Appearing on “The Masked Singer” as the Harp character gave Amber Riley anonymity which allowed her to shine artistically. “Kind of without anybody knowing who I was and not having any preconceived notions about who I am as an artist and getting people to listen to me with new ears and see me through a different lens towards the end,” she said on the “And That’s What You Really Missed” podcast on December 8 while discussing the singing competition. Riley discussed her time on “Glee,” and while she looked back positively on the experience, it still stifled her creatively as many fans still saw the actor as Mercedes. “Finding yourself as an actor, and finding your voice as an artist can be really difficult and it’s very easy to feel really jaded and over it,” Riley added. It was liberating for the “The Wiz Live!” star to distance herself from her best-known character and allow her voice to shine through.
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After nabbing the Golden Mask trophy, Riley spoke about how important song selection was for her character, and how liberating it was to showcase her singing range. “They let me be myself and put my own little vocal flare on things,” Riley told People on December 1. Even after her “Masked Singer” victory, Riley believed she would be inextricably linked to Mercedes. “Obviously, my ‘Glee’ character is how people know me and it’ll always be something that’s very close to me,” she added.
