Khandi Alexander makes difficult women understandable without making them nicer. We rate her grounded dramatic acting and comic timing; television has given both more room than her supporting film roles.
Fi1m perspective
Fran Boyd in The Corner (2000) is a mother with an addiction. Alexander plays her without softening her behaviour, and the performance is grounded and unglamorous. Director Charles S. Dutton urged her to concentrate on the woman rather than the drug, an instruction that suits an actor so good at keeping difficult people understandable.
Alexander plays Karen Lawson in Menace II Society (1993), Albert and Allen Hughes's forceful, uneven crime drama. Tyrin Turner and Larenz Tate give its young men enough life to make the writing's certainty about them frustrating. We were unsettled because their performances made us care about people the screenplay seemed unwilling to give a chance. We recommend the film with that reservation, though it is not the first place to look for a full account of Alexander's acting.
Her Joanie in There's Something About Mary (1998) is another supporting part, this time in a comedy we like for its cheerful indecency. Ben Stiller's discomfort and Cameron Diaz's ease account for its biggest laughs. The slack middle and the attention lavished on the men limit our enthusiasm. It is worth seeing for the comedy, though the contrast with Menace II Society tells us more about the parts Alexander has played than about how she works.
Television makes that easier to see. NewsRadio (1995–1998) gave her comic timing an ensemble to work within, while ER (1995–2001) provided a recurring dramatic role, before The Corner put her at the centre in 2000. As medical examiner Alexx Woods in CSI: Miami (2002–2009), she supplied the steady presence a procedural needs. Playing LaDonna Batiste-Williams in David Simon's Treme (2010–2013) brought her back to a central dramatic role.
Our reservation about Treme concerns the handling of LaDonna, rather than Alexander's ability to make her convincing. The writing does not always sustain the strength of the character. Start with The Corner, and keep NewsRadio for an evening when laughter would be more welcome.
Biography
Khandi Alexander is an American actress, dancer and choreographer. Born Harriet Rene Alexander on 4 September 1957 in Jacksonville, Florida, she was raised in Queens, New York, and trained at Queensborough Community College and the Alvin Ailey Studio.
She began her career as a dancer on Broadway in productions including Dreamgirls and worked as a choreographer for Whitney Houston's world tours from 1988 to 1992. Alexander moved into acting in the 1990s, appearing in films such as Menace II Society (1993), CB4 (1993), What's Love Got to Do with It (1993), Sugar Hill (1994) and There's Something About Mary (1998).
She is also known for television roles including Catherine Duke in NewsRadio (1995–1998), Jackie Robbins in ER (1995–2001), Dr Alexx Woods in CSI: Miami (2002–2009) and Maya Lewis in Scandal (2013–2018).
