Exclusive: ‘Billions’ Star Condola Rashad Talks Helping the Hungry & How Her Co-Stars Tease Paul Giamatti

You may know Condola Rashad as Kate Sacker in HBO’s Billions, an ambitious young attorney with dreams of one day becoming president. Off-screen, Rashad’s dreams are no smaller. After years hitting it big in film and TV, Rashad is returning to her lifelong passion for singing and songwriting, and — seeing an opportunity to help amid the COVID-19 crisis — raising money for Food Bank for NYC and Hearts of Gold in the process. SheKnows spoke exclusively with the talented multi-hyphenate to get the latest on Billions gossip, her Mother’s Day plans, and what’s behind her intoxicating new music. Let’s just say the star was more than willing to share.

While Rashad’s music may be new to us, we’re actually late to the party. “I’ve been a singer-songwriter basically my whole life,” she explains. But after acting took her away from music for a few years, her sister came through with a wake-up call.

“My sister who’s a big fan of my music she basically calls me out and she’s like, ‘been a couple years, where’s the music at?'” Rashad recalls. Less than a year later, Rashad has new singles “Blue” and “Give Up The Gold” released with full music videos, and an upcoming EP SPACE DAUGHTER. 

Rashad co-produced and co-wrote the EP, but she wanted to do more than fulfill her personal ambitions. For the month of May, she decided to donate all proceeds from “Blue” to Food Bank for NYC, and all proceeds from “Give Up The Gold” to Hearts of Gold, a charity that helps homeless mothers get back on their feet.

“There were a few major things that they were doing that really attracted me,” she says of Food Bank. “There are a lot of children in our public school system that are coming from families that experience homelessness…they were so responsive to what’s happening.”

Hearts of Gold is near and dear to Rashad’s heart, too: “I wanted to fund an organization that was specifically in support of mothers in honor of Mother’s Day,” she explains. Mother’s Day is on all of our minds right now, especially since so many of us can’t see our loved ones in person.

“I’m still kind of coming up with [Mother’s Day plans],” Rashad admits when asked how she’ll celebrate with her own mom, actress Phylicia Rashad. “She lives in a more suburban place so maybe I could even meet her in the backyard.”

While lockdown has its challenges for everyone, Rashad makes it clear there’s one person she wouldn’t mind being quarantined with: Billions co-star Paul Giamatti. She and Giamatti spend hours on set together cracking up, and she let us in on a running gag that his co-stars have going to tease him.

“Chuck [Giamatti’s character] has this thing that he does that we always tease him for, where he kind of whispers when he talks,” she explains — then launches into a Paul Giamatti impression that left us howling.

Charitable, talented, and willing to share on-set gossip? You won’t be seeing the last of Rashad any time soon.