Tiffany Haddish Puts Her Love of a 'Mystery' to Use in 'The Afterparty'

If you ask Tiffany Haddish if she's a fan of a good crime story, the immediate response you'll get is, "Baby! I'll be watching. I love a good mystery." Which makes her the perfect person to play the detective in the Apple TV+ comedy-mystery series The Afterparty (July 12). The second season of the series focuses on a murder at a wedding, with each episode told from the perspective of a different character. Haddish's episode is '90s themed. "It's sexy, it's the lighting, with the blinds and the sexy man." And being set at a wedding is great because of the "potential suspects." "I love a good wedding. I hate when the ceremony is too long. The biggest commitments you make in life usually happen within minutes." With such a "super nice" cast, Haddish is surprised "no one got on my nerves. I mean, every time I was around, it was like good times. We were laughing. I'm thinking maybe I'm the one that might have been a little bit annoying." Later this summer, she'll be seen in Disney's Haunted Mansion. "It's the coolest ride in the park...There's a story in every nook and cranny."

What can we expect from the second season of The Afterparty?

Well, you can expect a lot of laughs. You can expect some drama, some hot. One of the episodes is kind of like Bridgerton, which I really enjoyed. It's like Downton Abbey meets Bridgerton. We've got film noir. And then the episode my character does, I just love it. It's '90s. Basic Instinct meets comedy. It's really good.

What about your episode excited you? What is it about the '90s that really hits?

Well, because it's sexy, it's the lighting. With the blinds and the sexy man.
 

There are so many funny people on this show. What was it like being around that many funny people?

It's like the best convention ever. First of all, everybody is super nice. Everyone was helpful. Surprisingly, no one got on my nerves. I mean, every time I was around, it was like good times. We were laughing. I'm always trying to make the set move faster, so I'm thinking maybe I'm the one that might have been a little bit annoying.

I always just assume I'm the annoying one.

I do too. It's like, when no one's getting on my nerves. I must be getting on everyone else's.

I always feel like I have to fill the silence. Do you ever feel that?

No. I used to be when I was younger, but after my [adult] bat mitzvah [documented in the comedy special Black Mitzvah], I realized that I'm a grown woman and there's power in silence. There's power in being quiet. There's power when you're onstage and you're telling a joke, and you take a pause for those pregnant pauses. Everybody's like, "What?" And you just look around the room. There's power in the quiet.

This season revolves around a murder at a wedding. Personally, I hate weddings. I don't need to see people making out in a church. Do you hate weddings?

What happened to you? Why don't you like seeing people kiss?

I don't mind people kissing, it's just all so forced. It's like forced merriment.

I love a good wedding, personally. I hate when the ceremony is too long. When the ceremony that's more than 15 minutes—the biggest commitments you make in life usually happen within minutes. They happen super fast.

That's why I like a Jewish wedding. I feel like it gets to the point.

Real quick. You gonna marry him? Good. Smash the glass.

Let's get on a chair and throw you across the room.

Celebrate!

But what is it about the wedding aspect of this season?

What I love about the wedding aspect is there's so many potential suspects. Also, the fashion. For regular people, a wedding is an opportunity for you to get dressed up and to be able to be a little glamorous. It's a chance for me to wear that dress I've always wanted to wear, put that makeup on I always want to put on too, do a little something extra with my hair. You see that in the series, you see people do a little something extra with their looks. And how the whole cast is trying to solve this too. It's super dope. In the end, the backstory and the history of how these people came together to get married, it's off the chain.

And you're the perfect person to play the detective, because you get to react to all mayhem.

Yeah, I'm the audience at home. I'm the audience listening to them like, "You did what? Okay, so you're a full weirdo. Oh, you've been in the forest? Yeah, you might be the one."

You get to play the ultimate Angela Lansbury.

"Okay, you a white woman and just want to shoot arrows and you are not into Hunger Games at all?"
 

Are you a crime junkie? Are you into true crime?

Baby! I'll be watching. I love a good mystery. There's this podcast called MrBallen Podcast and it's like creepy stories and mysterious stories and murders and stuff like that, I'm in to that. I like My Favorite Murder. And I'll be like, I know who did it. Who did? There's this other one called Black Girl Gone, I'll be super into that. Let me tell you, when I started getting into this kind of stuff—so my ex-husband was a former police officer, right? He was always watching the ID channel and Snapped and stuff. And then I ended up having to go to court or whatever, but I ended up kind of stand the whole day. Oh, I didn't need to stay here the whole day. I stayed because the stories. If I ever get down and my life is garbage, I'm going down to the courthouse. The domestic situations? The stories are juicy.

How excited are you to be in Disney's Haunted Mansion?

I am extremely excited for Haunted Mansion. First of all, I used to love getting on that ride. It's the coolest ride in the park and not just because of the heat outside and you get that nice air conditioning, but also because of the amount of effort it took to put that ride together. The holograms and everything they have in there was before it's time. And then the history of it and where it takes place and how they came up with these stories and all that, it's so good. There's a story in every nook and cranny.

I have to ask you about the possibility of a Girls Trip sequel. Because I need it. Do you think it'll happen?

I need it. I want it to happen. They are working on the script. Now, where could it possibly be? I want it to be in Africa. Tracy Oliver, the original writer, she wants it to be in Africa. But we don't know what it's going to be. But they're working on it. It would be incredible in Africa. Especially to show those places in Africa that are so gorgeous. And it's cheaper to shoot there. There are so many places that are so beautiful that nobody knows about. They're constantly just showing you the bad side of things. And I think we need to start really taking advantage of this opportunity, of all these eyes looking this way, and so do the other girls, we talk about it all the time. Although Queen Latifah really wants to go to Brazil, and I'm not against that.

Listen to H. Alan Scott on Newsweek's Parting Shot. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Twitter: @HAlanScott