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In Defense of O-T Fagbenle’s Wacky Voice on Presumed Innocent


It’s like Sir Hiss from Robin Hood trying to go incognito as a Chicago lawyer. This is praise!

Fagbenle lets Nico’s voice drip with sarcasm and contempt as he mocks Rigo’s decision-making and digs into her ethical reaction to Rusty offering a felon early release in exchange for potential information about Carolyn’s death. Presumed Innocent cuts to him often for reaction shots, and he’s invariably letting his mouth hang open a bit, like he’s aghast, or following Rusty and Tommy’s arguments with his eyes flickering back and forth, as if he’s taking in a particularly riveting tennis match. He’s our audience surrogate, inside and outside the story at the same time, and his little tics — like picking up and smoothing down his tie when he’s impatient, or wiggling his bottom jaw back and forth when he’s irritated — puncture the series’s heightened drama with moments of lived-in personality.

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