The limited series The Terror: The Devil in Silver, follows Pepper (Dan Stevens), a moving man from Queens who is arrested after losing his temper and assaulting his girlfriend’s ex, but is wrongfully committed to New Hyde Psychiatric Hospital by the arresting officers. Pepper must navigate the hellscape of the underfunded hospital where there is an evil presence lurking and nothing is as it seems.

Chinaza Uche plays the role of Coffee, one of the patients at New Hyde who becomes friends with Pepper, but ultimately ends up being killed in the fourth episode.

Uche recently spoke with SciFi Vision on the experience of filming his character’s last scenes. “Victor [LaValle] was really lovely, because we had lots of conversations about it, because it's super intense,” the actor explained to the site. “And we did discuss why it happens, what it means to each of us, how to portray it on the camera.” He added that he knew it would be upsetting for people. “I didn't want it to hurt the audience too much. I don't know, I loved Coffee, and I was like, ‘Wow, I think if it works, this is going to really hurt,’ but I think that's the point.”

The actor also spoke about the physically chaotic “blood room” sequence, what drew him to the role, how he prepared to play Coffee, the care he took in grounding the character’s mental health experience, and more.

The final episode airs tomorrow on AMC+ and Shudder. Watch the interview and read the transcript below.





SCIFI VISION:   So, to start off, what made you want to be a part of it?

CHINAZA UCHE:   I just had a very strong response to the scripts. I think for the audition, they sent us the first two and I was just like, yeah, I want to be a part of this. It's not, it doesn't happen a lot, but sometimes you just go, this community, this collection of characters, this strange like motley crew of a team that forms under the most difficult circumstances. It's exciting to me.

SCIFI VISION:   What was your prep like for this? I mean, did you do research into mental illness or anything like that?

CHINAZA UCHE:   I definitely tried to have conversations with a few people who I know who'd spent time inpatient, and it was really illuminating for me, because I started to describe the show and be like, “Well, the devil.” And I was just really surprised that they were just like, “Yeah, it feels like what it's not really about.” They weren't. They were like, “Yes, that's what it feels like.” And there was a description, had one conversation about the sense of losing yourself. A person I spoke to found themselves in an actual violent act, and in the midst of it, they're like, “This isn't me. Is it the medication?” You know, so they just, I thought they seem to have a lot of resonance for the piece. And it helped me be like, “Oh, wow. It's a metaphor,” but it's also very, very close, I think, where the hope is, to people's sometimes experiences.

SCIFI VISION:   Was there any worry though, to make sure you played like that kind of character authentically? Like, did you worry that maybe some people wouldn't take it the right way or whatever?

CHINAZA UCHE:   A hundred percent, a hundred percent. I also did read up about OCD and read up about different - I watched a lot of videos on YouTube, but the hope, I think, is that if you're grounded in their experience as much as you can [be], you're not playing - why play an idea? There's nothing to play crazy. It’s like this moment makes me feel a certain way, and in our society today, that means that I am put in a box of some sort and I can either get - you know what I mean? But there's nothing to play that way. It's just responses, trying to figure out why do people respond a certain way to certain stimuli.

SCIFI VISION:   How was it connecting, I guess, with the different sides of him? What was difficult and what was easier for you? I know you talked to people, but kind of getting your mind into that headspace.

CHINAZA UCHE:   I mean, I think that's a really good question. Well, I think, the more - not more honest answer, is that it wasn't that hard for me, because mental health and mental health struggles is something I'm familiar with in my personal relationships. There's a civil war that happened in Nigeria in the late 60s, the 70s, that kind of like did a number on a big generation of people. So, any exploration, I think I know a lot of Coffees, I guess, is what I'm saying. And if they are somebody that you care about, you are always trying to understand them more. And this felt like, “Oh, I know this person.” You know what I mean? That it felt like something that I resonated [with] and I saw, and I knew.

SCIFI VISION:   Talk about working with Dan Stevens and the rest of the cast.

CHINAZA UCHE:   Yeah, the cast is, we described it as summer camp, because it kind of was a summer camp. Dan is a great, great leader. He’s just great. He's a great actor. He was there every single day. And he has a really soft touch way of like making everybody feel good and keeping it simple and being like, “That was great.” And the entire ensemble, we were just lucky for the collection of amazing [people]. Judith is such an amazing leader. CCH is such an amazing leader. Celia, there's so many funny people. We laughed a lot. And I think we all just jumped into being like, these people have spent a lot of time together in these rooms. I kind of love you. Let's go.

SCIFI VISION:   Yeah, I was going to say, I'm assuming you had to kind of add some lightness in between some of the darkness as you're filming. What did you guys kind of do in between to help booster that?

CHINAZA UCHE:   You know, also, I feel like Karen and Chris and Victor, they're also like pretty funny too. S,o we would laugh a lot. And there was a sense of like, you're just always living. So, when the camera's focused on, you know, maybe you're not the focus of the shot, but you guys are living, and you have your little me and me and B and all, there's all kinds of things that we developed a handshake that's not even in the show. Do you know what I mean? So that there were these little things that you did that you're like, they've been together for years. And yeah, so we play those little kinds of games. You'd be playing actual cards in the back of the thing, playing actual checkers with the missing pieces, you know, whatever. It was great.

SCIFI VISION:   Now talk about your death scene, because that's quite a death scene. So, talk about filming that.

CHINAZA UCHE:   Yeah, that was a really intense experience, and Victor was really lovely, because we had lots of conversations about it, because it's super intense. And we did discuss why it happens, what it means to each of us, how to portray it on the camera. Yeah, it was a kind of feral place to get to that, especially that last running out. But I don't know, genuinely, I didn't want it to hurt the audience too much. I don't know, I loved Coffee, and I was like, “Wow,  I think if it works, this is going to really hurt,” but I think that's the point. And we would talk about that. Yeah, I think people were sad on set as it was happening. I imagine through a lot of the deaths, people are really sad on set. There was a communal mourning as it was going on.

SCIFI VISION:   I was going to say, you're like, “Stop!,” because you wanted [your character] to stop before that goes down. But talk about -

CHINAZA UCHE:   The blood room?

SCIFI VISION:   Yeah, that part too.

CHINAZA UCHE:   That was crazy. They built a crazy blood room full of guts and dead bodies and real actors. Shout outs to those people that were lying in that gunk. They'd be like, “Oh, yeah. Can you move a little bit?” And they'd be like, “Yeah, one second.” But it was kind of like a dance sequence. And it was just like, we blocked out certain things that happen. And then you just go and you get in there, and if you slip, you slip. It's crazy. We had an amazing like makeup, SFX team that were building all kinds of wounds and all and they were just like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.”

SCIFI VISION:   It probably was not fun to get off though, after, at least it doesn't look like it would have been.

CHINAZA UCHE:   No, but, you know, I think at the beginning, too, they just made me a big slab of it on the floor. And they're like, “Do you just want to?” and we just dived in. So, the whole thing still felt really fun. Every part of it.

SCIFI VISION:   It was gross to watch, but but in a good way.

CHINAZA UCHE:   Good, good.

SCIFI VISION:   I know we're past eight minutes, but thank you so much. I appreciate your time. And yeah, like I said, I really did enjoy it. I mean, I wish you had survived longer!

CHINAZA UCHE:   Well, I'm glad you enjoyed it. And nice chatting with you.

SCIFI VISION:   Yeah, nice talking to you. Have a good rest of your day.