‘The Afterparty’ star Sam Richardson balances nice guys with ‘my Jack Nicholson Joker’

After two seasons steeped in a murder-mystery series, Sam Richardson is finally ready to go into the detective business himself.

“This is a perfect time for me to announce that I have my own sleuthing firm, Sam Richardson Finds and Solves,” says the comedian, one of three returning stars of Apple TV+’s “The Afterparty” alongside Tiffany Haddish and Zoë Chao. “I’m getting the cards made up, but if you lost your keys or lost an animal or if you are lost in a different country, Sam Richardson will get you home.”

He jokes, of course, but Richardson, 39, feels he’s “always been pretty good at mysteries (and) I think this show makes me better at them. I want to solve things.” So does his “Afterparty” character Aniq, who has another hilarious mess on his hands in the new season (streaming weekly on Wednesdays) that again features a stylistically different episode for each suspect: Alongside girlfriend Zoe (Chao), the escape-room designer attends the wedding of her sister (Poppy Liu), which has its share of disastrous moments before the eccentric wealthy groom (Zach Woods) is found dead.

While the first season centered on Aniq trying to prove his innocence as a primary suspect, this time “he is trying to use his puzzle-making brain to exonerate Zoe’s sister,” Richardson says. “He can’t help but then pull the thread and say, ‘Well, I gotta figure out what the actual truth is,’ and that puts him at odds with Zoe.”

The Detroit native, who appeared in HBO’s “Veep” and garnered a second Emmy nomination Wednesday for Apple’s “Ted Lasso,” talks about this round of “The Afterparty” and why he plays such nice guys (except for one).

Like his ‘Afterparty’ role, Sam Richardson has navigated rom-com high jinks

The first season of “The Afterparty” reconnects Aniq with Zoe – his “one that got away” – at their 15-year high school reunion. A year has passed since they had to deal with the murder of their annoying pop star classmate Xavier (Dave Franco), and Aniq wants to take their relationship to the next level. Unfortunately, his attempts at impressing Zoe’s parents (Ken Jeong and Vivian Wu) consistently go awry in the season premiere, which embraces the vibe of a rom-com sequel.

It reminds Richardson of the time he hosted a Christmas celebration for both his and his girlfriend’s families. “It was very much like ‘National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation’ – a lot of foibles and follies and some tomfoolery,” he says. “I was the Clark Griswold: I tried to rent the next-door house for my siblings, my dad’s train was late, my dad got mad at me because I didn’t pick him up, and I was like, ‘I’m doing so much!’ It was wild, but at the end, everybody had a happy Christmas.”

Richardson partners with Tiffany Haddish, fanboys for Elizabeth Perkins

In addition to a lizard named Roxanna, Richardson co-stars with a large cast including John Cho, Anna Konkle and Paul Walter Hauser, though he mostly shares scenes with Haddish, who lets loose with all manner of zingers and off-the-cuff remarks as the returning Detective Danner. With her, it’s important “just to be present: Listen and respond,” says Richardson, who, in making the show, sometimes uses improv skills honed in his younger days at Second City. “What’s fun about playing with such sharp people is that you’re tossing things, you’re catching things, you’re throwing them back.”

But working with Elizabeth Perkins, who plays the groom’s chilly mom, was a true highlight. “I’ve watched ‘The Flintstones’ movie 1 million times,” Richardson says, and he didn’t have to bring up the fact she starred as Wilma Flintstone. She did. “I was so excited. I was like, ‘Yes, I know! I love it!’”

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Good guy Aniq is right in Richardson’s wheelhouse

Richardson’s filmography is full of kindhearted sorts: Not just Aniq, but dudes like optimistic politico Richard Splett in “Veep” and friendly forest ranger Finn Wheeler in the horror comedy “Werewolves Within.” “Nice characters are easy to embody because just by the very nature of them being empathic, you are able to empathize with them as well. It’s a two-way street,” Richardson says.

It also helps that he shares some of their qualities, though “I don’t think I’m just being myself in these characters. It’s nice to play nice people because when you sleep at night, you’re like, ‘Ah, I did well.’ But it’s fun to play mean characters because you get to do something you wouldn’t do in real life. It’s frowned upon anywhere but in there; then you’re rewarded for it.”

The ‘Afterparty’ star delights in breaking bad as ‘Ted Lasso’ antagonist

Going against type has worked out for Richardson: He’s earned back-to-back Emmy nods as a guest star on “Ted Lasso,” playing the extremely petty Ghanaian billionaire Edwin Akufo. The soccer-loving tech magnate tries to buy Nigerian player Sam Obisanya (Toheeb Jimoh) from AFC Richmond for his own African superteam, but when he’s rebuffed, Akufo goes to extreme lengths to make Sam’s life hell. (“Lasso” main man Jason Sudeikis named Obisanya after his buddy Richardson.)

Being able to be that “nasty” is a joy, says Richardson, whose mother is from Ghana. “The mean can go up to an 11. He’s all over the map. Whereas a character like Aniq is conscious of everybody and really doesn’t want to step on toes, Edwin Akufo wants every toe stepped on. He wants you to know that it’s his toe, that he’s the one stepping on them. It’s like a very super-villainy kind of fun thing. It’s my Jack Nicholson Joker.”

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