WEBVTT - Angela Gibbs 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:03.800 At school, I was shy, but when it came to performing, 0:00:04.559 --> 0:00:07.200 there was this other person that would just come out 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:09.200 of me. And I remember we were doing a play 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:13.240 Scrooge and the little boy that was supposed to play 0:00:13.280 --> 0:00:16.320 Scrooge couldn't get it right, and I was so upset 0:00:16.720 --> 0:00:18.520 and I just stood up and passed and said I 0:00:18.520 --> 0:00:21.959 should be Scrooge. And they said, but you're a girl, 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:23.160 so it doesn't matter. 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:24.599 It doesn't matter. 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:27.240 And then I started trying to direct him and they 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:29.560 were like, Angela, sit down, and I was like, this 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:35.239 isn't fair. So I guess that was the beginning of 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:40.680 me having my voice. 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:45.640 Hi. This is Angela Gibbs. I'm so excited at being 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:46.360 on this show. 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:49.680 I am an actor and an acting coach and I'm 0:00:49.840 --> 0:00:52.680 recently on a new show called Not Dead. 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:55.560 Yet on ABC. I'm excited to be here. 0:01:02.920 --> 0:01:08.600 Hi, everybody, and welcome back to this week's episode of 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:11.640 Off the Beat. This is Brian Baumgartner and this is 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:17.360 me very very excited, as you just heard. My guest 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:21.479 today is Angela Gibbs. Now let me tell you something. 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:26.440 I did not know Angela personally before speaking with her 0:01:27.040 --> 0:01:32.000 earlier today. But let me say this She is why 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:38.080 I do this podcast. Having conversations with her specifically, and 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:42.560 people like her, It's why I do this. I had 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:46.280 so much fun today. I hope you hear that in 0:01:46.319 --> 0:01:50.320 the conversation, and I learned so much. So fun and 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:57.120 learning equals awesome. Angela, despite being on ABC's new hit 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:01.040 show Not Dead Yet, she is very much live and 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:05.920 well and she has been crushing the game for years. 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:10.520 You might know her from Oh Straight out of Compton, Insecure, 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:13.760 Black Jesus, or one of my favorite shows over the 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:18.640 last couple of years, Hacks with Gene Smart. She is 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:21.520 such a pro that she's also gone on to be 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:27.040 an acting coach, a director, a theater artistic director. She's 0:02:27.080 --> 0:02:30.280 a producer. She has worked with everyone from Janelle Monnet 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:35.760 to Oscar winner and legendary director Alejandro Gonzalez in Yurito. 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:39.640 She's amazing, all right. I hope you enjoy this as 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:43.040 much as I enjoyed talking to her. She has great 0:02:43.080 --> 0:02:49.320 things to say about confidence, about network television, and about 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:55.040 finding the comedy out of drama. Here she is my 0:02:55.600 --> 0:03:05.600 new friend. Angela Gibbs, Bubble and Squeak. I love it, 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:12.400 Bubble and Squeak, Bubble, and Squeak cook get every month 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:13.640 lift over. 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:15.079 From the night before. 0:03:24.680 --> 0:03:27.840 Hi, Angela, Hey Brian, how are you? 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:29.000 I'm good? 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:32.680 I love that morning smiler. Is it an afternoon smile? 0:03:32.720 --> 0:03:33.680 Where are you in New York? 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:36.240 No, I'm in I'm in California. 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:38.120 All right, you're with me. 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:41.920 I'm with you. I am such a big fan of yours. Angela, 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:46.080 thank you so much. Thank you, Yes, thank you so 0:03:46.200 --> 0:03:49.520 much for coming on. We're going to talk about as 0:03:49.600 --> 0:03:54.120 much as we can fatally, but I do want to 0:03:54.200 --> 0:03:57.440 start back. Your career is so fascinating and when I 0:03:57.520 --> 0:04:00.440 was going through this research, I'm like, wait, she did 0:04:00.680 --> 0:04:04.760 what she wait with how when did this? 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:05.520 What? 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:11.760 Bird band? What are we talking about talking about? So 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:14.480 I can't wait to get into it. You grew up 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:16.479 in Detroit, Yes, am I right? 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:20.040 That's right during the time of Motown and the Motor 0:04:20.120 --> 0:04:24.000 city was flourishing, and it was a great It was 0:04:24.040 --> 0:04:27.159 a great time to come up in Detroit. People talking 0:04:27.160 --> 0:04:29.160 about my city and I don't know what they give 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:32.840 us such a bad rep but it was such an 0:04:33.000 --> 0:04:35.720 It was the neighborhood, Brian. You know, I could sit 0:04:35.800 --> 0:04:39.480 on my porch and name everybody up and down the street. 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:39.880 It was. 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:43.159 I did get a chance to fill that small town 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:48.320 even though it was Detroit kind of neighborhood community, if 0:04:48.360 --> 0:04:52.280 you will, growing up and uh, you know, if I 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:55.800 was bad, parent down the street spanked me, you know, 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:57.719 back days they could do that. And then when I 0:04:57.760 --> 0:05:00.560 got home, I did another one. 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:01.560 You know. 0:05:01.880 --> 0:05:04.720 We were pig cherries off of people's trees. You know, 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:07.760 it run high, you know. But anyway, it was a 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:10.280 great childhood. It really was a great time to come up. 0:05:10.680 --> 0:05:13.039 I'll tell you about my story about the Montelettes and 0:05:13.080 --> 0:05:15.560 wanting to be a supreme that's another story. 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:20.480 Well, but so music was a very big deal, absolutely 0:05:20.560 --> 0:05:22.719 in Detroit at that time. It was for you as well. 0:05:23.080 --> 0:05:26.160 Absolutely, we all wanted to be Well, let me say this. 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:31.480 I grew up next door to the mother of Levi Stubbs. 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:35.280 Now Levi Stubbs was the leader of the Four Tops. 0:05:35.760 --> 0:05:38.279 I didn't know this, but his brother was the leader 0:05:38.360 --> 0:05:43.080 of the Contours, Joe Stubbs and recent and so I 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:46.320 grew up. So since that was the mother, I e 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:50.120 grandmother of his kids. His kids were over there all 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:52.960 the time. So I grew up with Levi's kids. 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:57.920 Right, and we had a ball We always wanted to sing. 0:05:58.000 --> 0:05:59.599 You know, there was there what do you call it, 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:05.960 the mot So we started this group cause the Montellettes. 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:11.320 And my mother, you know, wasn't on TV any of that. 0:06:11.720 --> 0:06:15.279 She worked for the airlines. She was our manager. Now 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:18.120 she got it a little twisted. We wanted to be 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:22.200 arm and B singers. She had us singing tall and 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:25.320 tan and yeah, she had us sing and all the 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:30.400 stuff she wanted us to see, right Sinatra, Oh my god. Anyway, 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:33.320 we were shortening, but we did go to We did 0:06:33.360 --> 0:06:34.120 a couple. 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:36.760 Of what was it back then, the y w c A. 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:38.640 And we never made it to the motome. 0:06:39.120 --> 0:06:42.719 Let's just say that, okay. 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:44.880 But they had street parties, you know how they block 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:47.560 off the street and all the neighbors would cook and 0:06:47.600 --> 0:06:50.520 we'd have music and I would sing there. 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:57.400 That is awesome. I love that. And so was that? 0:06:57.400 --> 0:07:00.160 That was your earliest performing, Yes, early. 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:03.760 Performing, that's right. And then I went to Catholic school. 0:07:03.760 --> 0:07:04.960 I went to Saint Gregory's. 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:08.440 It's gone now, but in Saint Gregory's they had drama 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:12.480 and Brian. You know, I had no idea because basically 0:07:12.520 --> 0:07:15.000 believing or not, even though I was a tomboy and 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:19.120 you know, the oldest of two brothers and so kind 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:22.440 of the leader that at school, I was shy, but 0:07:22.560 --> 0:07:26.480 when it came to performing, there was this other person 0:07:26.520 --> 0:07:28.400 that would just come out of me. And I remember 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:32.760 we were doing a play Scrooge and the little boy 0:07:32.800 --> 0:07:35.400 that was supposed to play Scrooge couldn't get it right, 0:07:35.440 --> 0:07:38.240 and I was so upset and I just stood up 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:40.280 and passed and said I should be Scrooge. 0:07:40.880 --> 0:07:42.600 And they said, but you're a girl. 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:45.200 It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. 0:07:45.520 --> 0:07:47.840 And then I started trying to direct him and they 0:07:47.880 --> 0:07:50.200 were like, Angela, sit down, and I was like, this 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:55.880 isn't fair. So I guess that was the beginning of 0:07:55.960 --> 0:07:59.680 me having my voice. I didn't get to play screw 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:04.200 all right, but that's okay. Later down the line, I 0:08:04.240 --> 0:08:06.760 began acting. But I started acting then and I was 0:08:06.800 --> 0:08:08.280 in like, I want. 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:11.160 To say, fifth grade, you know. So they'd have little recidos. 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:14.760 I would play music, nothing, no big deals really, you know, 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:16.680 but that was kind of like the beginning. 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:23.240 Your mom was an actress, Yes, yes, your mom was 0:08:24.000 --> 0:08:24.920 Marla Gibbs. 0:08:25.160 --> 0:08:26.800 Spoiler is Marla Gibbs. 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:28.080 Is Marla Gibbs. 0:08:28.120 --> 0:08:29.880 He's still around honey. 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:34.120 Your mom is Marla Gibbs. Yes, I know she still is. 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:38.920 I just went back into her bio as well talking 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:41.680 to you. I mean, we're not going to make this 0:08:41.720 --> 0:08:44.720 about your mom, by the way. Okay, that's okay, though 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:46.600 I'm not going to do that. But let me just 0:08:46.640 --> 0:08:51.640 say this. When I think about my childhood, I think 0:08:51.679 --> 0:08:56.280 about those shows that work because I was still young 0:08:56.520 --> 0:09:01.120 when The Jeffersons was on, and no joke, I believe 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:09.079 that your mom was the first person for me looking 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:16.640 back where I went, Oh, she is funny, Yeah she is. 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:19.920 Like there was something about her and her performance that 0:09:20.080 --> 0:09:25.959 I just loved her, like with a passion idea. 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:28.080 Do you think it was? You know? 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:30.719 One of the things that we kind of picked up 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:38.319 early on was my mother was the domestic who inhabited 0:09:39.640 --> 0:09:45.040 everyone's aunt or grandma, Like there was somebody in the family. 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:47.280 That, as the kids say, now clap back, you know. 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:52.520 And there was something about her clapping back at her 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:57.600 boss that made her kind of like everyone's person, you know. 0:09:57.840 --> 0:10:02.199 And I only asked that because even though she wasn't. 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:03.040 A real maid. 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:08.640 There was a group of people nationally called National something 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:13.200 of household technicians, and these were maids and butlers, et cetera, 0:10:13.320 --> 0:10:16.760 and they honored her right, So there was something about 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:19.880 her humanity and the way she dealt with that boss 0:10:20.280 --> 0:10:23.839 of hers who was hysterical and obnoxious. On all of that, 0:10:24.320 --> 0:10:26.280 I wonder if that's what it was, that she just 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:28.520 kind of spoke her mind and she bumped up against 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:31.120 the establishment, if you will, I just wondering. 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:35.360 Yeah, No, I think I think that that is absolutely true. 0:10:36.080 --> 0:10:40.120 But I also think her there was something about her. 0:10:40.360 --> 0:10:43.240 I mean, there was Isabelle Saffort and all of they 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:46.960 were all so great, yes, but all playing this very 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:55.319 traditional sitcom style, and yet she took her time. She 0:10:55.360 --> 0:10:58.760 took her time. She would take those pauses, yes, and 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:03.760 she would deliver things in an unexpected way, not this 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:07.240 traditional way. And for me, I think just in terms 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:11.800 of comedy, yeah, like I appreciated that as a performer. 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:16.400 Listen, I've been Mather's daughter sometimes painfully all my you know, 0:11:16.559 --> 0:11:18.360 like you know the way we want your mom or 0:11:18.440 --> 0:11:21.839 Marla Junior or they will introduced everyone by name. 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:24.160 When they get to me, they're like, oh, that's Marther's daughter. 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:27.760 So so there's been that, but there's also this other 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:30.480 side that I'm very, very proud of and proud of 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:33.640 being her daughter, and so I want to just share 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:37.200 this when you talk about her style was different when 0:11:37.240 --> 0:11:40.760 she was doing that role, Brian, she was brand new, right, 0:11:40.840 --> 0:11:44.720 she'd been enacting only a few years, but she was 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:45.640 in her forties. 0:11:45.679 --> 0:11:47.559 Also raised three kids. 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:50.600 We had a great escape from my stepfather who was 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:54.160 at that time, you know, it was a crazy marriage, 0:11:54.160 --> 0:11:56.800 and she gathered us up and when he went to work, 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.520 we took off and came to La, right. So she 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:04.120 was bold and brave in that way, and she took 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:06.000 that kind of fierceness. 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:07.600 And being a grown woman because she's like forty four, 0:12:07.840 --> 0:12:09.280 she just looked young for her age. 0:12:09.720 --> 0:12:12.920 When she went into that. She still worked at Unana Airlines, 0:12:12.960 --> 0:12:15.160 so she had a backup, she had a job. She 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:18.800 was bold, and they loved her. You know, she had 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:21.800 that line. How come we overcame and nobody told me? 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:24.600 And that was the line and everyone I was there 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:26.920 for that delivery and the audience they had a hole 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:31.640 for like five minutes, and the word is the producer said, 0:12:31.679 --> 0:12:35.720 who is that? Because they had already contracted a maid. 0:12:36.240 --> 0:12:38.920 There was already someone who was supposed to play that role. 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:42.720 She was only a guest, right, she was supposed to 0:12:42.760 --> 0:12:45.800 say that line, and then Louisa's. The story was that 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:48.920 Louise's friend, who was a maid, was going to become 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:49.360 the maid. 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:49.679 Right. 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:53.040 But they loved my mother so much. So now she's 0:12:53.040 --> 0:12:55.160 getting a couple of shows. I think she maybe had 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:58.040 six or seven. And the first one, she sits at 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:01.280 the table. They do the table read and then all 0:13:01.280 --> 0:13:05.640 the actors are supposed to get up, and she sits there, 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:08.400 and Norman and the producers. 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:10.080 They're like, this is the black woman sitting at the table. 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:11.760 They don't want to hurt their feelings and tell them 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:12.320 to get up. 0:13:12.679 --> 0:13:16.280 They're figuring she'll get the hint, so they start talking 0:13:16.280 --> 0:13:16.800 to each other. 0:13:16.840 --> 0:13:17.800 They're not looking at. 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:19.760 Her, and the actors are like, you know, come on, 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:23.000 come on, like get up, right, we don't tell them, 0:13:23.679 --> 0:13:25.280 they tell us we get up. 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:27.880 And she's like, yeah, but I don't know what they're saying. 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:32.520 I don't know what they're talking about. 0:13:32.520 --> 0:13:34.400 I don't want to know what they're talking about, right, 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:41.000 So she says and then she starts interrupting. 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:43.800 She's like, wait, excuse me, Can I say something? 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:48.040 And they're like, okay, you know we're gonna pacify this woman. 0:13:48.559 --> 0:13:51.240 And she said, glad, people don't talk like that. And 0:13:51.280 --> 0:13:55.600 they said, oh, okay, well what would you say right? 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:57.320 And she said, we have our own rhythm. 0:13:57.840 --> 0:14:02.160 Every culture Hispanics have their rhythm, Jewish culture has their rhythm. 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:03.439 We have our rhythm. 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:05.920 We throw stuff away, you know. And they said, well, 0:14:05.920 --> 0:14:09.280 how would you say it? And Brian, and then I'll 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:11.120 you know, leave it on the table. 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:11.640 Brian. 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:15.000 They listened to her. They were smart enough to listen, 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:18.640 and they started moving those lines around so they fit 0:14:18.720 --> 0:14:22.320 in her mouth, and she started a culture because after 0:14:22.360 --> 0:14:24.680 that they let all the actors sit at the table 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:30.320 after the table and discuss their lines. So even back then, Trailblazer, 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:33.280 you know, so all right, enough about mama. 0:14:33.880 --> 0:14:39.320 No, that's awesome, but that that has to help make 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:40.080 up who. 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:42.800 You are, oh, without a doubt, and. 0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:47.240 Your entree if you will, you know, into the business. 0:14:47.400 --> 0:14:52.000 So yes, yes, she's working. And it sounds like not 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:54.560 too far after you start working. 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:57.840 Well, here's the funny story that people are just starting 0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:05.880 to realize. I actually started acting first first okay, yeah. 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:07.680 Yeah, well we came out here. 0:15:08.000 --> 0:15:11.520 I got into drama in high school, Miss Asimov, I'll 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:14.200 never forget her at LA High and Miss Asthma was 0:15:14.200 --> 0:15:17.680 my girl, right, and and you know, I falled in 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:20.640 that class. Me and this other student became the people 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:23.120 that they would say, I need an example answer, get 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:24.600 up and show them what I'm talking about. 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:26.920 So I had some confidence there. 0:15:27.280 --> 0:15:30.800 And my mother found a workshop called past LA and 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:34.440 it stood for Performing Art Society of Los Angeles. 0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:36.000 On Vermont in Manchester. 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:39.120 And there and Roger Moseley was there at the time, 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:42.200 and so we and he was getting started. So yeah, 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:44.960 he was a little beyond us in terms of summer credits. 0:15:45.000 --> 0:15:47.480 But anyway, it didn't cost anything. 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:49.760 You know, they were they were funneling a lot of 0:15:49.800 --> 0:15:52.000 money into Watts because of the riots, and they were 0:15:52.000 --> 0:15:55.560 trying to do some enhancement and artistic kind of endeavors 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:58.800 to make sure that that community had something. And so 0:15:58.880 --> 0:15:59.920 we benefited from that. 0:16:00.080 --> 0:16:02.600 And then from so I was in school acting, but 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:05.560 I'm in this workshop, and then I go to Fairfax High. 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:08.000 I get in their drama department, and then I get 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:13.520 an agent. Right, Roger Moseley sent Max Julian, who recently passed. 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:14.800 I don't know if you remember Max Julan. 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:18.360 He was the mac back in the day film called 0:16:18.440 --> 0:16:22.880 Cleopatrick Jones, and he wanted his woman at the time, 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:26.600 Bananda McGee to play it, but the studios wanted the 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:30.920 tall tamra Adobson. But they gave him some perps and 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:33.160 one of them was he could cast a couple of 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:36.480 smaller roles. So Roger told him come out and see 0:16:36.480 --> 0:16:39.680 this young girl. She's in this play. We made up 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:42.560 the play and it was me and I was playing 0:16:42.600 --> 0:16:45.320 Angela Davis and he just fell in love and I 0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:48.880 reminded him of a younger version of Banetta mcgeek and 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:53.760 Honey Bray. I'm working at a boutique right and I 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:57.800 come from lunch and my boss says, Warner Brothers just called. 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:00.480 I don't know how they got my number. My brothers 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:03.480 just called and you got a part in the movie. 0:17:03.480 --> 0:17:05.240 And I'm like, we're playing, you. 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:07.560 Know, And she's like, no, I'm serious, I'm serious. 0:17:07.880 --> 0:17:12.280 Call this number. And I called and they asked me 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:14.920 to come out. They told me you've already got the role. 0:17:15.000 --> 0:17:17.399 We just want to meet you. Max Julian wants you. 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:21.880 I got in the union. Roger Mosey gave me his agent. 0:17:22.600 --> 0:17:25.679 It was yes, it was, you know, one of those 0:17:25.840 --> 0:17:29.000 kind of like yeah, and it was seventy or seventy one, 0:17:29.040 --> 0:17:31.400 and that's when I got my sad car. My mother 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:34.399 starts teasing me because she's like her and her friends. 0:17:34.400 --> 0:17:36.359 They were still like trying to get on the lot, 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:37.680 knocking on doors. 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:41.560 And I had a dressing room. I'm like, oh, come 0:17:41.560 --> 0:17:43.600 by and visit me in my dressing room. Right. 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:44.360 Oh. 0:17:45.400 --> 0:17:49.880 I was very political. I was a hippie slash revolutionary. 0:17:50.240 --> 0:17:53.280 Remember my name is Angela. They were looking for Ashla Davis. 0:17:53.359 --> 0:17:55.520 You know, I thought it was it was on me 0:17:55.640 --> 0:17:59.920 to carry on, you know, And so I went to 0:18:00.200 --> 0:18:05.320 Africa changed my name Totamu. Don't tease me, and you 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:07.800 know it was Tamu. 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:13.640 Yes, and why why wait, I'm not just let it go? 0:18:14.080 --> 0:18:14.920 Oh come on now? 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:16.520 Why? 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:21.359 Well you know what back then? Yeah, yeah, well here's okay. 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:23.520 This is where it gets worse. The story starts to 0:18:23.560 --> 0:18:27.000 go downhill because my name was U Tamu, and that was, 0:18:27.040 --> 0:18:29.800 you know, taking on my African culture and heritage. And 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:32.280 I wanted a new name to kind of, you know, 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:35.400 express my connection to Africa. 0:18:35.880 --> 0:18:39.119 The problem was the friend who gave me the name. 0:18:41.640 --> 0:18:42.720 The problem was this. 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:48.439 People would say, oh, TMU, what does that mean? And 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:53.200 I said, sweetness, can you imagine I'm a young woman, 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:54.879 not bad looking. 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:59.880 The guys are like, yeah, I think you are. I'm 0:19:00.240 --> 0:19:03.159 this has nothing to do with revolution. I want a 0:19:03.200 --> 0:19:03.680 new name. 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:09.240 So my son teases me, I got a name changed 0:19:09.320 --> 0:19:11.920 to Aoka, and then they call me a Yoka for 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:14.840 a while that meant light. She comes with light. Turns 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:17.479 out my middle name, Elaine, means the same thing. So 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:20.640 I eventually just trapped it all. You know, my mother 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:23.000 knew what she was doing because I came from Africa 0:19:23.040 --> 0:19:24.960 and I said my name was Utamo and she said 0:19:25.040 --> 0:19:29.280 I named I said, well, I'm not answering anything but 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:33.480 utamol and I'm a vegetarian. My mother says she has 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:37.679 lost her mind. But I digressed. I digressed, so I 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:40.159 came back, and back then there weren't a lot of 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:43.639 roles that we could pay as black women. So I 0:19:43.720 --> 0:19:46.840 decided to go away to college. And she teases me 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:50.840 because she's still knocking down doors. I've worked with John Foresight, 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:53.760 I've had a pilot, I've had some things. I've been 0:19:53.800 --> 0:19:56.840 on Samford and Son, I've done the film and I 0:19:56.960 --> 0:20:01.000 left I left, you know, and I'm don't look back now. 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:02.320 I used to regret it. 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:04.440 I used to think it was a mistake because when 0:20:04.440 --> 0:20:06.200 I came back my mother was Florence. 0:20:07.240 --> 0:20:10.320 But I like, maybe I made a mistake, maybe I 0:20:10.359 --> 0:20:11.720 should have stayed in La. 0:20:13.720 --> 0:20:16.960 But I'm glad because I wanted to have a purpose 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:17.960 even as a young woman. 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:20.119 I wanted my life to matter. I wanted to be 0:20:20.200 --> 0:20:22.679 involved in things that made a difference in the community 0:20:23.880 --> 0:20:24.439 and ended. 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:27.280 Up coming back and opening up a theater. So it 0:20:27.359 --> 0:20:30.080 was meant to be, Not Bryan, I didn't know it 0:20:30.160 --> 0:20:31.280 was gonna take me this long. 0:20:34.840 --> 0:20:37.240 I mean, man, didn't take a long time. 0:20:37.520 --> 0:20:42.520 You wanted to break and a little bit locker. 0:20:43.119 --> 0:20:44.240 That's right, That's right. 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:47.280 So you know Suirlee Ralph, she's singing my song when 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:50.159 she said don't give up. You know, my saying is 0:20:50.359 --> 0:20:53.000 if you stay in line, your turn will come. So 0:20:53.080 --> 0:20:55.479 when I came back, I realized I loved this so 0:20:55.600 --> 0:20:58.520 much that, hey, brother, I make it or not, and 0:20:58.720 --> 0:21:00.879 you know, make it meaning that I make a living 0:21:01.080 --> 0:21:01.639 at it or not. 0:21:01.880 --> 0:21:03.119 I got to keep back it. 0:21:03.160 --> 0:21:06.719 And I think when I finally got there, things started 0:21:06.760 --> 0:21:07.280 to change. 0:21:07.480 --> 0:21:10.280 You know. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. 0:21:29.520 --> 0:21:33.359 You founded a theater when you returned, I did because 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:35.320 you had fallen in love with the theater. 0:21:36.040 --> 0:21:39.720 I did. I loved theater. You know. I started with theater. 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:42.399 Me too, by the way, Yeah, theater. 0:21:42.040 --> 0:21:42.720 Is it is. 0:21:43.000 --> 0:21:46.080 It's the best, and it's a great training ground because 0:21:46.119 --> 0:21:47.840 it's intimate, it's. 0:21:47.480 --> 0:21:48.240 Right in the moment. 0:21:48.640 --> 0:21:50.760 If you make a mistake, you've got to figure it out, 0:21:50.920 --> 0:21:53.560 you know, it's And I want to do theater now, Brian, 0:21:53.600 --> 0:21:55.520 I'm just trying to figure it out because now with 0:21:55.680 --> 0:21:57.959 TV and all of that, and you know, it's such 0:21:58.000 --> 0:21:58.720 an l a thing. 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:01.600 But I know you make good money. What are you 0:22:01.760 --> 0:22:02.520 doing TV? 0:22:03.680 --> 0:22:07.560 Wait and wait what? You make more money doing television 0:22:07.560 --> 0:22:08.399 than you do theater. 0:22:09.600 --> 0:22:14.800 I'm sorry to say, but holy holy moly. 0:22:14.680 --> 0:22:15.520 Yes indeed. 0:22:16.119 --> 0:22:19.120 And so you know, it's like it's hard because when 0:22:19.119 --> 0:22:21.600 you do a play, you want to commit and you 0:22:21.600 --> 0:22:23.680