QQ: What was it about the show “Mike and Molly” that really drew you to wanting to be a part of it and the role?
A: Well, at the time I was broke. I saw it and I had just graduated from NYU and it was my first opportunity to audition for a sitcom. It felt like, hey, I’ll do this. It looked like fun. I get to play a character where I can celebrate my family by bringing about an uncle or a cousin or whatever. I sort of just played around in the audition and then forgot about it. After a month from after I did the audition, which I put on tape in New York, I got a call saying that they want to fly me out to test me for the show, and I’m like, what? They want to fly me out of town? Oh my god, what’s going on, okay? You know, I was in shock because I wasn’t sure where I was as far as my auditioning, as far as television, because for me everything was theater. So when they said they want to fly me out to test me, everything after that was just icing, you know, whipped cream, all kinds of stuff. Ice cream on top of icing on top of whipped cream on top of ice cream on top of a cherry. So when they said they want to fly me out to test me, I’m like, they want to fly me out and test me? What? Really? Oh my God! I don’t have to pay for it? Okay, all right! Then they were like, they will put you up in a hotel. They’re going to put me up in a hotel? Yeah, right. Yeah, they’re going to put you up in a hotel. Okay, all right! I don’t have to pay for it? Nope, you don’t have to pay for it. Okay, all right! Then they were going to pay for my meals per diem. I’m like, what? They’re going to pay for my meals? Hold on now. Now you’re playing with me. They’re going to pay for my meals? Yeah, they’re going to pay for your meals. Oh my God. Then when you go to the studio, catch a cab and they’re going to reimburse you and I'm like okay, yeah, all right. When they said they were going to reimburse me I thought, reimburse? What’s that mean? They will pay you back. They will pay me back? What? Okay! I mean, it was all icing. They said they’re going to meet you at Gate 7 at Warner Brothers, you’re going to go to a certain building, I think 136, I’m not sure which one, but I say okay, cool. When I get there, it’s like a flashback moment, because two years earlier when I graduated from NYU we all get mentors and my mentor was Danny Pino from “Cold Case.” Danny was like, meet me at Gate 7, then I’ll take you over to meet the cast and then we’ll do a little tour of Warner Brothers and then we’ll sit down at a certain building and swap thoughts. I was like cool, did all that, and then fast-forward two years later, I go to Gate 7 and I’m like, this all looks familiar, oh my God! Wait a minute. So I go to the building, and I’m like why this is the same building Danny and I had our conversation in, oh my God! Everything was lining up. Then I go into the room and I meet with Nikki Valco, and Nikki Valco was like is this your first test? I’m like yeah, this is my first test, I know nothing. So she says okay, that’s good, you know nothing, okay. Then I go in and I see Chuck Lorre and Mark Roberts, and then Nikki is like, this is Nyambi Nyambi, this is his first test, and he knows nothing. I’m like yep, I know nothing. Chuck Lorre is like, that’s great. Then I asked him does he have anything for me and Chuck Lorre says, I love your instincts, just do what you do. Hearing that was so much validation as far as just, you’re in your head trying to figure out who you are as an artist, what you bring to the table, whether or not it’s good enough, and to hear him say he loves my instincts, just do what you do, I mean I was ready to do anything at that moment. So when I started, this laugh came out of both of them, especially Chuck, he just laughed. He has this unique laugh that is so contagious that it makes you want to make him laugh even more. Already then, I was like, I’m in heaven. Then I finished that and then went into the actual test and I did so well, that’s great, and fifteen minutes later I got the call that I got the job. It was all just right, it just seemed right.
Q: Is that your most recent project, or have you been getting to work on a couple of films or other projects as well?
A: For me, this has been the most recent project. Everything prior to that has been all theater, and last summer I had the summer to travel, so I traveled around to different countries to see theater in different places. This will be the first summer that I’m pursuing work outside of “Mike and Molly” so we’ll see. We’re working on that right now.
Q: Is there anything about your role as Samuel that you found challenging?
A: There have been episodes where you may have two or three lines, but they’re like killer lines and you have to nail it. That’s a challenge in many ways. With theater you go through a long process and you find the character over a long period of time, whereas this character, you don’t know who he is from week to week because it can change from week to week in television and you only know what’s been given so far. That was the challenge as far as building the character, but then what you find out is that whatever you brought to the table to begin with is the character. The other difficult thing about the character is also, because the character is Senegalese, and my family was Nigerian, and just being able to bring a character that was not only Senegalese, but also someone that people will love and laugh at. So that was a challenge.
Q: The show is just so funny and Melissa McCarthy and the entire cast has such wonderful great chemistry. Has that come organically or did it take a little bit of time to develop?
A: Nah, it was natural from day one. When we were shooting the pilot we all looked at each other and were like, man, there’s something in the water here. There’s something special here. It was love from day one. The humility that was coming from each and every one of us, because for some of these guys, for example this was the seventeenth pilot for Billy (Gardell) and he was going to be heading back to Pittsburgh. This was his last test, the last project he was pursuing, and if he failed to get that he was going to go back to Pittsburgh. Everyone in the cast has a story that led them to fully and truly appreciate the moment that we’re in right now.
Q: Has comedic timing been something that’s been natural for you or is that something that you’ve studied?
A: You know what’s funny? I mean, comedic timing, I have a way of thinking as far as what’s funny. After years, I guess, of watching sitcoms and standup comics, and my own warped, weird sense of humor. People just happen to find it funny as far as the timing. Even in grad school we’re taught to be clowns and the art of play, so it’s just me playing and sort of finding the truth in play and teasing out moments. They taught us how to play with time and it’s all about finding the truth in play.
Q: The show continues to get such great critical acclaim. Melissa has had a huge year. What do you think it is about the show that has drawn in so many viewers?
A: A, it’s funny. That’s first of all. B, I think the genuine love between Mike and Molly, the relationship between the two and how vulnerable they are. I think that also is what draws people to the show. It’s a heart-felt show, it’s something you can truly believe in because we’ve all been in situations like these. This people, you see their lives that they live, you see where they live, and you can say oh yeah, I believe that. It’s honest. I think the show’s honest. Then also at the end of the day I think the cast and our relationships with each other off screen, I think that shines through the screen. We’re all great friends off-screen.
Q: What kind of feedback have you been getting from fans? Do people stop you on the street and recognize you from the show?
A: Yesterday a guy walked by, saw me, and said “hey funny man” and kept on walking. I’m like, all right, all right. There was another guy at RiteAid a couple of days ago. He saw me and he looked at me and said, you know, you look like an actor. I’m like, I do? Yeah, you look like an actor. I’m like, oh, okay. He said yeah, you should really think about acting. So I said okay, yeah, you think so? He was like yeah, yeah, you know you start at what you do, you start off as an extra, call up central casting, and work your way up, that’s how you do it. Good luck to you brother. I was like, thank you! Thank you very much. It was really the best advice, really, I loved hearing it, I thought it was great.
Q: Is there a place online that people can go to learn more about you?
A: I’m on Twitter and I’m on Facebook. You can get to know more about me there. One of the things I do, well I haven’t been posting a lot of them lately but I’ll start again, is last year I posted a movie a day that I watched. I watched three-hundred-and-fifty-five movies in three-hundred-and-sixty-five days, and I’m doing that again. I’m on three-hundred-and-fifty-six. So there’s stuff like that and I post pictures from the show. I’m on there @nyambinaymbi on Twitter.
Q: For people who are really big fans of the show and have become really big fans of your work from it, what would you really like to say to them?
A: First of all, I want to say thank you. I am completely humbled by the love and the generous words that our fans have expressed. Keep watching and try to get friends to watch. Go to your local churches, your local swap meet, supermarket, and let everybody know that you love “Mike and Molly” and that they should be watching it.
