see her friend [played by me] soon enough. Me being included as a series regular in that. It’s gonna be awesome! 

I was blown away, having to be living in Atlanta for a couple of months and seeing that whole Marvel universe. It’s extremely dope, but the show is going to be so beautiful. It’s really Black, it’s really nerdy, it’s all the things!

And I was born and bred Chicago; Riri is from the South Side of Chicago. It made history as the first Marvel show directed by two Black women. That was one of my first producer sessions that happened right after Jury Duty. I auditioned for one character, then was asked to read for another one. It was so cool [that] I get to be authentic and be myself. I’m always going to do that. 

Ironheart is gonna be bomb. And Good Times [an animated reboot] on Netflix.

Say more about that project!

It comes out in 2024 where I am one of the writers and series regulars on that show. I play Lashes by Lisa. Shout out to Renada Shepard. She was one of the first women showrunners, particularly Black women showrunners, I got to work under. 

[Regarding Norman Lear, the executive producer and developer of the original Good Times, who passed recently:] I’m glad he got to see it created before he left this earth. To know that Aaron McGruder, Steph Curry, all of these people who made this reboot into an adult animation, it’s finna be off the chain! You look at shows like BoJack Horseman, Bob’s Burgers, and Rick & Morty, it’s gonna be in that world, and at the same time its own thing. 

I wasn’t even supposed to be in the show originally. I was at all the table reads as a writer, and then the director and Renada said, “Sheedz should be Lisa!” It made me really proud to not only be creating, but to be in this. [I’m] in [my] bag on this. 

I’m excited for this and everything else that will fall into place, because it’s not gonna stop, and I’m not stopping. 

What do you love about writing? 

I love to tell a story. I love to see the visions of what I have not seen or that are within me no matter the stage in my life. 

As a kid, I was like, “I wanna see that. I wanna create that.” 

There are friends within the industry now, where [if] we’re thinking of something, I’m writing it down. I do stand up…when I want to. I’ve been trying to do it more, but I’ve been so busy building.

[I use stand up, for example, to talk about how] I go to the Sequoia mountains twice a year, and everyone there knows me as the only Black girl that comes twice a year. 

All the things I’m working on have started from a joke or something that I want to see. I’m such an around-the-way girl; I want to see that woman on TV more. 

I’m going to be everything that I am and use every gift. 

Do you have any nerdy questions for me?

Oooh! Who are your favorite comedic influences?

Two women who do not get the flowers they deserve: Kim Wayans — I’ve met her brothers, I want to meet her so bad — and Debra Wilson. 

**This interview has been edited for time and clarity.