Gabrielle Dennis (‘The Big Door Prize’) believes that living ‘sort of under the radar’ has been ‘my superpower’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

Gabrielle Dennis has rarely wanted for acting work over the majority of the past nearly two decades, with regular or recurring roles on a number of TV series. She even earned a 2019 NAACP Image Award nomination for her portrayal of Whitney Houston in a two-part BET presentation of “The Bobby Brown Story.” Yet despite it, her name wasn’t all that familiar to the masses. But that’s all changed lately. She’s a regular on two series (“The Big Door Prize” and “A Black Lady Sketch Show”) and recurring on a third (“The Upshaws”). And suddenly, the world is noticing.

“I very much thought I was invisible,” Dennis says, “like one of the people that people don’t remember. So I tried to use that as my superpower and it’s been working the past few years. I’d been sort of under the radar and no one noticed me. But now they’re starting to notice me and I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, you’re everywhere.’ It’s been a blessing. It’s like a feast or famine situation. Either everyone’s calling or no one’s calling.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.

The major catalyst that’s suddenly put Dennis front and center is “The Big Door Prize,” a 10-episode multi-genre series that began streaming back in March on Apple TV+ and was renewed for a second season even before it premiered. A comedy/sci-fi/mystery, “Big Door Prize” tells the story of a small town called Deerfield where everyone’s life gets turned upside-down after the mysterious arrival in the town general store of a machine that promises to reveal everyone’s life potential. It comes from creator/exec producer/showrunner David West Read (“Schitt’s Creek”) and co-stars Chris O’Dowd and Dennis as Dusty and Cass, a married couple who have radically different reactions to the machine and what it represents on their lives.

“Cass is totally onboard with what’s going on and is fascinated by this new experience, while Dusty is kind of shaken to the core,” Dennis observes. “Their reactions are sort of mirror images in a way of the townspeople and what they’re all going through. Now there’s this fault line that’s going through these two people, and the town itself is also going through its own marital problems, so to speak. Someone’s shaking the snow globe, and there’s a lot of chaos going on…I’m just happy the show (leavens the heaviness) with comedy and keeps things somewhat lighthearted, because it could get pretty dark with these existential themes.”

Dennis sees the series as a metaphor for what’s going on in society in terms of the apps and information we all have in our smartphones. “The machine in our show is just slightly bigger and more in your face,” she believes.

The response from critics to “The Big Door Prize” has been largely positive. The critic for TV Guide called it “one of the best comedy debuts in years” while adding, “Part small-town hangout comedy, part sci-fi mystery, and all philosophy generator, ‘The Big Door Prize’ asks big questions while delivering even bigger laughs and feelings, and it’s a serious contender for best new show of the year.” “It’s been great,” Dennis says. “It’s just so different than anything else I’ve had a chance to do and really like sink my teeth into as a leading lady. I’m a big fan of Chris O’Dowd’s. He’s an amazing talent. To be able to work with the likes of him, and (be in a show that’s) a nice little melting pot of comedy, a little drama, some mystery, magic, a little sci-fi action, it’s just fun for me to be able to play in this world.”

All 10 episodes from Season 1 of “The Big Door Prize” can be seen streaming on Apple TV+.