Frasier: Why Nicole From Paramount's Reboot Looks So Familiar
Contains spoilers for "Frasier" Season 1, Episode 9 — "The Fix Is In"
Nothing's ever simple for Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) and his family — and now that the Paramount+ "Frasier" revival has brought the psychiatrist and his son Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott) under the same roof, the usual confrontational Crane family dynamics are in full swing. Season 1, Episode 9 revisits one of the saddest "Frasier" moments. The original show's Season 4, Episode 8 showcases Martin Crane's (John Mahoney) frustration over his inability to do anything nice to his over-cultured offspring. Here, Freddy struggles with similar sentiments due to Frasier's guilt-motivated refusal to accept any help from his son.
A key character in the episode is Nicole, a woman Freddy is trying to impress while semi-accidentally letting her think that he's looking after his elderly father. Unfortunately for Freddy, she isn't particularly easy to fool and Frasier isn't all that keen on playing along.
Nicole's two appearances bookend the episode and show how much better Freddy and Frasier's relationship is by the time the credits roll. As such, the role is pretty crucial, and the show certainly recognized this by casting sitcom expert Amber Stevens West. Here's where you may have seen her before.
She played Maya in 22 Jump Street
Amber Stevens West's first prominent role was on the ABC teen drama "Greek," in which she played Ashleigh Howard. However, 2014's "22 Jump Street" took her to a whole new level. Stevens West plays a central role in Phil Lord and Christopher Miller's sequel to their 2012 film "21 Jump Street." The buddy cop comedy brings officers Morton Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Greg Jenko (Channing Tatum) back into the infiltration game by having them pose as college students in an effort to arrest a drug gang. Unfortunately, Schmidt is a little bit too invested in college life and becomes romantically involved with fellow student Maya (Stevens West) ... who just happens to be the daughter of the cop duo's ill-tempered boss, Captain Dickson (Ice Cube).
Stevens West clearly wasn't intimidated by the major stars she was working with. In fact, she played her role so well that she was nominated for a Black Reel Award for outstanding breakthrough performance. In an interview with Refinery 29, she discussed her role and the way the makers of "22 Jump Street" approached the sequel.
"The team took everything that worked in the first movie and embellished on it," she said. "In the first movie they're making fun of making a movie about a TV show, and the second time around they're making fun of the fact that they're doing it again, only with, like, quadruple the budget. I just love how aware it is."
She was Maxine West on The Carmichael Show
From 2015 to 2017, Amber Stevens West was part of the main cast of NBC's "The Carmichael Show," a sitcom starring comedian Jerrod Carmichael. Stevens West's role in the show is Maxine North, Carmichael's girlfriend.
"The Carmichael Show" was canceled after three seasons, but it allowed Stevens West to work with several big-name talents, from David Alan Grier and Tiffany Haddish to Loretta Devine and Lil Rel Howery. Along with its stellar cast, the show became known for its willingness to tackle difficult social issues — and in an interview with Slate, Stevens West discussed one of the tougher subjects they covered. Season 2, Episode 16 creates a divide between the characters when others dismiss Maxine's plan to change a tire without help, and the story becomes a meditation on modern gender roles.
"I love the discussion of the difference between feminism and sexism and chivalry and what that means — and can you still be chivalrous and expect chivalry when you are a feminist," Stevens West said.
She joined Ghosted as the team's resident tech expert
In a peculiar stroke of good fortune, Amber Stevens West managed to join the Fox comedy "Ghosted" almost immediately after finding out that "The Carmichael Show" was ending. The series is a paranormal sitcom about the Bureau Underground organization and its latest paranormal investigator recruits, Max Jennifer (Adam Scott) and Leroy Wright (Craig Robinson). Stevens West pays the bureau's tech expert, Annie Carver. In an interview with Blavity, she described the circumstances that led her to the show.
"So 'Ghosted' was made and they ended up wanting to change one of the characters on the show, and it just so happened that 'The Carmichael Show' was canceled and 'Ghosted' needed a character at the same time," she said. "It was an interesting afternoon for me because I had gotten a phone call from Jerrod saying that we weren't going to make the show anymore, and a half an hour later I got a call saying 'Ghosted' wanted me to come and test for the show."
"Ghosted" only ran for a single season in 2017, but once again, Stevens West worked with some of the best in the business during her time with the series. Apart from Robinson and Scott, the show features names like Ally Walker and Adeel Akhtar, as well as guest turns from numerous great comedians.
Stevens West continued her sitcom run on Happy Together
Amber Stevens West's next sitcom was 2018's "Happy Together", which once again put her in a bright spotlight as Claire Davis, one of the show's central characters. She and her husband, Jake (Damon Wayans Jr.), are a relatively normal couple whose life is upended when young pop star Cooper James (Felix Mallard) moves in with them to have some peace and quiet in his hectic celebrity life. Naturally, a sitcom-worthy clash of age differences and lifestyles ensues.
Much like "Ghosted," "Happy Together" only ran for a single season. However, Stevens West considers the show a landmark in her career, as she filmed it while pregnant. "I think a lot of [actresses], because we have that expectation that we're going to be turned down for opportunities, we don't put ourselves out there," she told CNN. "I know me, I know my abilities and I wanted to prove to myself — and to others — that there's nothing wrong with me. I just am growing a person inside of me, and that's it."