Tyler Perry’s The Oval star, Kron Moore explains Camp Quarantine – CNET

This story is part of I’m So Obsessed (subscribe here), our podcast featuring interviews with actors, artists, celebrities and creative types about their work, career and current obsessions.

If you ask actors what’s the most fun kind of character to play, most would answer a villain. That’s definitely the case for Kron Moore. In real life she’s charming, intelligent and sweet, but in Tyler Perry’s soap opera The Oval she plays Victoria Franklin, the volatile, manipulative and elegant first lady of the United States. The BET show ended its first season this summer, and Moore’s performance stood out.

On CNET’s I’m So Obsessed podcast, Moore was my guest, and she discussed the show and her quiet, understated approach to playing such a bad character.

“She [Victoria Franklin] has something to prove to the world. She wants to be the biggest, the best, the brightest at everything, and that is where I think the manipulative behavior comes in, because she wants to be viewed as this perfect person,” said a thoughtful Moore. “People expect that anger is loud and boisterous, and I think it’s a little bit scary when someone is so contained and so quiet. If someone else is on 10 and you’re on 2, that’s very powerful.”

The Oval films in a full-sized replica of the White House at Tyler Perry’s 330-acre Georgia studio, which is built on the site of a Confederate army base from the Civil War. The symbolism of the studio’s locale isn’t lost on Moore.

“We’ve been woven into the history of that studio. For one Black man to own what was formerly a Confederate army base — I don’t even have the vocabulary to express what that means for Black America,” said Moore. “There’s a sense of pride that I have working there and knowing that we have come a long way, but we have so much further to go.”

During our interview, Moore talked about Perry’s Camp Quarantine plan to resume filming during the coronavirus pandemic. She also opened up about her role as Dr. Bridget Chapel in the DC Universe show Stargirl, on the CW.

Listen to my entire conversation with Moore on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. You can watch season 1 of Tyler Perry’s The Oval on BET and season 1 of Stargirl on the CW. Also, you can subscribe to I’m So Obsessed on your favorite podcast app. In each episode, Connie Guglielmo and I catch up with an artist, actor or creator to learn about work, career and current obsessions.