Following its highly anticipated premiere at SXSW this past month and its seven-episode drop on March 17 to Amazon Prime Video, the surreal and darkly comedic series Swarm has audiences in a real fan frenzy. Created by Janine Nabers and Donald Glover, the critically acclaimed, feverish series has nabbed attention for its powerhouse performance from Dominique Fishback and its sharp writing subverting the realities of toxic fandoms. But it’s Episode 6’s “Fallin’ Through the Cracks” featuring Heather Simms as Detective Loretta Greene that has audiences really wanting more from the showrunners, including the Luke Cage alum, who tells Collider in a one-on-one interview that she is “humbled” by the reception from viewers.
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The series’ penultimate entry also known as the “documentary episode” takes a hard turn from Swarm’s visual aesthetic for a stylistic crossover that blends COPS and Community thanks to Glover’s background, for a feel that is captivating, absorbing, and as provocative as its five previous episodes. Through the masterclass episode establishing the viewer’s relationship between reality and fiction through the darkened, fatalistic obsessions of Dre (Fishback), we learn how there’s an explanation for the violently fanatical character — one Simms tells Collider in our exclusive interview stems from “another level of love and empathy attached to the way we treat people.”

Image via Amazon Prime Video

COLLIDER: Congratulations on Swarm! This series is so amazing, and your episode is such a standout one. I loved it, especially with the documentary-style feel. Detective Loretta Green is such a badass and someone TV really needs, so what was it about this character that made you want to take on this role?

HEATHER SIMMS: The thing is, I felt like I hadn’t seen a character like this, right? She’s really after the truth, but she’s so funny as well, and I really dug the humor in it. But then I was like, ‘Wait a minute, is this me? Is this me inserting the humor in this character?’ But no, it was there. It was really there. It was alive, and I just wanted to be able to get in there and play.

That’s so interesting how you mention that because I feel like she was a lot like us. We’re looking at the show and case through her eyes, so we related to her, I think, on a lot of levels, especially the way she was talking with the cameraman. Now, I love how Donald Glover and Janine Nabers made this. It’s so great at being meta and delving deeper into a conversation that intellectualizes the fandom culture, which can be very toxic. We don’t even really think about it — we just see it happening every day on social media. Were you shocked when you read the script, especially by how they inserted you into it? We would not have seen you coming until maybe the actual episode, which is so crazy.

SIMMS: Well, the thing is, I didn’t know about the other episodes. I hadn’t read the other episodes when I arrived on set. Well, maybe a little bit before — I spoke to Janine a little bit about it, but I had no idea what happened before; and I had no idea about the seventh episode. I just knew what they told me. So, it was really interesting for me to watch it like everyone else and see, ‘Oh, this is what happened!’ I had the information, and I think it’s right because I felt like I was piecing it together as a detective would piece it together, not having all of the information.

It adds a very interesting element that you just come in and you don’t know what’s happening and you’re just told exactly what to follow. So for you, it must have been like, ‘Okay, well what is this really about? What is this whole series doing?!’

SIMMS: Yeah, and I was trying to, as I was working on the character and even just piecing the information about the clues, when I was trying to suss all of that out, I was like, ‘Okay, wait, what happened?’ And really thinking about it as a detective, because I had to do some detective work in the script because I didn’t have all of the information.

And there was something so interesting that your character, Loretta, mentioned, it’s how Black women usually fall through the cracks. I’d love to know more about your process in expressing that message through Loretta and in her search for the truth.

SIMMS: The thing is, it is about this fandom, but when I’m looking at the clues and I said, ‘Oh, wait a minute, this woman, the white woman, probably would not have had these hair products, these specific hair products and a bonnet,’ and thinking about the profile of the perpetrator. I’m like, ‘Oh, again, we fall through again.’ And listen, no one wants someone from their community to be a serial killer. No one’s like, ‘Hey!’ But understanding that in so many aspects of our lives, people don’t see Black women — they don’t see a place for us. And I think that’s another one of the reasons why Loretta Green resonated, is because we rarely get to see a Black woman detective, but also one who is going to do this work, but then also have some humor attached to her. I think that Episode 6 gives us a moment to breathe. Because it’s so intense and then you get to see the world through Loretta’s eyes and through Loretta’s very specific gaze.

Image via Amazon Prime Video

There’s been a lot of TV shows and movies lately, glorifying serial killers — from Dexter to You to Dahmer, and I’m wondering how Swarm plays into that conversation with these cis-white-hetero serial killers. Is there even a dialogue or does it reject the idea through Dre?

SIMMS: I think that the way I viewed the whole series was not about… It felt like the killing was a byproduct of the lack of love that this person received all throughout life. And so it was more of an indictment on our society and how we can, again, let people fall through the cracks. At the end of the episode when I say, ‘Huh, we share the same last name,’ I wonder how her life would’ve been different if she had me or my parents raising her, loving her. Because there’s so much that can be managed and changed if we have another level of love and empathy attached to the way that we treat people. And without that, lots of things can go awry.

I cannot help but think getting into the mindset of a detective is easy. Did you listen to a lot of true-crime podcasts or watch documentaries?

SIMMS: You know what, I’ve watched The First 48; I watched Dateline. I listen to a lot of different kinds of podcasts… [and] serial killer shows. I think that we’ve grown up with them. But the thing that has always fascinated me was, how is it that you sit down, and you want to watch one hour and end up watching five? And I realize they don’t have a commercial between the first one and the second one. They just kind of slide into it and so you’re like, ‘Dang, dag-nabbit, I’m stuck.’

The show does an amazing job of subverting reality and I think, at one point, I turned to my sister and was like, ‘How much of this is real?’ I was shocked, it was just written so strongly and the performances are again, so stellar. Why do you think audiences are loving Swarm so much? Because Dre isn’t the most likable character.

SIMMS: Well, I think what it is that we’ve seen this, we’ve seen aspects of this show in the zeitgeist, and we’re like, ‘Wait a minute, is this real? Did this really happen? But could it happen?’ And even the top of Episode 6 where the guy who’s talking about being a fan and that whole monologue, I think he’s brilliant in how he goes into… His relationship to the fandom. And how you can get lost in it. And it made me think about when I was growing up and who I was like, ‘Oh my gosh.’ We’ve all had it, but it just seems bigger now because we have a bit more access to the people that we adore and the people that hold such a claim in our lives. And so it’s changed a little, just that small change that we can see them immediately has intensified something a bit. But I think it’s always been there. When you look at those screaming women for The Beatles and people falling over… for Elvis or whoever.

Image via Amazon Prime Video

That is so true. So, one of the things I loved seeing on Twitter was how Detective Loretta deserves her own show — and I agree, I’m a hundred percent in for this, and I’m wondering, how do you feel when you hear that? Because you had one role in this whole series, and we only saw you in Episode 6, and then you made such a profound impact, one that I feel is award-worthy. You deserve a nomination or award, that critical acclaim, all of it. So, how do you feel? Because that must be so humbling for you.

SIMMS: It is humbling, but it’s so humbling that I actually want to hear you say it again [laughs].

[laughs] Yes! You were so great in Swarm, you deserve awards for it! I really do believe that.

SIMMS: It’s that thing where you work for a long time, and you hone your craft, and you do this thing, and you enjoy it. I consider myself a journeyman actor and to be able to even consider doing a Loretta Green, but having it expand, is a privilege that’s not afforded to a lot of actors. And, so would I want a Loretta Green spinoff? Absolutely. My sister has been saying to me for years, I need to do the remake of The Rockford Files. I don’t know how she chose The Rockford Files. And when I told her I was doing this, she was like, ‘Okay, see, I told you it’s getting closer.’ But I really am grateful for that kind of love and appreciation. And I’m on Twitter — when I see it, I thank everyone. But I agree with them, Loretta Greene needs a spin-off.

Well, I hope that if there’s any news, you will share it with us on social media. That if you, Janine, and Donald are having that conversation that needs to be shared, I think everyone’s going to be very excited! So, before I let you go, the most important question now is who’s your favorite artist? Is it Ni’Jah or Beyoncé?

SIMMS: [laughs] You know what, I’m going to spread love because that’s the Brooklyn way to both artists. I don’t want any problems.

Swarm is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video.