An Interview with Cynthia Kaye McWilliams from ‘The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey’

Cynthia Kaye McWilliams is an accomplished and dynamic actor that has lent her voice to multiple animation and video game projects, in between playing impactful roles on the silver and small screen and now her latest venture, is playing the pivotal character of Sensia in The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey on Apple TV+, and we here at Nerds That Geek were fortunate enough to sit down with Cynthia to discuss her new role.
 
John Betancourt: What was it that attracted you to the role of Sensia?
 
Cynthia Kaye McWilliams: Oh, my goodness, um, I think well, first of all, it's a role from the book. I loved the book. I love Walter Mosley as a novelist, I loved that the teleplay was still very true to who she was created to be in the book. What attracted me to her is that it was a woman that was written very, as a dynamic character. I love that she's fierce, that she's unapologetic for the way that she exists in her relationships, that she had no concern with what at the time really was the kind of ideologies that governed women, you know, she wasn't concerned with fidelity, she wasn't concerned with singular sexuality. She really… we have words for these things now. But we didn't then, you know, there was no nonbinary, there wasn't I mean, it was just, she was free. She had the boldness to love and respect her desires and wishes and ideas of herself and not apologize or compromise. So that was just a really exciting character to play in a time that she was sort of living outside of, you know?
 
John Betancourt: That makes total sense and what I liked about your role and the show, is that the whole thing kind of works akin to a play and it’s also unique that Sensia is both there, and not there. How did you as an actor, prepare for all of that?
 
Cynthia Kaye McWilliams: Yeah, basically, she's presented to us as a memory for two whole episodes. She's nothing but some glances. And maybe, you know, a little call from the beyond. I mean, literally, I think for two episodes, we get eyeballs, and a “hey, pity, Papa!” So, it's not until that third episode that she comes alive. But I think that for me that's absolutely in preparing for it, how you start is, you know, learning who she is. Unpacking this character by looking at what was written and who she was created to be. And then getting to know her, falling in love with her, so that I could occupy her in a way that gave her life and love and understanding. Because in order to be someone who's going to permeate someone's memory for the whole of their life, that means that I needed to be alive, vibrant, full of electricity, of connection of power in a way that would crystallize and stay with him to the point that when he is disappearing inside himself, I could pierce through all of that dementia and fog, and ground and anchor him and pull him back into himself. So that for me was, what my preparation was about was about really giving her all the life and vibrance and boldness I could, so that I could then empower him to be bold later. And face those fears.
 
John Betancourt: Now you mentioned that there are two sides of Sensia in essence, the ‘ghostly’ version and the more dynamic version. Now how did you prepare for the second side of Sensia and all the working pieces to her?
 
Cynthia Kaye McWilliams: Again, I think for me, preparation, always starts with the page. Everything I know about who I'm playing comes from what the author tells me about her. And then also what the other characters in the story, tell me about her. Like, like you're doing an interview with all the characters, you know, and you're like, so tell me what, what happened that night. And as you're collecting as a detective, right, you're collecting everyone's point of view. And somewhere in there is the truth. So that's the goal, is that I'm collecting the pieces from the writer from the characters from the time, and I'm allowing all of those things from my knowledge of myself as a woman, from my sexuality from all of these things, are all being included in how I'm pulling together the pieces. And I get to then say: “Alright, now I can tell the story.” Now tell the story of what happened. Because I've done the interviews, I've done the work. So, for me, that's always sort of the same process. And in this situation, I had the pleasure of also having the book to work from. And then having this amazing partner in Sam… I think one of the great things about working with a really good, really good available actor, is that even though you've done all your work, you come and you think you know who you are, and then another person gives themselves and their view and you realize, oh, this person is informing me about who I am right now.
 
I think the same way that like people have children, you know, and they say, you know, I thought I knew who I was, and then my kids told me who I was… like your kids will tell you about yourself. And I think when you're working with a really good actor who's seeing with fresh new eyes, and every moment, they're sort of informing you of who you are. Like if you reach out your hand to someone right, and they do this -pulls back-, immediately, you know, something I've done has made this person feel threatened or scared of me in some way. But if you do this, and they lean into you, then you know, I've done something to make this person feel safe, feel warm, and welcome. So, something about our choices, our dynamic as a person, even if we have an idea of who we are, we can see who we are from someone else. And then in the sense of working with an actor. Sam is so present moment to moment that I felt like I was always learning about myself through him as well.
 
John Betancourt: Now this is also a series packed to the brim with incredible themes and concepts. Which one of them stood out and resonated with you the most?
 
Cynthia Kaye McWilliams: I mean, my gosh, like I said, so many things we're dealing with, we're dealing with mortality, or dealing with the idea of just growing old, you know, losing things and holding on to things. For me, I think when thinking about growing old, losing and holding on, and the things we get to choose what like… you know, some things you don't get to choose, what you lose and hold on to. But I thought… the dementia, of course, is a very, like, it's a palpable thing, right. But for me, I thought a lot about how that mirrors or is like sort of a grand metaphor, culturally. And I think as we get towards the end of the story, and we see like Robin's character develop more and her relationship to Ptolemy develop more, we really begin to see like, for me, it was about what we've lost as a culture as we've migrated from our history as an oppressed people… in southern culture, and out of the gaze of like, who we were, and that we only existed sort of in white America, and then found our own freedom, our own stories, our own voice.
 
But what have we done with that? And in doing so, have we lost the voice of our elders? Have we lost their stories? Have we lost our respect for them? Or, and have we allowed them the ability to pass on legacy to us? And what a fragmented reality we live in, when we lose our history? So, for me, yes, it's Ptolemy’s history. Yes, it's Ptolemy’s… fragmented brain. Yes, it's Ptolemy’s fear of the future and dying. But for me, I thought about it as a culture, that to me, we are fragmented. In this reality. We are tied off, cut off, disconnected from our legacy sometimes. And I think because of those two things, it's scary. Where we're going, the mortality of this culture. It frightens me.
 
John Betancourt: Those are some powerful observations. So, last question before we go… what are you most proud of when it comes to your time on this series?
 
Cynthia Kaye McWilliams: Oh, wow. That's a good question. Um, I am most proud that when being met with someone as formidable as Sam, that I chose to believe in my power to tell a story with him. And not allow myself to get swallowed up by the power of sort of the mythology of an iconic and great actor. I'm very proud that I continue to do what I do in every project, big or small, which is to serve the story.
 
John Betancourt: There you go. Well, I cannot thank you enough for your time today I really do appreciate it and I cannot wait for everyone to see the show later this week.
 
Cynthia Kaye McWilliams: Thank you and oh my gosh, it’s this week!
 
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

---