LOS ANGELES, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- After a season as scheming first lady Victoria Franklin on Tyler Perry's The Oval, actor Kron Moore wants fans to know she's a nice person, as The Oval returns for a second season Tuesday on BET.
And Victoria has more naughty plans in store.
"As campy and as villainous as Victoria is, there is a real person who plays the role," Moore told UPI in a phone interview. But, to her dismay, she meets many people who expect her to be like her character.
"They're always surprised to know that I'm nothing like her," Moore said.
Victoria Franklin is the first lady to President Hunter Franklin (Ed Quinn), but Moore said Victoria is really in charge.
"She's the brains of the White House operation," Moore said. "Victoria Franklin is a sharp, no nonsense force of nature."
The series premiere of The Oval depicted the Franklin marriage as physically abusive. Hunter and Victoria have a knock-down, drag out fight before the title of the show appears. Moore said that in the backstory to the show, Victoria chose Franklin to get her into the White House.
"Victoria went into the situation with a manipulative attitude," Moore said. "She found someone who had potential, and she did everything she could to capitalize on it."
Throughout the series, Franklin and Victoria have affairs. Moore said they may have loved each other once, but that faded long before they came to the White House.
"He was a player in college," Moore said. "She knew that, and so their relationship started to fall apart before it was really fully formed."
Moore herself followed a circuitous path to acting. The 44-year-old actor studied broadcasting at Specs Howard School of Media Arts in Michigan, her home state. She graduated in 2005, hoping to become a TV news anchor.
Instead, Moore sang vocals on several albums, including a solo album in 2002. She then attended the University of Alabama, graduating with a degree in psychology.
She starred in theater productions of Ain't Misbehavin', Little Shop of Horrors and more, while amassing film and television credits since 2010. She credits Perry with giving her a major break.
"This is my first starring role, and he's given me a platform I couldn't have dreamed of," Moore said. "He offered me the role and I fell on the floor."
Perry was able to film Season 2 during the COVID-19 pandemic by setting up a "Camp Quarantine." The entire cast and crew isolated in Atlanta.
Although Moore has family in Atlanta, she was unable to see them while filming Season 2. However, she feels her inconvenience was minor compared to others' situations.
"I also haven't been as sacrificial as our first responders who put their lives on the line every day and who are away from their families every day," Moore said. "So I'm so grateful to them."
Season 2 of The Oval will pick up where the first season ended. Victoria has just come on to White House staffer Sam (Walter Fauntleroy). Even though he resisted, Victoria still will cause trouble for him.
"We pick up where that leaves off, and that just turns up the heat from there," Moore said. "It's juicy."
Victoria also opposes Hunter's appointing Ellie Lyles (Natasha Ward) as his new press secretary.
"Victoria definitely is not happy about Ellie being in the picture, and she wants her out," Moore said. "We'll see the battle between Victoria and Ellie play out through the season."
In the new season, Hunter and Victoria's daughter, Gayle (Paige Hurd), continues to rebel against her mother. Moore said Victoria will not stand for insubordination in the family, let alone in the White House.
"Victoria will always be a heavy-handed disciplinarian for her children," Moore said. "She rules with a heavy hand because she feels she has to."
Moore also will return on Season 2 of Stargirl. She played Dr. Chapel, mother to Stargirl's (Brec Bassinger) friend, Beth (Anjelika Washington). Moore said she was able to appear in more of Season 2 than the first season because the schedule had less overlap with The Oval.
"It was just happenstance that I booked both in the same year," Moore said.
No one ever mistakes her for Dr. Chapel in real life, Moore said. As for the people who fear her like The Oval characters fear Victoria, Moore considers it validation for an effective performance.
"I do take it as a compliment," Moore said. "It's weird, but I do take it as a compliment."
Tyler Perry's The Oval returns Tuesday at 8 p.m. EST.
