’61st Street’: Courtney B. Vance Talks Importance of ‘Taking Care of People’

Courtney B. Vance is a powerful force in Hollywood—so powerful even a show cancellation couldn’t stop him from continuing to further his work in meaningful dialogues and stories based in community.

Two years after its premiere in 2022, the legal drama 61st Street starring Vance as public defender Franklin Roberts is returning to audiences for its second season, following its initial cancellation by AMC. In 2023, The CW announced it would pick the show back up, delighting both fans and the production. Its second season premieres July 22 at 9/8c.

“When you do something, you don’t expect that there’d be a fight to get your project seen, so for The CW to put us back on track, we’re so grateful,” said Vance. “And I know our fans are grateful.”

Working as an actor since 1985 after attending the Yale School of Drama, Vance has appeared in The Hunt for Red October, The Tuskegee Airmen, The Preacher’s Wife, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, Lovecraft Country, and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. His work also includes stage acting, for which he received a Tony Award for his role in Nora Ephron’s 2013 play Lucky Guy, to accompany his two Emmy Awards as well as nominations for a Grammy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild Award.

Now, Vance stars in the upcoming Season 2 of The CW’s drama 61st Street, a legal drama that follows Moses Johnson (Tosin Cole), a promising Black high school athlete who is swept up into the Chicago criminal justice system after a police officer is found dead after a faulty drug bust. Vance portrays Franklin Roberts, a tired public defender who forgoes his retirement plan when he sees the opportunity to correct the city’s judicial system, resolved to bring real justice to the city’s most vulnerable citizens.

The series was written by J. David Shanks, who grew up as a young Black man on the South Side and later became a Chicago police officer—and whom Vance also credits as a large part of what initially drew him to the series.

“I wanted to go the extra mile for him,” explained Vance.

Born in 1960, Vance grew up in Detroit, Michigan, a city marked with its own extensive history of police brutality and misconduct. In 1967, the five-day confrontations known as the Detroit Riots broke out in the city, following the police raid of an unlicensed bar in the city.

“I was seven when the riots came down our street on Western Boulevard. So I know how a life can be impacted and shifted and changed. My father worked with the manager of the first supermarket in Detroit Buy-Low and, you know, the store was burned down. So we had to pivot,” said Vance. “We had to maintain ourselves and our community.”

“What was happening in Chicago back then was a result of all those forces, like the Great Migration, that concentrated everybody on the South Side of Chicago,” continued Vance. “So you have police thinking that the role of their job was to ‘maintain the animals in the cage.’ But you’ve got to shift that mentality. We got to get folks on our side.”

Not unlike his character in the series, Vance’s work for his community extends beyond his roles as an actor.

In 2019, Vance was named the President of the Screen Actors Guild Foundation, a position which he has defined as a means to help others in the union – as he did during the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent strike in 2023.

He went on to write a memoir published in 2023 titled The Invisible Ache: Black Men Identifying Their Pain and Reclaiming Their Power. The collection of stories and thoughts offers readers a deeply personal reflection on issues of grief, relationships, identity, and race within the context of Black men navigating mental health challenges.

“My father died of suicide,” Vance shared. “And my nephew, my godson, took his life four years ago. And I said, ‘I’ve got to say something. This is enough.'”

To bring his mission to readers across the country, Vance partnered with Dr. Robin L. Smith, who co-authored the memoir, along with accompanying writer Charisse Jones, to open up the conversation about mental health amongst his own loved ones as well as anyone else who may be struggling with similar issues.

“It’s a ministry because it’s really about talking about it,” Vance explained. “Your kids may not have the experiential knowledge, but they certainly know more about what’s going on in this world and how it happens. All you have to do is click a button and see. So you can’t pretend like your children need to be seen and not heard. So you’ve got to engage them.”

Vance met his wife Angela Bassett at the Yale Drama School while they were both attending the prestigious program in 1980. Married since 1997, the couple have twins Bronwyn and Slater Vance, each 18 years old and off to college – Yale and Harvard respectively.

“When our children say, ‘Dad, I need a day. Can I take a day?’ You know, I say, ‘Take the day. Your grades are up. You’ve got to let your teachers know and let them know what’s going on. And we’ll back you up. I’d rather have you take a day than take your life,'” he said.

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In 2020, the couple founded the production company Bassett Vance Productions, formally announced as one of the partnering companies with MTV Entertainment Group’s development program for BIPOC and women filmmakers. According to their mission statement, the company aims to commit to producing media that “encourages dialogue amongst the communities reflected in our projects and beyond.”

When asked what drives his career and propels his work as well as his choices, Vance’s answer was simple and clear.

“It’s all about taking care of people,” said Vance. “And that’s the same thing as what we do on the set at our production company. Fascinating productions. And it’s all tied together with our family. We take care of people.”

61st Street Season 2 Premiere, Monday, July 22, 9/8c, The CW

If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or dial 988. If you or a loved one are in immediate danger, call 911.