Kim Fields is still loving everything about her career, thanks to her current “dream job” starring in Netflix’s “The Upshaws.”
The actress has starred in memorable television shows since childhood, including “The Facts of Life,” “Living Single,” and now, in Netflix’s “The Upshaws,” a sitcom about a working-class Black family in Indiana which she calls a “dream job.”
“What’s on the page is so funny, and in the blink of an eye, it can surprise you with a turn to reality, just dealing with life and life issues,” she told Page Six. “It’s definitely edgy, and that’s one of the things I’m deeply in love with — the fact that the show doesn’t pull any punches.”
Fields, 52, portrays family matriarch Regina and stars opposite Mike Epps as her husband Bennie, Wanda Sykes as Regina’s sister Lucretia, and Gabrielle Dennis as Tasha Lewis, the mother of Bennie’s son Kelvin.
The actress’s big break came at age 9 when she was cast as 12-year-old Dorothy “Tootie” Ramsey in NBC’s “The Facts of Life,” which aired from 1979 to 1988. During the show’s first season Fields was rarely seen without her signature roller skates, but the reason for them was more out of necessity as opposed to style.
“I was very grateful because it gave me an opportunity to have a job, that for all intents and purposes, I may not have had because I was 9 years old and I was playing 12,” she told Page Six. “So that’s what it took me to have the job. I was on skates till I grew.” The skates helped her look taller.
Being able to sustain a decades-long career in the entertainment industry is an accomplishment that isn’t lost on the actress and director, who enjoys hearing the impact of her work on fans. “It’s very lovely,” Fields said. “It’s nice to hear people when they let me know what a certain show or a certain character meant to them, that it’s beyond just work that I did, that’s really lovely to hear.”
“The Upshaws” first season, which premiered on May 12, was widely praised by fans, however, Netflix has yet to officially renew the show for a second season.
