[VIDEO] Toks Olagundoye Talks Expanding the ‘Frasier’ Universe Beyond the Crane Men, Representing Black Women in White Academia

Awards Daily talks to actress Toks Olagundoye about watching the Frasier universe expand to include women like Dr. Olivia Finch.

As a huge fan of the original Frasier, Toks Olagundoye says finding out she was cast as Olivia on the Paramount+ reboot was the best news she’d ever gotten (besides finding out she was pregnant!). But the role came about at a complicated time in her life.

“I had initially said no to testing for it, and I myself was about two weeks out of chemotherapy, so I was really tired,” says Olagundoye, “and I thought, I guess this is the universe telling me that I need to stay home and rest. And they tested everybody and couldn’t find who they wanted and came back to me, and obviously, I was like yes, yes, yes! The next day was the table read. I’m so relieved because I cannot imagine what I’d be feeling now if I didn’t have the chance to go for it!”

Olagundoye plays Olivia, the Harvard professor who recruits Frasier to be on the faculty. While the reboot captures the same spirit and sophisticated tone of the original series, Olivia and new mom Eve (Jess Salgueiro) represent the show’s ability to expand beyond the Crane men.

“She’s a strong independent woman who’s done very well for herself, and I believe having two women of color is inevitably going to give it a different spin. Not everyone is of an elite class, and I think that’s going to give it a twist. It changes the dynamic a little bit, but I don’t think it changes the tone. It’s still smart, fast-paced, with a little bit of dark humor. It’s surreal to be inside the world instead of observing it.”

I had a great conversation with Olagundoye about Olivia, including her not-so-secret crush on Freddie (Jack Cutmore-Scott). Plus, we talked about what we can expect to see in Season 2. Watch the video interview below!

Frasier streams exclusively on Paramount+.