Actress Niecy Nash was affected greatly when she portrayed Jeffrey Dahmer's neighbor, Glenda Cleveland, in the Netflix series Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. The series has caused quite a stir with some people, and filming it proved to be a rather challenging thing for some cast members.
Nevertheless, Niecy Nash's role was particularly challenging for her to play because Glenda Cleveland's story is not as well known as that of Jeffrey Dahmer and the people who were his victims. Despite the fact that not many people knew about Cleveland before this series was created, she was an important part of the story. She was a very strong woman, and playing her came with some challenges for Niecy Nash, especially since the series in general focuses on some extremely dark facts that happened in real life. But, the actress found some lighthearted ways to cope with that.
10 Niecy Nash Had To Look On The Bright Side During Dahmer Filming
Niecy Nash has played many roles during her career, but the actress has claimed that the role she played in Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story was the most challenging role that she has played yet. Therefore, she had to focus on some of the things that give her joy during the filming of the series.
9 Niecy Nash Turned To Her Loved Ones While Filming Dahmer
Playing challenging roles can be very hard, especially when they are based on real people who experienced traumatic events. However, Niecy Nash was able to find healthy ways to cope when she was playing Glenda Cleveland.
Nash leaned on her wife, as well as her daughter and some of her closest friends, including popular rapper Cardi B.
8 Niecy Nash Created Some Entertaining Videos
There are lots of ways that an actor or actress can keep themselves from feeling too down when they are filming something that has a disturbing story, and one of those ways is filming fun videos.
Furthermore, that is something that Niecy Nash did while filming Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, along with her daughter and a co-star.
7 Niecy Nash Did Not Know Glenda Cleveland's Story
While there are lots of people who know the story of Jeffrey Dahmer, as well as some of his victims, not many people knew much about Glenda Cleveland, who lived in an adjacent building to Dahmer before he was caught, before the Netflix series aired. One of those people was the actress who played her, Niecy Nash.
6 Niecy Nash's Dahmer Role Was A Huge Responsibility
It is often very challenging for those in the entertainment industry to play characters that are based on real people, but it can be even more of a challenge to play a real person that no one previously knew about. Niecy Nash experienced this and felt that playing Glenda Cleveland was quite a big responsibility.
5 Why Niecy Nash Believes Jeffrey Dahmer Was Not Caught Earlier
After playing the role of Glenda Cleveland, Niecy Nash claimed that she believes there were multiple reasons why one of Dahmer's victims, who was 14 years old, was returned to him after he had managed to escape from his apartment.
She believes that the police did not want to listen to Glenda Cleveland since she was an African American woman.
4 Niecy Nash Also Believes Homophobia Had Something To Do With Dahmer's Case
While Niecy Nash believes that racism played a role in why Jeffrey Dahmer wasn't caught earlier, she also believes that there was another reason behind it. Nash claimed that she thinks homophobia was one thing that kept him from being caught, and that the police believed the victim who escaped was Dahmer's boyfriend.
3 Niecy Nash Had A Difficult Time With One Scene In Particular In Dahmer
While some of the scenes in Monster - Dahmer: The Jeffery Dahmer Story were extremely hard for viewers to watch, it turns out that they were hard for the actors to film as well.
For Niecy Nash, one of those scenes was a scene that shows her character attending the funeral of one of Dahmer's victims. The actress claimed that, for her, there was a lot of pain involved in that scene.
2 Niecy Nash Believed Glenda Cleveland Was Special
It seems that Niecy Nash learned a lot about Jeffrey Dahmer, his victims, and Glenda Cleveland while filming the Netflix series.
She also wanted fans of the series to know that her character was a very special woman. Glenda Cleveland cared about Dahmer's victims and their families a lot.
1 Niecy Nash Thinks Her Dahmer Character Deserved A Lot
After portraying Glenda Cleveland in the Netflix series, Niecy Nash believes that her character deserved a lot. The actress claimed that she feels as though her character deserved much more than a plaque.
That is because, despite the fact that it seemed like the police didn't listen to her, she continued contacting them and trying to help those whose lives were taken by Jeffrey Dahmer.