1
00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:04,320
Speaker 1: So it's everyone needs a great pair of wireless earbuds.

2
00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:06,480
Speaker 1: But before you go dropping hundreds of dollars on a pair,

3
00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:10,040
Speaker 1: you need to check out the wireless earbuds from Recon.

4
00:00:10,400 --> 00:00:12,840
Speaker 1: Recon earbuds start off about half the price of any

5
00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:15,840
Speaker 1: other premium wireless earbuds on the market, and they sound

6
00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:18,760
Speaker 1: just as amazing. The company was actually co founded by

7
00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:21,760
Speaker 1: Ray j and celebrities like Stoop Dog, Melissy Aathe Cardib,

8
00:00:21,960 --> 00:00:25,800
Speaker 1: Brandy j R. Smith and Moore are already obsessed. Recon's

9
00:00:25,840 --> 00:00:29,400
Speaker 1: wireless earbuds are so comfortable and so easy to take anywhere.

10
00:00:29,680 --> 00:00:32,280
Speaker 1: Unlike some of your other wireless options, Recon earbuds are

11
00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:35,360
Speaker 1: both stylish and discreet, with no dangling wires or stems.

12
00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:37,600
Speaker 1: And of course they don't just look great, they sound

13
00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,880
Speaker 1: great too, and they're perfect for listening to all your

14
00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:44,880
Speaker 1: favorite I heart radio podcasts on the go. Recon offers

15
00:00:44,920 --> 00:00:47,400
Speaker 1: their wireless earbuds for everyone in a range of fun

16
00:00:47,479 --> 00:00:51,320
Speaker 1: colors and at an unbeatable price. So go to buy

17
00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:54,640
Speaker 1: Recon dot com slash I heart to get off your

18
00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:58,320
Speaker 1: order that's by Recon dot com slash I heart for

19
00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:01,200
Speaker 1: off Recon why or list of ear buds. If you've

20
00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:03,080
Speaker 1: been eyeing a parent, now is the time to get

21
00:01:03,120 --> 00:01:07,120
Speaker 1: an amazing deal one more time by raycon dot com slash.

22
00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,080
Speaker 1: I heart my next guest as an actress, writer and producer.

23
00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:13,360
Speaker 1: Shee right there. We are on the same line, but

24
00:01:13,520 --> 00:01:16,080
Speaker 1: she can actually just only active. I only have one

25
00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:19,679
Speaker 1: acting opportunity that I accepted. That was Jason's lyric. I

26
00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:23,319
Speaker 1: played Fast Freddy. That's my historical moment in acting, spending

27
00:01:23,319 --> 00:01:26,360
Speaker 1: nearly twenty years her career, spending nearly twenty years in television,

28
00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:29,080
Speaker 1: film and theater. When you do a theater you can act.

29
00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,520
Speaker 1: Just tell you that now theater you can act now

30
00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,000
Speaker 1: because usually especially when you start the early days of theater,

31
00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:36,280
Speaker 1: because people right sitting right next up to you. You know,

32
00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:39,520
Speaker 1: early theater, you know you can like to lean forward

33
00:01:39,560 --> 00:01:42,640
Speaker 1: and see you and touch your customers. Her latest project

34
00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:45,800
Speaker 1: includes To Set Up Your Drama All American, which is

35
00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:50,680
Speaker 1: based on a true story, starting the role of Grace James.

36
00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:53,440
Speaker 1: She's also start in the upcoming movie called Bolden, a

37
00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,840
Speaker 1: reimaged life story of the influential New Orleans music legend

38
00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:00,200
Speaker 1: Buddy Bolden, which we in theaters May three. But He's

39
00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:06,120
Speaker 1: welcome to money making conversations. Karema Westbrook, thank you for

40
00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:08,280
Speaker 1: having me. Oh she comes on with that. You know

41
00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:14,480
Speaker 1: that that great voice, gracious voice, I got the morning voice.

42
00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:18,079
Speaker 1: That's your voice here. I'm just going to say one thing.

43
00:02:18,639 --> 00:02:23,440
Speaker 1: All American is inspired by story, So not all the

44
00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:28,639
Speaker 1: details on the series is exactly true. And um, I

45
00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:32,160
Speaker 1: have a co star role in Embolden. I just don't

46
00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:33,960
Speaker 1: want to mislead people. They're going to go to the

47
00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:35,440
Speaker 1: movies and think I'm a lead and then they're gonna

48
00:02:35,440 --> 00:02:38,920
Speaker 1: watch all Americans think it's all true. Okay, okay, okay,

49
00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:42,000
Speaker 1: alrighty um. You know a lot of people think Black

50
00:02:42,000 --> 00:02:48,280
Speaker 1: Panther real. You know that they're looking for Wakanda. Just

51
00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:50,160
Speaker 1: let you know at the at the Delta they change

52
00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:53,680
Speaker 1: one of the one of the flight schedules to Wakanda.

53
00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:57,000
Speaker 1: You know that. You know that. So you know it's

54
00:02:57,120 --> 00:02:59,480
Speaker 1: who wants to know the truth will believe it to

55
00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,600
Speaker 1: be the truth. My whole thing is that you're absolutely right,

56
00:03:02,720 --> 00:03:04,560
Speaker 1: is inspired and so you have to say these things

57
00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,079
Speaker 1: so people want will sue you because that's my life.

58
00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:10,720
Speaker 1: They told that's me, that's that's really me. And there

59
00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:13,079
Speaker 1: that's my role you're lying. I need I need to check.

60
00:03:13,120 --> 00:03:15,880
Speaker 1: So that's why I used the word inspired. But more importantly,

61
00:03:16,160 --> 00:03:19,200
Speaker 1: your career has been inspired twenty years. So what did

62
00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:22,519
Speaker 1: you want? So I'm someone that you said, you're early

63
00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:27,600
Speaker 1: morning bars, You're on the West coast. Yes, okay. Usually

64
00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:30,360
Speaker 1: people thank you for getting up early to do my show.

65
00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:33,080
Speaker 1: Thank you? What did it all start? What did it

66
00:03:33,080 --> 00:03:36,520
Speaker 1: all start for you? Being inspired? What city? What state?

67
00:03:36,800 --> 00:03:38,120
Speaker 1: They said? You know, I want to do this for

68
00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:42,600
Speaker 1: a little Well. I was born and raised in Chicago,

69
00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:47,280
Speaker 1: and as a child, I've always been very active in

70
00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:52,000
Speaker 1: sports and in the arts. I did plays, um community

71
00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:56,200
Speaker 1: plays as a kid and end in school and I

72
00:03:56,200 --> 00:03:59,400
Speaker 1: I kind of went back and forth between um acting

73
00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,920
Speaker 1: in sports. I was very active in sports, and my

74
00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,560
Speaker 1: biggest influence growing up was Whoopi Goldberg, Like I love

75
00:04:07,680 --> 00:04:10,360
Speaker 1: Hippy Goldberg and it's so funny. As a kid, I

76
00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,600
Speaker 1: never realized that it was something that I could do professionally.

77
00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:17,000
Speaker 1: It always seemed so far away, even though I did

78
00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:19,600
Speaker 1: it to entertain. I did plays that I just never

79
00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:22,599
Speaker 1: really connected the docks, like, oh, you can actually earn

80
00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:27,000
Speaker 1: a living doing this until I was in my late teens,

81
00:04:27,839 --> 00:04:31,200
Speaker 1: and once I was done in high school, I started

82
00:04:31,240 --> 00:04:35,040
Speaker 1: to look at acting more seriously, trying to figure out exactly,

83
00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:38,080
Speaker 1: you know, how I could do it on a professional level.

84
00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:40,159
Speaker 1: Once I knew I could do it on a professional level,

85
00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:43,680
Speaker 1: and I started auditioning for still auditioning for plays in

86
00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,880
Speaker 1: Chicago independent films, and then there was excuse me, there

87
00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:51,400
Speaker 1: was a movie that came to Chicago call Saved the

88
00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:55,400
Speaker 1: Last Dance. There was a big production coming from Hollywood,

89
00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:58,599
Speaker 1: and at the at the time, I didn't have an agent,

90
00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:01,479
Speaker 1: but all the actor to that knew in Chicago was

91
00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,240
Speaker 1: talking about this movie. I got an audition, You got

92
00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:05,840
Speaker 1: an audition, You got an audition. I was like, oh

93
00:05:05,880 --> 00:05:08,039
Speaker 1: my god, I don't have an audition. And at the

94
00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:11,000
Speaker 1: time I only had a commercial agent. And so this

95
00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:13,720
Speaker 1: girl that I worked with and she was like, yeah,

96
00:05:13,760 --> 00:05:16,159
Speaker 1: I have an audition tomorrow for Stable as Dance. I

97
00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:19,080
Speaker 1: was like, oh, learn really what time? And then she

98
00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:20,839
Speaker 1: told me one time. I was like, oh, yeah, who's

99
00:05:20,839 --> 00:05:23,479
Speaker 1: doing the casting? Tell me who was doing the casting

100
00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:27,000
Speaker 1: where they were located. So sure enough, that very next

101
00:05:27,080 --> 00:05:30,560
Speaker 1: day I showed up at the audition and clearly they

102
00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:33,400
Speaker 1: were looking for a certain type and I was not

103
00:05:33,640 --> 00:05:36,640
Speaker 1: it so I stuck out like a sore thumb, and

104
00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:39,200
Speaker 1: the casting director she came out and she said, does

105
00:05:39,240 --> 00:05:42,279
Speaker 1: everybody here have an audition? That was clearly for me,

106
00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,359
Speaker 1: and um, you know, I kind of got up, like

107
00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:48,880
Speaker 1: can I talk to you for a minute, and so um,

108
00:05:49,040 --> 00:05:51,080
Speaker 1: I pulled over right and pull it over, but we

109
00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:53,120
Speaker 1: kind of walked over to the side, and I was like,

110
00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:55,599
Speaker 1: I don't have an audition, but I really really want

111
00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:58,800
Speaker 1: audition for this role. And she let me audition and

112
00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:00,720
Speaker 1: then I ended up getting the all back. And it

113
00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:02,479
Speaker 1: was the whole thing with my hair because I was

114
00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:04,920
Speaker 1: wearing my hair and natural back then, but they wanted

115
00:06:05,000 --> 00:06:07,520
Speaker 1: someone with long straight here. So I went through this

116
00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:09,680
Speaker 1: whole thing and trying to find a wig. I didn't

117
00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:11,560
Speaker 1: want to put a stew in in my head. Back then,

118
00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,120
Speaker 1: my wig was like a mop because back then it

119
00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:16,960
Speaker 1: was like Louis talking like almost twenty years ago. So

120
00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:20,080
Speaker 1: the wig like literally set up on top of my head.

121
00:06:20,120 --> 00:06:23,160
Speaker 1: It was look awful. But I went back. I had

122
00:06:23,200 --> 00:06:26,000
Speaker 1: to call back audition again. They called me back again,

123
00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:29,520
Speaker 1: and um, they wanted to be auditioned for a different

124
00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:31,800
Speaker 1: role and then call me back again. I met with

125
00:06:31,839 --> 00:06:34,479
Speaker 1: the director and then I got a part in the

126
00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,680
Speaker 1: movie and that was the start of me earning enough

127
00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:43,400
Speaker 1: money to move to California. And um, after I worked

128
00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:49,080
Speaker 1: on the film, I ended up moving to California and

129
00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:51,080
Speaker 1: the rest is kind of history. I mean, there was

130
00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:53,560
Speaker 1: a lot of different things in between that. You know.

131
00:06:53,720 --> 00:06:56,640
Speaker 1: I went to the Academy of Dramatic Arts one summer

132
00:06:56,720 --> 00:07:00,160
Speaker 1: for their summer program prior to that, and I knew that, uh,

133
00:07:00,279 --> 00:07:02,800
Speaker 1: I had to get back to California in order to

134
00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:06,960
Speaker 1: pursue a career in television and film. And so I've

135
00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:10,040
Speaker 1: always been very goal oriented. So I wrote out all

136
00:07:10,040 --> 00:07:12,560
Speaker 1: of my goals and what I want to do, and

137
00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:15,880
Speaker 1: it seemed like everything was like falling into place. Like

138
00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,400
Speaker 1: literally even from when I book say the Last Dance,

139
00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:22,320
Speaker 1: I remember meeting with the director Thomas Carter, and he

140
00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:24,040
Speaker 1: was like, so, what are your goals? And that was

141
00:07:24,080 --> 00:07:26,000
Speaker 1: like the perfect question for me because I had all

142
00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:27,560
Speaker 1: the answers. I was like, I want to get my

143
00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:29,680
Speaker 1: sad car, I want to want to get into Union,

144
00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:30,960
Speaker 1: I want to move to l A. I want to

145
00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:33,640
Speaker 1: be television you know. I had like this was long list.

146
00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:37,240
Speaker 1: I was like completely ready and um so after booking

147
00:07:37,240 --> 00:07:41,400
Speaker 1: that film I moved to. I had enough money to

148
00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:45,520
Speaker 1: move to l A. And um, you know, prior to that,

149
00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:47,720
Speaker 1: as I was saying, I'm always in very goal oriented,

150
00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,000
Speaker 1: So I was planning to get to l A. I

151
00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,240
Speaker 1: didn't know how I was going to get there. I'm

152
00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:55,520
Speaker 1: very familiar with Saving Last Dance. It's one of my

153
00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:00,280
Speaker 1: familiar was as an interracial relationship as a young lady

154
00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:04,920
Speaker 1: African American lead and a white female lead and uh,

155
00:08:05,000 --> 00:08:07,880
Speaker 1: and she was wanted to be a ballet dancer, okay,

156
00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:11,200
Speaker 1: and then by going into the black community, she was

157
00:08:11,520 --> 00:08:14,160
Speaker 1: ostracized because you know, she was she had rhythm, she

158
00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:16,240
Speaker 1: was cool, and that was what she was dating this

159
00:08:16,680 --> 00:08:19,720
Speaker 1: kind of popular black guy who was also tied to

160
00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:23,240
Speaker 1: a game, a game. So so it was one of

161
00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:24,840
Speaker 1: my favorite movies. And just that's why I know so

162
00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:27,440
Speaker 1: much details about it. So so I was like, you

163
00:08:27,520 --> 00:08:32,199
Speaker 1: really know the thing way when it came out, because

164
00:08:32,200 --> 00:08:34,560
Speaker 1: I was writing, I was writing and doing sitcoms to

165
00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:36,400
Speaker 1: the time, my thought was a silly concept. I was

166
00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:38,480
Speaker 1: gonna watch this and I became one of my favorite movies.

167
00:08:38,880 --> 00:08:41,480
Speaker 1: And so, so, what's the One of the Road. Were

168
00:08:41,480 --> 00:08:44,880
Speaker 1: you one of the that the the girls that didn't

169
00:08:44,880 --> 00:08:47,800
Speaker 1: like her or which one did? Did you did your

170
00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:51,840
Speaker 1: character make the screen? I did make the stra screen.

171
00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:56,480
Speaker 1: I had one line, and I was um. I was

172
00:08:56,520 --> 00:09:00,480
Speaker 1: one of the girls who didn't like her and his

173
00:09:00,640 --> 00:09:03,880
Speaker 1: ex girlfriend. So initially I auditioned for the girl the

174
00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:06,719
Speaker 1: ex girlfriend, and I didn't get that role, but I

175
00:09:06,800 --> 00:09:09,520
Speaker 1: ended up getting like one of her friends. Right, So

176
00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:13,760
Speaker 1: I was just instigating in the club and yeah, when

177
00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:17,000
Speaker 1: she was dancing with John Patrick comments the guy, I

178
00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:22,920
Speaker 1: was instigating, like you were one of them girls. Yeah,

179
00:09:23,840 --> 00:09:27,840
Speaker 1: because they were like yeah right, yeah, huh yeah, okay.

180
00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:31,040
Speaker 1: Co Well that's that's great because see, my whole thing

181
00:09:31,040 --> 00:09:32,959
Speaker 1: about it is that, first of all, I got to

182
00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:35,000
Speaker 1: get a Chicago story out of you about the weather.

183
00:09:35,040 --> 00:09:37,920
Speaker 1: I just came back from Alaska last week, and so

184
00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:40,320
Speaker 1: it was cold, and so I was walking around just

185
00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:42,319
Speaker 1: being normal. It was like twenty six degrees. I was

186
00:09:42,360 --> 00:09:44,360
Speaker 1: just being normal, and then the guy said, man, it's

187
00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:46,640
Speaker 1: cold out there. I said, excuse me, excuse me, I've

188
00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:50,160
Speaker 1: lived five years in Chicago. Yeah, I'm the five years

189
00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:54,080
Speaker 1: in Chicago. I'll just let you understand this is nothing. Yeah,

190
00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:57,200
Speaker 1: you have no haark. You have the wind coming around

191
00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:00,679
Speaker 1: the corner. Knocking your face off. You have in the

192
00:10:00,679 --> 00:10:05,679
Speaker 1: wind that drives up your tears and nicky eyes, blink icicles.

193
00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:08,880
Speaker 1: You don't have that here. You have cold. You have

194
00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:13,720
Speaker 1: drama in Chicago with the weather. So yeah, now, miss Westbrook,

195
00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:16,480
Speaker 1: do you have a cold story you can share with

196
00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:19,080
Speaker 1: us before we go before we are a continuous interview,

197
00:10:19,120 --> 00:10:21,719
Speaker 1: because I just can't let as Chicago native just come

198
00:10:21,760 --> 00:10:24,040
Speaker 1: on my show and just talk about Chicago like it's

199
00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:26,320
Speaker 1: because that that's an experience that five years I was

200
00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:28,680
Speaker 1: up there, five years, I know I would walk around

201
00:10:28,720 --> 00:10:31,080
Speaker 1: the street and be unrecognizable. They won't know if I

202
00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:32,760
Speaker 1: was black and white. That's how much clothes I had

203
00:10:32,760 --> 00:10:39,560
Speaker 1: on Chicago. Yeah, that is something that I really tried

204
00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:44,079
Speaker 1: to forget about the weather. I would say that it

205
00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:47,840
Speaker 1: is definitely I did not miss the weather at all,

206
00:10:48,160 --> 00:10:51,440
Speaker 1: so very low. But you know, once you live there,

207
00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:55,600
Speaker 1: you kind of adjust it's being so cold, but it's

208
00:10:55,640 --> 00:10:59,440
Speaker 1: still very cold, And I honestly just have completely tried

209
00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,840
Speaker 1: to forget those brutal cold days of having them go

210
00:11:02,880 --> 00:11:04,800
Speaker 1: out and turn the car on and let it run

211
00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:08,280
Speaker 1: about ten minutes before you get in at it. Yeah,

212
00:11:08,480 --> 00:11:13,480
Speaker 1: you just don't dropping the cold Chicago call, yeah, I does.

213
00:11:13,520 --> 00:11:15,600
Speaker 1: I don't care if you got the heat warmer. It's

214
00:11:15,640 --> 00:11:17,800
Speaker 1: just it's just ain't happening. So I just want to

215
00:11:18,120 --> 00:11:20,120
Speaker 1: I just wanted to bring that up because I had to.

216
00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:23,480
Speaker 1: It was whenever somebody said it from Chicago, it just

217
00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:26,520
Speaker 1: brings back a flood of cold memories to meet Miss Western,

218
00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:29,120
Speaker 1: and so I just gotta I just gotta like bring

219
00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:32,320
Speaker 1: your pain to my pain, you know what I'm saying. Especially,

220
00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:34,600
Speaker 1: I was just in Alaska this weekend and I'm walking

221
00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:36,880
Speaker 1: around at twenty six like it's nothing. You know. I

222
00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:38,880
Speaker 1: didn't even have the Chilians on. I didn't have anything.

223
00:11:39,000 --> 00:11:42,000
Speaker 1: I was just walking around regular, regular, regular pants. I

224
00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:45,720
Speaker 1: was just cool, just and but the thing about it

225
00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,240
Speaker 1: is that I love the fact that Chicago is such

226
00:11:49,280 --> 00:11:53,200
Speaker 1: a melting pot of creativity. It's it's really one of

227
00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:55,240
Speaker 1: my favorite cities. And I want to get in more

228
00:11:55,240 --> 00:11:58,280
Speaker 1: detail about the writing aspect that you were talking about

229
00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:00,960
Speaker 1: because of the fact that you producer and all that,

230
00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:03,199
Speaker 1: because there's so many layers that people don't understand. When

231
00:12:03,200 --> 00:12:06,280
Speaker 1: you get into Hollywood, you just can't be just an actress.

232
00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:10,000
Speaker 1: You have to have layers. It's called multiple talents. Which

233
00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:13,319
Speaker 1: leads the multiple streets of incomes, would leads the multiple opportunities.

234
00:12:13,480 --> 00:12:15,600
Speaker 1: When we come back, we'll be right back with more

235
00:12:15,640 --> 00:12:18,440
Speaker 1: of It's Westbrook. As we talked about her career from

236
00:12:18,559 --> 00:12:21,280
Speaker 1: Chicago to l A, say the last dance, because we've

237
00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:25,160
Speaker 1: got more break with her. I just ra Sean McDonald's

238
00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:28,040
Speaker 1: heading into the final break of my show money making

239
00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:33,559
Speaker 1: conversations on the phone. Is a very talented actress, writer, producer,

240
00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:39,000
Speaker 1: straight out of Chicago, not living in uh Los Angeles. Um,

241
00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:41,400
Speaker 1: and the she's got up early for my show. Twenty

242
00:12:41,480 --> 00:12:44,839
Speaker 1: years in the business. When when you tell somebody twenty years,

243
00:12:45,080 --> 00:12:47,800
Speaker 1: I always tell people that that's a resume builder. That's ah,

244
00:12:48,200 --> 00:12:51,200
Speaker 1: it doesn't happen overnight. Um, you have to do a

245
00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:55,040
Speaker 1: lot of different things. It's Westbrook to be successful. And uh,

246
00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:57,800
Speaker 1: you you you you came in as an actress. When

247
00:12:57,800 --> 00:13:00,120
Speaker 1: did you start shifting to the writing and produce some

248
00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:05,120
Speaker 1: phases of your career. I started writing and producing in

249
00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:09,000
Speaker 1: two thousand seven. This was right before the oddly was

250
00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:12,640
Speaker 1: right before the writer's strike and two thousand and seven.

251
00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:18,040
Speaker 1: But I just felt the desire to create my own opportunities,

252
00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:23,760
Speaker 1: you know, instead of waiting for work. I mean, the

253
00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:27,240
Speaker 1: the amount of work that was available, it wasn't the

254
00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:29,920
Speaker 1: same back then that it is now. And so I

255
00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:33,120
Speaker 1: thought it was important for me to create and not

256
00:13:33,280 --> 00:13:37,640
Speaker 1: just wait. And so that's what I did. Well, you know,

257
00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:39,560
Speaker 1: it's interesting, did you say that, because that was at

258
00:13:39,559 --> 00:13:43,400
Speaker 1: the time where, you know, where where reality shows started dominating,

259
00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:46,679
Speaker 1: and then that came out of that strike. Remember, that's

260
00:13:46,679 --> 00:13:48,240
Speaker 1: why there was a lot of people, well, you know,

261
00:13:48,240 --> 00:13:50,160
Speaker 1: we can, we can get back, because everybody was questioning,

262
00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:53,079
Speaker 1: what is a writer? What are there right now? It's

263
00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:54,920
Speaker 1: a reality or show or those right? Oh no, no,

264
00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:57,720
Speaker 1: we're just producing them. We're just producing them. And so

265
00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:00,839
Speaker 1: at one time, because I had our of producing the

266
00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:04,920
Speaker 1: awards show called the Neighborhood Awards the Hoodie Awards, and

267
00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:07,880
Speaker 1: it was becoming very difficult for me to find talent,

268
00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:10,640
Speaker 1: celebrity talent to go on stage because they weren't working.

269
00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:14,960
Speaker 1: They weren't working, and so I really I thought that

270
00:14:15,000 --> 00:14:18,160
Speaker 1: was a dark time for African American talent as well

271
00:14:18,200 --> 00:14:24,480
Speaker 1: as storytelling, because all our images were argumentative in reality shows,

272
00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:26,880
Speaker 1: you know, spending on each other, throwing drinks on each other,

273
00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:29,240
Speaker 1: climbing on top of the fight, over men fight over

274
00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:31,720
Speaker 1: each other, fighting over clothes. That for a boy, the

275
00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:34,360
Speaker 1: like a like a four year window. That's all we

276
00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:37,280
Speaker 1: were on television, and that was I thought that was sad.

277
00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:40,880
Speaker 1: So when you say that, hey, the opportunities weren't there,

278
00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:43,160
Speaker 1: you started building your armor to you wanted to create

279
00:14:43,160 --> 00:14:49,280
Speaker 1: your opportunities. That was tied to reality shows right right, um,

280
00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:51,400
Speaker 1: and it was squite the best thing I could have did.

281
00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:57,080
Speaker 1: I think every actors should create their own opportunities, right

282
00:14:57,160 --> 00:15:00,320
Speaker 1: because it also serves as a calling card. Know, the

283
00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:03,160
Speaker 1: big thing for a lot of actors is to try

284
00:15:03,200 --> 00:15:05,080
Speaker 1: to you know, get a demo reel and get their

285
00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:08,280
Speaker 1: demo real together and all this and that. But writing

286
00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:13,520
Speaker 1: and producing a film, even if it's like a short. Um,

287
00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:15,720
Speaker 1: Now you don't need a whole lot of money to

288
00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:20,040
Speaker 1: create something good. It serves as a bigger calling card.

289
00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:23,040
Speaker 1: And now with so many different avenues and outlets to

290
00:15:24,080 --> 00:15:29,440
Speaker 1: distribute your work and have places license it, there's more

291
00:15:29,440 --> 00:15:32,080
Speaker 1: opportunities for you to even get paid for the things

292
00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:36,360
Speaker 1: that you create. Now, thats theater you do? A theater

293
00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:39,240
Speaker 1: you've done? Have you done? Sitcoms? Are your sitcomfers or

294
00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:44,120
Speaker 1: your drama? I normally have mainly done drama, but I

295
00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:46,280
Speaker 1: have done some sitcoms. Back in the day, I worked

296
00:15:46,280 --> 00:15:50,720
Speaker 1: on shows like Girlfriends and Militia, but those are probably

297
00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:54,000
Speaker 1: the only two sitcoms I've ever worked on. I'm a

298
00:15:54,040 --> 00:15:59,920
Speaker 1: sitcom guy, you know, I'm the Jamie Fox. Some ten

299
00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:03,640
Speaker 1: to Marry Maras have a sitcom guy, Steve Harvey. So

300
00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:05,280
Speaker 1: so I know there is a big difference. I always

301
00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:08,840
Speaker 1: tell people. In the sitcom, they you you open the door,

302
00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:10,920
Speaker 1: and a drama they allow you to walk to the

303
00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:15,200
Speaker 1: door and then open it and so so well used.

304
00:16:15,600 --> 00:16:18,440
Speaker 1: And also dramas are more emotional. But now theater that's

305
00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:22,680
Speaker 1: a different calling card, isn't it. Yeah, theater you have

306
00:16:22,800 --> 00:16:27,840
Speaker 1: more space. Um, when I say that, television you're working

307
00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:32,200
Speaker 1: within certain frames. Film you're working within certain frames, but

308
00:16:32,280 --> 00:16:35,360
Speaker 1: you still have a little more space than television. Theater

309
00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:40,280
Speaker 1: you're completely free. Theater is consistent. There's no stop, cut,

310
00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:43,680
Speaker 1: you know, let's do it again. You're living the story

311
00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:46,760
Speaker 1: all the way through. There's no breaks in between, maybe

312
00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:50,360
Speaker 1: if there's an intermission, but outside of that, there's no cut,

313
00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,320
Speaker 1: there's no let's redo it. You know, you're living it

314
00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:57,680
Speaker 1: completely all the way through and you have to project more.

315
00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:01,840
Speaker 1: You have to really use your your voice to reach

316
00:17:01,920 --> 00:17:04,440
Speaker 1: the people in the back of the theater. You know. Um,

317
00:17:04,520 --> 00:17:07,639
Speaker 1: some bigger theaters have microphones, but most of them don't,

318
00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:13,040
Speaker 1: so you really have to have um strong vocal um

319
00:17:13,240 --> 00:17:16,360
Speaker 1: tools to really project. But they'll be able to live

320
00:17:16,359 --> 00:17:18,680
Speaker 1: truthfully where the person in the back of the theater

321
00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:23,200
Speaker 1: can still what you're experiencing. So it is a different approach,

322
00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:27,160
Speaker 1: but all in all, you're still being and all three

323
00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:30,040
Speaker 1: of the mediums with you know, with the whatever story

324
00:17:30,080 --> 00:17:32,479
Speaker 1: you're telling, you're still being as your character. It's just

325
00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:38,000
Speaker 1: about how you're using your your body at this point, um,

326
00:17:38,040 --> 00:17:40,560
Speaker 1: and your your instrument, your voice and stuff like that

327
00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:43,360
Speaker 1: within the three mediums. Yeah, I'm on the phone. She's

328
00:17:43,359 --> 00:17:46,320
Speaker 1: on the phone talking up talking to Karema Westbrook Or.

329
00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:48,960
Speaker 1: She's one of the co stars of the TV series

330
00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:52,400
Speaker 1: or c W drama called All American. It airs every Wednesday,

331
00:17:52,520 --> 00:17:55,240
Speaker 1: nine pm and you can also catch the show or

332
00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:57,880
Speaker 1: streaming for you of course on the c W app.

333
00:17:58,480 --> 00:18:01,880
Speaker 1: She's also will be appearing in the UH movie are

334
00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:06,760
Speaker 1: called The Uh. The The Boat's Tall Bolden, which is

335
00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:10,919
Speaker 1: the influential New Orleans music legend called Buddy Bolden that

336
00:18:10,960 --> 00:18:14,560
Speaker 1: would be in theaters May third, and you'll be playing uh,

337
00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:17,399
Speaker 1: playing his mom in that in that movie, I'm assuming

338
00:18:17,440 --> 00:18:19,840
Speaker 1: it's uh as a period of there and so, so

339
00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:22,520
Speaker 1: when do you start? This is just an honest question

340
00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:25,040
Speaker 1: because as I always tell people, if you're gonna go

341
00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:27,199
Speaker 1: to Hollywood, go to Hollywood young, because as you go

342
00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:29,400
Speaker 1: to Hollywood, they're more opportunities. You know, I always tell

343
00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:31,960
Speaker 1: people there's only one teacher teaching the classroom, but they're

344
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,320
Speaker 1: usually teaching it the thirty students. So there's thirty young

345
00:18:34,359 --> 00:18:37,639
Speaker 1: people opportunities that you have in there. So and we

346
00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:39,880
Speaker 1: all know that there's a window that when we turn

347
00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:42,480
Speaker 1: these headshots. We said, hey, if I'm twenty one, I

348
00:18:42,480 --> 00:18:44,439
Speaker 1: can still play six Team. When I'm thirty, I can

349
00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,639
Speaker 1: still play early twenties. So when people start casting you

350
00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:50,400
Speaker 1: for different roles and you start accepting them, do does

351
00:18:50,440 --> 00:18:53,280
Speaker 1: it define your place in Hollywood? Or you just say, hey,

352
00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:56,080
Speaker 1: I accept the opportunity that they give me and I

353
00:18:56,119 --> 00:19:00,479
Speaker 1: will I'm a working actress. I think it ends on

354
00:19:00,520 --> 00:19:06,360
Speaker 1: the medium that um you're working in, because if you're

355
00:19:06,400 --> 00:19:10,480
Speaker 1: in a big film and like you're like, for instance,

356
00:19:10,480 --> 00:19:12,960
Speaker 1: I'm in a big film and I play a mom.

357
00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:16,200
Speaker 1: People who see the film, that's what they're gonna see

358
00:19:16,240 --> 00:19:18,360
Speaker 1: me as Naturally, it's kind of like, oh, they will

359
00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:21,000
Speaker 1: be perfect for this because they saw you play the

360
00:19:21,119 --> 00:19:23,800
Speaker 1: same exact character, which is why they think you would

361
00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:26,560
Speaker 1: be perfect for the other characters. That's exactly the same

362
00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:29,760
Speaker 1: as a character you just saw you As with television,

363
00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:33,480
Speaker 1: you have a little more range because you might just

364
00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:36,040
Speaker 1: be guest starring on a role on the on the

365
00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:39,119
Speaker 1: show in a particular role, and so you might be

366
00:19:39,160 --> 00:19:41,400
Speaker 1: a doctor on one show, you might be a police

367
00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:45,560
Speaker 1: officer on another show. But typically people started casting you

368
00:19:46,119 --> 00:19:49,040
Speaker 1: based off of how they seen you, Like if they've

369
00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:51,760
Speaker 1: seen your work, your demo real when you playing a doctor,

370
00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,080
Speaker 1: most of the times they're like, they're gonna kind of

371
00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:59,720
Speaker 1: see you in that, in that in that vein um.

372
00:19:59,800 --> 00:20:03,800
Speaker 1: But there's always room for you to break out of

373
00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:06,560
Speaker 1: that by choosing to do different types of roles so

374
00:20:06,720 --> 00:20:09,680
Speaker 1: people can see you differently, and you can also create

375
00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:14,080
Speaker 1: your own content or something that's a completely different character

376
00:20:14,359 --> 00:20:17,800
Speaker 1: than you've been playing you've been hired to do to

377
00:20:17,920 --> 00:20:19,920
Speaker 1: show people that you can do something else. So it's

378
00:20:19,960 --> 00:20:22,359
Speaker 1: just a matter of how people initially see you. A

379
00:20:22,359 --> 00:20:25,080
Speaker 1: lot of times it's how they feel like, oh, you

380
00:20:25,080 --> 00:20:28,000
Speaker 1: will be great for that, because that's the imprint that's

381
00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:29,960
Speaker 1: on their mind based off with the work they've seen

382
00:20:30,000 --> 00:20:34,320
Speaker 1: you do. But that's not an absolute. There's people, you know,

383
00:20:34,480 --> 00:20:38,440
Speaker 1: character actors done all types of things, you know, And

384
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:41,040
Speaker 1: when I first started, I did a lot of character work.

385
00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:44,000
Speaker 1: When I first started, how did my career and every

386
00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:50,320
Speaker 1: character was completely different. So um, but I think you know,

387
00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:54,000
Speaker 1: once I started playing moms, like, oh, they want to

388
00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:56,440
Speaker 1: hire you as a mom. Oh, they want to hire

389
00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:58,920
Speaker 1: you as the mom. You're hired as the mom. You're

390
00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:02,639
Speaker 1: his mom. So I've been the mom for the last

391
00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:06,280
Speaker 1: several years. It's I'm okay with that. But yeah, I

392
00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:09,840
Speaker 1: think that I've played that role enough that that I

393
00:21:09,840 --> 00:21:12,359
Speaker 1: gotta ask you because you know, our our audition for

394
00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:14,520
Speaker 1: one role in my whole life, and I got it.

395
00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:18,520
Speaker 1: You're going to competing. How do you land roles? How

396
00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:20,960
Speaker 1: do you how do you win when you're going in

397
00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:25,480
Speaker 1: the casting session? I think you got to just go

398
00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:28,600
Speaker 1: based off of the material. This is what I've learned

399
00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:32,120
Speaker 1: from just being on the other side. Sometimes it has

400
00:21:32,200 --> 00:21:36,640
Speaker 1: nothing to even do with your performance because somebody could

401
00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:39,800
Speaker 1: come in and do a really great job. But as

402
00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:43,000
Speaker 1: a writer, as a creator, sometimes you just see the

403
00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:47,520
Speaker 1: character as being a certain way. Um. A lot of

404
00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:50,440
Speaker 1: times you know it when you see it. Sometimes it's

405
00:21:50,480 --> 00:21:54,119
Speaker 1: just a person's essence that it works. It's like that's

406
00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:59,000
Speaker 1: who it is. So above all of that, you've gotta

407
00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:03,520
Speaker 1: be as prepared, aired as possible, um with the material

408
00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:08,200
Speaker 1: um and totally believe in the circumstances that are written

409
00:22:08,240 --> 00:22:11,600
Speaker 1: that it's written and going in and just being free

410
00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:15,800
Speaker 1: and doing the work. But ultimately a lot of times

411
00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:20,119
Speaker 1: it boils down to a person's essence. It boils down

412
00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:24,639
Speaker 1: to what feels right. Because somebody could come in and

413
00:22:24,640 --> 00:22:28,320
Speaker 1: flood the lines and be perfect for the role, and

414
00:22:28,359 --> 00:22:31,000
Speaker 1: it wasn't even about them, like getting the lines right

415
00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:35,560
Speaker 1: and being perfect. It was just something about them feels right.

416
00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,639
Speaker 1: They feel like that character so or it feels like

417
00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:42,240
Speaker 1: what we were looking for. The writer it's like this

418
00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:44,240
Speaker 1: is how I see it, or the director it's like

419
00:22:44,359 --> 00:22:47,280
Speaker 1: this is how I see the character. That's him. And

420
00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:51,320
Speaker 1: the actor could be like my audition was terrible, but

421
00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:54,320
Speaker 1: they don't realize that it was something about their essence

422
00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:57,160
Speaker 1: that was right for the part. So I think there's

423
00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,720
Speaker 1: a lot of different components that play a part in

424
00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:03,560
Speaker 1: some mighty being being cast in the role. But the

425
00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:08,679
Speaker 1: only thing actor can really can concern themselves with is

426
00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:12,920
Speaker 1: being prepared, a being as prepared as possible, and believing

427
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,440
Speaker 1: in the circumstances that's written in the script, and going

428
00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:19,840
Speaker 1: in and letting go and doing their thing and letting

429
00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:23,120
Speaker 1: it go when they walk out of the room. That's important.

430
00:23:23,520 --> 00:23:27,920
Speaker 1: On the phone, you know, she's twenty years in television,

431
00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:31,119
Speaker 1: film and theater. UH latest project is UH She's co

432
00:23:31,200 --> 00:23:33,960
Speaker 1: starring on All American as a c W drama. Because

433
00:23:34,080 --> 00:23:37,480
Speaker 1: this Wednesday n I PM. You can catch the show. Also,

434
00:23:37,800 --> 00:23:39,960
Speaker 1: you can catch your streaming anytime you want them to

435
00:23:39,960 --> 00:23:42,000
Speaker 1: see that the app Also Bolden will be hitting the

436
00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:45,280
Speaker 1: theaters May third. Her name is Kareema Westbrook. I know

437
00:23:45,359 --> 00:23:48,320
Speaker 1: her from Savor Last Dance. I'm a big fan. I'm

438
00:23:48,320 --> 00:23:51,440
Speaker 1: glad I finally got you on the show. You keep winning, Okay,

439
00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:54,840
Speaker 1: thank you. You need to check out the wireless earbuds

440
00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:57,880
Speaker 1: from Recon. Recon everybudys start off about half the price

441
00:23:57,920 --> 00:23:59,960
Speaker 1: at any other premium wireless ear buds on the market,

442
00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:02,560
Speaker 1: and they sound just as amazing. Unlike some of your

443
00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:05,199
Speaker 1: other wireless options, Recon the earbuds are both stylish and discreet,

444
00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:07,520
Speaker 1: with no dangling wires or stems. And of course they

445
00:24:07,520 --> 00:24:10,000
Speaker 1: don't just look great, they sound great too, and they're

446
00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:12,840
Speaker 1: perfect for listening to all your favorite I heart radio

447
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:16,200
Speaker 1: podcasts on the go. So go to buy Recon dot

448
00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:18,800
Speaker 1: com slash I Heart to get off your order. That's

449
00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:22,520
Speaker 1: by Recon dot com Slash I Heart for off Recon

450
00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:24,840
Speaker 1: wireless earbuds. If you've been eyeing a pair, now is

451
00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,000
Speaker 1: the time to get an amazing deal one more time

452
00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:29,480
Speaker 1: by Recon dot Com Slash I Heart