Jill Scott spent several months perfecting a Botswanan accent for her latest role—only to discover she was actually speaking like a Zimbabwean. “I was dialect-coaching with the wrong person!” she says. “I don’t know how many people would notice the subtle nuances, but the people from Botswana were like, ‘Uh uh.’”
We’ll have to trust that the Grammy-winning Philadelphia singer sounds every bit Botswanan on the HBO series The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, which airs its pilot episode on March 29. Originally shot as a film by the late British director Anthony Minghella (The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley), the show is based on the beloved set of novels by Zimbabwe-born author Alexander McCall Smith. Scott became engrossed in the character of Mma Precious Ramotswe, a sly detective adept at exploiting others’ deception to unravel cases such as “Happy Bapetsi and the Dubious Daddy” and “Alice Busang and the Question of a Cheating Husband.”
Scott, who grew up in an abusive household, connected with Ramotswe, who loses a child at the hands of her husband. “She is a person who truly believes in justice, and not stereotypical justice or a book-defined justice,” explains Scott. “She grew up in a peaceful Botswana, and she wants to make sure it stays that way.”
Scott first impressed moviegoers with her dramatic turn as Sheila in the 2007 Tyler Perry flick, Why Did I Get Married? In the role she put aside her powerful stage performances to portray an emotionally battered wife forced to confront her body-image issues. “I love the discipline in acting. In music, if I feel like singing jazz or opera or funk, I can do that,” says Scott. “In acting I have to be someone and maintain that.”
Such passion is what attracted Minghella to Scott after he watched videos of her singing on YouTube. This past March the Academy Award-winning filmmaker died suddenly at the age of 54 following surgery for tonsil cancer. “He was definitely an actor’s director,” says Scott. “He would hold you by your shoulder and look you in the eye and say, ‘There it is; now go.’ He’d look for it, whatever it is, whatever emotion he wanted you to feel.”
Besides nailing the pronunciations, Scott more than holds her own alongside the seasoned likes of Idris Elba and Anika Noni Rose, who plays her charmingly neurotic secretary, Mma Makutsi.
The continent itself is an undeniably compelling character, as well. “The film will allows people to see Africa in a different light,” says Scott. “And it’s not a full definition of Africa. It’s only half of the half of the half of this one country.”
The series is only a portion of what’s to come from Scott, though she’ll readily admit she has no idea what to expect next. “Everything in my life so far has been a path that I have not chosen,” she says. “I’ve just walked it, and it leads me to places that humble me and thrill me and teach me.” - CLOVER HOPE
