Andre Braugher was set to star in Netflix’s murder mystery comedy The Residence before he died.
The Homicide: Life on the Street star was cast in the Uzo Adubda-fronted series in February 2023 but died in December 2023. While he had filmed a number of episodes of the series, which comes from Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland, he was not able to complete production before he passed away from lung cancer.
He was set to play White House Chief Usher A.B Wynter, who is wrapped up in a mystery in The White House that must be solved by Abuda’s detective Cordelia Cupp.
The show has paid tribute to Braugher with a card memorializing him at the end of the eight-part season.
Susan Kelechi Watson, who plays Jasmine Haney, a White House assistant usher, and creator Paul William Davies, have also paid tribute to the late star.
“It was a tough thing that happened to us, to the world, to Andre’s family; tough is an understatement. One of the things that drew me to this was the fact that Andre Braugher was going to do it. Honest to God, I think he is not only brilliant as a dramatic actor but his comedy, it’s really quite genius; some of the stuff that he’s able to do comedically that seemed to just come naturally to him,” Kelechi Watson told Deadline.
“It was such a huge moment finding out we were going to work together. I remember when I went on set for the first time, the first person I bumped into was Andre Braugher in all his magnificent stature. And what a great person he was off camera as well, funny, charismatic family man, so smart,” she added.
Davies told Deadline, “It was devastating, personally to me, and to so many other people on the show, some of whom had worked with him on other projects and knew him really well, and some people who got to know him like I did through this, but became quite close to him. He was a lovely, very grounded, very decent and wonderful human being, and, of course, an incredible actor.
Giancarlo Esposito was recast in the role, which is key to the story.
“It was brutal and it was really hard for so many of us,” added Davies. “We were lucky enough that Giancarlo, who also knew Andre, was close to him and had the deepest respect for him, was able to come in and do that role, and do it in his own way, but also honoring Andre. That’s a very difficult assignment, just on so many levels and he handled it with extraordinary grace and navigated that in a way that comforted us. It was hard.”
Kelechi Watson added that she was “very grateful” that the show was able to continue following his death. “How do we handle this? How do we go forward? Is there a way to make what he has filmed work or is there a way to transition into a new character. Ultimately, the decision was to have to recast. When you can have somebody like Giancarlo, who is an extraordinary actor in his own right but also gives honor to Andre as well, you have somebody who steps in who also cared about him and understands what the legacy of the role he was taking on was, that was really a blessing,” she said.
There’s a speech in the final episode of the season, given by Aduba’s birder Metropolitan Police Department consultant Cordelia Cupp, that almost feels like a tribute to Braugher.
In fact, Davies wrote that speech after Braugher’s death. “It had meaning to me that way,” he said.
“In the last episode, it felt almost like a eulogy to Andre when Uzo speaks about A.B. Wynter. I remember that day, it was so special to hear it out loud. It was the first time we all got to be in the space and kind of mourn with one another over Andre in this and the special life that he lived,” said Kelechi Watson.
In terms of the In Memory card at the end of the show, Davies said, “There might have been a natural inclination to do that after the first episode, but for me, it was important to do that at the end of the whole series, to say, you were part of all this, and we have not forgotten you.”
Kelechi Watson added, “This show, we’ve been through a lot. There’s a lot of joy and a lot of laughter and a lot of fun. But we went through some tough things, coming out of Covid, [going] through the writer’s strike, and then dear Andre transitioned but in the midst of all that, we were able to find solace in this really fun script that we all really love and enjoy, and we put even more excellence into it for that reason.”
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