BY IRVIN RIVERA

Chibuikem “Chib” Uche, one of the bright stars of Peacock’s Young Adult murder mystery thriller series ONE OF US IS LYING is here to kill the game. Chibuikem’s performance as Cooper Clay in the YA series based from Karen McManus’s New York Times best-selling novel is sincere and relatable. There’s a certain level of sensitivity required in playing a closeted queer athlete on TV, especially if you’re a straight man playing an LGBTQIA+ character and Chibuikem’s portrayal of Cooper translated well.

As an audience, you could instantly tell that it comes from a place of sincerity and authenticity. And that’s a promising feat from the young actor who dreams to cross multiple genres in acting- whether it is a well-written indie dramas or high-budget superhero films- Chib is ready to take over. 

Chib booked his first feature, a role opposite Chris Pratt in Chris McKay’s “The Tomorrow War,” shortly after moving to Los Angeles. The blockbuster film was acquired byAmazon and premiered on July 2, 2021. He quickly followed that up by booking his first series regular, as one of the leads in ONE OF US IS LYING. During his filming hiatus, he secured a recurring role on

“American Housewife” for ABC. When not filming, Uche resides in Los Angeles and maintains an active lifestyle playing basketball, biking, running and doing martial arts.

In this exclusive interview, we spoke with Chibuikem about his acting journey, playing Cooper in One of Us Is Lying, navigating the pandemic and The Alchemist.

How have you been? How has it been since the pandemic all the way up to now?

Oh, I think it's been good overall. I think the pandemic was such an interesting time. Because on one hand, I was expecting to go right into filming this big TV show. But then on the other hand, I was just made to stop and pause. I'm such a proactive, busy person that if you told me to stay at home and do nothing- it would be very strange. At first it was boring but it was really like a beautiful opportunity reflect and get to know myself and grow as an artist, and as a person. So coming out of that, I feel like I learned a lot of lessons and I'm grateful to say that no one in my immediate circle or family was negatively affected by COVID. So it was a positive experience overall. And I think, I just left with a lesson of knowing how important it is to kind of slow down and take time for yourself. And that's something I've carried with me, outside of the pandemic. And quickly, I would just say, I followed that up by getting to go to New Zealand for five months and shoot in an incredible show with incredible people and spent a month in Canada. I'm doing really, really well.

That's great to hear. And congratulations on the show, by the way.

Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

Yes, I've seen a couple of episodes, and it's good. It's really good.

Oh, thank you. That's awesome. That's so cool. 

Now let's talk about the show - One of Us Is Lying, to those who are intrigued about it and curious about it. Can you tell us more about the show, and why should people watch it?

Absolutely. The show is a young adult murder mystery. What happens when five high school students go into detention and seriously, only four of them make it out? One of the students dies in detention and the other four immediately become murder suspects. And what's interesting about the dynamic is that each of these five students are so unique and so different and they represent different teenage archetypes that we are somewhat familiar with through pop culture. So when this outcast student died, we've got a brainiac, a princess, a criminal and a jock, all from different walks of life who are now kind of linked and bonded through this traumatic experience. And it's just a really fun show that looks at relationships and the pressures of being a young adult. And it's all tied up in an incredible murder mystery written by Karen McManus based on a number one New York Times bestselling book. It's so juicy, it's so binge-able and I think the characters are just so easy to fall in love with and they just add to what's already a great story.

That's great. And I love how the characters are just so relatable like what you said earlier. Have you read the book prior to booking your role as Cooper?

I have not read the book prior to booking my role is Cooper. I was in the auditioning process when I first read the book. And I read it a number of other times after that, including while in the pandemic and then while in New Zealand during our quarantine. But no, the book and the series were all new to me when I first got that audition.

What's the best part about playing Cooper’s character?

Oh, I think Cooper is such a wonderfully courageous young man. And I think that's got to be the best part. You get to explore this young man who is coming into his own. He's learning by himself. He's learning about who he wants to be in the world and how he presents that version of himself. And whether it's navigating his girlfriend, his boyfriend, his brother, his dad, or the baby boy as a whole. He's just such a fun character to play.

But how would you describe his character evolution throughout this season of the show? 

Yes, absolutely. Without any spoilers, I would say his evolution is- as a young man, who on the surface is the star athlete that people love because of his athletic prowess. And he fears what would happen if people knew the real him. And his evolution is about him coming to terms with the real him, and also coming to terms of the real him in public. And I think that's the majority of his evolution without giving any spoilers. It's just him coming to terms with himself and how he wants to represent themselves in the real world, even if that means navigating the pressures that exist in his life.

And how did you prepare for his role? 

I think the first thing that I did was I read the book a number of times, I wanted to know, everything that the book had to offer about who Cooper was. The book was such a good source to understand who Cooper is, his background, his motivations. Cooper is on this baseball prospect, on his way to signing a major league deal. He's a star pitcher. And I come from an athletic background, but I was not a baseball player. So the executive producer of our show, fortunately, is a former Division One national champion in baseball, so he was able to offer me some tidbits in terms of what baseball mechanics really look like. Little things that baseball players do that separate themselves from those that are pretending to be baseball players. And he would also link me up with the head coach of Baylor University's baseball program, and he helped me a little bit with refining mechanics. In terms of playing, another thing that was really essential to me understanding what it is to be a closeted gay man. So I read a lot of books, I watched a lot of YouTube videos about coming out, and just understanding what that journey meant to so many young people. And I had a lot of conversation with people that were once closeted now out, or people that were openly gay from the very beginning, and just try and understand what that is like so that I can better understand Cooper and fulfill the character's needs.

And that's great because that aspect is also a sensitive topic for a lot of people and it's great that you did all that research, and you put that effort into it. It's commendable.

Thank you so much. I think it's so important, especially as a straight man, I felt an added responsibility to do this character justice as best I could. And that's just not possible without having those conversations without doing that research, without reading those books without watching those videos, to just have the best understanding possible.

Yes, absolutely and you did a great job. 

Thank you so much.

Now let's talk about you. How did acting start for you? Was it something that you've always wanted from a young age? And tell us a little bit more about you?

Acting for me was an interesting concept or idea. So before getting into acting, I actually worked in corporate America as an actuary. I have my degree, my undergraduate degree in mathematics and actuarial science. And I worked as an actuary before moving out to LA, three and a half years ago. But where I think the acting bug really started was, my mom, as young as I can remember is just been the biggest film buff. She would watch Turner Classic Movies every single night and a lot of the times, me and my siblings would be around the TV with her enjoying those films. In addition to that, I have an older brother who's also an actor, and so, while my parents kind of steered us in the math and science route, I had a very real example of someone pursuing the acting route in front of me. And I think though it took me much longer to -- you know, and I grew up loving Denzel Washington, I grew up loving Eddie Murphy and watching films of theirs, and appreciating acting but it never really clicked as a tangible thing for me, maybe until five years ago. And that's when I was almost like, this is something I want to do. This is something I want to try. And it took me, you know, I had just graduated with this math degree and I was like, well, got to go do this job. But it was something that kind of sat with me and it wasn't going away. And so once a week, while I was working at my corporate job, I was in Connecticut, I would take a train ride to New York City, and I did an acting class once a week for 10 weeks. And I was like, I'm moving to LA, I want to go full swing hotel into this. And here we are a few years later, so I'm really grateful.

Amazing. What is your dream project?

What is my dream project? That's such a good question. I don't know what my dream project is. But I will say, a few years ago, there was a moment where Mahershala Ali was working on Moonlight at the same time as he was working on Luke Cage. At the same time, he was, I think, just coming off of House of Cards. And so one actor was able to do like all the A-24 indies, was a part of the Marvel Universe in Luke Cage. And then was also a part of a gritty drama like House of Cards. And as I look at that span of time, that’s when I realized that those are exactly the pursuits that I would want- to be able to do deep in touching indie films, with great production companies to be able to be a part of well written, high stakes, gritty dramas, and also to be a part of a superhero universe. So dream project, I don't know. But it's those genres are the ones that I'm so fascinated by and drawn to.

There's a wide range of genres available for you, and we can't wait to see what you will do.

Thank you. Thank you. Yes, you know, just keep working hard, plug away. Stay humble. And I'm excited to see what the road ahead looks like.

My final question for you. If you were a book, what book would you be and why?

If I was a book, what book would I be? Wow. That's a really tough one. I'd have to say, One of Us Is Lying.

Good answer. 

That's my one answer. But honestly, no. Another book that... I think my favorite book is completely honest, to be completely honest, is the Bible. I think it's so rich, it's so full of wisdom. It's a book that I was raised with, and it's had so many stories in it. And that's a book that I love. But if I wasn't going to say that, I would say, I love The Alchemist. The alchemist was one of the first books that I read. In that book, I felt like I was being heard and seen in a way that the world around me didn't. And it was a beautiful book about a young man on this journey. So it had a lot of guidance, it had a lot of wisdom. It had a lot of depth in truth. And it's also just tied up in this beautiful story. And so that's a book that I'm comfortable saying that if I were a book, I'd be The Alchemist.