Speaker 1: At school, I was shy, but when it came to performing,
Speaker 1: there was this other person that would just come out
Speaker 1: of me. And I remember we were doing a play
Speaker 1: Scrooge and the little boy that was supposed to play
Speaker 1: Scrooge couldn't get it right, and I was so upset
Speaker 1: and I just stood up and passed and said I
Speaker 1: should be Scrooge. And they said, but you're a girl,
Speaker 1: so it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: And then I started trying to direct him and they
Speaker 1: were like, Angela, sit down, and I was like, this
Speaker 1: isn't fair. So I guess that was the beginning of
Speaker 1: me having my voice.
Speaker 3: Hi. This is Angela Gibbs. I'm so excited at being
Speaker 3: on this show.
Speaker 1: I am an actor and an acting coach and I'm
Speaker 1: recently on a new show called Not Dead.
Speaker 3: Yet on ABC. I'm excited to be here.
Speaker 2: Hi, everybody, and welcome back to this week's episode of
Speaker 2: Off the Beat. This is Brian Baumgartner and this is
Speaker 2: me very very excited, as you just heard. My guest
Speaker 2: today is Angela Gibbs. Now let me tell you something.
Speaker 2: I did not know Angela personally before speaking with her
Speaker 2: earlier today. But let me say this She is why
Speaker 2: I do this podcast. Having conversations with her specifically, and
Speaker 2: people like her, It's why I do this. I had
Speaker 2: so much fun today. I hope you hear that in
Speaker 2: the conversation, and I learned so much. So fun and
Speaker 2: learning equals awesome. Angela, despite being on ABC's new hit
Speaker 2: show Not Dead Yet, she is very much live and
Speaker 2: well and she has been crushing the game for years.
Speaker 2: You might know her from Oh Straight out of Compton, Insecure,
Speaker 2: Black Jesus, or one of my favorite shows over the
Speaker 2: last couple of years, Hacks with Gene Smart. She is
Speaker 2: such a pro that she's also gone on to be
Speaker 2: an acting coach, a director, a theater artistic director. She's
Speaker 2: a producer. She has worked with everyone from Janelle Monnet
Speaker 2: to Oscar winner and legendary director Alejandro Gonzalez in Yurito.
Speaker 2: She's amazing, all right. I hope you enjoy this as
Speaker 2: much as I enjoyed talking to her. She has great
Speaker 2: things to say about confidence, about network television, and about
Speaker 2: finding the comedy out of drama. Here she is my
Speaker 2: new friend. Angela Gibbs, Bubble and Squeak. I love it,
Speaker 2: Bubble and Squeak, Bubble, and Squeak cook get every month
Speaker 2: lift over.
Speaker 3: From the night before.
Speaker 2: Hi, Angela, Hey Brian, how are you?
Speaker 3: I'm good?
Speaker 1: I love that morning smiler. Is it an afternoon smile?
Speaker 1: Where are you in New York?
Speaker 2: No, I'm in I'm in California.
Speaker 3: All right, you're with me.
Speaker 2: I'm with you. I am such a big fan of yours. Angela,
Speaker 2: thank you so much. Thank you, Yes, thank you so
Speaker 2: much for coming on. We're going to talk about as
Speaker 2: much as we can fatally, but I do want to
Speaker 2: start back. Your career is so fascinating and when I
Speaker 2: was going through this research, I'm like, wait, she did
Speaker 2: what she wait with how when did this?
Speaker 1: What?
Speaker 2: Bird band? What are we talking about talking about? So
Speaker 2: I can't wait to get into it. You grew up
Speaker 2: in Detroit, Yes, am I right?
Speaker 1: That's right during the time of Motown and the Motor
Speaker 1: city was flourishing, and it was a great It was
Speaker 1: a great time to come up in Detroit. People talking
Speaker 1: about my city and I don't know what they give
Speaker 1: us such a bad rep but it was such an
Speaker 1: It was the neighborhood, Brian. You know, I could sit
Speaker 1: on my porch and name everybody up and down the street.
Speaker 3: It was.
Speaker 1: I did get a chance to fill that small town
Speaker 1: even though it was Detroit kind of neighborhood community, if
Speaker 1: you will, growing up and uh, you know, if I
Speaker 1: was bad, parent down the street spanked me, you know,
Speaker 1: back days they could do that. And then when I
Speaker 1: got home, I did another one.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: We were pig cherries off of people's trees. You know,
Speaker 3: it run high, you know. But anyway, it was a
Speaker 3: great childhood. It really was a great time to come up.
Speaker 1: I'll tell you about my story about the Montelettes and
Speaker 1: wanting to be a supreme that's another story.
Speaker 2: Well, but so music was a very big deal, absolutely
Speaker 2: in Detroit at that time. It was for you as well.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, we all wanted to be Well, let me say this.
Speaker 1: I grew up next door to the mother of Levi Stubbs.
Speaker 3: Now Levi Stubbs was the leader of the Four Tops.
Speaker 1: I didn't know this, but his brother was the leader
Speaker 1: of the Contours, Joe Stubbs and recent and so I
Speaker 1: grew up. So since that was the mother, I e
Speaker 1: grandmother of his kids. His kids were over there all
Speaker 1: the time. So I grew up with Levi's kids.
Speaker 3: Right, and we had a ball We always wanted to sing.
Speaker 3: You know, there was there what do you call it,
Speaker 3: the mot So we started this group cause the Montellettes.
Speaker 1: And my mother, you know, wasn't on TV any of that.
Speaker 1: She worked for the airlines. She was our manager. Now
Speaker 1: she got it a little twisted. We wanted to be
Speaker 1: arm and B singers. She had us singing tall and
Speaker 1: tan and yeah, she had us sing and all the
Speaker 1: stuff she wanted us to see, right Sinatra, Oh my god. Anyway,
Speaker 1: we were shortening, but we did go to We did
Speaker 1: a couple.
Speaker 3: Of what was it back then, the y w c A.
Speaker 3: And we never made it to the motome.
Speaker 2: Let's just say that, okay.
Speaker 1: But they had street parties, you know how they block
Speaker 1: off the street and all the neighbors would cook and
Speaker 1: we'd have music and I would sing there.
Speaker 2: That is awesome. I love that. And so was that?
Speaker 2: That was your earliest performing, Yes, early.
Speaker 3: Performing, that's right. And then I went to Catholic school.
Speaker 3: I went to Saint Gregory's.
Speaker 1: It's gone now, but in Saint Gregory's they had drama
Speaker 1: and Brian. You know, I had no idea because basically
Speaker 1: believing or not, even though I was a tomboy and
Speaker 1: you know, the oldest of two brothers and so kind
Speaker 1: of the leader that at school, I was shy, but
Speaker 1: when it came to performing, there was this other person
Speaker 1: that would just come out of me. And I remember
Speaker 1: we were doing a play Scrooge and the little boy
Speaker 1: that was supposed to play Scrooge couldn't get it right,
Speaker 1: and I was so upset and I just stood up
Speaker 1: and passed and said I should be Scrooge.
Speaker 3: And they said, but you're a girl.
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: And then I started trying to direct him and they
Speaker 1: were like, Angela, sit down, and I was like, this
Speaker 1: isn't fair. So I guess that was the beginning of
Speaker 1: me having my voice. I didn't get to play screw
Speaker 1: all right, but that's okay. Later down the line, I
Speaker 1: began acting. But I started acting then and I was
Speaker 1: in like, I want.
Speaker 3: To say, fifth grade, you know. So they'd have little recidos.
Speaker 1: I would play music, nothing, no big deals really, you know,
Speaker 1: but that was kind of like the beginning.
Speaker 2: Your mom was an actress, Yes, yes, your mom was
Speaker 2: Marla Gibbs.
Speaker 3: Spoiler is Marla Gibbs.
Speaker 2: Is Marla Gibbs.
Speaker 3: He's still around honey.
Speaker 2: Your mom is Marla Gibbs. Yes, I know she still is.
Speaker 2: I just went back into her bio as well talking
Speaker 2: to you. I mean, we're not going to make this
Speaker 2: about your mom, by the way. Okay, that's okay, though
Speaker 2: I'm not going to do that. But let me just
Speaker 2: say this. When I think about my childhood, I think
Speaker 2: about those shows that work because I was still young
Speaker 2: when The Jeffersons was on, and no joke, I believe
Speaker 2: that your mom was the first person for me looking
Speaker 2: back where I went, Oh, she is funny, Yeah she is.
Speaker 2: Like there was something about her and her performance that
Speaker 2: I just loved her, like with a passion idea.
Speaker 3: Do you think it was? You know?
Speaker 4: One of the things that we kind of picked up
Speaker 4: early on was my mother was the domestic who inhabited
Speaker 4: everyone's aunt or grandma, Like there was somebody in the family.
Speaker 3: That, as the kids say, now clap back, you know.
Speaker 1: And there was something about her clapping back at her
Speaker 1: boss that made her kind of like everyone's person, you know.
Speaker 1: And I only asked that because even though she wasn't.
Speaker 3: A real maid.
Speaker 1: There was a group of people nationally called National something
Speaker 1: of household technicians, and these were maids and butlers, et cetera,
Speaker 1: and they honored her right, So there was something about
Speaker 1: her humanity and the way she dealt with that boss
Speaker 1: of hers who was hysterical and obnoxious. On all of that,
Speaker 1: I wonder if that's what it was, that she just
Speaker 1: kind of spoke her mind and she bumped up against
Speaker 1: the establishment, if you will, I just wondering.
Speaker 2: Yeah, No, I think I think that that is absolutely true.
Speaker 2: But I also think her there was something about her.
Speaker 2: I mean, there was Isabelle Saffort and all of they
Speaker 2: were all so great, yes, but all playing this very
Speaker 2: traditional sitcom style, and yet she took her time. She
Speaker 2: took her time. She would take those pauses, yes, and
Speaker 2: she would deliver things in an unexpected way, not this
Speaker 2: traditional way. And for me, I think just in terms
Speaker 2: of comedy, yeah, like I appreciated that as a performer.
Speaker 1: Listen, I've been Mather's daughter sometimes painfully all my you know,
Speaker 1: like you know the way we want your mom or
Speaker 1: Marla Junior or they will introduced everyone by name.
Speaker 3: When they get to me, they're like, oh, that's Marther's daughter.
Speaker 1: So so there's been that, but there's also this other
Speaker 1: side that I'm very, very proud of and proud of
Speaker 1: being her daughter, and so I want to just share
Speaker 1: this when you talk about her style was different when
Speaker 1: she was doing that role, Brian, she was brand new, right,
Speaker 1: she'd been enacting only a few years, but she was
Speaker 1: in her forties.
Speaker 3: Also raised three kids.
Speaker 1: We had a great escape from my stepfather who was
Speaker 1: at that time, you know, it was a crazy marriage,
Speaker 1: and she gathered us up and when he went to work,
Speaker 1: we took off and came to La, right. So she
Speaker 1: was bold and brave in that way, and she took
Speaker 1: that kind of fierceness.
Speaker 3: And being a grown woman because she's like forty four,
Speaker 3: she just looked young for her age.
Speaker 1: When she went into that. She still worked at Unana Airlines,
Speaker 1: so she had a backup, she had a job. She
Speaker 1: was bold, and they loved her. You know, she had
Speaker 1: that line. How come we overcame and nobody told me?
Speaker 1: And that was the line and everyone I was there
Speaker 1: for that delivery and the audience they had a hole
Speaker 1: for like five minutes, and the word is the producer said,
Speaker 1: who is that? Because they had already contracted a maid.
Speaker 1: There was already someone who was supposed to play that role.
Speaker 1: She was only a guest, right, she was supposed to
Speaker 1: say that line, and then Louisa's. The story was that
Speaker 1: Louise's friend, who was a maid, was going to become
Speaker 1: the maid.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 1: But they loved my mother so much. So now she's
Speaker 1: getting a couple of shows. I think she maybe had
Speaker 1: six or seven. And the first one, she sits at
Speaker 1: the table. They do the table read and then all
Speaker 1: the actors are supposed to get up, and she sits there,
Speaker 1: and Norman and the producers.
Speaker 3: They're like, this is the black woman sitting at the table.
Speaker 3: They don't want to hurt their feelings and tell them
Speaker 3: to get up.
Speaker 1: They're figuring she'll get the hint, so they start talking
Speaker 1: to each other.
Speaker 3: They're not looking at.
Speaker 1: Her, and the actors are like, you know, come on,
Speaker 1: come on, like get up, right, we don't tell them,
Speaker 1: they tell us we get up.
Speaker 3: And she's like, yeah, but I don't know what they're saying.
Speaker 3: I don't know what they're talking about.
Speaker 1: I don't want to know what they're talking about, right,
Speaker 1: So she says and then she starts interrupting.
Speaker 3: She's like, wait, excuse me, Can I say something?
Speaker 1: And they're like, okay, you know we're gonna pacify this woman.
Speaker 1: And she said, glad, people don't talk like that. And
Speaker 1: they said, oh, okay, well what would you say right?
Speaker 3: And she said, we have our own rhythm.
Speaker 1: Every culture Hispanics have their rhythm, Jewish culture has their rhythm.
Speaker 3: We have our rhythm.
Speaker 1: We throw stuff away, you know. And they said, well,
Speaker 1: how would you say it? And Brian, and then I'll
Speaker 1: you know, leave it on the table.
Speaker 3: Brian.
Speaker 1: They listened to her. They were smart enough to listen,
Speaker 1: and they started moving those lines around so they fit
Speaker 1: in her mouth, and she started a culture because after
Speaker 1: that they let all the actors sit at the table
Speaker 1: after the table and discuss their lines. So even back then, Trailblazer,
Speaker 1: you know, so all right, enough about mama.
Speaker 2: No, that's awesome, but that that has to help make
Speaker 2: up who.
Speaker 3: You are, oh, without a doubt, and.
Speaker 2: Your entree if you will, you know, into the business.
Speaker 2: So yes, yes, she's working. And it sounds like not
Speaker 2: too far after you start working.
Speaker 1: Well, here's the funny story that people are just starting
Speaker 1: to realize. I actually started acting first first okay, yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, well we came out here.
Speaker 1: I got into drama in high school, Miss Asimov, I'll
Speaker 1: never forget her at LA High and Miss Asthma was
Speaker 1: my girl, right, and and you know, I falled in
Speaker 1: that class. Me and this other student became the people
Speaker 1: that they would say, I need an example answer, get
Speaker 1: up and show them what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3: So I had some confidence there.
Speaker 1: And my mother found a workshop called past LA and
Speaker 1: it stood for Performing Art Society of Los Angeles.
Speaker 3: On Vermont in Manchester.
Speaker 1: And there and Roger Moseley was there at the time,
Speaker 1: and so we and he was getting started. So yeah,
Speaker 1: he was a little beyond us in terms of summer credits.
Speaker 1: But anyway, it didn't cost anything.
Speaker 3: You know, they were they were funneling a lot of
Speaker 3: money into Watts because of the riots, and they were
Speaker 3: trying to do some enhancement and artistic kind of endeavors
Speaker 3: to make sure that that community had something. And so
Speaker 3: we benefited from that.
Speaker 1: And then from so I was in school acting, but
Speaker 1: I'm in this workshop, and then I go to Fairfax High.
Speaker 1: I get in their drama department, and then I get
Speaker 1: an agent. Right, Roger Moseley sent Max Julian, who recently passed.
Speaker 3: I don't know if you remember Max Julan.
Speaker 1: He was the mac back in the day film called
Speaker 1: Cleopatrick Jones, and he wanted his woman at the time,
Speaker 1: Bananda McGee to play it, but the studios wanted the
Speaker 1: tall tamra Adobson. But they gave him some perps and
Speaker 1: one of them was he could cast a couple of
Speaker 1: smaller roles. So Roger told him come out and see
Speaker 1: this young girl. She's in this play. We made up
Speaker 1: the play and it was me and I was playing
Speaker 1: Angela Davis and he just fell in love and I
Speaker 1: reminded him of a younger version of Banetta mcgeek and
Speaker 1: Honey Bray. I'm working at a boutique right and I
Speaker 1: come from lunch and my boss says, Warner Brothers just called.
Speaker 1: I don't know how they got my number. My brothers
Speaker 1: just called and you got a part in the movie.
Speaker 1: And I'm like, we're playing, you.
Speaker 3: Know, And she's like, no, I'm serious, I'm serious.
Speaker 1: Call this number. And I called and they asked me
Speaker 1: to come out. They told me you've already got the role.
Speaker 1: We just want to meet you. Max Julian wants you.
Speaker 1: I got in the union. Roger Mosey gave me his agent.
Speaker 1: It was yes, it was, you know, one of those
Speaker 1: kind of like yeah, and it was seventy or seventy one,
Speaker 1: and that's when I got my sad car. My mother
Speaker 1: starts teasing me because she's like her and her friends.
Speaker 1: They were still like trying to get on the lot,
Speaker 1: knocking on doors.
Speaker 3: And I had a dressing room. I'm like, oh, come
Speaker 3: by and visit me in my dressing room. Right.
Speaker 2: Oh.
Speaker 1: I was very political. I was a hippie slash revolutionary.
Speaker 1: Remember my name is Angela. They were looking for Ashla Davis.
Speaker 1: You know, I thought it was it was on me
Speaker 1: to carry on, you know, And so I went to
Speaker 1: Africa changed my name Totamu. Don't tease me, and you
Speaker 1: know it was Tamu.
Speaker 2: Yes, and why why wait, I'm not just let it go?
Speaker 3: Oh come on now?
Speaker 2: Why?
Speaker 1: Well you know what back then? Yeah, yeah, well here's okay.
Speaker 1: This is where it gets worse. The story starts to
Speaker 1: go downhill because my name was U Tamu, and that was,
Speaker 1: you know, taking on my African culture and heritage. And
Speaker 1: I wanted a new name to kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: express my connection to Africa.
Speaker 3: The problem was the friend who gave me the name.
Speaker 3: The problem was this.
Speaker 1: People would say, oh, TMU, what does that mean? And
Speaker 1: I said, sweetness, can you imagine I'm a young woman,
Speaker 1: not bad looking.
Speaker 3: The guys are like, yeah, I think you are. I'm
Speaker 3: this has nothing to do with revolution. I want a
Speaker 3: new name.
Speaker 1: So my son teases me, I got a name changed
Speaker 1: to Aoka, and then they call me a Yoka for
Speaker 1: a while that meant light. She comes with light. Turns
Speaker 1: out my middle name, Elaine, means the same thing. So
Speaker 1: I eventually just trapped it all. You know, my mother
Speaker 1: knew what she was doing because I came from Africa
Speaker 1: and I said my name was Utamo and she said
Speaker 1: I named I said, well, I'm not answering anything but
Speaker 1: utamol and I'm a vegetarian. My mother says she has
Speaker 1: lost her mind. But I digressed. I digressed, so I
Speaker 1: came back, and back then there weren't a lot of
Speaker 1: roles that we could pay as black women. So I
Speaker 1: decided to go away to college. And she teases me
Speaker 1: because she's still knocking down doors. I've worked with John Foresight,
Speaker 1: I've had a pilot, I've had some things. I've been
Speaker 1: on Samford and Son, I've done the film and I
Speaker 1: left I left, you know, and I'm don't look back now.
Speaker 3: I used to regret it.
Speaker 1: I used to think it was a mistake because when
Speaker 1: I came back my mother was Florence.
Speaker 3: But I like, maybe I made a mistake, maybe I
Speaker 3: should have stayed in La.
Speaker 1: But I'm glad because I wanted to have a purpose
Speaker 1: even as a young woman.
Speaker 3: I wanted my life to matter. I wanted to be
Speaker 3: involved in things that made a difference in the community
Speaker 3: and ended.
Speaker 1: Up coming back and opening up a theater. So it
Speaker 1: was meant to be, Not Bryan, I didn't know it
Speaker 1: was gonna take me this long.
Speaker 3: I mean, man, didn't take a long time.
Speaker 2: You wanted to break and a little bit locker.
Speaker 3: That's right, That's right.
Speaker 1: So you know Suirlee Ralph, she's singing my song when
Speaker 1: she said don't give up. You know, my saying is
Speaker 1: if you stay in line, your turn will come. So
Speaker 1: when I came back, I realized I loved this so
Speaker 1: much that, hey, brother, I make it or not, and
Speaker 1: you know, make it meaning that I make a living
Speaker 1: at it or not.
Speaker 3: I got to keep back it.
Speaker 1: And I think when I finally got there, things started
Speaker 1: to change.
Speaker 3: You know. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Speaker 2: You founded a theater when you returned, I did because
Speaker 2: you had fallen in love with the theater.
Speaker 3: I did. I loved theater. You know. I started with theater.
Speaker 2: Me too, by the way, Yeah, theater.
Speaker 3: Is it is.
Speaker 1: It's the best, and it's a great training ground because
Speaker 1: it's intimate, it's.
Speaker 3: Right in the moment.
Speaker 1: If you make a mistake, you've got to figure it out,
Speaker 1: you know, it's And I want to do theater now, Brian,
Speaker 1: I'm just trying to figure it out because now with
Speaker 1: TV and all of that, and you know, it's such
Speaker 1: an l a thing.
Speaker 3: But I know you make good money. What are you
Speaker 3: doing TV?
Speaker 2: Wait and wait what? You make more money doing television
Speaker 2: than you do theater.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry to say, but holy holy moly.
Speaker 3: Yes indeed.
Speaker 1: And so you know, it's like it's hard because when
Speaker 1: you do a play, you want to commit and you
Speaker 1: want to commit to your cast members and you don't
Speaker 1: want to just pull out, and you know it's it's hard.
Speaker 1: But I am going to figure out a way. I'm
Speaker 1: in a class right now. That's one of the things
Speaker 1: I do if I stay in the class. Even though
Speaker 1: I coach actors too. It just keeps me out of
Speaker 1: my own bubble and keeps me on the edge of
Speaker 1: my craft. But it's there's just nothing like Bitter. And
Speaker 1: I did Bitter, you know, in school, came back out.
Speaker 1: And the thing about going to an HBCU on to
Speaker 1: Howard University is they challenge you.
Speaker 3: What are you going to do?
Speaker 1: What are you going to bring, you know, back to
Speaker 1: your community, How are you going to make a difference?
Speaker 1: And my thought was what I do is theater and acts,
Speaker 1: so maybe I can take that back. Ironically, my mother
Speaker 1: had a building by this time, she's on TV. She
Speaker 1: had a building that was a print shop right down
Speaker 1: the street, literally two blocks from where we started on
Speaker 1: Vermont in Manchester. So I turned that building into a
Speaker 1: theater little by little, you know, and it.
Speaker 3: Was called Crossroads.
Speaker 1: Interesting enough, I would find out later as I started
Speaker 1: learning how to write grants and things like that, that
Speaker 1: there was some kind of collective consciousness and a movement
Speaker 1: going on because right at that same time, there was
Speaker 1: a theater that was being founded in New Jersey called
Speaker 1: Crossroads in Black Theater. There was a theater in Saint
Speaker 1: Louis called Saint Louis Blackbreath and it was a theater
Speaker 1: in Atlanta called Jimondi.
Speaker 3: So we when we all met, we realized.
Speaker 1: We were all picking up that signal from that consciousness
Speaker 1: of its time to have a theater in the community, right,
Speaker 1: and we all kind of became friends.
Speaker 2: I remember, Timandi, I'm from Atlanta. I remember, yeah, So
Speaker 2: I remember that. Let me ask you this, do you
Speaker 2: do you feel like historic Black collegists that there is
Speaker 2: more of an emphasis there preparing you for when you
Speaker 2: leave to do something in and for your community.
Speaker 3: Absolutely absolutely, I still am. Listen.
Speaker 1: I went to n YU to their boot camp for
Speaker 1: film AFI American from institute, you know, studied some at
Speaker 1: UCLA as well. I didn't finish college, so I had
Speaker 1: a B A b y he's forty five now EXEID
Speaker 1: but BA. So I went back and finished later at Antioch.
Speaker 1: And I named these other universities because what I absolutely
Speaker 1: did learn and see is that there's more resources than
Speaker 1: these other these larger colleges. More resources however, and I
Speaker 1: don't know so much new, but especially back then, you
Speaker 1: can feel like a number as an African American, especially
Speaker 1: back then as a female, a black female, because you're
Speaker 1: kind of being overlooked. There's this idea that science math
Speaker 1: if you're not really ever going to really excel in that,
Speaker 1: so you feel like a number. But when you go
Speaker 1: to an HBCU first, and kind of my deal is
Speaker 1: like go there first, get grounded, you know, find out
Speaker 1: who you are, and get a real sense of community
Speaker 1: and what you want to do and that your life
Speaker 1: will matter, and then transfer to one of the larger
Speaker 1: colleges because then you're footing strong. No one can tell
Speaker 1: you that you no one, you know, can make you
Speaker 1: feel inferior without your consent.
Speaker 3: Eleanor Roosevelt. You know, I love that saying.
Speaker 1: And then you can you know, there's more resources available
Speaker 1: and things like that, but yes, you know, and I
Speaker 1: literally was asked by professors, you know, what are you
Speaker 1: going to do?
Speaker 3: You know that?
Speaker 1: And I think it comes from just that whole idea
Speaker 1: of segregation and not being able to go to the
Speaker 1: white schools and you know, us becoming teachers and knowing
Speaker 1: that the only way we were going to survive as
Speaker 1: a race was to make sure that we were educated
Speaker 1: and that we had community organizations, that we had you know,
Speaker 1: ways for our youth to express themselves where they saw
Speaker 1: their value and so yeah, I absolutely agree with that.
Speaker 3: Yes, I think we're prepared well to make a difference.
Speaker 2: So you found this theater or you become the founder
Speaker 2: of this theater? A crossroads and when do you start
Speaker 2: doing coaching?
Speaker 1: Coaching came way after, you know, coaching was something I
Speaker 1: didn't want to do. I was because you know, and
Speaker 1: let me say this, I founded it with my mother.
Speaker 3: She was a co founder.
Speaker 1: She was on TV and she was opening a jazz
Speaker 1: supper club and she said, I don't want to open
Speaker 1: the theater right now, and I'm like, I do and
Speaker 1: I need your money.
Speaker 3: I don't want to do that right now.
Speaker 1: And so she calls me the great manipulator because I said, well,
Speaker 1: just give.
Speaker 3: Me a little money for a dance floor. We'll just
Speaker 3: give me a little money for some theater seats.
Speaker 1: I just get, you know, And I would put her
Speaker 1: name on the press release and she's like, why is
Speaker 1: my name on the press release. I'm like, I have
Speaker 1: no idea, Manna gives the fice he made floorings of
Speaker 1: the Jeffersons is opening the school.
Speaker 2: She's like, stop that.
Speaker 1: But you know she did say, you know, you keep
Speaker 1: that up. And people are not going to know what
Speaker 1: you're doing. They're going to give me all the credit,
Speaker 1: which is what happened. And it's okay because those that
Speaker 1: know no the Regina Kings, for instance, Regina was in the.
Speaker 3: Play two two seven. It was a play.
Speaker 1: First, and I yeah, and I talked my mother into
Speaker 1: doing it, and she was so busy she did not
Speaker 1: want to do it. And I get it because she
Speaker 1: was doing the Jeffersons. She was opening the nightclub, which
Speaker 1: was very popular for a time. And once again, mama,
Speaker 1: you just got a being there for.
Speaker 3: A couple of weeks, you know, and it became a hit.
Speaker 1: Norman never heard about it. Brandon Tartakoff was alive. He
Speaker 1: heard about it, and you know, the story goes on.
Speaker 1: They came, bought it. My mother became ep and you know,
Speaker 1: but I ran into Regina years later and she said,
Speaker 1: you were twenty five years old with a baby on
Speaker 1: your hip. I had a little boy and I was
Speaker 1: a single mom, and you know, he grew up in
Speaker 1: the theater.
Speaker 3: Right. But it was a play first.
Speaker 1: Nea Long was also understudy, and she alternated, i should say,
Speaker 1: with Regina, and then we started some careers from that play, right.
Speaker 2: But yeah, yes, two two seven, groundbreaking television show for
Speaker 2: which you are the recipient of an NAACP Image Award.
Speaker 3: That's right, that's right.
Speaker 2: That's for producing that. That's that's amazing. I did not
Speaker 2: know that. I did not know. That started as a play.
Speaker 1: It started as a play, and it was It was
Speaker 1: really funny because originally it was written by Christy Houston
Speaker 1: of Chicago, and it takes place on stoop and it's
Speaker 1: two people, my mother and it really originally it was
Speaker 1: a layer. But you know, in the in the cast
Speaker 1: there was another woman and they sit on the stoop
Speaker 1: and play numbers. They played the numbers, and my mother
Speaker 1: talks about everybody in the building. I mean, she had
Speaker 1: one woman. She said, look at her dress. So she said,
Speaker 1: a skirt so tight, a soft froight to blow a
Speaker 1: hole through it.
Speaker 3: I mean, he was mean.
Speaker 1: She was bad, right, and uh, it was funny, but
Speaker 1: when it got to television, she wanted to clean it
Speaker 1: up a bit, right. And I brought that up to say,
Speaker 1: I worked with so many actors as a young producer.
Speaker 1: Remember I'm twenty five. I've got these grown ass actors
Speaker 1: excuse my language, and they just they're running me.
Speaker 3: You know what I mean. I need this.
Speaker 1: My cactter needs Chanelle and I need And I was
Speaker 1: to sit sometimes upstair with my partner, Shae Wafer. I
Speaker 1: had a girlfriend I went to Howard with, and she
Speaker 1: went on to go to Yell and get a master's
Speaker 1: in theater management. So she's she's actually running Waco, which
Speaker 1: is Beyonce's mom, Tina Knowles and Richard Lawson's theater. But
Speaker 1: so she ran a lot of theaters over the years.
Speaker 1: But we started together. Anyway, we would sit upstairs. You know,
Speaker 1: I shouldn't tell you this, but I'm gonna tell you. Anyway,
Speaker 1: we had, you know, concessions during intermission, and we had
Speaker 1: these little bottles of white wine.
Speaker 3: We took a couple of those, Brian and we would
Speaker 3: sit upstairs and cry. Nobody listens to us. We were good,
Speaker 3: we were young, we were good, but we just, you know,
Speaker 3: we were worn out. So I knew I did not
Speaker 3: want to deal with actors. I didn't think I had
Speaker 3: the I was.
Speaker 1: I felt like I was too much of a people
Speaker 1: pleaser and I would not, you know, be a good coach.
Speaker 1: But it turned out it was actually my lane.
Speaker 2: Well, how long did cross Roads last?
Speaker 3: About almost ten years.
Speaker 2: Ten years.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, my mother bought a theater in le Merray
Speaker 1: Park called Park, called the Vision Theater, and she was
Speaker 1: we housed Crossroads in there, but there was so much,
Speaker 1: There was so much in terms of keeping that huge
Speaker 1: building and facility afloat that Crossroads kind of got lost.
Speaker 1: And I after ten years, and you know, a lot
Speaker 1: of that's a lot of time and being a mom,
Speaker 1: I started having other interests and one of them was
Speaker 1: filmed and I got invited to go to I de
Speaker 1: scided I would just give it a shot. And actually
Speaker 1: Richard lost in a friend of mine. He said, ask me,
Speaker 1: if I really wanted it, I would go for it.
Speaker 1: And I applied and I couldn't believe it. I kept saying,
Speaker 1: Angela Gibbs, Did they mean Dips? Did they mean Angela Bibbs?
Speaker 1: Like they let me in right, But I had gone
Speaker 1: to NYU's boot camp and had you know, gotten bit
Speaker 1: by the buck. So I got there and that's when
Speaker 1: things started changing for me. And then Crossroads eventually died
Speaker 1: along with the Vision. You know, my mother put a
Speaker 1: lot of money in the community but lost a lot,
Speaker 1: you know, just.
Speaker 3: I guess it just wasn't the time. You know.
Speaker 1: Now there's a lot of people over in the murder
Speaker 1: Park trying to resurrect her vision.
Speaker 3: They get it now, you know, right.
Speaker 1: But yeah, so you know, being there kind of I
Speaker 1: pivoted in a way where I had more confidence.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 1: And I told my agent, you know, I want to
Speaker 1: maybe be a line reader. Well, I just run lines
Speaker 1: with actors. And they said, what about coaching? And I'm like, nah,
Speaker 1: I just run lines. And I took a class with
Speaker 1: the woman named Judith Weston. She's amazing. She's got great
Speaker 1: books out.
Speaker 3: She's you know, coaches The Life of Laura Dern and
Speaker 3: Matthew McConaughey, and she worked with all she coaches directors,
Speaker 3: and she worked with Alexandro on Babbo and twenty one Grams.
Speaker 3: And it just so happened out of all the students
Speaker 3: she's had. She calls me one day and I wasn't
Speaker 3: even in her class anymore, and she said, I look,
Speaker 3: do you know who Alejandro in that E two is? Now?
Speaker 3: Of course I did, because at AFI you study everyone
Speaker 3: and I've loved his film, So it could have been
Speaker 3: any a list director, Brian. But the fact that it
Speaker 3: was Alejandro. It felt like it was the.
Speaker 1: Universe, right, and she said, he's doing a new movie.
Speaker 3: It's going to be revolutionary and blah blah blah, you know,
Speaker 3: no cuts, and he's working with Michael Keaton and he
Speaker 3: needs somebody to help him. And at this point I
Speaker 3: have my phone, you know, and I'm like, you know.
Speaker 1: Like who is this.
Speaker 3: Who's like quick plan, you know, And I'm like, are
Speaker 3: you serious? She said yeah, She said yeah. She said,
Speaker 3: I'm not just doing you a favor, I'm doing them
Speaker 3: one as well. She said, you're talented and you need
Speaker 3: to be doing this.
Speaker 1: So that afternoon, well then right after that, I'm on
Speaker 1: the phone with Alejandro. Can't believe it, and I just
Speaker 1: love his passion. And he had this movie called bird Man.
Speaker 1: He's explaining it.
Speaker 3: To me, and he wants me to meet Michael, you know,
Speaker 3: to meet Michael, you know. And I go out there
Speaker 3: and Michael can I say.
Speaker 1: I ran into him recently at grandparents Stay at my
Speaker 1: grandson's school.
Speaker 3: He's got a grandson there as well. We just hugged.
Speaker 1: Michael Keaton has got to be one of the most
Speaker 1: generous human beings I've met. Beyond the fact that he's
Speaker 1: so freaking talented, right, And when I met him, I
Speaker 1: just remember I called a girlfriend on the way to
Speaker 1: his house, like, what is happening right now?
Speaker 3: You know?
Speaker 1: And I'm looking at the ocean and the ocean because
Speaker 1: you know, I'm out towards Santa Monica and I'm looking
Speaker 1: at the ocean, which always gives me peace. It's kind
Speaker 1: of just like that's the space, you know, where God
Speaker 1: is if you will.
Speaker 3: And she said, honey, you wouldn't be in that car
Speaker 3: if God didn't want you in that car. You're right
Speaker 3: where you're supposed to be. And I said, okay.
Speaker 1: And I decided to go and not pretend to be
Speaker 1: anything other than who.
Speaker 3: I was and where I was right and I meet him.
Speaker 2: Love that, yeah, man.
Speaker 1: You know it's like it's like knowing you're enough, just
Speaker 1: knowing you're enough, right, And if it's yours, it's yours.
Speaker 3: If it's not, it's not. I don't need to pretend.
Speaker 3: And when I met Michael, I was like, hey, you know,
Speaker 3: let me just say I love your work, which I did.
Speaker 1: And when I told my mother I was going out there,
Speaker 1: did you tell him he's your favorite batman? I'm like, Mom,
Speaker 1: I'm not going to have that conversation, but he was
Speaker 1: my favorite. But she I just loved his work, and
Speaker 1: so I just said, your credits wrap around mind about a.
Speaker 3: Hundred times, you know.
Speaker 1: So I'm not going to tell you anything you don't know,
Speaker 1: but I love to ask questions. I love to dig
Speaker 1: the work I do with Judith Judith Western has you know,
Speaker 1: I think it has a lot of value.
Speaker 3: And he said, hey, I love that. So we ended
Speaker 3: up just chatting and then we're about the same age.
Speaker 1: And when I leave him, Alejandro calls.
Speaker 3: Within five minutes. I wondered, was there like a camera
Speaker 3: in there? Like how did he know? You know? And
Speaker 3: I just he says, oh, what does he say? You know?
Speaker 3: And I'm like, you'll have to call him.
Speaker 1: The next phone call I get is we want to
Speaker 1: book a ticket for you to come to New York.
Speaker 1: Now Michael could have said, hey, there's a coach I
Speaker 1: worked with already, you know anything.
Speaker 3: He said, bring her to LA. I'm into New York.
Speaker 3: I like her, right, So I don't say so much,
Speaker 3: even though I have credit for coaching. And he told
Speaker 3: me the other days, I steal use some of the things.
Speaker 1: You you know, we talked about and you showed me,
Speaker 1: which amazing. But I walked the walk with him because
Speaker 1: there was so much that Alejandro had going on, and
Speaker 1: there was this kind of non stop camera movement, you
Speaker 1: know that if the camera was here on one scene,
Speaker 1: by the time it got to Michael, he had to
Speaker 1: be ready, and then it would go after him, say
Speaker 1: to zad Gallipanakis, and then it would go right back
Speaker 1: to him. And so it was just running lines, running lines,
Speaker 1: walking and running them.
Speaker 3: Talking about it, talking about subtexts, what was really happening
Speaker 3: underneath the scene.
Speaker 1: And then Michael taught me some things, of course, you know,
Speaker 1: it was just a beautiful exchange. And then of course
Speaker 1: from there all bets were off. Suddenly my coach and
Speaker 1: I had started coaching. Prior to that, my agent would
Speaker 1: send me people, so I was coaching people, and then
Speaker 1: managers would hear and they would send me people.
Speaker 3: The actors would tell their friends. So I was already
Speaker 3: doing it, but this made me made my status just rise.
Speaker 3: And after that they were like, you know, she coached,
Speaker 3: you know, you know, so I'm getting So then I
Speaker 3: became and then he asked me to coach.
Speaker 1: Alejandra came back and asked me to coach on the
Speaker 1: revenue and sent me around the country and to Canada
Speaker 1: to meet Native Americans that he'd seen their tape and
Speaker 1: he trusted me.
Speaker 3: It just blew my mind.
Speaker 1: He said, I want you to tell me what you think,
Speaker 1: telling me if you think they can do this role.
Speaker 1: And there is nothing like looking at Alejandro and him
Speaker 1: saying can they do it?
Speaker 3: And I'm going, h yeah.
Speaker 1: And I'm paying hands hands collapsed together in prayer. Yes,
Speaker 1: yes they can do it. But you know it's I'll
Speaker 1: say this, Brian, I feel like I feel like the
Speaker 1: gift I hear.
Speaker 3: I have people tell me all the time you got
Speaker 3: this gift.
Speaker 1: Because it took me so long to kind of resurrect
Speaker 1: my career, and because my mother was a star and
Speaker 1: people would kind of push me aside. I had a
Speaker 1: real struggle with confidence, and a lot of times this
Speaker 1: game is about confidence and knowing you are enough.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's.
Speaker 1: About that's life's game, to be honest with you, you know,
Speaker 1: and in acting it's you.
Speaker 3: I should have studied a little more or you know,
Speaker 3: if I had more.
Speaker 1: Roles, I would be you know, there's always some reason
Speaker 1: why we're not ready.
Speaker 3: But if the role comes to you, perhaps and you
Speaker 3: get the role, perhaps you are ready. You just thought,
Speaker 3: it's like that car rides to meet Michael.
Speaker 1: With Michael, he hadn't done stuff in a little bit,
Speaker 1: and it was just really about running it and just
Speaker 1: remembering how good he was, right and uh oh, you know,
Speaker 1: the first rehearsal, he killed it, killed it just in rehearsal,
Speaker 1: you know. Alejandra was so happy. The same thing with
Speaker 1: the Revenant. I worked with people who had never acted before,
Speaker 1: and it was but they had lived a life and
Speaker 1: that life informed the character. And I learned that also
Speaker 1: from my mother. She hadn't been acting that long, but
Speaker 1: she's been around maids. Her aunt was a maid.
Speaker 3: You know what I mean. She knew who that was.
Speaker 1: And so it was about trusting yourself enough to allow
Speaker 1: that expression.
Speaker 3: And part of your humanity is there too to come
Speaker 3: through and.
Speaker 1: Not editing, you know, so you know, you can't be
Speaker 1: on the outside of yourself looking and wondering are you
Speaker 1: good while you're in it.
Speaker 3: You got to be in it, you know.
Speaker 1: So Revenant then I got the reputation of coaching newcomers.
Speaker 1: So then I coached the young man who played Tupac
Speaker 1: and man, I mean they came for us, like.
Speaker 3: Who's playing Tupac? He bet not mess so we loved
Speaker 3: to and they just say mess up. They said that
Speaker 3: other word. Yeah right, we left you, but don't you
Speaker 3: f up? And I'm like, oh, Lord, right, Jesus.
Speaker 2: It occurs to me. You know, we just had the
Speaker 2: Oscars a few nights ago, Brendan Frasier winning after you know,
Speaker 2: a period of time not working with a beautiful performance,
Speaker 2: and not that Michael was exactly the same way, but
Speaker 2: he had he had had some time and was duly
Speaker 2: celebrated for his unbelievable performance in Birdman. Yes, what is
Speaker 2: that feeling like for you when you see him being
Speaker 2: recognized for that work?
Speaker 1: It is, oh, you know, I think, to be honest
Speaker 1: with you, it's what gave me the confidence to stay
Speaker 1: with it. It warmed, It warms my heart to the
Speaker 1: point of tears. When I saw him, I teared up,
Speaker 1: without question. It was it was my win as well,
Speaker 1: you know. And and he let me know that, Michael
Speaker 1: so generous and sweet. He'd let me know, he said,
Speaker 1: this is you.
Speaker 3: You know you.
Speaker 1: I couldn't have done this without you, you know, Alejandro.
Speaker 3: He reached out and said, you put the heart in
Speaker 3: this film.
Speaker 1: So to get that kind of feedback as a confirmation,
Speaker 1: it's wonderful. However, just within my own heart, it was
Speaker 1: my celebration as well. I love seeing people win and
Speaker 1: I love seeing actors win.
Speaker 3: And it's kind of like my story. If you will,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 2: You're an artistic director, you're a director, you're an acting coach,
Speaker 2: an actor. I mean, you go truly everywhere. You've been
Speaker 2: in some amazing projects. But because I'm taking up your
Speaker 2: entire day, unfortunately I can't go into them as much
Speaker 2: as I had anticipated. But Black Jesus really really really fun, uh,
Speaker 2: straight out of Compton as well, So it's not just
Speaker 2: comedies here in the GIFs family, real real serious and
Speaker 2: important work as well. You're a coach, so I'll ask
Speaker 2: you one. Do you have a preference dramatic roles or
Speaker 2: comedic roles? And do you feel like there's a difference
Speaker 2: in approach for you. This is a little bit of
Speaker 2: a loaded question because I have an opinion myself, so
Speaker 2: but you're the expert.
Speaker 3: So Rian, you have just whoa let me. I'll give you,
Speaker 3: give me a day. I'm gonna come back such a
Speaker 3: great question.
Speaker 1: Well, and you know, I'm on a comedy now not
Speaker 1: dead yet, and the creators of that show come from
Speaker 1: the This is Us world, and I did do a
Speaker 1: role on this as Us well still and Kate Brown's mother.
Speaker 3: I who I gravitate towards drama.
Speaker 2: As a performer or as a viewer or what do
Speaker 2: you mean as a performer?
Speaker 3: Okay, I gravitate more towards drama. I love. I think
Speaker 3: that's why Alejandro and I got along so well. I'm
Speaker 3: not afraid of the dark.
Speaker 1: I love the resilience that we find in the dark.
Speaker 1: I love the light that's always there somewhere in the dark.
Speaker 1: And I love it when I see someone find it,
Speaker 1: you know, and resurrect if you will, themselves comedy. And
Speaker 1: I'm lucky that I have a role that and I
Speaker 1: bring up, bring up you know David Windsor and Casey
Speaker 1: Johnson because you know they're they're This is Us. You
Speaker 1: know they come from that family, because they have found
Speaker 1: a way to put heart in this comedy. And so
Speaker 1: for me, the answer is when it's blended, it's it's perfect.
Speaker 1: I don't like real silly, over the top. I'll watch
Speaker 1: it and I'll laugh, And it depends on how good
Speaker 1: it is, you know. Sometimes I just it's.
Speaker 3: Just too corny and too forced.
Speaker 1: I love the comedy that comes out of drama or
Speaker 1: the comedy that comes out of something off into in
Speaker 1: the reel, and it's organic, right, that is that's the
Speaker 1: laugh out.
Speaker 3: Like, you know, I'll give you a moment.
Speaker 1: You know what was that movie Still Magnolia's And Sally
Speaker 1: Field is having this moment where she's just crying and
Speaker 1: crying because her daughter has been buried. And in the
Speaker 1: middle of Oh, I just want to hit somebody, you know, Uh,
Speaker 1: she's given Shirley McClay him hit her. And I have
Speaker 1: never laughed so hard in my life, you know. But
Speaker 1: so I love those kind of twists and turns. However,
Speaker 1: when you say, is there a difference in approach as.
Speaker 2: An actor, I don't think so. I don't either.
Speaker 3: I don't think so. I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't either. It's about approaching and creating the character
Speaker 2: as written, regardless of what genre or style is. Now.
Speaker 2: Style plays into it, genre plays into it. The choices
Speaker 2: that you make are maybe a little bigger or smaller,
Speaker 2: or you know what, at the times are faster or slower.
Speaker 2: The timing becomes different depending on what that is. Right,
Speaker 2: But yeah, no, I agree, it's about it's about ultimately,
Speaker 2: it's about the material and the choices that you make.
Speaker 1: That's right, that's right. I still got to do a
Speaker 1: bio and research on my character. I still need to
Speaker 1: know what the subtext is, what I want, what the
Speaker 1: scene is about. And then if it's honest. I think
Speaker 1: the thing that was so funny about my mother was
Speaker 1: she was honest. Yes, you know, and you could see
Speaker 1: it actually happening, you know, Otherwise you start playing for laughs,
Speaker 1: and then those are the ones that are not that's funny.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I know, yes, I know. I've read. I've read
Speaker 2: quite a few.
Speaker 1: And I'll say this real quick. People tell me I
Speaker 1: mean to cut you off, but just really. People tell
Speaker 1: me I'm funny all the time, and I don't see it.
Speaker 2: Well you are.
Speaker 3: I don't want to mess with it. I don't, but
Speaker 3: I don't want to mess with it.
Speaker 2: Well, don't mess it. Don't you don't mess with it.
Speaker 2: You're you're making my transition even better here. You gravitate
Speaker 2: toward the dark. You don't think you're funny. Let me
Speaker 2: tell you, hacks the show. You play Marcus's mom and
Speaker 2: Hacks with.
Speaker 3: That nut Blunell.
Speaker 2: By the way, yes, let me tell you, I really
Speaker 2: enjoyed that show. I mean, I really enjoy that show.
Speaker 2: Your performance. How did that show come about?
Speaker 3: It's funny because Lunella and I were together and think
Speaker 3: like a man one and two. That's how we met.
Speaker 3: And then we did Black Jesus together. I get to
Speaker 3: jump on her.
Speaker 1: And Jesus yeah, And she's like, I don't know how
Speaker 1: my fans are gonna feel about getting hit. Then she said, well,
Speaker 1: I'm getting hit by miss Touty, So I guess it's okay.
Speaker 3: I love this Tuti. And then I used to tell
Speaker 3: you are they gonna like me? They're like, oh, they're
Speaker 3: gonna love you.
Speaker 1: And so Harry Care comes Hacks and we're together again. Okay,
Speaker 1: so there's something about the universe. He keeps putting us together.
Speaker 1: But you know, I just auditioned for it, and then
Speaker 1: it was quiet. I didn't know I had it. And
Speaker 1: then I get a call from my agent. Remember that
Speaker 1: audition you did, you know? And here comes to show
Speaker 1: and they want you, and I was overjoyed.
Speaker 3: And of course Jeane Smart is a freaking master class
Speaker 3: that woman right there. And but I didn't know how
Speaker 3: big this show was going to be, you know. And
Speaker 3: then you know Marcus carl Is, he's an amazing talent.
Speaker 1: You know, he was in Hamilton and he's done so much.
Speaker 1: But playing his mother, the immediate connection between myself, Marcus
Speaker 1: and Lounell, Luna and I already kind of we've become friends.
Speaker 1: It was just golden, just golden, and we fed off
Speaker 1: of each other. And Paul and Lucia and Jen they
Speaker 1: loved us, and Lucilla and they loved us, and they're like,
Speaker 1: we're bringing you back.
Speaker 3: So I'm doing the third season now.
Speaker 2: Oh, congratulations, thank you.
Speaker 1: That is amazing, all these nominations, I mean nominations and wins.
Speaker 3: I'm so proud.
Speaker 2: Yes, you know, I'm struck by your character there that
Speaker 2: is very clearly a comedic character and is very funny.
Speaker 2: Yet there was a moment there in the second season
Speaker 2: where Marcus is going through something very real, very difficult,
Speaker 2: and you see it. Yeah, and you drop into that
Speaker 2: place and have a really beautiful scene between the two
Speaker 2: of you.
Speaker 3: That's where I kiss him on the head. Yeah, where there's.
Speaker 1: That kiss just came well, I didn't know he was
Speaker 1: going to put his head on my shoulder, but I
Speaker 1: just like my big baby.
Speaker 2: What do you think the show says about women specifically
Speaker 2: in the industry who are at I guess either end,
Speaker 2: the end and the beginning.
Speaker 3: You know, I I this monk Brian. What I love
Speaker 3: is that, you know, women, we've been pushing for our
Speaker 3: voices to be heard for a while. Now.
Speaker 1: You know, we've got agism, you know, and general identity
Speaker 1: and and you know, of course, you know, black lives
Speaker 1: matter and these kinds of things. And in the midst
Speaker 1: of this is also the idea of women's agency, right
Speaker 1: and that and agism is real. You know, they're ready
Speaker 1: to put us away after a certain age, but we're still.
Speaker 3: Vital and valuable. And even in our families where matriarchs
Speaker 3: people come to us. In my own life, I have
Speaker 3: a lot of young people, male and female, because even
Speaker 3: with my coaching clients who become you know, like can
Speaker 3: I just talk to you?
Speaker 1: My son his friends call me mom. So to not
Speaker 1: show that, to not honor that on screen, there's a
Speaker 1: huge piece of our story missing. So what I love
Speaker 1: is that in Hacks, we're dealing with multi generational relationships.
Speaker 1: You've got Jane's character who is supposed to be washed
Speaker 1: up and it's time for her to go out to pastor.
Speaker 1: And then you have this young writer who's messed up
Speaker 1: and needs help, you know, and they inform each other.
Speaker 1: Their exchange is beautiful and it's real and there's nothing
Speaker 1: forced about it. It's all can and when they had
Speaker 1: I mean.
Speaker 3: They're funny because they're both can be at each other's throats,
Speaker 3: you know. And you know, younger people, when we're young,
Speaker 3: we think we know it all we do.
Speaker 1: You know, and you can't tell me anything, and then
Speaker 1: we mess up and then that older person is there
Speaker 1: and say, well, in Jean's case, I told you, but
Speaker 1: that she's also there for the hug. And so I'm
Speaker 1: really happy to see more of this. And I think
Speaker 1: all of it also is happening, Brian, because more women
Speaker 1: writers and older women writers are being invited to the table,
Speaker 1: you know, like this one show that I love, you know,
Speaker 1: Jane Fonda and that crazy Lily Tomlin. You know, I
Speaker 1: love that show and I was so proud to see
Speaker 1: it being produced, you know, So.
Speaker 3: We're seeing more of that now.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 1: It's kind of like the Golden Girls back in the day,
Speaker 1: it was key. We need more of that now and
Speaker 1: I'm starting to see it. So I think it's important,
Speaker 1: and I think what it says about women is that.
Speaker 3: We're here and we're here to stay, and our stories
Speaker 3: are valuable and funny, and there's an audience, definitely an audience.
Speaker 2: Oh absolutely, not dead yet came out. I read that
Speaker 2: it is ABC's most watched comedy debut in over four years.
Speaker 3: There you go.
Speaker 2: I heard network television was dead, but no it is not.
Speaker 2: It is a lot thriving. It is not dead yet. God,
Speaker 2: you made the pun better than I did. Did you
Speaker 2: think it was going to be a big hit?
Speaker 3: I was hoping.
Speaker 1: First of all, Gina Rodriguez. You know, she's coming from
Speaker 1: Jane the Version and so many other things. She's a
Speaker 1: boss and she's just a spitfire. She really is so talented.
Speaker 1: And then you know we've got Lauren ash and you
Speaker 1: know from ESU Hysterical, from Superstore and Hannah, you know,
Speaker 1: just everyone on that.
Speaker 3: Show has a history.
Speaker 1: And then of course I think with Casey and with
Speaker 1: David and Dean Holland team good team. You know, Mary
Speaker 1: Biola's also and Corey Marsh they bought for the show.
Speaker 1: So when I looked at the team and looked at
Speaker 1: their background, I'm like, they all got a great history.
Speaker 3: So I was praying.
Speaker 1: I can't say that I knew it for sure, but
Speaker 1: I thought it had a great chance to be a
Speaker 1: big kid. So it's exciting and this is my first
Speaker 1: network series, so it's a dream come true.
Speaker 2: How did you become a part of it? Did you
Speaker 2: just audition?
Speaker 1: I auditioned and they probably knew my work from This
Speaker 1: is Us. I've auditioned and they loved it, and I
Speaker 1: got to tell you, they made an they you know,
Speaker 1: David and Casey were talking about this. They said that
Speaker 1: I was the first one hired, and I guess because
Speaker 1: at that time some players were moving around. But little
Speaker 1: did I know they had already auditioned me, and so
Speaker 1: they kind of had me on the hold. And I
Speaker 1: didn't know if I had it or not. But they said,
Speaker 1: you were the first one hired, and when.
Speaker 3: We saw you, there was never a question that there
Speaker 3: was we were to even see anyone else. I was like,
Speaker 3: oh my, that's a great story.
Speaker 1: So I auditioned and then it was quiet, and then
Speaker 1: they asked to see me again, but this time they
Speaker 1: wanted me to read with Gina. We did a chemistry read.
Speaker 1: Gina and I connected immediately. It was over zoomed. And
Speaker 1: then the next thing I know, I had to offer
Speaker 1: you know, and it's it's I'll say this. Out of
Speaker 1: all the you know shows I've done and all the
Speaker 1: you know shows I've lost, this was probably one of
Speaker 1: the smoothest transitions into a show effort. So when it's
Speaker 1: your time, honey, it is your time.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: They love that. Well, you're working with one of my
Speaker 2: old pals, Dean Holland worked with me on the office
Speaker 2: for so many years.
Speaker 3: And I love you and I get to say it now.
Speaker 3: Can I just tell you how much I love you much?
Speaker 3: I love you?
Speaker 2: Oh stop keep going stop. Yeah, I love him. I'm
Speaker 2: so happy for his and now your success. So playing
Speaker 2: cricket free spirited, talk to me about your process as
Speaker 2: is your coaching yourself getting ready to play her. How
Speaker 2: do you go about approaching getting prepared on a week
Speaker 2: by week basis for her?
Speaker 3: So I did it.
Speaker 1: I did it, and I got coached because I as
Speaker 1: a coach, I like to just step outside of my
Speaker 1: bubble as I said, and here's somebody else's opinion.
Speaker 2: So I did, even as a coach, you have a
Speaker 2: coach oh.
Speaker 1: Heck, yeah, yeah, because there's there's the coach muscle, but
Speaker 1: then there's the acting muscle. And it's a little different
Speaker 1: because when you're coaching, you're outside of it, watching when
Speaker 1: you're and so there's of course I got to do
Speaker 1: what I tell my clients to do.
Speaker 3: So that helps, without a doubt, tremendously.
Speaker 1: But there's something about having someone else watch me and
Speaker 1: dig and poke around, you know. And so I work
Speaker 1: with a guy named Guy Camilary and he's great, pushed
Speaker 1: me around a little bit, you know. And so so
Speaker 1: what I my process is this I I did. I
Speaker 1: did a bio, you know, a lot of research on cricket,
Speaker 1: and I talked to a couple of my girlfriends who
Speaker 1: were married to men, white men.
Speaker 3: I just kind of talked about what that was like for.
Speaker 1: Both of them, and you know, out in the world
Speaker 1: and how people judge them or not accept them, et cetera.
Speaker 3: Looked at looked up Monty. I was so, you know,
Speaker 3: tickled to be with Martin mull and you know all
Speaker 3: that he's accomplished, he's iconic and I, you know, and
Speaker 3: so I allow myself to continue to let that bio
Speaker 3: evolve based on what I learned about the story. And
Speaker 3: by the way, they're so great, Dean and them.
Speaker 1: They let me meet with the writers and we got
Speaker 1: to talk, and from my personality and that exchange, they
Speaker 1: came up with some things that I had shared. So
Speaker 1: week two week, it's, you know, I kind of always
Speaker 1: go back and read that bio and try to stay
Speaker 1: on tasks of who Cricket is. And then I did
Speaker 1: with it the same way I would with anything else.
Speaker 3: What am I really saying? What do I need? How
Speaker 3: do I feel about Gina? You know? And I sometimes
Speaker 3: make personal connections, but now I don't have to anymore
Speaker 3: because she and I have our real connection. So it's,
Speaker 3: you know, it's it's always what is the story? What
Speaker 3: is the story I'm telling? Yeah, and what's my part
Speaker 3: in it? You know? What? Boys do I have in this?
Speaker 3: In this kind of like.
Speaker 1: Tapestry if you will, of this episode, because it's about
Speaker 1: being a team player.
Speaker 3: It's not about trying to outdo outshine, you know, show
Speaker 3: them I'm good, and you know, it's it's just stick
Speaker 3: with the story.
Speaker 1: The role has been written, it's been written well, and
Speaker 1: just what is the piece? What's the piece that they
Speaker 1: need from you?
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know it occurs to me based on our
Speaker 2: earlier conversation. You know, the show deals with the dark, right,
Speaker 2: death and break up obituary, but you know it does
Speaker 2: it with with a lighter tone. Yes, do you think
Speaker 2: that that enables us to address some difficult topics a
Speaker 2: little easier or a little deeper even than maybe dramas can.
Speaker 3: I'm so glad you said that.
Speaker 1: I think the comedy, that this blend of comedy and then,
Speaker 1: like we said, the dark is the perfect medium or
Speaker 1: or genre, if you yeah, in addressing some of those
Speaker 1: things that it is hard to address in real life.
Speaker 3: And you know, my son is funny.
Speaker 1: He's like my buddy, and he's you know, watched me
Speaker 1: since he's was born, you know, and he talks about
Speaker 1: he talks about how there are other ghost movies on
Speaker 1: and there's dark movies, and there's the vampires, and not
Speaker 1: putting any of that down.
Speaker 3: There's a place for everything, right, But he said, you know, Mom,
Speaker 3: while there's there's so much going.
Speaker 1: On in this world and so much darkness, it's nice
Speaker 1: to be on the show. He's so happy that I'm
Speaker 1: on the show that takes darkness and brings it to
Speaker 1: the light, you know, And oh, we find a light
Speaker 1: in the darkness, absolutely, you know. And I come from
Speaker 1: a family my grandmother, my mother's mother was Claire Boyant,
Speaker 1: and she was a preacher.
Speaker 3: She kind of believed in spirits and things like that,
Speaker 3: and you know, we're like, wait a minute, who's in
Speaker 3: the room? You know? You know, you see who, you
Speaker 3: feel what you know. But I've always been kind of
Speaker 3: a believer that, you know, we move on and there's
Speaker 3: this other realm of this, this other existence.
Speaker 1: Like not to be so arrogant to think that maybe
Speaker 1: this is just it, that there might be other energies
Speaker 1: and life beyond us. And this explores it in such
Speaker 1: a funny way, in such a sweet way.
Speaker 3: And who better to get life advice from but from
Speaker 3: those who've already lived it and have no more choices.
Speaker 1: We still have, and I think the meaning, you know,
Speaker 1: there's different messages each week, but at the end, at
Speaker 1: the base of those messages is the idea that we
Speaker 1: still have choice, we can still make a difference, right,
Speaker 1: And I think that is hopeful and it's uplifting and
Speaker 1: it's necessary. So I'm so proud. I actually wrote an
Speaker 1: affirmation out. I don't know if you've ever done this,
Speaker 1: Like when I was broken, I was.
Speaker 3: Like, I don't no mammy ever gonna act again. I quit,
Speaker 3: I'm done.
Speaker 1: And then my age is like you got an all this,
Speaker 1: and I'm like okay, And so someone said, well, write
Speaker 1: down what you want, and when I tell you, I
Speaker 1: wrote down two things out share I know, one out
Speaker 1: of time. One was I thank the universe as if
Speaker 1: it's already happened, thank you for a role on the
Speaker 1: show that matters, like this is Us. And then I
Speaker 1: booked This is Us. And then later I was like,
Speaker 1: thank you for a show where there's mutual regards between
Speaker 1: me and the creators and the cast on a show
Speaker 1: that's meaningful and a role that touches the hearts of
Speaker 1: my audiences. And then here comes this show right, and
Speaker 1: people say, oh, cricket is warm and I love cricket
Speaker 1: and this show matters. People, are you know someone there's
Speaker 1: a widow's I have a friend whose mother is part
Speaker 1: of a widow's club, and they are they love cricket,
Speaker 1: and they're like if they're feeling like every week they're
Speaker 1: getting some sense of closure.
Speaker 3: And I was like, wow, you know that's cool. That's cool. Yeah.
Speaker 3: So I hope that answered your question. But I think
Speaker 3: it's the perfect avenue to explore.
Speaker 1: Some of those those feelings, those hurts and maybe come
Speaker 1: to some place of hope.
Speaker 2: It was a perfect answer. Let me just let me
Speaker 2: tell you this, this is true. I was recently asked
Speaker 2: why I enjoy doing this podcast, and my answer is
Speaker 2: because of the conversation we just had. Oh, getting to
Speaker 2: meet you and talk to you, and your incredible career
Speaker 2: and the diversity of your career what you've been able
Speaker 2: to accomplish from where you started, and it's just so like,
Speaker 2: my day is better, My day is better for having
Speaker 2: had this conversation with you. So I'm going to say
Speaker 2: to you right now something that I never thought that
Speaker 2: I would say. Give my best to Dean Holland and
Speaker 2: Marla Gibbs, your mom, and my old friend Deed, and
Speaker 2: thank you so so very much for sharing a little
Speaker 2: bit of your story, a fraction of your story with
Speaker 2: me and with the listeners and Brian.
Speaker 1: Again, I'm a huge fan of yours. So when I
Speaker 1: had this, I thought this opportunity come through. I was
Speaker 1: so tickled and you have made my day. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much for having me, great questions about it.
Speaker 3: A couple of times I'm made me think, thank you.
Speaker 1: See you have a beautiful week, and thank you so
Speaker 1: much for having me. Hope you get to meet a
Speaker 1: real person.
Speaker 2: Me too, very very soon. Yes, indeed, Angela, thank you
Speaker 2: so much for joining me today. This is the beginning,
Speaker 2: It is not the end. I had so much fun.
Speaker 2: I can't wait now to tune in too. Not dead yet,
Speaker 2: and listeners, you should do the same and I will
Speaker 2: catch you all next week for another exciting episode of
Speaker 2: Off the Beat. We're gonna have more stories, We're gonna
Speaker 2: have more laughs, more everything. You just call me mister Moore. Well,
Speaker 2: I like Roger, not Michael Moore. Just you know what,
Speaker 2: Just just call me more and come back next week.
Speaker 2: Off the Beat is hosted and executive produced by me
Speaker 2: Brian Baumgartner, alongside our executive producer, Ling Lee. Our senior
Speaker 2: producer is Diego Tapia. Our producers are Liz Hayes, Hannah Harris,
Speaker 2: and Emily Carr. Our talent producer is Ryan Papa Zachary,
Speaker 2: and our intern is Sammy Katz, our theme song Bubble
Speaker 2: and Squeak, performed by the one and only Creed Bratton