Kron Moore stars as the villainous First Lady Victoria in Tyler Perry’s The Oval opposite Ed Quinn, who plays President Hunter Franklin. Kron is absolutely terrifying as Victoria and we are here for it!
The Oval tells the story of a family placed in the White House by people of power while also highlighting the personal side and everyday lives of the staff who run the inner workings of the nation’s most iconic residence.
Check out my Q & A with the First Lady!
Do you ever get mistaken for being this mean and manipulative in real life?
Kron: People who follow me on social media know that I’m nothing like Victoria, at least the volatile parts of her. But when I need people in the outside world, in the streets, I think people are often surprised that I’m not her. She’s a character, and people are often surprised that I’m a lot nicer than Victoria, a lot more approachable.
How do you prepare to play her, how do you get into that mindset?
Kron: I have to have to go to a quiet place because she is so volatile. There are a lot of emotions that I need to stir up to get into character- and it starts in the makeup chair, honestly. So, when I am being made into Victoria, it’s just kind of like a transformation. By the time I put on the wardrobe, I feel like I have become her. I’ve tapped into people that I’ve admired in the past, like Diane Carroll from Dynasty and Joan Crawford, and those characters have given me a lot of help in developing who Victoria is. I just pull from those places, and like I said, once I am in full costume, I feel as though I can embody her.
Do you and Ed (Quinn) get along off camera?
Kron: No. I am just kidding, Ed is like the big brother, I have never had. He’s so funny. He’s nothing like his character on the show. And yes, we do get along, we love each other very much and we have a really close friendship outside of the production.
Did you have to do anything special together to kind of create that abusive relationship?
Kron: We did. We had to, first of all, get to know each other so that we could trust each other and through that we developed a natural organic chemistry. Then we came together to decide how these characters would interact with each other and what level of vitriol they would have. We decided on that together and so it really has been a collaborative effort for both of us. I think we were both instrumental in creating that dynamic… It’s so funny because I do love him dearly.
How did Victoria and Hunter get together in the first place?
Kron: There was a little bit of a backstory but we kind of created it. We met in college and he was an all-American football player, frat boy and I was a scholar. The story goes that Victoria caught his eye, and all of the girls around her were marrying that type of guy, to move them forward, not necessarily to have a career for themselves but as a way to elevate their lifestyles. Victoria saw him as a vessel to use and control, along with her parents, to get to where she wanted to be in life.
Do you think that she still needs Hunter?
Kron: She only needs him as a figurehead because he’s who America has accepted. He is a lot more palatable. He’s a lot more personable, and he has a lot more charisma. So, she needs him as the figurehead, and as I said before, she and her parents are kind of behind the scenes, controlling everything else.
There seems to be a hint of an actual caring relationship between Victoria and Hunter, was there ever love between them?
Kron: I don’t think there was, I think it was a relationship of convenience. But, when everything hits the fan, they do know how to come together and collaborate and work together toward a common goal. If you leave them to their own devices, that’s one thing, but if there’s something that needs to be done, they certainly can get together and make sure that they accomplish it, especially if it’s something that, you know, is a cover up for whatever messes they’ve made. They have become masters throughout their careers at covering things up, so they’ll work together when it comes to things like that… just making sure that everything looks pretty and shiny on the surface while underneath, everything’s burning down.
Do you think that there’s a possibility that Victoria could kind of ditch Hunter and kind of blossom on her own?
Kron: I imagine that in a perfect world for her, that would be the case. I don’t know how that storyline would pan out, but I would imagine that she would love that to be the case. Absolutely… I think it’ll be a lot more drama but because Victoria is such a control freak, I think that even the staff that she has around her, would be able to fall in line, and so she might not have the same type of relationships that she has with the staff that Hunter has in place.
Speaking of Victoria being a control freak, what’s going to happen now with Gayle and Jason, and now that the cats are out of the bag with that?
Kron: That is the million dollar question. So, Gayle is “away.” She was sent her away to this boarding school and so she’s being reformed. Jason (we’ve been introduced) to his new counselor and so, Victoria and Hunter have decided that they’ll have a psychologist come in and work with Jason, to try to get him under control and help him with mental health issues. Victoria would prefer to have him in jail. But, you know, it would reflect poorly on the first family, having a child in prison so they’re taking the path of least resistance and hoping that it’ll work.
Are we going to see a showdown between Victoria and Ellie, kind of like what we saw with Victoria and Denise?
Kron: You know, without giving too much away, I will say that Victoria has no patience for Ellie. She has no palate for Ellie and she wants her gone just like any other woman Hunter would bring into the White House. So, I don’t know if I would say a showdown, but certainly a faceoff of sorts, yes.
Is there anything else that you can kind of tease out for the rest of season two?
Kron: For the rest of season two, for the White House, you will see Hunter still completely out of control and after Ellie. And so, there’s kind of a love triangle thing with Hunter, and Allan, who’s Ellie’s boyfriend, and Ellie. There’s going to be some confrontations there with Sam and Priscilla, they have their marital issues and Victoria has only struck a match to that. And so we’re going to see that come to a head this season. And with regards to the butler’s family, Richard and Nancy, I think we will have, I won’t say closure, but we’ll inch closer to finding out who her child’s father is. And hopefully we’ll see some beginnings of a mending of the relationship. With Barry, I can’t say whether or not he’s going to find his daughter. I don’t know.
And you’re filming season three now, right?
Kron: We have completed filming season three, which was a whole whirlwind, but we got through it, and I think the audience is going to be even more shocked, next season. He’s (Tyler Perry) turning up the heat each season and episode and so it just gets crazier and crazier.
Going into season two, Tyler Perry created Camp Quarantine, how did COVID affect season three?
Kron: Well, it was much like Season Two. The difference is that we had our freshman year which was season one, so everyone had the freshman jitters. With season two, we were a little bit more settled into our characters but then you know there’s COVID, so we have to follow the protocol and so forth and so that was an adjustment, and also becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable, because we had to be sequestered at Camp Quarantine. And while it was a “comfortable environment” in terms of amenities, we still couldn’t leave, so we couldn’t come and go as we pleased, you know, outside of the campus. Once we were there, we had to stay there for the duration of the filming process. So, that was an adjustment for season two. So for season three, we combined the two together. So we’re comfortable with our characters and the speed at which we do things for the production, as well as Camp Quarantine. We know what to expect from that and so I think for season three, we were all able to relax into our characters, and at least for me personally, I was able to be present for all of it, and I really really enjoyed filming season three.
Is there anything else that you’d like to add about The Oval?
Kron: I think you’ll see some humor. I mean, if you don’t find her humorous now, I think at some point, you will. Her fashion is always going to be on point and I’m excited for everyone to see what we’re hoping to come up with in regards to her fashion because that’s her big thing, she’s very fashionable. And like I said for season two, you’ll see a few face offs and the audience is going to flip and Twitter is going to go crazy like they do every week, We’re looking forward to that.
Stay up to date with Moore by following her on Facebook (@iamkronmoore) or on Instagram and Twitter @kronmoore.
