Speaker 1: Hey, guys, welcome to another episode of Eating While Broke.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Colleen Witt, and today we have very
Speaker 1: special guests, actor philanthropists. I can't believe I said it
Speaker 1: without messing up that words good actor philanthropists. Kareem Grimes
Speaker 1: is in the building. You may know him from the
Speaker 1: Vince Stables show All American. He goes all the way
Speaker 1: back the Boys in the Hood. But we currently watch
Speaker 1: you all television right now.
Speaker 2: Yes, indeed, thank you for having me. And this is exciting.
Speaker 2: We got all the things here. It's taking me back
Speaker 2: right now.
Speaker 3: So, yeah, what are.
Speaker 4: You gonna have? What are you gonna be cooking us
Speaker 4: for lunch?
Speaker 3: Oh? So one of my bugle males.
Speaker 2: Is we have a salad cutons, tomatoes, avocado, and I
Speaker 2: would usually do handseer salmon and you know, chop some
Speaker 2: board eggs in there and have a nice little salmon salad.
Speaker 3: Then I like that with a little bossamic vinagarette.
Speaker 2: That's pretty good. You guys got like you what I get?
Speaker 2: What I usually get.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And you know what, I tried to ridicule Michael
Speaker 1: back there because I.
Speaker 4: Was like, you got iceberg, We should have got spring mix.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I usually do spring mix. Yeah, and I was like,
Speaker 3: so you.
Speaker 4: Know, maybe maybe he ate Iceberg.
Speaker 3: Nah, Nah, I did spring mix.
Speaker 1: You're hilarious. And guys, just so you know, I did
Speaker 1: give Kareem a hard time. We went back and forth out.
Speaker 1: I was like, are you sure this is what you
Speaker 1: ate when you was broke? Do you understand the concept?
Speaker 1: He was like, yes, I do, and this is what
Speaker 1: I did. So why don't you go ahead and get
Speaker 1: started cooking up our meal?
Speaker 3: Yeah? For sure.
Speaker 2: The most important thing is, you know, because we're black,
Speaker 2: because we got a season, go ahead.
Speaker 3: Fish, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: So I usually do a little Larry's and I'm pretty
Speaker 2: good with this, so I'm you know, I eyeball it.
Speaker 3: You know what I mean, not too much.
Speaker 4: That's how I am.
Speaker 2: That's that's what I'm doing. Four is really like seasoning,
Speaker 2: is that, you know what I mean. I'm not I
Speaker 2: don't go too overboard on the seasoning.
Speaker 3: So that's good.
Speaker 2: Yes, this is actually the first time that I'm actually
Speaker 2: doing an interview and I'm actually cooking, So.
Speaker 1: Tell me how easy it is. And when it's over,
Speaker 1: a lot of people don't like doing it. Well, they
Speaker 1: get excited and they'll pick like a complicated dish and
Speaker 1: they're like, oh my god, that's a lot harder.
Speaker 4: Than I thought.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah, I mean, you know, for me, it
Speaker 2: was just like I had to once you know, I
Speaker 2: got on my own and I had my own spot.
Speaker 2: That was just like the main thing, Like you had
Speaker 2: to you know, I couldn't survive off of just cereal,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. For me, it was just
Speaker 2: like yo, and I was on my health journey, health kick,
Speaker 2: so it was just like koreem, you gotta be able.
Speaker 3: To cook something, yeah, you know what I mean. And
Speaker 3: for me, a.
Speaker 2: Salad is simple, you know what I mean, and then
Speaker 2: you can add the chicken or the fish. And I
Speaker 2: love creutons and avocas and tomatoes.
Speaker 3: I was like, goodness, I love Crewtons because when I.
Speaker 1: Order a salad, I'm always like.
Speaker 4: Remove the croutons.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2: Crewtons are like that's that's that that adds on to
Speaker 2: to the salad, like for real, for real, Like that
Speaker 2: gives it that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what I mean. So that's what it
Speaker 3: was for me, Like it's so hard and crunching, that's
Speaker 3: what you want, big, It's good.
Speaker 1: It's good to eat it the way you made it.
Speaker 4: And what are you seasoning your salmon.
Speaker 3: With a little garlic powder?
Speaker 1: And of course laryes gotta have that, Larry.
Speaker 4: You see we got less sodium on it.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Are you gonna add onion powder?
Speaker 2: No? Yeah, I'm gonna add a little bit of onion
Speaker 2: powder in there. And the reason why is because I
Speaker 2: saw my mom do it. So I was just like,
Speaker 2: you know, they had that onion powder in there to
Speaker 2: make it all good.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: I feel like garlic powder and onion powder their kind
Speaker 1: of husband and wife Joe, Like.
Speaker 4: I can't do one with the other.
Speaker 3: Yeah, for sure. You know.
Speaker 1: It's like, but I do cut onions in the pan,
Speaker 1: I have to do garlic, and now as I get older,
Speaker 1: I have to add lemon.
Speaker 3: Zest to it. Yeah that's good.
Speaker 4: You know, there's.
Speaker 1: Nothing better than garlic, onion and lemons zest.
Speaker 3: Sure for sure.
Speaker 1: All right, So you're gonna pants here it with some
Speaker 1: what's that olive oil?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Olive oil.
Speaker 2: That's what I usually have, you know, just to kind
Speaker 2: of stay away from the butter.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm a butter fiend, but I'm learning then. I
Speaker 1: think that's where my belly fats coming from like I
Speaker 1: have a nice little layer of belly fat, and I'm
Speaker 1: pretty sure it's because I go through like a stick
Speaker 1: of butter meal, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: So once again, like I said, this is a part
Speaker 2: of you know, really me being on my health kick
Speaker 2: and really just being conscious of, you know, what I'm eating.
Speaker 3: And also something that was affordable. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2: It's not expensive. I mean, now, salmon is hell expensive,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. So for me, it was
Speaker 2: just like, all right, let's get something that can stretch too, a.
Speaker 3: Salad and stretch a salad. Get a bag of salad.
Speaker 1: But you gotta eat it, guys, because I'm one of
Speaker 1: those people I go on a salad streak and then
Speaker 1: I'll be throwing out a bunch of salad.
Speaker 3: Oh no, noa, noa, NOA. Let me tell you something.
Speaker 3: A salad can stretch if you, if you make it,
Speaker 3: do what it do.
Speaker 2: If you have a protein, whether it's fish, chicken, or
Speaker 2: whatever it is, you can always throw a salad and
Speaker 2: then boom, put your protein in there and you're good
Speaker 2: to go. So now you got your green, your leafy greens,
Speaker 2: your cruciferous cruciferous.
Speaker 3: No, the cruciferous.
Speaker 1: Oh, I didn't know that new words.
Speaker 2: You have your protein, so you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: So that's how you do that there, all right.
Speaker 1: So while you go ahead and sear this salmon, take
Speaker 1: me back to what was going on if you can,
Speaker 1: during the time where this was a staple more consistently
Speaker 1: in your life.
Speaker 2: Oh.
Speaker 3: Man, I was.
Speaker 2: Working as a brand ambassador, and I was auditioning, and
Speaker 2: I think at that time I probably had a couple
Speaker 2: of jobs going on. So I was a brand ambassador
Speaker 2: acting and then I had signed up with an agency
Speaker 2: that would, you know, send you jobs to go through,
Speaker 2: whether it may be for a day, a week, a
Speaker 2: couple of months, or a year. So for me, that
Speaker 2: kind of really kept me busy and I always had
Speaker 2: money coming in. That was the one thing is that
Speaker 2: I didn't want to be a struggling, broke actor, if
Speaker 2: that's the thing, you know what I mean. So I
Speaker 2: think that's why for me, I always had a job,
Speaker 2: even if I was on TV. You know, I took
Speaker 2: my ego out of it and said, hey man, you
Speaker 2: got to get the job. Bills don't take vacations.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what I mean. So for me, that's
Speaker 3: what it was.
Speaker 2: That's why I worked so much, because it was just like,
Speaker 2: you gotta have income coming in because being an actor,
Speaker 2: you know, you do a job, you may not get
Speaker 2: paid for two and a half weeks, three weeks, so
Speaker 2: in between that time, what you're gonna do?
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: For me, that's how important it was for me to
Speaker 2: just always have a job, to always have some type
Speaker 2: of income.
Speaker 4: Coming And it sounds like you had multiple jobs.
Speaker 3: Oh I had. I had a lot of jobs.
Speaker 1: Now did you come from. I'm going to backtrack with you,
Speaker 1: because this sounds like this was while you were hustling
Speaker 1: as an adult right or after?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I started in a game in nineteen eighty seven,
Speaker 2: eighty eight, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: Boys in the Hill was my first film.
Speaker 4: You know, So how old were you done?
Speaker 3: Oh? Twelve, twelve, thirteen years old? You know what I mean?
Speaker 3: So you know, little kid, I'm living with my mom,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: So that part, but as I got older and you know,
Speaker 2: went away to college and you know, still pursuing my
Speaker 2: career was just like, all right, you gotta be able
Speaker 2: to feel for yourself. Yeah, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: and that's what it was. Just seeing my mom cook,
Speaker 2: seeing my grandmother cook. My dad was a cook as well.
Speaker 1: Did you come from two parent household? Single parent house?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I came from two.
Speaker 2: My dad and my mom split when I was younger,
Speaker 2: then got back together, had my sister, and then they
Speaker 2: split up again. But yeah, for the most part, yeah,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, I had a relationship. My
Speaker 2: relationship with my dad was on and off.
Speaker 3: Okay, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: He was on and off drugs, and you know, when
Speaker 2: he got hisself together, he had a store, I think
Speaker 2: fifty fourth and Broadway, So in between time, you know,
Speaker 2: I would go and harass him, always asking for money
Speaker 2: because he wasn't around as much. But yeah, that's but
Speaker 2: just him being in the household with me as a
Speaker 2: young man, as a kid, I saw my dad cook.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 2: My dad was a bus driver. He worked for RTD.
Speaker 2: For those that don't know, that's what the metro bus is.
Speaker 2: That's an LA thing.
Speaker 3: The Richard T. Davis, the rough, tough and dirty, you
Speaker 3: know what I mean.
Speaker 2: And then I remember my dad worked at Church's Chicken.
Speaker 2: I think he worked off, but he worked at Church's Chicken.
Speaker 2: Which was on Librea going towards the end Wood because
Speaker 2: I remember my mom dropping them off at work and
Speaker 2: he was like, hold on and bought a whole big
Speaker 2: box chicken Church is Chicken for us to take back home.
Speaker 2: I'm so, you know, definitely seeing my dad cook, my
Speaker 2: dad for me, I always love breakfast food, you know
Speaker 2: what I'm saying, and that that was one of the
Speaker 2: meals that you know I cooked as well. But this
Speaker 2: right here, salmon salad was just it was it for me?
Speaker 1: Predominantly Did your parents cook healthy in your house?
Speaker 3: Not not necessarily, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: It was the fried chicken, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 2: the poor chops.
Speaker 3: When I was younger, my mom.
Speaker 2: Made keish, you know, chicken and waffles, bacon, eggs, the
Speaker 2: whole nine. But once again, you know, when you look
Speaker 2: at that generation, you know what I mean, I didn't
Speaker 2: get into I didn't get into no chilling or nothing
Speaker 2: like that. Yeah, you know that was what was cooked
Speaker 2: at the house.
Speaker 3: Yeah for sure.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So were they lower middle class, you'd say, vely?
Speaker 3: I would think so.
Speaker 2: My mom was a beautician and my dad, like I said,
Speaker 2: was a bus driver.
Speaker 3: You know what I mean.
Speaker 2: I can't remember. There's not a day that I don't
Speaker 2: remember that.
Speaker 3: You know. I always had a meal, Okay, you know
Speaker 3: what I'm saying. I didn't go to be hungry. Yeah,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: So my story is a little bit different, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean, to where I did have a two
Speaker 2: parent home and then you know, my mom and dad separated,
Speaker 2: got back, had my sister, and then they totally separated.
Speaker 2: So for the majority, I was, you know, staying with
Speaker 2: my mom, Okay, you know what I mean. And my grandparents,
Speaker 2: my dad's grant, my dad's mother and father are really
Speaker 2: kind of stepped in and helped me.
Speaker 3: And then just my village, just my village for.
Speaker 1: Sure, and primarily La based. So whose idea was it
Speaker 1: to get you into acting at such a young age?
Speaker 3: It was me?
Speaker 2: Really, you know, I was the young kid that really,
Speaker 2: you know, was doing a lot of entertaining, you know
Speaker 2: what I'm saying. I was a kid that you know,
Speaker 2: you give me a couple of dollars, I pop lot.
Speaker 4: Okay, give m.
Speaker 3: Korea some money, He'll do it, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: So that's that's what it was for me. And yeah,
Speaker 2: like literally that's that's what it was and seeing my
Speaker 2: friends on TV. I had a couple of friends who
Speaker 2: were on TV, and you know that was motivating as well,
Speaker 2: and you know, that's that's what it was for me,
Speaker 2: and my mom, and my mom and my village kind
Speaker 2: of really helped me and really got behind me and
Speaker 2: put me.
Speaker 3: In acting class. And our first acting class.
Speaker 2: Was Marla Gibbs, Marla Gibbs Memory Lane Acting Class, which
Speaker 2: a big shout out to Marla Gibbs and Angela Gibbs,
Speaker 2: which is Marla Gibbs' daughter.
Speaker 3: She had the acting class.
Speaker 2: And yeah, that was my first my first taste of
Speaker 2: it and I never looked back.
Speaker 1: And then how was it working on in the Hood
Speaker 1: as your first intro?
Speaker 2: My goodness, let me tell you how that went. So
Speaker 2: Boys in the Hood, that was I was a extra, okay,
Speaker 2: And at that time, my mom had some friends that
Speaker 2: were in the business who were hairdressers, and you know,
Speaker 2: she told my mom like, hey, there's this young kid
Speaker 2: from South Central who wrote this film, graduated from USC.
Speaker 2: They're looking for some young black kids who can skateboard
Speaker 2: and all that.
Speaker 3: And at that time that was me.
Speaker 2: I was a young kid that was in the skateboard
Speaker 2: and BMX biking the whole nine. So that's how I
Speaker 2: found myself on on the set of Boys in the
Speaker 2: Hood and we're talking about maybe two two weeks into shooting.
Speaker 2: John Singleton is like, he's like, yo, I wanna give
Speaker 2: you some lines, and you know that's that was the start.
Speaker 2: Now there are other young kids there. Yeah, he could
Speaker 2: have given he could have given any of any one
Speaker 2: of them lines, but he gave me line.
Speaker 1: Do you know why could he ever tell you?
Speaker 3: You know what?
Speaker 2: And John was a big mentor to me, you know what,
Speaker 2: I just no, I don't even think. Nah, that's a
Speaker 2: good question. I've never been asked that, like why he
Speaker 2: gave it to me? You know, I think it was
Speaker 2: just divine.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well I know because I know in your in
Speaker 1: your bio it said that he mentored you. So I
Speaker 1: was just wondering if, like you ever got to be
Speaker 1: like why me?
Speaker 3: Nah? It was just one of those things of man,
Speaker 3: that's really good. I've never I never asked him that.
Speaker 2: I just kind of figured, you know, it was just
Speaker 2: God's timing, you know what I mean, being at the
Speaker 2: right place at the right time, my path, me knowing
Speaker 2: what I wanted to do, at a very early age,
Speaker 2: and God was like, all right, cool.
Speaker 3: Let me go in and bless you. Yeah you know
Speaker 3: what I mean.
Speaker 2: And that was through John Singleton. So I owe a
Speaker 2: lot of it to John. And like I said, he
Speaker 2: was a big mentor to me and a big brother.
Speaker 1: And yeah, sure, now you're cooking the heck out of
Speaker 1: this so salmon, guys, smoky?
Speaker 4: Yeah, look it looks it looks like barbecue.
Speaker 3: See, yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 4: So I didn't see.
Speaker 1: So you guys know he went on the back of
Speaker 1: the salmon and hit it really heavy with some loes.
Speaker 3: Yeah he didn't on the back. No, I didn't go
Speaker 3: light on the back.
Speaker 4: You know it's smoking.
Speaker 3: Is this a smoky as this been?
Speaker 4: I think so?
Speaker 3: Really?
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: First, if a fire alarm, if the sprinklers.
Speaker 4: Go off, we're in trouble.
Speaker 2: Oh man, yeah, that'll be crazy. Maybe yeah, yeah, we'll
Speaker 2: turn it down.
Speaker 3: How about that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the only thing with cooking on a studio,
Speaker 1: and there's no there's no what do you call it?
Speaker 4: The above oven?
Speaker 1: Even if we had it, we couldn't use it because
Speaker 1: of the audio.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 1: Is that how it's supposed to look?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 4: Is that how it's supposed to. This looks like a barbecue.
Speaker 2: Look, we don't need Look, we don't eat nothing light
Speaker 2: pink around here.
Speaker 1: No, but that looks that looks like it's gonna be
Speaker 1: like dry.
Speaker 3: Nah, it's not gonna be dry, not at all.
Speaker 2: You can still see the look if I still push
Speaker 2: it in and see the little Oh, absolutely, it's gonna
Speaker 2: be nice as juice.
Speaker 4: Okay, Okay, we're gonna be here.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we're almost done.
Speaker 4: It's gonna be a great lunch.
Speaker 3: Yeah, were almost done.
Speaker 1: Okay, So you're doing Boys in the Hood. How does
Speaker 1: he become your mentor? John Singleton?
Speaker 2: You know, we he lived in the area, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean. So I would always see.
Speaker 3: Him, Okay, you knows.
Speaker 4: And how old was he then?
Speaker 3: John was probably late.
Speaker 1: Twenty okay, okay, so yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, middle to late twenty. Yeah, you know. So
Speaker 3: he shot a few movies.
Speaker 2: I think his next one was a Poetic Justice, which
Speaker 2: he shot, you know, in the neighborhood.
Speaker 3: So I would always go and see and be like, yo,
Speaker 3: John put me in the movie. Put me in the movie.
Speaker 3: He was like, Nah, you gotta finish school. You gotta
Speaker 3: finish school. You gotta finish school.
Speaker 4: So he was like, real deal, Holy Field.
Speaker 3: Ye like yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure, you know
Speaker 3: what I mean. He definitely stressed. He definitely stressed education
Speaker 3: for sure.
Speaker 4: Did you finish college?
Speaker 3: Yes, went to cal State LA.
Speaker 2: Studied broadcast journalism, film radio on television.
Speaker 3: And it's funny.
Speaker 2: Once I finished, my mom ran into John and she
Speaker 2: was like, yo, John, Kareem is you know, Kareem is
Speaker 2: a finishing up school and he was like, have him
Speaker 2: hit me up.
Speaker 3: And I go to his office which was in Lamert Park.
Speaker 2: And he's getting ready to shoot baby.
Speaker 1: Boy No way.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So you know, John is like, I'm gonna show
Speaker 2: you how to make a film from beginning to the end.
Speaker 2: And I was literally there when it was just an
Speaker 2: office and then it's like in my mind when you
Speaker 2: time lapse and you start seeing people come in.
Speaker 3: So it was like boom casting, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: Then locations design the whole nine, so I was able
Speaker 2: to see an empty office fill up right before my eyes,
Speaker 2: and I touched every department within that film. Casting, you know,
Speaker 2: all doing a lot of the readings with Kim Harding,
Speaker 2: also recording the audition. So if you guys see ah Yeah.
Speaker 2: You see, if you see an audition, if you see
Speaker 2: an audition of Tyrese and Taraji and their screen test,
Speaker 2: that's me behind the camera. That's me behind the camera
Speaker 2: recording them.
Speaker 1: When you see their on set chemistry, worry, like, what
Speaker 1: did you think? Cause they're they're their dynamic played out
Speaker 1: very well, I mean Taraji's Yeah.
Speaker 3: But here's the deal. Me and Taraji worked together.
Speaker 2: Taraji played Taraji played my girlfriend in an episode of
Speaker 2: er Okay, you know what I mean. So you know,
Speaker 2: I'm I've known Taraji and to see her come in
Speaker 2: and get the role of Evett like I was there.
Speaker 3: When he gave her the role.
Speaker 1: I was in the room when he gave her for sure.
Speaker 3: For sure, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: So for me, it was just like super dope because
Speaker 2: I felt like I got the role too, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean seeing her, because you know, like any actor,
Speaker 2: we you know, to get that opportunity for somebody to
Speaker 2: say yes to you and say hey, I believe in
Speaker 2: you and I want you for this role, that's that's
Speaker 2: the greatest feeling in the world.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: So I was there and you know, I was happy,
Speaker 2: and she was crying and the whole nine, and you know,
Speaker 2: it was super dope. And you know, that was the
Speaker 2: time that that you know, I was able to you know,
Speaker 2: befriend Tyrese and you know, me and him became really
Speaker 2: good friends during that process. And you know, John paired
Speaker 2: me with tyresee to you know, kind of help him
Speaker 2: with you know, his lines and is that nature?
Speaker 3: So it was.
Speaker 2: It was a dope moment. It was a great experience.
Speaker 2: I never forget it. It was just so much that
Speaker 2: that was going on, and I'm just grateful that I
Speaker 2: was able to be a part of it.
Speaker 1: After experiencing that, what made you want to stick with
Speaker 1: acting and not kind of the other attributes of what
Speaker 1: John does.
Speaker 2: No, because that was my whole thing. My whole thing
Speaker 2: was to be in front of the camera. Okay, to
Speaker 2: be an actor. I love performing. That was the thing
Speaker 2: that for me as a young kid being in the
Speaker 2: acting class to where that really opened me up and
Speaker 2: I was just like, yo, this is what I want
Speaker 2: to do, Like this is this is it?
Speaker 1: Do you think seeing how John formulated that whole set
Speaker 1: from beginning to end, do you think that helped you
Speaker 1: be a better actor?
Speaker 3: For sure?
Speaker 2: You know, what I mean, John employed, you know his people,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: For me doing extra work.
Speaker 2: Up until I got to Boys in the Hood, there
Speaker 2: were maybe one or two black people on set. When
Speaker 2: I got to Boys in the Hood, it was it
Speaker 2: was Chocolate City. It was everybody from here to the drove,
Speaker 2: to the grips, to transportation, it was. It was diverse,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. So for me, it was
Speaker 2: just like, yeah, this is and then learning. You know
Speaker 2: what I'm saying, I'm seeing a young Angela Bassett, a
Speaker 2: Lawrence Fishburn, you know what I mean. So as a kid,
Speaker 2: I'm just a student of the game. I'm just watching
Speaker 2: as they go through these takes and things that nature. So,
Speaker 2: you know, as a young kid being in this business
Speaker 2: coming up in the eighties, I had a lot of
Speaker 2: examples of the dudes and don'ts Yeah.
Speaker 1: Now where do you get the dudes in don't suf
Speaker 1: I'm gonna keep a job even if I'm a successful actor.
Speaker 2: Oh, that's just that's just r That's just reality. That's
Speaker 2: just life, you know what I mean. And I think
Speaker 2: you know, really the the the the strike kind of
Speaker 2: showed us a little bit about that, you know what I.
Speaker 3: Mean, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: It really it really peeled the layers back to say, hey,
Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: Listen, everybody is what's who you think is not? You
Speaker 3: know what I mean.
Speaker 2: So for me, it was always instilled in me to
Speaker 2: have some type of income coming in period. And I
Speaker 2: just I found out at a very early age, just
Speaker 2: from seeing my mom and dad work my grandfather, that
Speaker 2: you have to have a.
Speaker 3: Job, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: And as an actor, you know, yeah, you may do good,
Speaker 2: you know, for a couple of weeks, a month or whatever,
Speaker 2: and then it may taper off.
Speaker 3: So what are you gonna do? Yeah, you know what
Speaker 3: I mean.
Speaker 2: So for me, it was always work until acting is
Speaker 2: your full time job, meaning that it's paying the bills
Speaker 2: and you don't have to work your job.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and you have to budget in order.
Speaker 3: Got a budget. You got a budget, you know what
Speaker 3: I'm saying.
Speaker 2: Now, For me, because I started off young doing this,
Speaker 2: you know, I have residuals.
Speaker 1: Yeah I was gonna say, you did you have a
Speaker 1: Coogan account or yeah?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I had all that.
Speaker 2: So for me, it was residuals coming in and you know,
Speaker 2: but still it was still how I was bought up.
Speaker 2: Is that you know, just because you got money don't
Speaker 2: mean you gotta go out there and spend it all,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean? So it was it was
Speaker 2: instilled in me to save your money for a rainy day.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and you know, uh, that's that's what it was
Speaker 3: for me.
Speaker 2: So part of the budgeting and you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 2: making sure I wasn't living above my means.
Speaker 4: Yes, Now, how do you not? How do you not
Speaker 4: to get smoke a cloud?
Speaker 3: You smell the aroma. It's the aroma. It's gonna be good.
Speaker 4: Guys, it's so smoky. If you can see this charcoal.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but if you see it.
Speaker 1: Charcoal salmon, Look at that, that's a charcoal. It looked
Speaker 1: like he was on a barbecue grill. It's so smoky
Speaker 1: up in here. I want to get this question out though.
Speaker 1: How you not? I remember when I first moved to
Speaker 1: LA I had seen Gary Coleman. He was like a
Speaker 1: security guard well over there. But I also saw him
Speaker 1: in Van Eys And you know, people, it's the smoke man.
Speaker 1: People can be so cruel, especially to actors and people
Speaker 1: that are in the public eye. I think there's just
Speaker 1: it's one thing to struggle with something personally in your
Speaker 1: own circle.
Speaker 4: It's another thing to do with publicly.
Speaker 1: And I think once you take on that actor hat
Speaker 1: and you're well known and you're famous and people, people
Speaker 1: literally can be cruel, like you know and talk smack.
Speaker 1: How do you deal with either a possibility of that
Speaker 1: reaction or your core friend group going like damn, you
Speaker 1: know and talking smack.
Speaker 3: You know what? I never that never really played a factor,
Speaker 3: you know what I mean?
Speaker 2: Like, like I said, I took my ego out a
Speaker 2: long time ago, so it was never a point of like,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, Like I'm afraid to work
Speaker 2: like I've been on TV, you know what I mean,
Speaker 2: Like I just haven't had that. And I think a
Speaker 2: lot of it is because I just show up as myself,
Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying. I'm not just because I'm
Speaker 2: on TV. I didn't have this other personality of like,
Speaker 2: oh I'm bigger than you now.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know what I mean. You know I've listened.
Speaker 2: My first job, besides acting, my first first job, I
Speaker 2: worked at Bowling Hills Theater. It was the first black
Speaker 2: owned theater which was on Lebrea in Coliseum. You know
Speaker 2: what I mean, so I learned the value of a dollar,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, work wise, like yeah, nine
Speaker 2: to five. Then from there I worked at Hot Dog
Speaker 2: on a Stick, and then from hot Dog on a Stick,
Speaker 2: I worked at Lady foot Locker. Notice I said hot
Speaker 2: Dog on a Stick and Lady full Locker, two places
Speaker 2: that had beautiful women. Listen, if anybody knows that's from La.
Speaker 2: You can go to a Hot Dog on a Stick.
Speaker 2: They had some of the finest girls that worked there
Speaker 2: because they either went to Westchester, Saint Mary's Burners.
Speaker 3: Or whatever it is.
Speaker 2: They were there. And then Lady full Locker. What more
Speaker 2: can I say?
Speaker 3: You know what I mean?
Speaker 2: So I worked at those two places, and then I
Speaker 2: worked at Wells Fargo Bank. What did you I was
Speaker 2: a bank teller? Oh what Yeah, I was a bank teller.
Speaker 2: I worked at Wells Fargo Bank, which was in the
Speaker 2: Ladera Center.
Speaker 1: Now I'm just curious, did you Was there any takeaways
Speaker 1: from working at a bank that you learned about people
Speaker 1: just people watching.
Speaker 4: Me like a couple.
Speaker 3: I mean, there were.
Speaker 2: People there that were rude, that had a lot of money, Okay,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, And it was just like
Speaker 2: for what you know, what I mean, Like entitled, Yeah.
Speaker 3: You know what I mean.
Speaker 2: And for me, that was a lesson that I learned,
Speaker 2: you know, to like listen just because you have a
Speaker 2: lot of money, you don't have to be entitled, and
Speaker 2: you know, boss people around you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: So it was a lot of lessons that I learned
Speaker 2: from each job. Just being on time, being a team player,
Speaker 2: you know, committing to a schedule and saying, yes, this
Speaker 2: is my schedule and I'm gonna commit to it, and.
Speaker 3: Just showing up you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: All these things helped me through my development as a
Speaker 2: young man, but also carried on into my professional career
Speaker 2: as an actor. So each job that I had, even
Speaker 2: though I didn't want to be there, I've learned a
Speaker 2: valuable lesson out of all of it.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I've been around this industry on and off throughout.
Speaker 1: I always tell people that, and this is like something
Speaker 1: I told myself a long time ago. I felt like
Speaker 1: a list celebrities were the nicest, and I used to
Speaker 1: always feel like they were the nicest and that's why
Speaker 1: they got so far was because they were really nice. Yeah,
Speaker 1: some pretty terrible circumstances and not so great circumstances, whether
Speaker 1: they're tired or you're not. And that was like my
Speaker 1: observation working with an array of people, and I always
Speaker 1: felt like, man, I really think that the A list
Speaker 1: ones technically have a little bit more.
Speaker 2: Of that A listeners that were jackasses that were saying
Speaker 2: but you know, from me coming up, there were young
Speaker 2: kid kids, you know what I'm saying, who were just
Speaker 2: a terror, you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: And you know those were things that I was able
Speaker 3: to see visually and be like, Nope, I don't want
Speaker 3: to do that. Yeah, you know what I mean, And.
Speaker 2: That carried on to me, Like I said, these are
Speaker 2: lessons that I've learned, and for me, you know, that's
Speaker 2: I think a loss forgotten art is just simply being nice,
Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying, and why you're on set
Speaker 2: for me just you know, whether I'm number one on
Speaker 2: the call sheet or not, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 2: but really just setting the tone of just being nice
Speaker 2: to people. You know, I've always said whether they're below
Speaker 2: the line or above the line, you know, from the
Speaker 2: from the PA to the caterer to craft services, you know,
Speaker 2: just be nice, you know. And I think when you
Speaker 2: set that tone. You know, it just makes everything a
Speaker 2: little bit easier.
Speaker 3: And you never know who, you know.
Speaker 4: Who's watching, who's related to right.
Speaker 3: Who's related to who? You know what I mean.
Speaker 2: I've seen I've seen people go from PA to you know,
Speaker 2: a writer, a PA to a producer, you know what
Speaker 2: I'm saying, director, So you just never know, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean. So I've seen it happen many of times.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, Well, what's the next step in this dish? Oh?
Speaker 2: So right now, we're gonna take the fish out and
Speaker 2: then we're gonna cut it and then start you know, plating.
Speaker 2: We gotta also crack these eggs, so we can go
Speaker 2: on and cut those eggs.
Speaker 4: I'll start cracking, yeah.
Speaker 3: For sure, for sure, for sure. So yeah we do that.
Speaker 2: I'll just okay boom, and then we'll cut the eggs up.
Speaker 4: Okay, have an extra knife out here.
Speaker 2: You're gonna look, you're gonna get that hit hit hit
Speaker 2: hit it with that ford Yeah yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely, okay, and.
Speaker 3: Then we'll put the salmon on here.
Speaker 2: Cut that up, so then we can just start putting
Speaker 2: the salad on there in our crewtons tomatoes and avocado,
Speaker 2: and then we'll top it off with the balsamic viniagarette.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna call because I feel like I need a
Speaker 1: cold little thing of water to soak these.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I was about to say, I'm gonna cut
Speaker 2: Yeah for sure, boom.
Speaker 3: So we'll do this while lie and we'll cut it.
Speaker 3: Where's the night has?
Speaker 4: Right here?
Speaker 3: Right here? Cool?
Speaker 4: I'm gonna use it when you're done.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, way.
Speaker 4: Do you see the way I'm I'm peeling these?
Speaker 3: Come on? You know?
Speaker 1: So after the Baby Boy movement, what happens next?
Speaker 3: After Baby Boy?
Speaker 2: I ended up booking. I ended up booking. When I
Speaker 2: book I ended up booking the mc hammer story. Okay,
Speaker 2: so it's my Romney malcom as mc Hammer and I
Speaker 2: go to I go to Houston. I didn't even go
Speaker 2: to the Baby Boy premiere because I was in Houston
Speaker 2: shooting the mc hammer story. So I literally went from
Speaker 2: one job to the next, which was amazing. Now, on
Speaker 2: Baby Boy, I was John Cton's assistant.
Speaker 4: At first, That's what I was about to ask.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was John Singleton's assistant at first, and then
Speaker 2: you know, from that point on, you know, he gave
Speaker 2: me a role.
Speaker 3: So I was do dirty, dirty on in Baby boy.
Speaker 2: So I was getting a check as an assistant and
Speaker 2: a check as an actor.
Speaker 4: That looks delicious.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, Yeah, it's on now, Yeah, it's on.
Speaker 3: It's on.
Speaker 1: Look at he's like diced it up where it looks
Speaker 1: like it's gonna be Are you gonna blend it into
Speaker 1: the salad?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 4: Maybe special?
Speaker 3: Absolutely?
Speaker 4: Let me see your knife. I want I want to
Speaker 4: do something.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you want to be legit? Yeah, So I'm gonna
Speaker 3: take these off, so I think we go ahead? Yeah yeah,
Speaker 3: so yeah, so.
Speaker 2: You know I was getting two checks as an assistant
Speaker 2: and as Yeah, as an assistant and as an actor.
Speaker 2: I yeah, It's always been in me. It's always been
Speaker 2: in me. And I think, like I said before, is
Speaker 2: that you know, with my jobs, I've always taken my
Speaker 2: ego out of it. So and I've actually used being
Speaker 2: on TV and film to my advantage because when I
Speaker 2: go in for the for the interview, they're looking at
Speaker 2: me like, man, you look familiar. And then somebody be like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 2: he's the guy on such and such, and they'd be like, man,
Speaker 2: what are you doing. I'm like, listen, I need a job,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean.
Speaker 3: So it actually helped me as well.
Speaker 2: And you know I always told them sometimes I had to,
Speaker 2: you know, use my acting skills when I had auditions.
Speaker 3: I had to leave on my lunch break.
Speaker 2: And you know, but I say, hey, listen, if you
Speaker 2: let me leave, I'll stay a little bit of extra,
Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying, to make up for the
Speaker 2: time that I had to leave from auditions. So you know,
Speaker 2: like I said, I've you know, I've used it to
Speaker 2: my advantage and it has it has gotten me several jobs.
Speaker 1: Yes, so we'll be hey, you know what, just so
Speaker 1: you know, I've never done this before.
Speaker 2: Really, Okay, you did again with the So this is
Speaker 2: what we'll do. So we'll do we'll do the sell
Speaker 2: it here, right, and this will be your plate, right, okay,
Speaker 2: this will be your plate. And we'll put a couple
Speaker 2: of dice.
Speaker 4: Eggs on here, right, okay, So.
Speaker 3: You can just put a couple up in there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, me too, Okay, and there, okay, there you good, yep,
Speaker 2: you sure, yep, alright, I wanna leave some.
Speaker 3: For you there it is there, it is. So then now.
Speaker 4: Put the avocados.
Speaker 3: Avocado in there here.
Speaker 2: I could do this, I could yeah, yeah, put the
Speaker 2: avocado and your tomatoes and I'll do mine.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is perfect. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I I was told some of the other day my
Speaker 1: daughter got shot. Okay, I don't want to be that
Speaker 1: mom that always tells the mom stories about have to
Speaker 1: tell you this. And so the doctors are like, yeah,
Speaker 1: she's gonna take you for ice cream, and my daughter
Speaker 1: is like, I don't want ice cream.
Speaker 3: I want cor cor okay.
Speaker 1: And the next day I had offered her cereal and
Speaker 1: I was like, you want, you know, catching crunch or whatever,
Speaker 1: and she goes, no, I want.
Speaker 4: Something right.
Speaker 3: She wants the finder things in life.
Speaker 4: I want to do crew toons just like you.
Speaker 3: All right, there we go.
Speaker 4: Is there anything you look for in these creutons?
Speaker 3: Uh? You know what?
Speaker 2: I usually just get the regular regular regular crewtons butter
Speaker 2: or garlic or whatever.
Speaker 3: You know what I mean's just bread, right, Yeah, that's
Speaker 3: all it is, just a little bread. I'm telling you.
Speaker 3: It's gonna add that to it. Right.
Speaker 4: So now now look at that samon. That thing look amazing.
Speaker 3: I'm on now he bring that plate over, okay, hook
Speaker 3: it up. Boom.
Speaker 1: This looks legit. And you know what, I can see
Speaker 1: where the value would be with the crunch. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: you mad.
Speaker 3: You see what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so good, come on now, crunch you outside just enough.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm really so excited to eat healthy you
Speaker 1: know what I mean.
Speaker 3: I'm real big on that. I don't like salty stuff.
Speaker 1: So and it's affordable, guys, This is like under probably
Speaker 1: under fifteen bucks. Yeah, and it's really healthy.
Speaker 3: Yeah. And you can look and you can and you
Speaker 3: can go ahead. And you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: They don't add cheese to it, though I don't need to.
Speaker 1: Looks beautiful.
Speaker 3: It looks Come on now, look all right.
Speaker 1: Let's see. Let me hook you up. Let me just
Speaker 1: make sure the mic is hooked up.
Speaker 3: All right?
Speaker 1: Here?
Speaker 4: Fix your chair? Is your chair comfortable?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Yeah, we did good.
Speaker 4: Here we go.
Speaker 3: All right, hold on, let me do a little prayer.
Speaker 2: Thank you for the food, but you see for the
Speaker 2: national Rabbi bodies blessing hands, prepare food and we.
Speaker 3: Pray, Amen, thank you Jesus.
Speaker 4: Letting him make it short pray.
Speaker 3: Indeed, a man short prayer.
Speaker 4: Mhm, career right, I'm not gonna lie.
Speaker 1: I was concerned because the crust on the salmon was
Speaker 1: like so like barbecuous.
Speaker 4: It is perfect.
Speaker 3: Yeah mm hmm season not too salty. The skin sets
Speaker 3: it off too.
Speaker 1: I gotta show you, right, yeah, cooreem Yeah, Okay, who
Speaker 1: you cooking for at home?
Speaker 3: You know? Listen who you cooking for at home? And
Speaker 3: here's the crazy thing. I'm not really a cook like
Speaker 3: that cause I'm so much on the go.
Speaker 1: I would not give up this dish ever, Right, this
Speaker 1: is amazing, right, I really like the way you cook
Speaker 1: the salmon.
Speaker 4: I never cooked the salmon.
Speaker 3: Like this, got too man pan ser.
Speaker 4: What you did really high heat?
Speaker 3: Don't take that long either.
Speaker 1: It didn't take that long. But the way you did
Speaker 1: the outside of the salmon.
Speaker 4: Nailed it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, stop avoiding the question who you cooking for at home? Hilarious,
Speaker 1: I'm cooking for the women.
Speaker 3: Listen, I cook. No, I'm not, I'm not.
Speaker 2: The thing is that I'm not really a cook, like
Speaker 2: I'm saying. You got me on here cooking.
Speaker 1: So you mean to tell me when was the last
Speaker 1: time you cook for yourself?
Speaker 3: Did they?
Speaker 4: What'd you make?
Speaker 3: I sam a salad?
Speaker 4: I mean, besides its meal? This is delicious. You gotta
Speaker 4: met you don't you want to eat this?
Speaker 3: You? Ever?
Speaker 1: Sometimes I do the interview and the food's really good,
Speaker 1: but like we needn't take a food break to just
Speaker 1: eat it's good.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: Let me tell you something, man, this is it's very
Speaker 2: humbling that you are enjoying this salad as much as
Speaker 2: I am.
Speaker 3: I really is.
Speaker 1: Thank you and I And this is the thing you
Speaker 1: gotta remember, guys about trying new things, like sometimes you
Speaker 1: can have a bias like I was like, oh I
Speaker 1: hate kutons. I hate kutons, But trying it like this
Speaker 1: it makes sense.
Speaker 3: Absolutely. You knowee what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: Because you said it's smoky, I'm like, don't worry about it.
Speaker 3: It's gonna be all. It's gonna be right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, guys, I love that you added avocado and tomatoes
Speaker 1: and you made sure to add all these special ingredients
Speaker 1: because it makes it go from an affordable dish to
Speaker 1: like affordable but like fancy.
Speaker 3: Right man.
Speaker 2: You know this is like I said, if you are
Speaker 2: cooking for somebody, you give them a little bit of
Speaker 2: just not a plain salad, but it you know, it
Speaker 2: definitely elevates the experience.
Speaker 4: See this, You know that.
Speaker 1: Shouldn't be like all rape, you ain't never cooked for me.
Speaker 3: Some people are gonna be like, yep, I've had that
Speaker 3: salad before. I love it.
Speaker 1: That's all I wanted. I had to try like ten
Speaker 1: different ways.
Speaker 3: It's good, Okay, it's good.
Speaker 1: All right, career, Now let's get back into your story. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it'll be fully true. And during this whole story, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1: Good alright, after baby boy, yeah you do? What was
Speaker 1: the done imc hammer story?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Then from there what happens.
Speaker 2: Mc hammer story. That's when I made a lot of
Speaker 2: money and I blew it.
Speaker 3: I blew it. What just buying stuff? You know what
Speaker 3: I mean? Really didn't have nothing to show for it.
Speaker 3: Afterwards that happens.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but that was a lesson that I learned. And
Speaker 2: from that point on, I was just like, I'll never
Speaker 2: I'll never be in this situation again. But after the
Speaker 2: mc hammer story, you know, of course, you know, you
Speaker 2: work in those jobs, you know, until you get the
Speaker 2: next gig.
Speaker 4: Oh you went back to work.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I started doing a brand ambassador work.
Speaker 1: And what does that entail.
Speaker 3: Brand ambassador work?
Speaker 2: Is there's a product or yeah, there's a product, and
Speaker 2: you know you are hired to promote and talk about
Speaker 2: that product.
Speaker 3: You know, whether you're at a convention, whether you're at
Speaker 3: a like a store, a store, a grocery store.
Speaker 2: I wanna say, my first brand ambassador job was with
Speaker 2: Cisco UNI. And when I say, it was one of
Speaker 2: those jobs to where it was like, I can't believe
Speaker 2: I'm getting paid this much.
Speaker 4: So I was about to ask you, was it a
Speaker 4: l a little bit of bang?
Speaker 3: Listen? I was getting paid twenty five dollars an hour. Okay,
Speaker 3: this is maybe.
Speaker 2: Two thousand, two thousand, one, two thousand, yeah, two thousand
Speaker 2: and two three for one of those twenty five bucks
Speaker 2: an hour to sit in a room.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 2: At that time, Cisco had a TV, a big T
Speaker 2: big screen TV with a camera, so you were able
Speaker 2: it was FaceTime before FaceTime, okay, so you were able
Speaker 2: to contact people with your UH with this camera on
Speaker 2: top of your TV and talk to 'em. So they
Speaker 2: had these set up in uh like four different malls Dallas,
Speaker 2: I think, a Minneapolis, the Mall of America, where else
Speaker 2: I think Atlanta or somewhere. And we were in a
Speaker 2: room they had I think it was four or five
Speaker 2: of us in each room, a couch and a TV.
Speaker 2: As just as I'm looking at this camera right, and
Speaker 2: people were in the mall and they had ambassadors over
Speaker 2: there to say, hey, try this out, and they would
Speaker 2: sit and see me and we would play games Tic
Speaker 2: Tac toe, hang man.
Speaker 4: And you were getting paid to do this.
Speaker 3: Listen.
Speaker 2: We were working eight hours a day and sometimes, you know,
Speaker 2: you may see four or five people within those eight hours.
Speaker 2: So I'm on a computer, I'm you know, I'm studying lines, auditions,
Speaker 2: the whole nine And it was just one of those
Speaker 2: jobs to where it was just like, I can't believe
Speaker 2: that I'm getting paid this much to sit down and
Speaker 2: talk to people randomly in in the malls.
Speaker 1: Now this is after MC hammer though, right, Yeah, So
Speaker 1: how long did the mc hammer money?
Speaker 4: The big check last year?
Speaker 3: It didn't last that long. It didn't last that long.
Speaker 2: Cause I was I was up at the galleria balling,
Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying, Gucci, Gucci glasses, you.
Speaker 3: Know what I mean, just buying stuff.
Speaker 2: And like I said, when I got back, it was
Speaker 2: like I didn't really have anything to show for it, yeah,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. And it was just like, alright,
Speaker 2: can't l can't let this happen again.
Speaker 4: So when's your next big break?
Speaker 1: After that?
Speaker 3: Oh? Man?
Speaker 2: I think it was like a couple of maybe a
Speaker 2: couple of months to a year. You know, I book
Speaker 2: a TV show here and there, commercial here and there,
Speaker 2: and then you know, it was always back to work
Speaker 2: because it was my career was a slow grind.
Speaker 3: It was nothing consistent. Yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: So it was just like book a job, all right,
Speaker 2: back to work, book a job, back to work.
Speaker 1: And you start looking at that money is like bonus
Speaker 1: money instead of like like your acting money. Did you
Speaker 1: start looking at.
Speaker 4: It as like.
Speaker 2: The acting money was yes, like extra money. The acting
Speaker 2: money was big lump sum. Let me put that in
Speaker 2: the bank. Okay, let me work these nine.
Speaker 3: To fives to pay the bills.
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, and then whatever I have left, let me
Speaker 2: stack that on top of the acting money, you know
Speaker 2: what I mean. Yeah, so you know, helping helping my
Speaker 2: mom out, you know, getting a car, paying insurance, you know,
Speaker 2: all that, all the grown up stuf, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean. But it was always the acting money sits
Speaker 2: in the bank.
Speaker 3: There's nine to five money is.
Speaker 2: To pay the bills, but also add on to what
Speaker 2: I stacked up from the acting exactly.
Speaker 1: Okay, so what's your next big gig that's more stable.
Speaker 3: From there?
Speaker 2: I think it was, Oh, it was either Shield and
Speaker 2: The Shield. I audition for that show seventeen times, audition
Speaker 2: for the Shield seventeen times, the seventeenth time, I end
Speaker 2: up getting it, and I end up doing three seasons.
Speaker 3: Now it's not consistent. I'm just a reoccurring Yeah, you
Speaker 3: know what I mean. You know, I'm able to.
Speaker 4: I don't get it. You're saying it's not consistent, but reoccurring.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I wasn't a series regular.
Speaker 2: So out of they maybe had thirteen or twenty episodes,
Speaker 2: I maybe did you know, maybe two or three in
Speaker 2: that season, you know what I mean. So it wasn't,
Speaker 2: like I said, it wasn't consistent.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you know. So once it and I'm back on
Speaker 3: my grind, it really.
Speaker 2: Wasn't the the the big the big show that really
Speaker 2: did it for me was All American.
Speaker 4: All American was freaking huge, you.
Speaker 3: Know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: And All American I ended up booking that and I
Speaker 2: was only supposed to do two episodes on All American?
Speaker 1: How did that evolve?
Speaker 4: They loved?
Speaker 2: So here's here here's a fun fact. The showrunner for
Speaker 2: All American NK and catch I did her first uh
Speaker 2: script that she wrote for television, which was a show called.
Speaker 1: Bones okay, and I remember that sh yeah okay.
Speaker 2: And that was her first script, and I played a
Speaker 2: young man from Sierra Leon who was a amputee who
Speaker 2: was accused.
Speaker 3: Of murdering his best friend.
Speaker 2: And on that show probably the most money I made
Speaker 2: as a guest star, okay, because the actors, the main actors, Brandon,
Speaker 2: they kept getting sick.
Speaker 4: Okay, it was flu season, Okay.
Speaker 2: So I think I that particular episode took almost like
Speaker 2: a month to make, when usually episodes take seven to
Speaker 2: eight days.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so that's probably the most money I made.
Speaker 2: But we were able to have a great relationship from
Speaker 2: there showing up doing the work and then you know, boom.
Speaker 2: And then also the show The Shield that auditioned for
Speaker 2: seventeen times. The Cold showrunner Jamie Turner was a story
Speaker 2: editor on that show, Okay, And we connected cause it
Speaker 2: wasn't like I said, it wasn't any wasn't I mean
Speaker 2: melenated people in those rooms got it. So me and
Speaker 2: him connected, and here you have those two individuals now
Speaker 2: on all American.
Speaker 3: Geez, you know what I mean?
Speaker 2: And I you know, I'm only supposed to do two episodes,
Speaker 2: and you know, n K the showrunner, which never happens,
Speaker 2: but because of the relationship, calls me. It is like, hey,
Speaker 2: I don't know if you got the season finale script,
Speaker 2: but you get shot, you know, and as an actor,
Speaker 2: you're like, okay, thank you for thank you for the opportunity.
Speaker 2: But she was like, hey, you don't die. We planning
Speaker 2: on keeping you around for a while.
Speaker 4: Holy cow.
Speaker 1: And did you smile?
Speaker 2: I mean yeah, it was just like, you know, hey,
Speaker 2: I have you know, I have another opportunity for work. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and you know, those words rang true. And I've been
Speaker 2: on that show for seven seasons incredible, and we just
Speaker 2: got a renewed for eighth, so we start back for
Speaker 2: season eight, uh pretty soon. So you know that by
Speaker 2: far consistent. And it wasn't until season three that I
Speaker 2: was able to let my jobs go. So working on
Speaker 2: All American, I was working three jobs. I was working
Speaker 2: with Google, I was working with this company called test Loop,
Speaker 2: and Samsung, which is crazy, all doing brand ambassador, doing
Speaker 2: brand ambassador work while on All American and and I
Speaker 2: was also moonlighting as a talent wrangler.
Speaker 3: For a Master Chef.
Speaker 4: Oh I love that show.
Speaker 2: Yeah okay, And so we shot it around here. So
Speaker 2: when I wasn't working on set. I was a talent
Speaker 2: wrangler for a master chef. So big shout out to
Speaker 2: Desi because she always gave me a job.
Speaker 1: And then did did your co stars also know that
Speaker 1: you were also hustling other jobs?
Speaker 3: Oh for sure?
Speaker 2: For sure, Like I wasn't afraid to talk about it,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. But also tools me just
Speaker 2: in stealing wisdom on you know, instelling wisdom to them
Speaker 2: as well. Yeah, to let them know my journey. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean. And so really I had
Speaker 2: four jobs. So I was working as a talent wrangler,
Speaker 2: and I was working graveyard, so I did overnights. So
Speaker 2: what it was is I would go to the hotel, yeah,
Speaker 2: where the contestants were six o'clock at night, and I
Speaker 2: would stay until six seven in the morning geez.
Speaker 3: So therefore I can.
Speaker 2: Be able to have the rest of my day to
Speaker 2: be able to audition or if I had.
Speaker 3: To do Brandon bassa work.
Speaker 4: I was able to do that in addition to shooting
Speaker 4: aditional shooting.
Speaker 1: Now, when you decide to pull the trigger on going
Speaker 1: one hundred percent acting season three, how does that feel
Speaker 1: and what makes you finally pull the trigger?
Speaker 3: Well, I it was always one hundred percent.
Speaker 2: It was just now, I mean they were they were saying, hey,
Speaker 2: we wanna be able to take your storyline and this
Speaker 2: is what we're going with.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So then it was just like, oh, okay, well now
Speaker 2: we're giving you a guaranteed six seven episodes.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So it was just like okay and more money. Cool.
Speaker 2: So now I was able to leave those jobs. But
Speaker 2: knowing me, because the hustle was always in me, so
Speaker 2: the shooting schedule, if I wasn't on the episode, I'd
Speaker 2: be like, yo, I'm available for X amount of days.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So it was always I always was working. Let's just
Speaker 2: put it like that. If it wasn't in front of
Speaker 2: the camera, I was working a regular nine to five
Speaker 2: you know what I mean.
Speaker 4: Now that you're stable, and what about the Vince Staple Show.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so the Vince Staple Show comes around season six six,
Speaker 2: season five or season six, Yeah, I get that, and
Speaker 2: you know, auditioned for it and I didn't get the apart,
Speaker 2: but they offered me a role.
Speaker 3: They said, hey, you mind playing the uncle, and I.
Speaker 2: Was just like absolutely yeah, And you know, find myself
Speaker 2: on set and you know the relationship I have with
Speaker 2: Vince goes back to a good friend of mine by
Speaker 2: the name of cal Mattick, a director who was directing
Speaker 2: a lot of Vince Staples videos. So that's how I
Speaker 2: was able to meet Vince Staples prior to being on
Speaker 2: the Vince Staple Show. Okay, so you know, we do
Speaker 2: The Vin Staple Show, and you know, I have some
Speaker 2: memorable lines cause they let me do my thing, and
Speaker 2: you know, that show does very well, and we get
Speaker 2: a second season, you know what I mean. So now
Speaker 2: I have two shows. Yeah, you know, so we just
Speaker 2: finished season two, So Vince Staples Show will be out soon,
Speaker 2: hopefully by fall. Yeah, and then I'll be shooting season
Speaker 2: eight of All American.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: One of the things that I like is when I
Speaker 1: approached you, you're very approachable, you know, and I think
Speaker 1: as a woman, I think when you approach guys, you
Speaker 1: never know how it's gonna.
Speaker 4: Go, especially in this game hilarious.
Speaker 1: But one of the things that sticks out to me
Speaker 1: in this whole interview, which I personally struggle with, is ego.
Speaker 1: And I just don't know how you're able to it
Speaker 1: just seems like the entire your entire life, w ego
Speaker 1: was always checked absolutely.
Speaker 4: Do you know where that is rooted from.
Speaker 3: I think just.
Speaker 2: Like I said, I've had examples, you know, of just
Speaker 2: being in this business and how people are treated, you know,
Speaker 2: because you're on TV and you know things that nature
Speaker 2: and and just my regular jobs is just like you know,
Speaker 2: I put on my pants just like you. It's just
Speaker 2: so I just happen to be on TV, yeah, you know,
Speaker 2: and just raised and brought up to just treat people
Speaker 2: with respect and just simply being nice. Yeah, And I
Speaker 2: think that's just what carried me through, you know, my
Speaker 2: younger years and to my adult years and then you know,
Speaker 2: I think that helps career wise.
Speaker 3: Nobody wants to work with a asshole. Nope, you know
Speaker 3: what I mean. So for me, it's just it doesn't
Speaker 3: cost anything to be nice.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So that's just how it is. Man.
Speaker 2: I'm I'm blessed. I'm doing what I love. So when
Speaker 2: you are living in your purpose, why you gotta be angry,
Speaker 2: Why you gotta be a jackass? Why you gotta be
Speaker 2: uh you know, stuck up? Yeah, you're I I literally
Speaker 2: asked for this. I literally wrote on my vision board
Speaker 2: in two thousand thirteen that I wanted to be on
Speaker 2: a hit TV show. I wasn't specific, but I literally
Speaker 2: said I wanted to be on a hit TV show
Speaker 2: and it happened.
Speaker 3: It happened.
Speaker 2: So what do I need to be, you know, angry for?
Speaker 2: And I've went through the I've went through the process.
Speaker 2: I went through the grind.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So when you're when you worked jobs that you really
Speaker 2: didn't wanna be at. Yah, And and I'm visualizing being
Speaker 2: on set and doing what I love, and then once
Speaker 2: you get that opportunity, why God be angry. I'm grateful.
Speaker 2: I'm blessed, you know what I mean. So I'm excited,
Speaker 2: you know what I'm saying, just to be able to
Speaker 2: be in a place, in a space to do what
Speaker 2: I love, you know what I mean. So that's what
Speaker 2: it's always been for me. So that's one of my
Speaker 2: happiest places is really just you know, being on set
Speaker 2: doing what I love.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I love it.
Speaker 1: You cook amazingly.
Speaker 3: Oh thank you.
Speaker 2: My family, my family and friends will be like, yeah right, dude,
Speaker 2: don't cook.
Speaker 4: No, you cooked really good.
Speaker 1: And he told me a lesson about searing salmon in
Speaker 1: a pan high heat, not that long, not that long.
Speaker 4: Definitely have a smoke or mask on.
Speaker 3: Ye look usually have a stove with a fan.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so it wouldn't be as bad. But we're on
Speaker 1: a set, So thank you so much for coming by.
Speaker 1: Where can everybody keep up with everything Korean?
Speaker 5: You can say Korean grimes on all platforms Instagram, tik top, Facebook, Snapchat,
Speaker 5: spiel whatever it is all all Korean grimes.
Speaker 3: Talk to me.
Speaker 2: I talked back A A R E E M j
Speaker 2: R I M k R E E M g R
Speaker 2: I M E S.
Speaker 3: You're ready for season eight of All American?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Also season two of the Van Staples Show.
Speaker 2: Uncle Mike is back and this season two is funnier
Speaker 2: than season one. And yeah, just also have a short
Speaker 2: film called Soul of the City a Joy Brunson, amazing actress,
Speaker 2: Mark Prince, myself rector, a bio, Roger uh Roger Melvin.
Speaker 3: So that's it, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: And then before we sign out, is there any piece
Speaker 1: of advice you give to anybody else out there in
Speaker 1: the game coming up?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: For sure, I think you know, you gotta make daily deposits,
Speaker 2: you know, daily deposits and whatever that you whatever it
Speaker 2: is that you want to do in life. Once you
Speaker 2: make those daily deposits, you know your return will be
Speaker 2: great because each and every day you're doing something towards
Speaker 2: your goal of whatever it is in life. And you know,
Speaker 2: just being in the business, you know, enjoy the process,
Speaker 2: don't cheat it, treat it with respect, and just simply
Speaker 2: be nice.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it simply be nice.
Speaker 1: And guys, don't forget you can eat healthy while being broke.
Speaker 3: Absolutely no, there's no excuses.
Speaker 4: All right, guys, Thanks for tuning in. Peace out
Speaker 1: For more eating while broke from iHeartRadio and The Black Effect,
Speaker 1: Visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen
Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.