Secondary Character Saturday : Sue (from Veep)

Image courtesy HBO

WHO: Sue Wilson

FROM: Veep

BY: Rupert Gregson-Williams & Christopher Willis, created byArmando Iannucci

PRODUCED: Premiered 2012

PROS: As the third most important person in the world (personal assistant to the Vice President of the United States) Sue is organized and  in charge. She keeps V.P. Selena Meyer’s office running as smoothly as possible  (considering the incompetence that surrounds her.) She keeps her  icy cool when others melt into hysterics. She absolutely dominates every one who walks into the office (except maybe Selena, and even with the VP you get the feeling that Sue has her number.)

CONS: She’s not the nicest person in the world… but if you want nice you can just slowly back over to the desk to the right and talk to Gary. Sue is busy.

BEST SHINING MOMENT: Pretty much anytime she’s on screen your eyes gravitate to her desk.

Here’s a little taste of the Sue attitude that makes her such a joy to watch:

WHY I CHOSE SUE:

While Selena is star of the show (and the office) Sue is the one with the real power. Things HAPPEN to Selena, Sue makes things happen. She organizes and orchestrates the maelstrom of incoming chaos.

I’m loving that this show has three strong female characters, btw (the third is the VP’s Chief of Staff Amy).

In an interview with Ebony Magazine Sufe Bradshaw (who plays Sue so brilliantly in the show) explained her character’s importance to the chemistry of the show…

I think in all great comedies there has got to be these different prototypes. There’s always like the straight man. And then the ingénue and then the one that it centers around. That’s the genius of the writers, they wrote all of our characters like that. So they wrote Sue to be the straighter, more grounded one, who, looking at the rest of her office mates freaking out and losing their mind [doesn’t really fret]. In order for our comedy to be grounded it needed to have a character like Sue who can sort of observe the absurdities. So I think that’s why the character is written the way she is. She brings a little grounding to their otherwise normally chaotic lives.

I don’t have a sense of humor, and neither should you.