Exclusive: Merle Dandridge Reflects On Her Journey Playing Grace Greenleaf On ‘Greenleaf’ by Kimberly Smith
Tonight’s Greenleaf episode is the Season 5 and series finale (Episode: Behold). As the young man who appeared to Grace at Faith’s graveside revealed, everything must come to an end.
Does that include the life of the beloved Bishop James Greenleaf, the Greenleaf estate or Calvary, the Memphis based Black mega church due to gentrification? The answers to these questions may unfold tonight. Grace Greenleaf (Merle Dandridge) is quite lucky to either return to the love of her youth, Noah (Benjamin Patterson), or to take things further with her present love interest, Darius (Rick Fox).
Blackfilmandtv.com contributor Kimberly Smith spoke with Merle Dandridge about her role as Grace Greenleaf. The self-described “Broadway girl” became part of the OWN drama series cast after runs in Once On This Island, Rent, Jesus Christ Superstar, Aida and Tarzan and played Alyx Vance in the game Half-Life 2.
Greenleaf is going to go down as one for the culture, one for spirituality, and this era of the Black church. How do you feel as the series closes?
Merle Dandridge: We put our entire heart and soul into the show as it is clearly resonating with people. People are feeling seen and understood, and it’s opening conversations for healing. I also believe that it will remain in the canon as something meaningful for the culture. And, not just that, but universally… Before COVID, I was on the other side of the globe and people would call me out by name, “Pastor,” or “Gigi,” and meaningfully walk up to me with light and hope in their eyes and want to tell me their stories. It’s not people that look like me, [it’s] people that look nothing like me because they can see their experience reflected. We have been able to show what is sane in humanity, and look into what makes Black life so beautiful, why our melanin is so magnificent, and I am so proud of that. I don’t think I’ve completely wrapped my mind around the fact that it is coming to a close, because I believe it will live on in our hearts and our minds. So I don’t think I’ll ever say goodbye to Greenleaf. As the Creator (Craig Wright) said to me when we were at our last wrap party, “You know you’re always going to be Grace Greenleaf now, right?” Yeah, I kind of got that now, because when I walk around in the streets that’s how people perceive me. As an artist, I’m grateful that my craft and my faith were able to intersect in this way, and it would be a hard way to top but God has shown me how big and vast his glory is in this show and he has laid a dream for me bigger than I could dream for myself. I’m very excited about what else he wants to use me for, if it’s his will.
There were probably moments where you accomplished something that you may not have anticipated fully what the effect would be. Where there any pinnacle moments for you as an artist/actress in this series where you went further than what you ever anticipated?
Merle Dandridge: The RISE UP sermon in Season 4 was a moment where I felt as if the shackles finally came off Grace Greenleaf. As an artist I was able to not stay in the arrested place that Grace normally is in, in that she’s trying to deflect so many slings and arrows coming at her all the time. Finally, she was in a leaning forward, lean into her purpose place…A lot of that sermon was improv. I just let the Spirit roll, because Grace was in a place to finally let the Spirit roll and move through her. The electricity in the room was a thrill, and it was very exciting. And I, Merle, have also spent time in ministry and being a Broadway performer, I’m at home on the stage. The conflation of all those things together was indeed a pinnacle moment in my walk with Grace Greenleaf.
Anyone who watches the show is familiar with the iconic Greenleaf estate gate where the series begins with the ornate presence of those gates. What do you think Grace Greenleaf accomplished in the fullness of her character between the rides in and out of that gate?
Merle Dandridge: She confronted her demons. She challenged everyone she came into contact with to confront their closeted issues. In the hard, uncomfortable tilling of that soil, new harvest was able to come up for her and for everyone else. It was a soil that had been not only tamped down so hard, but also paved over, covered with rocks and she had to take a jackhammer to all of it. That was violent and difficult, but ultimately created great fruit. The audience being able to watch her fall and misstep here and there endeared her to them. It was a very relatable walk because we don’t walk through this thing called life in a clean and perfect way. It’s messy, it’s difficult. It’s east and west. It’s heaven and earth. But when we fail, hopefully we are failing forward, and we are learning along the way. Her growth was tremendous during these five seasons.
Are we going to see more of Grace in the future? Are you able to open the window a little bit and let us know if we going to be able to see Grace anymore?
Merle Dandridge: Well, you never know. Better stay tuned.
What is the voice that helps to guide you saying to Merle right now? What are you hearing?
Merle Dandridge: I have always been guided by the voice of God. He has always spoken clearly and loudly to me. I’ve never felt as though, even if I perceived I was hanging off a cliff I never felt like I was not held. I can walk confidently forward. Greenleaf was a big walk of faith for me because I never would’ve thought I’d lead a show like that. That ended up being something that served the character of Grace as well because she was tentative in the beginning. As she grew, Merle grew in confidence and the gifts that Greenleaf has given me have solidified what I’ve always known, but it solidified a confidence in my own voice, a surety in my writing, and a surety in the purpose of my gifting in this world. As I take all of those gifts away from Greenleaf, I am equipped girded and galvanized to be impactful in a way that I don’t think I had the confidence before. Now, especially in a time when it’s important for us to love ourselves so that we can enrich the whole of our culture and to value ourselves, I feel as though God’s timing is perfect. We must speak up. We must be confident in our words and our steps and there’s so much work to do right now that [with]the intersection of that timing and the absolute necessity of our activism in the world at large, … we’re heading towards such an important moment in the history of our country… Everything we do and say has to be meaningful and impactful. I just feel that God has prepared me for such a time as this. I feel so ready for so much and I cannot wait to see what he wants to do.
The show has kept an even-keeled pace with the issues of the day and the things that we would want to address in our lives. Beyond the artistry and your career, do you find yourself moved by some of the issues that you’ve addressed through your role in a personal way?
Merle Dandridge: Absolutely. Grace has always stood for justice. I love the fact that even early in the show, we were preaching the gospel of Black Lives Matter, Black deaths matter. I’m so proud of that and in the midst of everything that’s happening, I can certainly parallel a lot of things in Merle’s life to what Grace was fighting forDomestic violence and all of those kinds of things are near and dear to my heart. I’m a Broadway girl so I’ve always advocated for the LGBTQ community and people in my life who have been adversely affected by less than honorable people in high positions in the church. We’re talking about human beings. We’re not talking about a personal relationship with God and knowing the difference. And I say this from a position of loving the church and I think that Grace grew up in and loved the church, as well as I did. It’s important to be able to balance your personal walk and your faith and actually advocating for justice when you see something that’s not right, and you need to stand up for it.
When did you know there would only be 5 seasons and how does that resonate with you now that the show is coming to a close?
Merle Dandridge: We knew before we started shooting Season 4 that the show was going to end, and we shot them together, Season 4 and 5. We were able to relish and be present for all of those last moments and really honor it:the cast, crew, the production team and our directors. We were able to look each other in the eye and savor every moment which is such a powerful thing because you don’t always get that in this business. As I sit here and reflect, all I feel is a tremendous amount of gratitude for the difficult lessons I’ve learned, for the absolute triumphs and the vision of Oprah and Craig Wright, our Creator. The fact that God turned their hearts towards me and said, “Ahh. Her.” And not only that, but the audience received us, received me and held us in their heart as family. The fact that people regard us in their heart that way…If even one person is able to have a conversation and open the door to something that needed resolution in their life or moved them forward or inspired them we were a success and that’s what good art should be. That’s what we should be doing in this world right now. We should be a testimony. We should be our best selves.
People across the globe do identify with you as your character, Pastor Grace. You probably will be memorialized as Pastor Grace because of what you brought to us through the screen has pastored us: it has preached to us, it has inspired us and given us hope, it has given us direction. Is there anything, if you were to assume Pastor Grace again that you’d like us to know?
Merle Dandridge: Well Family, we’re have been in a time when it feels like we’ve been marching around the walls of Jericho and we don’t know what to expect.
We don’t know what God is going to do. It’s hot. It’s difficult, we’ve been walking for days. Continue your walk because when the horns blow and God releases that magnificent purpose that he has in your life and why you are walking in that heat, and why you are walking in a difficult time in the midst of the desert, you will see it and you will know it. I encourage you to stay faithful. Stay encouraged. Make sure you are feeding your heart because we are all in a place of constantly being heartbroken, day after day watching the news cycle and everything that comes along with it. Stay encouraged and wait for that Trumpet call.
You will see his glory. I believe it, in Jesus Name and I claim it over your life. March on to glory. Yours is coming, he is going to bless you. You may not be able to see it coming, but march on, he is going to bless you, just as you have blessed my life.