Speaker 1: What's up its lip service.
Speaker 2: I'm Angela Yee, Jeordie, George the key Woods, and Terry J.
Speaker 1: Vond Terry J.
Speaker 2: Von in the building aka Lieutenant Governor Dunkerson.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 2: Come love when you say that, Well, congratulations to you
Speaker 2: because we are getting ready for a new Netflix series that's.
Speaker 1: Coming out on May twenty second. She the people, Yes,
Speaker 1: she is the people.
Speaker 2: Now, talk to me about how it feels right now,
Speaker 2: because this is an amazing moment. I can't even imagine
Speaker 2: what it is because this is your baby, and so
Speaker 2: imagine what it's like to see something go from an idea,
Speaker 2: a conception to actually about to be on Netflix as
Speaker 2: a series with Tyler Perry.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, of course, you know. It's incredibly exciting. Feel
Speaker 1: extremely blessed. But to be honest, from the moment that
Speaker 1: this show idea came to me, which was about seven
Speaker 1: or six years old, I knew it was going to happen.
Speaker 1: I just knew. I didn't know when I thought it
Speaker 1: was gonna happen, way before now, but I just knew
Speaker 1: that the idea was it was something that we needed,
Speaker 1: something that I knew our community would appreciate that the
Speaker 1: world would appreciate it's you know, it's a it's a
Speaker 1: woman that is thriving but struggling at the same time.
Speaker 1: Here yeah to that, a single mom like co parenting
Speaker 1: two teenage kids and her incredibly colorful family. Uh, and
Speaker 1: then dealing in the world of politics.
Speaker 2: And now because we need to see that type of flavor,
Speaker 2: we can we celebrate what you can you pop this
Speaker 2: champagne bottle?
Speaker 1: I will, you will? You will?
Speaker 2: Okay, I'm so happy for you, honestly because you know,
Speaker 2: we've been watching you for I feel like, well definitely
Speaker 2: it's been decades and I could your personality I feel
Speaker 2: like comes through even in your acting. Thank you, Like
Speaker 2: you just seem like a cool ast person.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I am a coolst person. I think so.
Speaker 1: My kids told me I am.
Speaker 2: Thank you And your kids are adorable because we've been
Speaker 2: seeing that. We see them on social media too, And
Speaker 2: I just want to say, you've also been fighting for diversity, yes,
Speaker 2: when it comes to everything that's been happening in Georgia
Speaker 2: in particular, can you just give us a little brief
Speaker 2: about that too, because I just want to point out
Speaker 2: that not only is she lieutenant governor on this series.
Speaker 2: But in real life, you are involved in politics in
Speaker 2: a way. You are if you're fighting for some well,
Speaker 2: if we're talking about policy and fighting for justice and
Speaker 2: fighting for making that because I think a lot of
Speaker 2: times people can say what's wrong, but when you're really
Speaker 2: fighting to make change, that is still being involved in politics.
Speaker 1: Yes, I do believe that we use our creativity to
Speaker 1: make a difference, and so I do use my platform
Speaker 1: to share the views that I believe in. I think
Speaker 1: that there are so many people that need a voice
Speaker 1: for them and that our community, you know, is always
Speaker 1: struggling fighting. So I will continue to lift my voice
Speaker 1: up for us at any cost. And I think that
Speaker 1: right now, especially being a black woman, that we are
Speaker 1: each other's cheerleaders so hard. Nobody loves us more than
Speaker 1: we love on each other. And I think that that's
Speaker 1: just been what we had to do. It's like we
Speaker 1: fight for each other, we love each other hard, and
Speaker 1: so I do that. I believe in that it's just
Speaker 1: in me.
Speaker 2: Give me, give cheers to she the people people. I
Speaker 2: didn't touch his because that's bad luck, did you?
Speaker 1: I got to put it on.
Speaker 3: This So you said, you remember coming up with the
Speaker 3: idea seven years ago. Do you remember like how it
Speaker 3: came to you, like what you what you were doing,
Speaker 3: or like the motions.
Speaker 1: Well, what had happened was so I grew up in
Speaker 1: San Francisco, Okay, and my girlfriend, London Breed, became the
Speaker 1: first black female mayor of the city of San Francisco,
Speaker 1: which was oh wow, huge, that is huge, huge. You know,
Speaker 1: it's one of the richest cities in the nation and
Speaker 1: the beautiful part of it. And what made me think like, oh,
Speaker 1: this would be an interesting show was London, like me,
Speaker 1: grew up in the hood, you know, very drug infested communities.
Speaker 1: We all know those par.
Speaker 2: San Francisco is very like rich but also the.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so she grew up in a neighborhood like that,
Speaker 1: just like I did. And watching her work her way
Speaker 1: up through just being in politics, and we're always watching
Speaker 1: and cheering her on, watching her on the news and whatnot.
Speaker 1: And when she became the when she became the mayor,
Speaker 1: it was so much pushback in the city against her,
Speaker 1: so much like they they made a special election have
Speaker 1: to happen because she was put in the position because
Speaker 1: the current mayor had died, and so she was superintendent
Speaker 1: of some I can't remember all her title, but she
Speaker 1: was to take over his position. She was the one
Speaker 1: that would finish out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and they act like you don't deserve it, and.
Speaker 1: So they yeah, they made her have a special election
Speaker 1: and all this stuff, everything that they were putting her through,
Speaker 1: and she won anyway, and then I was like, that
Speaker 1: is the ship. Oh my god, yes.
Speaker 2: So.
Speaker 1: What she No, he was Asian actually an agent man,
Speaker 1: and so just watching what she went through, knowing her background,
Speaker 1: I was like, a character like that would be amazing.
Speaker 1: And I'm a huge fan of Deep and so I
Speaker 1: was like, that would be great from our perspective, like
Speaker 1: our neighborhoods. It's yeah, because you come in with a
Speaker 1: different viewpoint, fighting for your folks, but still having to
Speaker 1: represent a city that is very much to play the
Speaker 1: game exactly. So I just thought it was prime for
Speaker 1: a perfect comedy and drama at the same time. And
Speaker 1: so that's where the ideal sparked. And that was like
Speaker 1: in twenty seventeen or something like that. I can't remember
Speaker 1: the executive but so that's what sparked the idea, and
Speaker 1: I just started like writing it down, just writing it
Speaker 1: down over the years. Then I wanted to team up
Speaker 1: with a writer. I met with several writers and finally
Speaker 1: got to Nya Palmer, who we just get each other.
Speaker 1: She's weird and wacky and super funny, and so we
Speaker 1: worked on it, developed it together during then, and then
Speaker 1: we just got busy with life, right, So I was
Speaker 1: working acting, I was directing, and so it was just
Speaker 1: kind of on the shelf. Urn yes, because when I
Speaker 1: did mention it to people and try to put it
Speaker 1: out into the world, everybody was like, no, we don't
Speaker 1: want to touch a political show. We don't want to
Speaker 1: do anything in politics. And I was like, okay, whatever,
Speaker 1: And just whenever people say that, I don't know.
Speaker 2: Because I just feel like it's part of every day,
Speaker 2: like politics is.
Speaker 1: Entertainment, Like yeah, it's unfortunately hilarious. Yeah yeah, Well that's
Speaker 1: why I think God's divine time, because it is the
Speaker 1: perfect time.
Speaker 3: It is the perfect time to come out now rather
Speaker 3: than seven years ago.
Speaker 2: Even if you look at our mayor here in New York,
Speaker 2: Eric Adams, and even if you look at like, look
Speaker 2: Mayor Cantrell, She's a black woman in New Orleans, and
Speaker 2: I feel like they target her because of that, Like
Speaker 2: you know, because I've actually seen her out and about.
Speaker 2: It's interesting because people will tell me, like I see
Speaker 2: her getting criticism for like being out being but it's
Speaker 2: New Orleans, how like the mayor should be out?
Speaker 1: I see, Yeah, it's like, what do you mean New Orleans.
Speaker 1: You're supposed to be a hermit, right.
Speaker 2: No, But but a large part of that is tourism
Speaker 2: too in New Orleans, like a large part of what happens,
Speaker 2: so going out and supporting business, Oh, the mayor's Like,
Speaker 2: if I own a business in New Orleans, I would
Speaker 2: be so excited for the mayor to come to my
Speaker 2: established and you know and toast to me like that's
Speaker 2: a big deal. And I think New York the same thing.
Speaker 2: Though I will say that because they call our mayor.
Speaker 2: There's other issues there. But earlier on, like the party mayor,
Speaker 2: I do think that having a mayor in New York,
Speaker 2: because nightlife is so big and small businesses are so big,
Speaker 2: and a lot of these establishments are small businesses, I
Speaker 2: do think any mayor we have should like, I don't
Speaker 2: see a problem with that, as long as you're not well.
Speaker 1: The thing is to me, man And also what I
Speaker 1: thought would be so interesting to tell this story is
Speaker 1: she's just a human being. She's still a woman, She's
Speaker 1: still you know, our character. She has kids, she has
Speaker 1: two teenage kids that she's co parenting with her ex husband.
Speaker 1: So we wanted to make her have to deal with
Speaker 1: real life stuff. But she still has a job that
Speaker 1: has an image that she has to uphold. But she
Speaker 1: still has regular stuff.
Speaker 2: And sometimes people will look down on you on politics
Speaker 2: as a woman who is not married.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, we touch on all that. We touch on
Speaker 1: all the things.
Speaker 2: Bottom's former mayor in Atlanta, so she's part of this
Speaker 2: project too.
Speaker 1: She's a yes. So I mean how that happened? So
Speaker 1: what had happened was during the strike. When the strike
Speaker 1: happens in twenty twenty three, when everybody, all our jobs
Speaker 1: went away in the entertainment business. I called Naya and
Speaker 1: I was like, Naya, look, I know we're on strike,
Speaker 1: but what do you think about shooting a proof of
Speaker 1: concept now while we're on strike, So when the strike
Speaker 1: is over, we'll actually have something to show people as
Speaker 1: a pitch instead of us. Yeah, instead of just trying
Speaker 1: to tell people how to see our vision, let's show
Speaker 1: them the vision. And so she agreed, so we got
Speaker 1: to work on developing the show to shoot a proof
Speaker 1: of concept and I was like, well, if I want
Speaker 1: to stack it with as much gun power as possible,
Speaker 1: I need to attach somebody that is in this space
Speaker 1: to give our show some yes. So I tentively called
Speaker 1: Kisha Land's Bottoms and was like, Hey, this is Terry Javon.
Speaker 1: We do meet with me. She was like, yes, let's
Speaker 1: meet up. Let's go to breakfast, and so we met.
Speaker 1: I told her the idea, pitched the whole thing to
Speaker 1: her and she loved it and she was like, absolutely,
Speaker 1: I will join you. I want to be a part
Speaker 1: of this amazing and so once we got her on board,
Speaker 1: it was we were able to get the funding to
Speaker 1: shoot the proof of concept that we wanted to shoot,
Speaker 1: and I was like, look, I only want to shoot
Speaker 1: it if it can look like it could air. I
Speaker 1: needed to look exactly how we wanted to be, and
Speaker 1: so I got the team together. We have a dope
Speaker 1: ass team of people in Atlanta. Game together helped me
Speaker 1: shoot this, and we shot it. It came out exactly
Speaker 1: how I wanted to see it, and once the strike
Speaker 1: was over, my red agents sent it out and we
Speaker 1: got calls left and right.
Speaker 2: And you went with Tyler Perry and we did.
Speaker 1: We chose Skyler Perry. Now tell me why, I mean,
Speaker 1: and I'm not us. I just want to know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, tell me what was in your thinking when you
Speaker 2: said we got calls but Taler Perry's.
Speaker 1: And it was a tough decision not to, you know,
Speaker 1: because this is had never happened to me before. So
Speaker 1: I've been doing this for a long time, right, I
Speaker 1: have pitched shows I saw you, Yeah, hundreds of shows, yes,
Speaker 1: And it's always, you know, the pitch. We get ourselves ready.
Speaker 1: So I'm getting me, Naya and Keisha. We're like getting
Speaker 1: our pitch together. We're rehearsing it so that we're ready
Speaker 1: for our meetings. First meet our first meeting actually was
Speaker 1: with Tyler Perry Studios. And so we get on the
Speaker 1: call and immediately we're ready to jump in and they are.
Speaker 1: They jump in and start telling us everything they love
Speaker 1: about the show and why we need to go with them.
Speaker 1: Oh wow. And that's so they made offer right there
Speaker 1: in our first meeting. Oh wow. And I was like,
Speaker 1: so this is like an offer, like y'all want the show?
Speaker 1: And they were like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because the truth is I also don't mean it's
Speaker 2: gonna actually happen.
Speaker 1: Could keep you tied up one thousand percent. So they
Speaker 1: laid out all the reasons why we should go with them,
Speaker 1: and we were like, okay, we can. We get right
Speaker 1: back to you. We have some other meetings, right, and
Speaker 1: so we in every meeting and after that was the
Speaker 1: same thing that we were like, we already have tables
Speaker 1: and they were like, well, consider this offer number two.
Speaker 1: And it kept happening like it kept happening and.
Speaker 2: Was part of investing in doing that that it would
Speaker 2: have not run that way if we did not do that.
Speaker 1: So thank God for the thought dropping in my soul
Speaker 1: to do it. And so after you know, meeting with everybody,
Speaker 1: and these are all like amazing people, people that I
Speaker 1: have been wanting to work with for years, all of them.
Speaker 1: So it was a very hard decision for me. But
Speaker 1: just after all the conversations, going back to what you
Speaker 1: said about the offer and getting a deal doesn't mean
Speaker 1: that the show is actually gonna happen, right right. It
Speaker 1: could actually destroy it, can it can? It just can
Speaker 1: hold you up. And though everybody, I think everybody went
Speaker 1: in it with great intentions and I do think that
Speaker 1: they were really, you know, going to push for the
Speaker 1: show and support the show. The only one that really
Speaker 1: had the power to pull the trigger and go now.
Speaker 1: And after having like a couple of more meetings with
Speaker 1: Tyler himself and how he was just so supportive and
Speaker 1: wanted to be collaborative and asking us all these amazing questions,
Speaker 1: we were like, we feel safe with him. Yeah, we
Speaker 1: feel safe with him and so and you know, this
Speaker 1: is a part of a new entity for Tyler, his
Speaker 1: deal with Netflix, and it's been going well, it's been
Speaker 1: going amazing.
Speaker 2: Beauty Black, Yeah, yeah, And I was like, when are
Speaker 2: we gonna finish this?
Speaker 1: We were the first comedy that he was bringing to
Speaker 1: the network, and so we were it was all everything
Speaker 1: was fresh and new and exciting, and you know, they
Speaker 1: were the perfect partners for us. Just been amazing.
Speaker 2: Well again, congratulations, But I love like a lot of
Speaker 2: things that you touched on in that story, because, like
Speaker 2: you said, you've been pitching, pitching, pitching, prepping things, but
Speaker 2: then also having something to show, because sometimes a lot
Speaker 2: of people will have ideas, but having something to actually
Speaker 2: be like, here's what it's going.
Speaker 1: To look like.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that makes all the difference, right.
Speaker 1: Yeah, facts, I think so, because when you're you're trying
Speaker 1: to get somebody to see what you see in your
Speaker 1: head and you're telling them you're talking.
Speaker 3: Talk to imagine it.
Speaker 1: Look at this film that Yeah, so that made the
Speaker 1: huge difference. That made the huge difference. And then going
Speaker 1: with him and him seeing our what our vision was,
Speaker 1: and then Tyler adding his sauce.
Speaker 2: It just it was just you know, you talk a
Speaker 2: lot about mental health awareness as well, and I've seen
Speaker 2: that's something that you platform too. How is it because
Speaker 2: I can't imagine what it's like when you're like, it's
Speaker 2: like going on job interviews and you have to keep
Speaker 2: on pitching yourself and then you.
Speaker 1: Feel like, you know, you're amazing.
Speaker 2: You know you have an amazing idea and sometimes people
Speaker 2: just can't see it. You know what does that do?
Speaker 2: Because Akim, I know you're also like, look, put me
Speaker 2: on a TV show.
Speaker 1: But it is.
Speaker 2: Sometimes like we can laugh about it, but sometimes it
Speaker 2: is really really difficult, and it's not easy on your
Speaker 2: ego too.
Speaker 1: It's a little I mean, it's a difficult business. It
Speaker 1: really is, because like this project and many other ones,
Speaker 1: it's like we're putting ourselves like, this is my heart,
Speaker 1: this is my you know, my my voice, my heart,
Speaker 1: my vision, and I'm giving it to you. I'm pouring
Speaker 1: it out to you and you're like, Nope, don't want it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: don't want it. Yeah, it is a strike to your ego.
Speaker 1: But it's the business. That's why I think for everybody,
Speaker 1: you've got to have thick skin, and it is super
Speaker 1: important to take care of yourself mentally, spiritually, physically, because
Speaker 1: it takes a toll. It totally takes a toll. So
Speaker 1: I am an advocate of my my exercise, my mental workouts,
Speaker 1: my meditation, what I read, what I listen to, my
Speaker 1: prayer time, all of it is is a huge part
Speaker 1: of my life. You look amazing, Thank you. I can't enough.
Speaker 2: And then also being married, Yes, how does that?
Speaker 1: And that's stressful too.
Speaker 4: No, because last night I was I was my favorite
Speaker 4: restaurant and these two guys were having a little kiki
Speaker 4: and one of them said that he doesn't believe that
Speaker 4: there's any such thing as a happy marriage. When you
Speaker 4: think about that, I mean, he.
Speaker 1: Was like, yeah, is he married?
Speaker 2: He was married? Yeah, damn well he's unhappy.
Speaker 1: Yeah he's unhappy. No, I think that I am extremely
Speaker 1: happy in my marriage right now. I think it goes
Speaker 1: through stages like life, like life one thousand percent, and
Speaker 1: there's there's growth. It's two different human beings, two different
Speaker 1: journeys have come together, two different upbringings to different thought patterns.
Speaker 2: And then you also have things happening in your life
Speaker 2: that you can bring back into a relations We're like
Speaker 2: to whole people coming into you know, kind of coming together,
Speaker 2: and sometimes you might have something, he might have something
Speaker 2: going on.
Speaker 1: Yep, and it just kind of rocks the boat. It does.
Speaker 1: But it's but you have to realize that that is
Speaker 1: just a normal progression in life. Whether you're by yourself
Speaker 1: or you're with somebody, you're still gonna grow. You're still
Speaker 1: gonna uh. You know, you used to do this, but
Speaker 1: now you don't do that anymore. Now you do this,
Speaker 1: but you're always gonna do that. As long as you're living,
Speaker 1: you're going to grow and change constantly. And in a marriage,
Speaker 1: that's what makes marriage so difficult. It's because now it's
Speaker 1: two people and everybody nobody is growing at the same
Speaker 1: exact time. Sometimes you're up here and they're down here,
Speaker 1: and then they come up here and they go up there,
Speaker 1: and then it's about giving grace. It's about knowing that
Speaker 1: that is a natural human way of being. So let
Speaker 1: me let you be a natural human and grow at
Speaker 1: your time and I'll step back. Do you think you
Speaker 1: know whatever it is? And I also think that people
Speaker 1: go into marriage with the particular ideas of what marriage
Speaker 1: is supposed to be. I'm like, you got to throw
Speaker 1: everything out that you have never learned, whatever church I
Speaker 1: told you, your mom told you. You throw it all out
Speaker 1: and create what marriage is for you in your house.
Speaker 1: That that's what I think why people are in unhappy
Speaker 1: marriages because they're trying to fit into a box that
Speaker 1: doesn't fit them.
Speaker 2: How did you know he was the one?
Speaker 1: I didn't.
Speaker 3: He told me how long have you guys been married?
Speaker 1: Seventeen years? Yeah, we've been married seventeen years. But this
Speaker 1: is my second marriage, and so I always said I
Speaker 1: would never get married again. I had no desires immediately
Speaker 1: as soon as I said never, How long was there first?
Speaker 2: One?
Speaker 1: Uh? Five years? And then the divorce started, so by
Speaker 1: six we were it was final. Divorce is like, it's terrible,
Speaker 1: and that's why I didn't want to get married again.
Speaker 1: It wasn't about the marriage. It was about the process. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I'm like, okay, so if I get married to
Speaker 1: somebody and I don't like them anymore, we break up.
Speaker 1: I don't go with you no more. Now it's all
Speaker 1: this drama in business. And I just thought that was
Speaker 1: so do we think there?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was.
Speaker 1: So weird. I'm not doing that.
Speaker 2: But at the same time, you know, I guess that
Speaker 2: part of that is like them not wanting you. We
Speaker 2: got snatched, yeah, the divorced us. Yeah, but I just
Speaker 2: but at the same time, I guess they don't want
Speaker 2: you to make it so easy, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 2: because it's not like breaking up.
Speaker 3: Yeah, because it's not breaking up, Yeah, which is.
Speaker 1: Okay, so go ahead. Well it's business, so that I'm learned.
Speaker 1: So okay, marriages the freaking business with paperwork. You got
Speaker 1: a file, papers, you got to get a low wayer,
Speaker 1: all the things. So that's what made me not want to.
Speaker 1: So I met my husband in the midst of my divorce.
Speaker 1: He did, but he was done by the time I met.
Speaker 2: Okay, how did you gute meet?
Speaker 1: We met? I was doing a play. I was doing
Speaker 1: a play and uh, tank was in the play.
Speaker 2: And he decided a Tank, who was just in Hell's
Speaker 2: kitchen too, we came out to see him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so they're very good friends. So when I was
Speaker 1: doing the play with Tank, that's how I met.
Speaker 2: Him right in his seat one day and went viral.
Speaker 2: But that's another.
Speaker 1: Sort I heard about that. Every time he sees me,
Speaker 1: he's like, never go. So yeah, so we met during
Speaker 1: the time we were doing that play, and I really
Speaker 1: there was no interest. There was no spark or anything.
Speaker 1: Well I don't even know if it was for him
Speaker 1: neither one. No, it wasn't because they were dealing with girls.
Speaker 1: It wasn't even a thing. But we were just all
Speaker 1: used to hang out. And then the more we started
Speaker 1: hanging out and we used to linger and talk and
Speaker 1: we just started liking each other. Yeah, it was accidental,
Speaker 1: always nice, and you was going through some things I was,
Speaker 1: so I totally wasn't thinking about.
Speaker 2: Anything because then at first you think it's a rebound,
Speaker 2: like it's just me, you know, trying to do something
Speaker 2: to mass COUM feeling about this whole situation, and then
Speaker 2: what happened.
Speaker 1: So I totally went and so we started liking each
Speaker 1: other obviously, and I was like, look, I'm going through
Speaker 1: this divorce and I never want to get married again.
Speaker 1: And he was like cool. So when we decided that
Speaker 1: we were gonna be serious, that was still we went
Speaker 1: into it. We don't need to get married, we'll be together.
Speaker 1: I was like, I want I want more kids, and
Speaker 1: I am cool with having a kid without being married, right,
Speaker 1: I'm okay.
Speaker 2: We Goldie Hunt and I was good with it.
Speaker 1: And then I got pregnant and I was like, you
Speaker 1: do got that NFL? Sure legally that like you played
Speaker 1: for how many so so you're five years so youted,
Speaker 1: I think it's going to be better and he was
Speaker 1: like yeah, yeah yeah. He was like yeah, so and
Speaker 1: now we've been together for seventeen years. That's amazing. Did
Speaker 1: you have a big wedding or it was just a
Speaker 1: we went to Vegas. Okay, that's the way to get married,
Speaker 1: big belly, Adida sweat suit while you were pregnant? Yep,
Speaker 1: that's awesome. Literally, I was not gonna get married. I wasn't.
Speaker 1: I was pregnant.
Speaker 2: I was good.
Speaker 1: Was it a distraction? I think? And he were blue?
Speaker 1: That's cut.
Speaker 4: So how long after you were officially divorced did you
Speaker 4: get married.
Speaker 2: Uh, maybe two years, but your ex has been tight,
Speaker 2: like I don't know.
Speaker 1: Doing that, Angela, I don't know. He's a great he's
Speaker 1: the father of my oldest son.
Speaker 2: And even though you may have moved on, people be
Speaker 2: like and their feelings.
Speaker 1: So this whole time, because you know, people be thinking, oh,
Speaker 1: this whole time was right, We're not gonna be messy.
Speaker 1: It's my friend. It's a great dad.
Speaker 4: What did you learn from the first marriage to the second.
Speaker 1: To uh, to really just be honest in the moment,
Speaker 1: don't let things linger, because to be honest, I knew
Speaker 1: it wasn't working. I knew I wanted to move on
Speaker 1: at least three years, which is crazy, right, But then
Speaker 1: you care setting band aids on it. Okay, we got this,
Speaker 1: it's fine, it's fine. Let's have a baby's house. You
Speaker 1: keep doing doing thrown up things. Yeah, and it just
Speaker 1: none of it is still kept landing back where I
Speaker 1: knew it was. So I really just hit things dead on.
Speaker 1: This isn't working. I don't like how this feels. I don't,
Speaker 1: you know. So we talk more.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's good, and then to be friends to this
Speaker 2: day it is good. How is it for you? Like
Speaker 2: kind of growing up in this business. I know a
Speaker 2: lot of people were trying to holler at you, Yeah,
Speaker 2: how did you How were you able to like maneuver
Speaker 2: through that, because sometimes it can be awkward sometimes you
Speaker 2: have to be around people, like what, what's some advice
Speaker 2: you would give to people who are up and coming
Speaker 2: in this business for you to be able to like
Speaker 2: maintain and come through. So this is funny because that
Speaker 2: that is a serious question because people ask me.
Speaker 1: That all the time. Young women asked me that, like,
Speaker 1: because you don't want to be a woe. I'm being honest,
Speaker 1: but you want to have fun as a woman.
Speaker 3: You don't want to be a home because I'm a
Speaker 3: home he's But this was not as bad for exactly exactly,
Speaker 3: so I guess.
Speaker 1: And I just didn't want to be and I and
Speaker 1: I felt like I was I was dating. It's like
Speaker 1: I was going out and I.
Speaker 3: Was How old if you don't mind me asking how
Speaker 3: old were you when you first like when you got
Speaker 3: into the business, like when you started like booking stuff?
Speaker 1: Uh so I moved to LA when I was twenty
Speaker 1: two or twenty three like that.
Speaker 2: And that's the fun stage to Yeah, let me tell
Speaker 2: you what I moved there with the guy, okay, and
Speaker 2: he did propose and all the things, and we did
Speaker 2: get engaged.
Speaker 1: It's so much, it's just too much, too many words,
Speaker 1: and we called it off and then he tried to
Speaker 1: propose again and I was like no, no.
Speaker 2: No, no.
Speaker 1: So then yes, so now I'm out in l A
Speaker 1: and now I'm single, so now I'm just dating. Hey hey, hey,
Speaker 1: and I and I just felt like I was doing
Speaker 1: way too much.
Speaker 2: Hey hey, no social media.
Speaker 1: We are right right right, But then that's what made
Speaker 1: me decided I wanted to get married.
Speaker 2: Right because you didn't want to get a reputation. You
Speaker 2: want to got me just settled down a quote quote right.
Speaker 1: Thing. Felt like I got married for the wrong reason
Speaker 1: the first time.
Speaker 2: It really was.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So I was like nope, I know because he
Speaker 1: was a college friend. He was my friend, like we
Speaker 1: were cool as hell and we always liked each other
Speaker 1: in college. So I was like, this would this works,
Speaker 1: this works. It is he's cute, you know, this is
Speaker 1: this works And yeah it didn't.
Speaker 2: Didn't.
Speaker 1: But we have a beautiful and amazing son. O this side.
Speaker 1: You have a son and a daughter. That's perfect. I
Speaker 1: have two sons, two sons. So yeah. So once I
Speaker 1: got married to Karan, my current husband, we had two kids.
Speaker 1: So I have a seventeen year old son and a
Speaker 1: ten year old girl. Okay, and my oldest son is
Speaker 1: twenty he'll be twenty four.
Speaker 2: That's amazing already of them following in your footsteps, like
Speaker 2: I want to.
Speaker 1: Ooh, Lola, my ten year old, she's everything else.
Speaker 5: She.
Speaker 1: I didn't see how y'all doing challenges girl, that one
Speaker 1: and you and I never wanted to have a girl y'all.
Speaker 1: Only I was like, I'm a boy mom. I'm a
Speaker 1: boy mom because boys are easier one thousand.
Speaker 2: Girl. Yes, now you're a mess, but I was now.
Speaker 1: You were a good kid. Yeah yeah. I just didn't
Speaker 1: want to raise me because I knew me. I knew
Speaker 1: the things I got in trouble for. I was bad.
Speaker 1: I never got caught out. You don't want to you
Speaker 1: don't want to come back around dramas too much. I
Speaker 1: know being a girl. I know the stuff I went through,
Speaker 1: the insecurities and the this and the bullying. And I
Speaker 1: was like, I don't want to, girl, it's just so much.
Speaker 1: And here she comes a little you little man. Every
Speaker 1: she is me on steroids like one thousand. But she's amazing.
Speaker 1: She teaches me so much because she is so confident
Speaker 1: and so Yep, I'm gonna be a professional ice skater,
Speaker 1: I'm going to play ten be a professional tennis player.
Speaker 1: I am going to act, and I'm going to direct.
Speaker 1: And she can do all these things. If anybody asked her,
Speaker 1: what do you want to down?
Speaker 2: All those she's helping on the ice skating one is random, like, yeah,
Speaker 2: so she's been ice skating since she was two.
Speaker 1: Place second over the weekend. Uh huh.
Speaker 2: She had had amazing romedy. My I remember I interviewed
Speaker 2: him one time. He used to be Was he married
Speaker 2: to a woman who was a professional ice skating? Wow?
Speaker 3: That looks dangerous. Have you seen him spinning and stuff?
Speaker 1: She does all that? Think about what was that movie Gloria?
Speaker 1: Was it Flash Dance? When she was like an ice skater?
Speaker 2: Was it?
Speaker 1: And she was doing the routine but then she like
Speaker 1: slipped and fell. It was like it was like a
Speaker 1: dance movie. I don't know she was.
Speaker 2: And then she was like, yeah, I think that was
Speaker 2: Flash Dance. She was like a construction worker.
Speaker 1: But then she was, oh, but she was a dancer.
Speaker 1: She was an ice skater. No, somebody in them that
Speaker 1: I gotta find that dancing flash dances, not ice skating. Angela.
Speaker 2: No, listen, you're gonna eat your words. Okay, you hear me, Lieutenant.
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, you hear me.
Speaker 2: Litt What actually inspired you to want to do what
Speaker 2: you do, like, even at a young age, Because you're
Speaker 2: talking about your daughter and how she's inspired and when
Speaker 2: you ask her what she wants to do, she could
Speaker 2: run it down.
Speaker 1: When I wasn't like that, and that's why she I
Speaker 1: learned so much from her. So I didn't know what
Speaker 1: I wanted to be. I just wanted to be a
Speaker 1: successful business woman if somebody would ask me, a successful
Speaker 1: business woman. But I don't know what kind of business
Speaker 1: I didn't know. I didn't have any you know, specifics.
Speaker 1: But when I was in college first, so I was
Speaker 1: started studying advertising. I thought I was going to go
Speaker 1: into I did too.
Speaker 2: I thought I was gonna do advertising and marketing.
Speaker 1: Yeah okay. And so a friend when we were in
Speaker 1: college was recruiting girls for a Miss Black California pageant.
Speaker 1: So me and some of my friends we were like, oh,
Speaker 1: we'll do it. Yeah, we'll do it. We've got no
Speaker 1: clue about it at all, but we're like, we'll do it.
Speaker 1: And so I did this pageant and for the talent part,
Speaker 1: I didn't know what I was going to do for
Speaker 1: the talent part because I didn't I didn't sing. I
Speaker 1: didn't know anything about acting at that point as a
Speaker 1: career just wasn't on my radar. But my mom and
Speaker 1: my aunt we came up with the idea for me
Speaker 1: to do a poem, recite a monologue from for Colored
Speaker 1: Girls who Considered suicide. Of course you didn't, I love it.
Speaker 1: I love it? Okay, So I did Sorry Lady in Blue,
Speaker 1: and I did my poem. I acted it out and
Speaker 1: I had never done anything like that. And one of
Speaker 1: the judges was a producer of a play that they
Speaker 1: were casting to tour the country. It's one of the
Speaker 1: touring the touring plays. And so after the passion he
Speaker 1: asked me if I would be interested in auditioning for
Speaker 1: this play. And of course, you know, listen, what are
Speaker 1: you doing? I was like, what do you do for
Speaker 1: an audition? So he was like, bring a picture and
Speaker 1: a resume and come to the Black Report Toy Theater
Speaker 1: in Berkeley, California, and I was like, okay that I'll
Speaker 1: be there. And so the night before my audition, I
Speaker 1: had my college roommate take a picture. I'm aging myself.
Speaker 1: It was a polaroid picture. It's okay, I still got
Speaker 1: a polar raids. Okay, okay. So I had my polaroid picture,
Speaker 1: and I had my regular working resume. I was working
Speaker 1: at the Marriott Hotel. I had worked at McDonald's. If
Speaker 1: it's rent a car. So that's the rest of.
Speaker 2: Yeah to marry.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yes, that was a good listen. I'm where I
Speaker 1: was working through college. So so I show up at
Speaker 1: the theater with my picture and my resume and I
Speaker 1: walk in and it's like real actors there. Like I'm like,
Speaker 1: they like stretching and moming on like some weird chip
Speaker 1: and I'm like exercises. Yes, right. I was like, whoa,
Speaker 1: this is weird. I'm gonna sit in the corner. So
Speaker 1: I just waited until somebody came out and called my name,
Speaker 1: and then I went in and I met the director
Speaker 1: and I met the playwright and they gave me some
Speaker 1: material and they said, just read this part. So I
Speaker 1: read the part and the director, his name is Paul Roach,
Speaker 1: always credit him for my career and my life. He said,
Speaker 1: read it again for us and the character she's sassy,
Speaker 1: so just you know. And I was like, oh, okay,
Speaker 1: so you just want me to be myself basically read
Speaker 1: it again, and that night they called me and was like,
Speaker 1: we want to offer you a part wow.
Speaker 3: Audition.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it was so random's amazing for the country. Hey,
Speaker 1: four hundred dollars a week. I was like, period. I
Speaker 1: was that's a lot back, and she was like, well,
Speaker 1: when is that ever going to happen again in your life?
Speaker 1: Go for it. So I did that play and it
Speaker 1: was David E. Twbert's very first player. He's still doing
Speaker 1: it with z Tizzy. But Paul wrote the director he
Speaker 1: traveled with us through the whole run of the show
Speaker 1: and before you know all our rehearsals and stuff, he
Speaker 1: was actually training us and acting. So he introduced us
Speaker 1: to Stanislawski, a hog Aga and chake Off, all the
Speaker 1: theater greats. And I loved it. I was like, this
Speaker 1: is what I want to study, this is what I love,
Speaker 1: and I just never looked back.
Speaker 2: That's amazing. And I think like most well known obviously
Speaker 2: the Steve Harvey show Man that was even me sitting
Speaker 2: here talking to you right now, like it's like I'm
Speaker 2: thinking about that in my head. Sometimes it sounds like
Speaker 2: this is amazing. Oh yeah, I love that character. Yeah,
Speaker 2: just and it was she was dope.
Speaker 1: She was amazing Friday routine.
Speaker 3: If they did it, If they did it, you know
Speaker 3: how they're doing all these spinoffs reboots. If they did
Speaker 3: a reboot of that show, and everyone everyone's like, yeah,
Speaker 3: we'll do it absolutely.
Speaker 2: Although you booked and busy, you know, I will work
Speaker 2: that out.
Speaker 1: You hear it out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you still talk to everybody. Everybody, everybody that's good.
Speaker 2: We like, we like a story like that. And I
Speaker 2: was just telling them. I was like, let's not forget insecure.
Speaker 1: They talked about it for a while. They teased me,
Speaker 1: can you tell people because I was like, Cranberry, Yeah,
Speaker 1: because you would be coming in watching that show. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So she was an investigative reporter.
Speaker 2: That's a real show. And she was that's like from Detroit.
Speaker 1: Yes, so she was always looking for missing black girls,
Speaker 1: the ones that nobody was looking for. And it was
Speaker 1: the way they they wrote it was so brilliant because
Speaker 1: it was truthful. It was one thousand percent truthful, but
Speaker 1: it was huh hilarious, just really poking fun at what
Speaker 1: the world really does to us. Mary black Woman's like, dude,
Speaker 1: these women are missing and they're like who what? What's
Speaker 1: your name? So it was just I just thought that
Speaker 1: was such a great and fun character, and I just
Speaker 1: loved the writing and thought it was super smart, extremely hilarious.
Speaker 1: That She'll always be another one that I really really love.
Speaker 1: You know. That was dope. That's like one of my
Speaker 1: favorite shows. Also, and then if into a podcast, I
Speaker 1: don't stay looking? No? Oh no, okay, y'all have we did?
Speaker 1: How many we did? We stay looking? Men? We stay looking?
Speaker 1: It won? Yeah, looking up. It was so funny. It
Speaker 1: was the greatest.
Speaker 2: So how did you celebrate when you found out that
Speaker 2: she the People was picked up?
Speaker 1: What did you do to celebrate? I've been drinking champagne
Speaker 1: every day. I mean so many I mean I've done
Speaker 1: so many things because I'm still just overjoyed.
Speaker 3: Like, do you remember what you were doing when they
Speaker 3: called you to tell you it was picked up?
Speaker 1: Well, we already knew, like once we got to Tyler,
Speaker 1: it was just about getting the dates and so all
Speaker 1: that anticipation was you know, is this really happening? Like
Speaker 1: is this for real? Even now?
Speaker 2: I was like a second you were like, look until this,
Speaker 2: we don't know, but it's happening.
Speaker 1: It's on the schedule, it's happening. And I'm yes, yes,
Speaker 1: please do because I hear that that's the way that's
Speaker 1: me that they really that's motality.
Speaker 2: I am always looking to watch and from the trailer,
Speaker 2: I already.
Speaker 1: Know to watch the first eight episodes. You gotta being
Speaker 1: it just eight episodes, it's sixteen total. May second, the
Speaker 1: first eight.
Speaker 2: Drop, Okay. He always do that to wait for the
Speaker 2: second part.
Speaker 1: But you're only waiting to August. That's okay. The first
Speaker 1: a year.
Speaker 2: I'll literally watch it all at once.
Speaker 4: No, no, no, I'm saying sometimes make you wait your time.
Speaker 4: A couple of months is nothing.
Speaker 1: So I don't know how long. Second season? Yeah, period.
Speaker 2: And people always give Tyler Perry his props for money,
Speaker 2: like talking about like this is I asked for this
Speaker 2: and I got it. And you know, he is the
Speaker 2: first person that ever gave me like my value and
Speaker 2: my worth.
Speaker 1: What was that negotiation like for you? Well, what I
Speaker 1: what I will say is Tyler has given me my dream.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. He's given me my dream. This has been
Speaker 1: twenty years in the making. I'll see now I'll get emotional. Yeah,
Speaker 1: twenty years in the making. It's my dream. So I
Speaker 1: have everything I want. My executive executive producer credit created
Speaker 1: by and I got a nice check.
Speaker 5: Every day, and I'm freaking champagne up and and you
Speaker 5: know what, my son got a job because my son
Speaker 5: graduated from Atlanta School of Audio and Engineering.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. And when we first was having meetings over there,
Speaker 1: they were like talking about how they're looking for more people,
Speaker 1: more young people to bring into you were like, I
Speaker 1: got over at the studio and I was like, well,
Speaker 1: do y'all need people on y'all post apartment? My son
Speaker 1: just graduated. They were like, yeah, bring them in. They
Speaker 1: gave them the internship and then hired him.
Speaker 3: Amazing.
Speaker 1: It's so much younger than just the show, and even
Speaker 1: so much bigger than just the paycheck. It's like dreams
Speaker 1: being made and pouring into my family. So I know
Speaker 1: he was so high too. I know, yes, was like,
Speaker 1: I'm just so it's amazing. It's just family vacation, be literal.
Speaker 1: And my husband plays on the show too. Okay, lasting, Yeah,
Speaker 1: what's his role? So he plays my security, my driver security.
Speaker 2: Listen, bodyguard remake, we see it.
Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't know what y'all talking about.
Speaker 1: I don't know what's happening.
Speaker 2: I love that for you, you know, and you definitely
Speaker 2: deserve it.
Speaker 1: And so this is like so inspiration for all of us.
Speaker 2: Just say, I'm thinking about all the ideas I've had
Speaker 2: in my life, and you know the difference is actually
Speaker 2: like investing in yourself and implementing it and like you said,
Speaker 2: going and getting a writer to work on this with you. Also,
Speaker 2: it's one thing to have an idea, it's a whole
Speaker 2: other thing to make it happen.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think believing. I think sometimes
Speaker 1: we believe, we have our hopes, we have our dreams,
Speaker 1: and we believe, but then we don't believe enough. And
Speaker 1: that's what I had to charge myself with over all
Speaker 1: this time. I was like, yeah, I've always believed that
Speaker 1: I knew I should have my own show. I just
Speaker 1: knew it. I just knew it. But until that moment
Speaker 1: of me when that strike happened, and me picking that
Speaker 1: up and all those steps I made to move forward,
Speaker 1: even when it felt like because it wasn't all easy breezy,
Speaker 1: when it felt like it wasn't going to happen, and
Speaker 1: I was like, Nope, it's happening, and I kept going,
Speaker 1: kept going. The belief in that moment of my life
Speaker 1: was way more than I ever had. So I've always believed,
Speaker 1: but I felt like I didn't believe enough. So that's
Speaker 1: what I've been telling people. Believe more, believe more. And
Speaker 1: Tyler always says, your dreams aren't bigger. You got bigger dreams.
Speaker 1: Your dreams aren't big enough. If they're easily accessible, they're
Speaker 1: not big enough. I love it, and I want to say.
Speaker 2: The last thing I say about this too, is she
Speaker 2: the people, is that this is also going to encourage
Speaker 2: so many people to want to run for office.
Speaker 1: Good whether or not you.
Speaker 2: Know it, because when you see it, you know what
Speaker 2: they always say, if you see it, yeah, you could
Speaker 2: see it, yes, And to see somebody in that position
Speaker 2: that's like us to know that, like this is something
Speaker 2: that could potentially happen when you see it could spark
Speaker 2: so much, you know, and young people that are watching
Speaker 2: you too.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, all of that is purposeful. All of it is purposeful.
Speaker 1: That's why I love what we do. I love specifically
Speaker 1: being an actor on television where you're in people's homes.
Speaker 1: Because you they get to know you, or they think
Speaker 1: you know, you become a part of their family. And
Speaker 1: because you're in their living rooms, you're at their dinner
Speaker 1: tables with them, with their kids, you're in the room
Speaker 1: with them, so they believe you become a part of
Speaker 1: their family. And I learned that when I was on
Speaker 1: The Steve Harvey Show, because people would come up to
Speaker 1: me and it was like they was like family. And
Speaker 1: I was like, I don't even know these people, but
Speaker 1: they know you, yeah, because I was a part of
Speaker 1: their family. And so I've always embraced that, and that's
Speaker 1: why I've always been adamant about getting back on TV,
Speaker 1: because that representation matters. Say it matters, all right?
Speaker 2: Well, She the People Part one May twenty second and
Speaker 2: part two August fourteenth, and that's going to be on Netflix.
Speaker 2: We are definitely going to be watching. Yay and thank
Speaker 2: you so much.
Speaker 1: And a pleasure.
Speaker 2: You got to finish it, oh I will, Okay, it's
Speaker 2: your service chairs.
Speaker 1: Thank you