Gregg Daniel Shares How His Role on ABC’s ‘For Life’ Highlights The Injustices of The Legal System

Renowned actor Gregg Daniel has been actively working in the entertainment industry for roughly 30 years. Recently you may have noticed Gregg as high school principal Mr. Whitaker in Netflix’s gem I Am Not Okay With This, but his work on the ABC drama For Life is something the actor is very proud of and feels is really important especially in today’s political climate.

For Life is loosely based on the real life prison reform journey of Isaac Wright Jr. In the Hank Steinberg created series Nicholas Pinnock stars as Aaron Wallace, a man wrongly convicted and incarcerated who then educated himself and became a lawyer to overturn his life sentence. Gregg Daniel’s character Easley Barton becomes one of Wallace’s cases during his time in prison.

“So I did a lot of research on his life just to know the circumstances because ultimately what the show is about is criminal justice reform,” Gregg told Glambergirlblog about prepping for his role and getting to know the real story about Isaac Wright Jr. “How many other African American men, women, and other people of color have been incarcerated or are being incarcerated unfairly, unjustly,” he questioned. “So that inspired me right from the beginning. My character has been in prison for 22 years. He also has been unjustly incarcerated like the lead character of the show Aaron Wallace played by a gentleman named Nicholas Pinnock. He’s led to take my case which I’m really resistant to cause all my hopes in 22 years [are gone]. I’m pretty beat down. I’m pretty lost that I will ever get out. I’m serving a life sentence as the other character is.”

Photo: ABC

The impact and importance of For Life is not forsaken on Gregg. He sees the show as an opportunity to not only educate, but to highlight the deeply rooted flaws in the criminal justice system. “Unfortunately you look at the real life statistics in terms of incarceration of black males, whether young or old. You look at the statistics and you go, wow, in terms of our numbers in the population and our arrest record or our incarceration record. It’s so disproportionate,” Gregg begins, adding, “Some of them have been unjustly incarcerated. Some of them are up on charges they should not have been, whether it’s for a marijuana or you know, we had that tough time where all the cities in the United States wanted to get tough on crime, which means go out and arrest black men. We also see it in so many shootings of black men. So this show is shedding light on our relationship with law enforcement and the justice system and asking why do we always come out on the other side. Why isn’t equality there?”

He stressed, “That’s one of the reasons why it’s important [the show] because we still have it going on. How many black men in the last few years have been shot and the police action was justified? They always get off, not guilty, not guilty. This is insane. Something is wrong with this system. And I think the show begins to say let’s really look close. It shouldn’t be just because one is on the lower end of the socioeconomic ladder. Justice for all. It’s supposed to be an equal society and justice for all. So that’s why I’m so passionate about the show and this character because again another black man who somehow winds up in the prison system doesn’t get a fair shake. Could we find out why we’re treated this way? All of the minority community, all people of color, Latinos and all of them. Why are we being treated this way? That’s why I think the show is important right now because of black lives matter and other movements.”

Watching a show like this could be disheartening and make you compelled to get involved. Gregg offered up a solution as to how the average person can. “Pay attention when someone is being accosted in your neighborhood. Cause I’ll stop now and just watch. You’re not breaking the law by watching. Have a relationship with your Congress person, whoever represents you in Congress, whoever represents your community, or your district. Have a relationship so you can write to them because they want to hear from you. You can be a voice that promotes change, but you’ve got to be active. You got to be knowledgeable in terms of just being aware. You don’t have to study law. You don’t have to go to law school to do it. Just be aware and do have a relationship with your representatives in government. Be an activist. It’s not that difficult. It’s not that challenging. But you got to take an interest.”

Despite the harsh realities of taking part on a show like For Life with such serious issues, Gregg couldn’t help but feel excited. “I loved working with Nicholas. He’s an amazing actor. We shot in the Bronx at a correctional facility there and it was just magical. It was just magical because you feel inspired because you’re not just doing it for yourself, but for all those other individuals who might be incarcerated unjustly. I’m hopeful that this story is bringing out some empathy and some compassion in people.”

Photo: Mayhem Entertainment PR

In the new normal that is social distancing and stay at home orders that have been placed globally, Gregg is one of many people who has been affected. As an adjunct professor at USC, University of Southern California, school of dramatic arts, Gregg and his students had to move off campus and turn their studies interactive. Much like most of America, Zoom or other forms of virtual group meetings have become a thing, but how does that effectively work in terms of acting? “Everyone’s in their own place all over the United States. When they do a monologue, when they do a scene, the adjustments I’m giving them really help reinforce for me what I believe the essence, the craft, and the technique of acting is all about. It’s been an interesting time and educational for me having to do it that way [virtually].”

Gregg also sees this pause of the normal hustle and bustle as a way to realign and re purpose our priorities. “Usually being in the life of an actor you’re running around on auditions, you’re on a set, or ,if you’re lucky, you’re shooting, you’re working. So having the downtime, it’s like pressing the reset button in terms of having more time to think about things. We’re over programmed and over extended, so having the time to sit back and reflect can be a gift if you use it that way. It can be a time to reflect on what you believe in. I’ll tell you what else it does and this is really important. I’ve been more into helping others, checking in on people, whether it’s a text or call, a zoom meeting, but the desire to really want to check in on other people and see how they’re doing. I’m sort of reestablishing priorities, friendships, relationships as a result of the downtime.”

Be sure to catch Gregg Daniel’s episode of For Life airing tonight, April 14th, at 10pm c on ABC. Watch a promo for the episode in the clip below. Are you watching For Life? Share your thoughts on the series in the comments.

Follow Glambergirlblog.com on Twitter and Instagram @Glambergirlblog 

Photo: ABC via screengrab