When Robin givens decided it was time to get back to her first love—her career—after taking time off to raise her kids, she didn’t just dip her toe in. The elegant actor dove headfirst. This season, Givens stars in not one, but three TV roles: the audacious and sexy Stephanie Carlisle, a lawyer and wife of the mayor of Atlanta, on Own TV’s new series Ambitions, which was filmed in Atlanta; Julianne Johnson, the ex-wife of an A-list actor accused of murder, in o’s highly anticipated The Fix; and the former mayor and mother to Josie of Josie and the Pussycats, Sierra McCoy, on The CW Network’s hit teen drama Riverdale. Here, she chats about Atlanta and the state of her career.

Are you enjoying filming Ambitions in Atlanta? I can’t tell you how much I enjoy being here. I’ve been coming to Atlanta for 10 years off and on. It’s a very warm community. It’s diverse in every way; I’ve never been to a Spin class where you do the dab!

You’re spending the good part of a year here for the project. What are some of your new favorite haunts? I’m a New Yorker and love to walk. Midtown is my favorite area. I love JCT. Kitchen & Bar, Ponce City Market, Murphy’s, and the Four Seasons Hotel Atlanta is so close. I walk [from my apartment] to Pilates and Spin.

How did you know when the time was right to go back to work? I think when my kids were like, ‘Go out and do something!’ There’s something interesting about time. It’s hypnotic, and one day you wake up and realize you’ve had your SAG card since the ’80s. My career has evolved, and, as a person, I have evolved. … Starting young and then taking a break, I’ve had the chance to fall in love with it all over again—even auditioning.

And, wow, three TV series on air at the same time! I’m so grateful to have three great, strong woman roles. I feel like I play women who I want to be when I grow up. I’m not anything like them.

What’s next for you? I’d love to write another book. Something about motherhood.