‘All American: Homecoming’ star infuses character with real-life HBCU experience

All American: Homecoming actor Geffri Maya found her character, Simone Hicks, entangled in a love triangle at the end of the CW show’s second season that sparked heated debate across social media. Now, viewers know her answer, and her decision is a major storyline throughout the third and final season of the show, which premiered Monday night.

Maya, a Clark Atlanta University alum, started as a recurring character on sister CW show All American before starring in All American: Homecoming, her spinoff show that takes place at Bringston University, a fictional historically Black college in Atlanta. The campus serves as the backdrop for the series while Maya’s character navigates young adulthood as a mother and student-athlete, and Maya’s time as an HBCU student aided her portrayal, she said.

Andscape spoke with the Los Angeles native Friday about the final season of All American: Homecoming, Simone’s love triangle and the impact of a television series set at an HBCU.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How was it being an HBCU student in real life and then portraying one on the show?

It’s very serendipitous. … In this life that we all live, there’s certain things that we do without any expectations of it actually coming to fruition. So I think me being able to portray an HBCU student from LA, it was just mine. It was always a part of my purpose, and I’m grateful that I had a showrunner like Nkechi Okoro Carroll, who saw that in me and gifted me with the opportunity to portray this role in a way that is reflective of little girls that look like me, that come from backgrounds like mine, and just allows me to honor the fact that these stories really do matter. … This is what I believe is my purpose, which is to tell stories. 

How much of your personality is reflected in Simone?

Where the humanity aspect comes in with acting, in general, is to just bring a bit of yourself to the role no matter what it is. I think the majority of [Simone’s] personality, when it comes to the goofiness and when it comes to the little moments of South Central LA, even though she’s from Beverly Hills. It just wouldn’t be right to not play her in that way. Because, again, don’t get it twisted: Black is Black. So you could be from Beverly Hills, but you have aunts and cousins that are in Crenshaw or so – it doesn’t matter. I just knew that I wanted to bring a little bit of my LA upbringing to the character and really to every character that I play. … I just want to be authentic, so I had to bring my South Central roots to this little Beverly Hills girl.

Season Two ends with a cliffhanger of Simone deciding between two suitors. Does the love triangle get resolved this season?

It definitely does, and I think it gets solved in a way that is more so for Simone than anyone. And I feel like that’s me not saying much at all because there’s so much that happens in the season for her. But I think in regards to love, I think it gets solved for her. That’s the most important part of this puzzle, her and her decision for herself.

What is it like portraying a character in a love triangle?

Simone has had more suitors than I’ve ever had in my lifetime, and I’m not mad at her for it. I think especially [with] the girls, let them live, let them have options. Just in hindsight, at my age and stage in my life, I don’t think you should have put all your eggs in one basket, because you sincerely just don’t know. Whether it’s a man or a job, life is about living and experience, so I always implore women to explore life in all it has to offer.

What can viewers expect to see from Simone this season? 

I would say resilience because I feel like when you’re younger and you’re experiencing so many trials and tribulations of life, we don’t really look at it as if it’s something that’s happening for us but more so to us. … When you’re able to change your perspective … and you are able to, like, look at it from the lens of growth and maturation and evolution and really surrendering to life and all that it has to offer to you, whether good, better and different, I think you just have a different perspective on coming out of the fire. 

I think that Simone definitely will experience a lot that will aid her toward her growth as a person, as a woman, as a mom and as an athlete. There are so many hats that Simone wears. But I think this is a lot about her resilience for herself, and it was really beautiful to play this season. … I know people are so invested in Simone and this love triangle because it’s fun. We want the girls to win, but at the same time, life happens, and when life hits, it does transform you. It does change you. … It was really refreshing to be able to play a more nuanced, grounded version of her this season.

How do you think All American: Homecoming’s portrayal of an HBCU will impact the next generation of students? 

I think the impact will be just more visibility and more of an opportunity to see themselves. One thing I will say is just being in the business as long as I have your purpose for doing it starts to shift. I believe that Homecoming was not an opportunity that was solely for me, my dreams, my purpose and my work. It was really for the generations of children who want to go to a historically Black college or university, who want to learn more about the legacy, who want to act, who want to play tennis, who want to be the main character or who want to tell stories. So I think this opportunity is extremely weighted. But I think the impact is a blessing. … I’m grateful to look at my art, in any and everything that I create, as something that’s just beyond me. I’m happy to serve the generation in that way, so I hope it inspires people to just keep doing what they want to do and going for what they want to go for.

How important was it for the show to portray issues that were happening on HBCU campuses?

As Black people, we have a responsibility that we don’t necessarily ask for, but we have a responsibility to reflect truth, authenticity, resilience, elevation, art, culture and history. … It’s too important because of how we impact other people, not just our people but literally the world. Everywhere in the world is influenced by Black culture. … That’s why it’s major that history is trying to be taken out of schools. It’s, like, you can’t erase history and then sit here and celebrate other cultures and history because, again, it’s all in the fabric of this world, of this country. … We have to give credit where credit is due. And you know Black people, that’s just how we move, that’s just how we work. So, it deserves that amount of visibility, time and education because … we are real people with real impact, and we matter.

This will be the final season of All American: Homecoming. What was your initial response to the show’s cancellation?

I’m really proud of this season and despite our fate being what it is, I mentioned this earlier: It is about quality, not quantity. And I think the quality of work that we’ve done in a matter of three seasons, it has impacted people.

My character being a guest star to recurring [on All American], I didn’t know if they would attach to this version of this world, especially coming off the height that All American still has. It’s still doing an astronomical job at celebrating culture and giving back to these kids and families that really love the show. I didn’t know what Homecoming was actually going to do, and it surpassed what I thought. So I think that how we started and definitely how we finished is rooted in so much more than how long we’ve been on.