Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to the Spirited Actor Podcast with me
Speaker 1: Tracy Moore. I was a casting director for film and
Speaker 1: TV and commercials for over thirty years. I transitioned to
Speaker 1: a celebrity acting coach after I cast a film New
Speaker 1: Jersey Drive with executive producers Spike Lee and director Nick Domez.
Speaker 1: I auditioned every rapper from Biggie Smalls to Tupac, and
Speaker 1: I realized that rappers and musical artists they needed help
Speaker 1: transitioning to acting. My clients consist of musical artists from
Speaker 1: Buster Rhymes to Eve, Missy Elliott, Angela Yee from The
Speaker 1: Breakfast Club, and Vanessa Simmons, to name a few. I
Speaker 1: also coach sports stars and host as well. I feel
Speaker 1: I have the best of both worlds. As a casting director,
Speaker 1: I know exactly what they're looking for, and as an
Speaker 1: acting coach, I can coach you to be remembered in
Speaker 1: that room.
Speaker 2: Now. I know.
Speaker 1: I know actors want to get the job. I get that,
Speaker 1: but being remembered by casting director that is powerful. Meditation
Speaker 1: of the day life has two rules. Rule number one,
Speaker 1: never quit. Rule number two always remember. Rule number one
Speaker 1: Duke Ellington, no matter how hard it gets, never give up.
Speaker 1: You should always keep the vision of your dreams clearly
Speaker 1: embedded in your mind. When things do appear bleak, just
Speaker 1: know it's a test. You can get through it, and
Speaker 1: you will survive. I have had my share of chaos,
Speaker 1: but looking back now, I can honestly say I made it.
Speaker 1: It's not over, but at least I know that, somehow
Speaker 1: or another, I will continue to persevere. Today I will
Speaker 1: strive to be a winner. Welcome to the Spirited Actor
Speaker 1: Podcast with me Trey see More. I don't even know
Speaker 1: how to begin this introduction because, aside from being a
Speaker 1: phenomenally talented human being, actress, executive producer, just creative, overall
Speaker 1: creative being, she is a dynamic, spectacular every adjective that
Speaker 1: I can think of that talks about empowerment and beauty
Speaker 1: and just graciousness and elegance. I want to introduce missus
Speaker 1: Daphney Maxwell. Read. Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together
Speaker 1: for miss Daphney. Ready. Yes you are, Yes you are,
Speaker 1: And I'm gonna have to look through it. No you are.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have to look through at thesaurus and get
Speaker 1: some more adjectives because it doesn't it really doesn't touch
Speaker 1: upon who you are. And I feel so incredibly blessed
Speaker 1: to have this opportunity to have a conversation with you
Speaker 1: and for other actors to be able to embrace this
Speaker 1: conversation and your words of wisdom, your experience, just everything
Speaker 1: everything that you embody.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you. I please to be asked to share.
Speaker 1: Well, we're going to start at the beginning. That's where
Speaker 1: I want to start. And like I said, you know,
Speaker 1: this is a conversation, you know, I this is a
Speaker 1: platform for me to continue to educate and inspire actors
Speaker 1: on their journey and knowing the truths about the journey,
Speaker 1: not what they heard from actor be who messed it
Speaker 1: up and you know, became telephoned now Okay, we want
Speaker 1: the truth. Okay, so hard. Yes, So I wanted to
Speaker 1: start at the beginning. What was your inspiration to enter
Speaker 1: into the entertainment business.
Speaker 2: I really didn't try to. I in high school, I
Speaker 2: was playing with a group called the Group Theater Workshop
Speaker 2: in New York was led by Robert Hooks.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, I love Robert Hooks.
Speaker 2: Kevin Hooks day Yeah, the group theat a workshop became
Speaker 2: the Negro Ensemble Company right after I left. Wow, I
Speaker 2: was working with folks back then who were teaching me
Speaker 2: to do improvisation and creation and presence and being and
Speaker 2: how to deliver a line. And this is in high school.
Speaker 2: But I thought, hey, this is a fun thing to
Speaker 2: do on Saturday.
Speaker 1: Lines.
Speaker 2: It was in the sixties, and in the sixties were
Speaker 2: there were not a lot of examples of black women
Speaker 2: who make a living acting. I had Diane Carroll, I
Speaker 2: had Diana Sans. I had a couple of people that
Speaker 2: I could look to, but they were working hard. I
Speaker 2: wasn't as talented as Diana Stance because she could sing
Speaker 2: and she was gorgeous, and I said, well, let me
Speaker 2: go to school and use my head, and you know,
Speaker 2: this is fun. So I never considered it as a career.
Speaker 2: Then when I got to university, I was out in
Speaker 2: Chicago at Northwestern and went through a discovery of myself
Speaker 2: there and realized that I was a black woman for sure.
Speaker 2: In New York, you don't know, but everybody's everything. I
Speaker 2: don't call somebody who is Latino. You don't call them
Speaker 2: either Puerto Rican or Cuban, because they may be the
Speaker 2: other and they may cut you right.
Speaker 1: True.
Speaker 2: You just don't distinguish and New York was such a
Speaker 2: homogeneous place. I mean there were people of all colors, races, countries.
Speaker 2: It was a wonderful place to grow up and be
Speaker 2: exposed to the actual world. So when I got to Chicago,
Speaker 2: it was quite different. There were black things and there
Speaker 2: were white things, and they didn't kind of mix together.
Speaker 2: So I had a lot of challenges in just dealing
Speaker 2: with being a black woman in a place that they
Speaker 2: didn't want me, which was very different from me. And
Speaker 2: I realized that I have the strength that my mother
Speaker 2: gave me, the responsibility to myself that my mother gave me,
Speaker 2: and the courage that comes from somewhere deep inside of
Speaker 2: me to understand that these people just were gig prints.
Speaker 2: They didn't know me.
Speaker 1: That's true.
Speaker 2: I guess it was time to let them know who
Speaker 2: I was. So I went about living my life and
Speaker 2: got discovered by my junior high school teacher in New
Speaker 2: York who submitted me to something called seventeen Magazine's Real
Speaker 2: Girl Issue. And it was an issue where they took
Speaker 2: girls who had achieved things in high school and put
Speaker 2: them in one issue. And this is when seventeen magazine
Speaker 2: was large format. I mean, it was like it and
Speaker 2: I got selected because I was a merit scholarship winner
Speaker 2: and I modeled for the first time. Wow, And I said,
Speaker 2: you mean you just want to want me to stand
Speaker 2: here and smile.
Speaker 1: That's it.
Speaker 2: That picture became a full page in seventeen magazine Wow,
Speaker 2: and was won by I leaned Ford, who was one
Speaker 2: of my model agencies in New York.
Speaker 1: Right Ford Models.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I became a Ford model of special booking because
Speaker 2: I didn't live in New York. I was in Chicago
Speaker 2: at school, so I would fly back and forth to
Speaker 2: New York. Now, this is going to hurt your heart.
Speaker 2: I could fly round trip to New York, from New
Speaker 2: York to Chicago and bath for twenty five dollars.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, I'm Oh my god. That definitely hurts
Speaker 1: the heart.
Speaker 2: Wowty five dollars. I would go to work, make fifty
Speaker 2: bucks an hour, and go back to school. Wow.
Speaker 1: And did you have to in that fifty bucks? Did
Speaker 1: they take out that percentage already or did Were you
Speaker 1: able to come home with fifty bucks?
Speaker 2: Oh? I worked a couple of hours hours and I came
Speaker 2: home with whatever. I came home more than I had
Speaker 2: when I was.
Speaker 1: A scholarship That's amazing.
Speaker 2: It was all just spending changed to me. And so
Speaker 2: that was my life. In college. I went back and
Speaker 2: forth to New York and did editorial modeling. I was
Speaker 2: never sold them to be the Runway girls or anything
Speaker 2: like that. So I did editorial modeling and one day
Speaker 2: I went back to New York. I had a kind
Speaker 2: of a mentor back there named Amy Green, and she
Speaker 2: would book me on things and call me and say, Okay,
Speaker 2: come shoot this and come shoot that, and you know,
Speaker 2: I'd go into the same day, I'd go back to school. Wow.
Speaker 2: I came one day and she said, Okay, put this
Speaker 2: red jacket on. Now, just a little bath gower and
Speaker 2: some lip gloss on your hair, old to side. Don't
Speaker 2: worry about it. Sit on the window there. And I
Speaker 2: sat on a window. A guy ca amen, he might
Speaker 2: have shot twelve fifteen shots. She said, Okay, that's that's good. Okay,
Speaker 2: go back to school. And I got back on a
Speaker 2: plane and went back to school.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: That October of nineteen sixty nine, I was walking by
Speaker 2: the newsstand and I saw my face on the cover
Speaker 2: of Glamour magazine.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 2: And I was the first black African American girl on
Speaker 2: the cover of glamor bag.
Speaker 1: Yeay, excellent.
Speaker 2: It was like, oh, what a delight. I'm just playing.
Speaker 2: I'm still just playing school. I'm studying interior design and architecture.
Speaker 2: I met the love of my life. I'm gonna get married.
Speaker 2: So I got married in school. Wow, and commuted for
Speaker 2: the last year in school, but continued to model after
Speaker 2: I got out of school. Pregnant yay. Wow, one does
Speaker 2: in the sixties.
Speaker 1: Okay, you juggling a lot. I have impressed family. Just
Speaker 1: jet sitting back and forth, back and forth.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was fun.
Speaker 1: In school, like I mean, you know, it says a
Speaker 1: lot about your character.
Speaker 2: Well, I had a lot of fun. And I just
Speaker 2: modeled and modeled and modeled. And then when I got
Speaker 2: out of school, I was really not interested in getting
Speaker 2: a job as an interior designer. I kept modeling with
Speaker 2: the Chicago groups and started doing commercial and I was
Speaker 2: hanging out with people who did commercials all the time
Speaker 2: and voiceover talent and stuff. What is that? Let me
Speaker 2: see that. So they would show me and take me
Speaker 2: to a studio and I said, oh, I could.
Speaker 1: Do this now. Did you feel that there was in
Speaker 1: coming from a world of model where you have no words,
Speaker 1: but you still have to sell that product or that
Speaker 1: piece of garment. Right did you feel that? How was
Speaker 1: the transition going from no words to now incorporating words
Speaker 1: and building a character even in a commercial.
Speaker 2: I've been talking all my life, Okay, was no big deal.
Speaker 2: I want to do okay, yeah, oh show them that. Okay,
Speaker 2: I can do that. It was all O JT. It
Speaker 2: was just on the job. When I was on the job,
Speaker 2: I was paying attention to what everybody was doing. I
Speaker 2: wanted to know what the lightning guy was doing because
Speaker 2: he was making me look better, and I was wondering
Speaker 2: what the focused puller was doing, and he was making
Speaker 2: me in focus. So I knew positioning, I knew hitting
Speaker 2: my light, delivery of life, he's k I did that.
Speaker 2: At the group theater workshop, I learned how to deliver
Speaker 2: lines and how to make a point and what to emphasize.
Speaker 2: And when I started the voiceover stuff in Chicago, I
Speaker 2: was it was suggested that I just take magazine articles
Speaker 2: and read them out loud in the mirror and see
Speaker 2: if I could sell myself on what it was doing
Speaker 2: and kind of get a flow going, find your center.
Speaker 2: So that's what I did, and I happened to be
Speaker 2: good at it, so I kept doing it and they
Speaker 2: kept paying me. And then Robert this is a man
Speaker 2: named Robert Conrad, came to Chicago and we just lost
Speaker 2: Robert come about a weeks ago. He was the man
Speaker 2: who I would say discovered me. He put me in
Speaker 2: a television series he was shooting in Chicago called The
Speaker 2: Duke The Duke, and he put me in as a
Speaker 2: regular and he wrote me in. I auditioned for some
Speaker 2: part and my agent says, well, you didn't get that,
Speaker 2: and then she said, oh, you're in the script that
Speaker 2: just came through. It's all handwritten in here.
Speaker 1: Wow. Hand written was.
Speaker 2: Looking out for me. Wow. He saw something in me,
Speaker 2: and he just gloaned on it. So I did The
Speaker 2: Duke a couple of episodes in Chicago. I think we
Speaker 2: did maybe six or seven episodes, and then that was over,
Speaker 2: and I went back to modeling and mothering and trying
Speaker 2: to keep a marriage together that was falling apart because
Speaker 2: my husband was falling apart. And finally decided, Okay, this
Speaker 2: marriage is not going to last. I got to go,
Speaker 2: and I left Chicago and moved out to la not
Speaker 2: knowing hardly anybody I had a girlfriend out there who
Speaker 2: was a lawyer, and I said, can I come out
Speaker 2: here and stay with you for a week and see
Speaker 2: if I can make this go? She said sure, sure, Sure,
Speaker 2: you can come sleep on the couch. I got out there,
Speaker 2: and the first person I called, of course, was Robert Conrad,
Speaker 2: because he was out there was another show called A
Speaker 2: Man called Sloan. He said, where are you? I said,
Speaker 2: I'm in La. He said, come down to the studio.
Speaker 2: I went down. I was in the episode that was
Speaker 2: up next.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, Oh my god, that's excellent.
Speaker 2: Me in that episode. Wow, And it was a great part.
Speaker 2: I got an agent the first week I was in
Speaker 2: La and started working.
Speaker 1: That is very rare. Ladies and gentlemen, and that is
Speaker 1: very rare.
Speaker 2: I am blessed. I understand this. It was not my efforts.
Speaker 2: It's got me where I was. It was the stars aligning,
Speaker 2: people seeing something in me and being able to uphold
Speaker 2: what they thought I could do.
Speaker 1: That's beautiful.
Speaker 2: So I was very, very blessed and still just getting
Speaker 2: to the point where can I make a living out
Speaker 2: of it?
Speaker 1: Right in La?
Speaker 2: In La. But it was the seventies, it was the
Speaker 2: late seventies, and the early eighties, and it was a
Speaker 2: time where they were looking for black girls to kind
Speaker 2: of get into position. They couldn't be too light, they
Speaker 2: couldn't be too dark. They had to be just the
Speaker 2: right flavor for them. Wow, And they would slide them in.
Speaker 2: And there were little opportunities that came up, and I
Speaker 2: was working my butt off. I did things A Hill
Speaker 2: Street Blue, Yeah, and McCormick and whatever, all of us.
Speaker 2: I did so many little.
Speaker 1: Shows, eighteen guest starring, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Those that were going on. I had a great career.
Speaker 2: And I met We met Tim. I had known him
Speaker 2: in Chicago because we had worked together, but he didn't
Speaker 2: do nothing for me.
Speaker 1: Oos should we be recording this?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Right, he knows.
Speaker 1: I loved I love it. They are the best together.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, we've had a wonderful We just celebrated our
Speaker 2: fortieth Valentine State again.
Speaker 1: Oh that's beautiful forty.
Speaker 2: Yeah. We met in January nineteen eighty and have been
Speaker 2: together ever since.
Speaker 1: I love it. That's beautiful.
Speaker 2: I got to work with him. I met the guys
Speaker 2: when he was on WKRPNATI. When you're dating somebody and
Speaker 2: you go to their show, you meet the crew. You
Speaker 2: need the writers, you meet, the directors, you meet everybody,
Speaker 2: and hey, they put me in WKRP.
Speaker 1: I loved it.
Speaker 2: Two shows that then they move on to a show
Speaker 2: called Simon and Simon, and then writers said, okay, we're
Speaker 2: going to write you in here. Tends in the ud
Speaker 2: in this too. So that's how my career progressed. It
Speaker 2: wasn't me beaten down doors and saying I gotta do this,
Speaker 2: I gotta do this, my heart says, I gotta do this.
Speaker 2: It was I'm blessed with opportunities, and to take advantage
Speaker 2: of these opportunities to the fullest, I have.
Speaker 3: To be prepared excellent.
Speaker 2: So I stayed in shape. I just spent my downtime
Speaker 2: doing things that I loved, which is what I encourage
Speaker 2: actors to do. Find something you love with which you
Speaker 2: can eat and do that and and love that while
Speaker 2: you're waiting to be chose, because an actor has to
Speaker 2: wait to be chosen, and unless you are creating your
Speaker 2: own projects, you have to wait to be choken.
Speaker 1: Wow, that's I'm going to reiterate that during the show.
Speaker 1: Way to be chosen, because you're absolutely right, and the
Speaker 1: preparation is, you know, if you believe and know that
Speaker 1: there is a role out there for you, and when
Speaker 1: that role presents itself, you are ready for that. And I,
Speaker 1: like you said in the downtime, that's where the preparation begins,
Speaker 1: and that's where you're constantly nurturing that your talent. You know,
Speaker 1: my generation, I know all of your body of work
Speaker 1: and have enjoyed you from Afar and then when I
Speaker 1: met you, it was like, oh my god, one of
Speaker 1: my favorite actresses in the Hawaii world for real. So
Speaker 1: and when you said Simon and Simon, like your face
Speaker 1: immediately popped up in a show in like an episode.
Speaker 1: I just remember so. And then you know, there's that generation.
Speaker 1: You know, you have been blessed to go through several
Speaker 1: generations of you know, consistent work, which is rare in
Speaker 1: this entertainment business. So when you got to the Fresh
Speaker 1: Prince of bel Air, Aunt Viv, you know we're going
Speaker 1: to talk about this story. You have to tell Yes,
Speaker 1: you have to tell this generation and beyond tell us
Speaker 1: how that transition happened.
Speaker 2: Okay, we had been working on a bunch of shows
Speaker 2: in La my husband and I. We did Sister Sister,
Speaker 2: We did Frank's Place with Dun cancel much later. Yeah,
Speaker 2: right when we finished Frank's Place, we got picked up Snoops.
Speaker 2: That's the show we got as a payback for canceling
Speaker 2: Frank's Place. Network kind of held on to their talent
Speaker 2: and we did CBS shows for many years, and then
Speaker 2: we had deals with TBS. Tim created shows for CBS,
Speaker 2: so we.
Speaker 4: Did Snoops and we were exhausted and we decided we're
Speaker 4: moving out of la and we're going to Virginia because
Speaker 4: they just elected the first black governor in the United States,
Speaker 4: so something must.
Speaker 2: Be happening back there. And Tim is from Virginia and
Speaker 2: was supporting the governor for his run. So as soon
Speaker 2: as he got elected, we bought a farm back in Virginia.
Speaker 2: We said, okay, time up.
Speaker 1: Nice.
Speaker 2: Working for the past ten years really hard, and we're
Speaker 2: going to slow down nice. So we did that. Right
Speaker 2: before we left, I got an audition call. We want
Speaker 2: you to come and there's a role for a mother
Speaker 2: and it has to do with a young rap star.
Speaker 2: And I said, wait, wait, wait, wait, no, no, no,
Speaker 2: I'm not doing no rap stuff. Sorry, So I said no,
Speaker 2: thank you. I didn't go to the audition, but they
Speaker 2: told me about the project right, And I said, now
Speaker 2: this is not for me. I'm at the farm, my
Speaker 2: new farm in Virginia, just playing away, having a grandson.
Speaker 2: Slow it down the tall and oh, what a cute show.
Speaker 2: This is that little Fresh Prince thing. They were talking about,
Speaker 2: what a cute show. So I'm looking at it. I said, oh, well,
Speaker 2: I didn't do that, and I'm going on about my
Speaker 2: business in Virginia. Three years later, three I guess this
Speaker 2: call and they said they're having an audition for the
Speaker 2: Fresh Prince of Bell there. I said, before I hang
Speaker 2: up the phone, I'm getting a play ticket.
Speaker 1: I'll be there, okay, okay.
Speaker 2: Yes, And I came back to LA and it took
Speaker 2: two weeks of auditioning. I auditioned probably five times, and
Speaker 2: every time I went back to a callback, there were
Speaker 2: women there that I had never seen in my life.
Speaker 2: M wow. And I kept going back, Oh good, I
Speaker 2: can go back, and I kept going back, and then
Speaker 2: finally said, okay, now tomorrow you go to the network.
Speaker 2: I said, oh, okay, I get to the network callback.
Speaker 2: There are three of us, totally different people.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: But I had already hit it off with James Avery,
Speaker 2: who I observe and our auditions were always fun and delightful,
Speaker 2: and we had a chemistry, so I was confident, but
Speaker 2: I didn't know what they were looking for, so I
Speaker 2: was not overconfident. After I read for the network, I
Speaker 2: went home and I guess I prayed, and Tim was
Speaker 2: out in LA with me that time, and we just
Speaker 2: sat around and we said, Okay, we'll find out tomorrow.
Speaker 2: And tomorrow was the longest getting there I was. It
Speaker 2: was eight o'clock in the morning, it was ten o'clock
Speaker 2: in the morning, and no phone had wrung. Finally, about
Speaker 2: ten thirty that morning, they called and said you got it.
Speaker 2: I cried, Oh was That's thrilled. And it was also
Speaker 2: the first television show that I had done it. I've
Speaker 2: been working in television for ten to twelve years. That
Speaker 2: was the first time I had done it before a
Speaker 2: live audience. It was going to be wow, wow w KRP.
Speaker 2: The episodes that we shot were a lot of film based.
Speaker 2: They were kind of offset doing film based, so I
Speaker 2: really hadn't worked before a live audience. And I was like,
Speaker 2: in New York and high school.
Speaker 1: Wow, but you had your theater training though, right the yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: But when.
Speaker 2: You start on a sittim you don't know. You have
Speaker 2: to learn how to wait for the last right. You
Speaker 2: can't just keep talking.
Speaker 1: Right right and talk over it.
Speaker 2: You can't talk over the last right. You got to
Speaker 2: let it breathe during rehearsal. We have the writers who
Speaker 2: supposedly laugh, but they laugh at.
Speaker 1: Anything, right, Yeah, okay, true.
Speaker 2: I was welcome at Fresh Prints as if I had
Speaker 2: been in television for forty years and was queen of whatever.
Speaker 2: I mean. They treated me with such respect and such
Speaker 2: that's great. I was greeted with dozens of red roses
Speaker 2: in my room with me and welcomed me. It was
Speaker 2: really really wonderful. And after the first scene, huh, I
Speaker 2: settled in so and it became very comfortable to do.
Speaker 1: When you know, that's really great to know that you know,
Speaker 1: you were welcome because the transition, you know, was unorthodox
Speaker 1: so to speak, right, I mean in television world, because
Speaker 1: I don't know, and I tried to remember this, but
Speaker 1: did anybody address it? Like you know, I just feel
Speaker 1: like we were given the information there was going to
Speaker 1: be a cast change. Did it happened? And then it
Speaker 1: was like, okay, well, we're just all gonna believe that
Speaker 1: you are on viv now Like it was just you know,
Speaker 1: did it feel like that on the set.
Speaker 2: It just felt like I had been there the whole time. Wow,
Speaker 2: they did address it, and it's one of my favorite episodes,
Speaker 2: which is my too. Yeah, in the kitchen with Dandy,
Speaker 2: Jeff comes and brings it a present for the baby.
Speaker 2: Uh huh and this is my first scene, first day
Speaker 2: and he brings the present and calls him the wrong
Speaker 2: name that I correct him right, And he looked at
Speaker 2: me and he says, you know, you should look different
Speaker 2: since you had that TAKEE and Will broke the fourth wall,
Speaker 2: looked right into the camera and just shrugs and it
Speaker 2: went on. There was never mentioned again.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I thought that was brilliant the way you guys
Speaker 1: addressed it. Yeah, I bravo. You know I told you
Speaker 1: that twenty eight minutes was going to fly by, and
Speaker 1: they just gave me the five minute morning signal. Oh
Speaker 1: my god, Yes, I'm telling you so. I already knew. Listen,
Speaker 1: we're gonna we are coming back because we're going to
Speaker 1: fast forward. We're going to address this audience of actors.
Speaker 1: Need to hear the history, need to hear the journey,
Speaker 1: the perseverance, like you know, just the pearls of wisdom
Speaker 1: that you have blessed them with in these twenty five
Speaker 1: minutes that have flown by so far. So I do
Speaker 1: want to extend an invitation and have you back so
Speaker 1: that you know, we can even delve into character development.
Speaker 1: Because one of the shows that I was a part of,
Speaker 1: Eve's show in the beginning, I did the pilot and
Speaker 1: at that point I had decided as an acting coach
Speaker 1: that I wanted to settle back in New York. And
Speaker 1: I have been on the road between Eve and Buster
Speaker 1: for like six years. So when I found out that
Speaker 1: you were JT Jason George's mom, oh my god, I
Speaker 1: wanted to come back. I was like, man if I
Speaker 1: had known Daphny was gonna be on that show, Like,
Speaker 1: so I want to talk about that, because we didn't
Speaker 1: even talk about that. There's just so much of your
Speaker 1: work that is important for actors to know and to
Speaker 1: embrace and and hear these stories. You know at a
Speaker 1: time where I love where you said that you know actors,
Speaker 1: you you will be chosen. You know you you want
Speaker 1: to be chosen, and so but there's also other entities.
Speaker 1: There's a studio we need to talk about. So I
Speaker 1: am going to invite you back on the show, Daphne.
Speaker 1: I love it, okay, So I am going to check
Speaker 1: the calendar. I so appreciate you, love your time and
Speaker 1: all of your energy. This morning. I could talk to
Speaker 1: you all day like it really.
Speaker 2: Was, because you have such a spirit that I just
Speaker 2: admire so greatly and have always admired. I they mentioned
Speaker 2: your name and I just light up. I said, oh yeah,
Speaker 2: that's just as hon it.
Speaker 1: Oh thank you, damning me. I got little tears growing
Speaker 1: your buy. I appreciate love me oh always always, Like
Speaker 1: you know, my first the first show I ever had.
Speaker 1: You were on that show as well, So I appreciately
Speaker 1: love your support. And I know the actors, all of
Speaker 1: the actors listening and my studio family in here. They're
Speaker 1: walking away with some jewels, so they're excited that you're
Speaker 1: coming back. Excellent, excellent. So you have a wonderful day,
Speaker 1: and thank you so much. Tell and I said, Hi,
Speaker 1: give him a hug. Okay, and we're going to be
Speaker 1: back with class in session on The Spirited Actor Podcast
Speaker 1: with Me Tracy Moore. Welcome to The Spirited Actor Podcast
Speaker 1: with Me Tracy Moore, and we are at one of
Speaker 1: my favorite segments. Class in Session, Lean Amado and Melissa
Speaker 1: Capri Hey give it up for him. Hey, thank you.
Speaker 1: And also I do want to mention that I do
Speaker 1: have a book called The Spirited Actor Principles for a
Speaker 1: Successful Audition and it can be purchased Actor's House dot com.
Speaker 1: I mean author's House, I apologize Author's House dot com
Speaker 1: and also Barnes and Noble Amazon. I wrote this for you.
Speaker 1: This is for you. This is my gift to actors. Okay,
Speaker 1: so check it out. Thank you, and I'll sign it
Speaker 1: for those of you who are so subscribed to the
Speaker 1: Spirited Actor podcast on iHeartRadio, I will sign your book. Okay,
Speaker 1: incentive Okay, Class in session. So we have a scene,
Speaker 1: and you know how we do. I'm gonna read everything
Speaker 1: the slugline action and our ladies here are going to portray.
Speaker 1: The characters are Mary and miss Wise. Interior and we're
Speaker 1: going to start right there. Okay, excuse me, Interior child
Speaker 1: Psychiatrist's office day. Mary looks worse than ever. Her hair
Speaker 1: and clothing are disastrous. She rocks somewhat anxiously on the
Speaker 1: edge of her seat, like a desperate salesman looking to
Speaker 1: close a deal.
Speaker 5: Abuse, Yes, miss Johnson, abuse.
Speaker 6: There's no drugs in my No drugs because Precious, no,
Speaker 6: damn well, I willpa asks Bright Blue if she brings
Speaker 6: some drugs in my.
Speaker 5: I am referring to inappropriate acts of a physical and
Speaker 5: sexual nature involving Precious.
Speaker 3: Why don't you just say that that? Okay? When did
Speaker 3: the first start?
Speaker 5: Yes, according to Precious files, she's had two children by
Speaker 5: your boyfriend, the late Carl Kenwood Jones, who is also
Speaker 5: her father. You've been calling her saying that you want
Speaker 5: to be reunated with your daughter and grandson, and then
Speaker 5: you want them to come home. Well, I think you'd
Speaker 5: better explained just what happened in that home.
Speaker 1: Precious waits nervously.
Speaker 6: Well, I Precious belong at home because I'm a good mother.
Speaker 6: She had everything, and then told her that pink and
Speaker 6: white baby carriage, little pink booty socks, dresses, everything I
Speaker 6: put on her pink. Precious, she's so smiling and healthy.
Speaker 6: They don't go by. I don't throw up her wheels
Speaker 6: in the air. I take her up and down one
Speaker 6: hundred and twenty fifth Street. I mean, Karl loved Precious.
Speaker 6: I dreamed of the day we was gonna, you know,
Speaker 6: get married, get housed with grass color TVs all.
Speaker 3: In the rooms.
Speaker 6: Precious that she was born about the same time as
Speaker 6: Swestsun that got killed. You remember him, don't you?
Speaker 3: Precious?
Speaker 1: Precious looks at a loss.
Speaker 3: He born some summer time, by the same time as you.
Speaker 1: I was born in November. As far as I know, that's.
Speaker 6: Right, my little Scorpio child. Scorpio's crafty, and I ain't
Speaker 6: say they lied, just you can't.
Speaker 3: Always trust them.
Speaker 1: Precious looks embarrassed beyond embarrassment.
Speaker 5: Miss Shunson. When did the abuse happen? How often?
Speaker 1: Where?
Speaker 5: And when? When you first aware of what was going on?
Speaker 3: When?
Speaker 6: I don't know when it starts when I remember it.
Speaker 6: She's still little? Yeah three? Maybe I give her bottle.
Speaker 6: I still got milk in my precesses, but not from her,
Speaker 6: but from car sucking.
Speaker 3: I give them titty precious bottle. Hygiene you know.
Speaker 5: Excuse me, uh huh, you mentioned something about hygiene connection
Speaker 5: with this, Wise can't go on.
Speaker 6: I bottled her titty m bottle are better for kids, sanitary,
Speaker 6: But I never get dried up because Carl always on me.
Speaker 6: It's like that you know, child man, a woman got
Speaker 6: got both. What you're gonna do when in bed? Put
Speaker 6: it on one side of me, on the pillow, call
Speaker 6: on the other side of me.
Speaker 1: This Wise looks as if she's stopped breathing.
Speaker 6: I think that was the day it started. So you're
Speaker 6: me the Then he reached over the Precious. He said, Carl,
Speaker 6: what you're doing? He said, shut your big ass up.
Speaker 6: It's good for her. I say, stop it, Karl. I
Speaker 6: want him on me. I never want him to hurt her,
Speaker 6: and I didn't want him doing anything to huh.
Speaker 3: I want him my man.
Speaker 6: For myself to text me up on my child me
Speaker 6: me God damn it said y'all, you can't blame me
Speaker 6: for this shit happened in the Precious on me. I
Speaker 6: love Karl. I loved him. He had daddy, but he
Speaker 6: wasn't my man.
Speaker 1: Mary can't help but to shoot a look of anger
Speaker 1: at Precious while missus Wise pauses to regain her composure. Scene.
Speaker 1: This is a very very I want to pull on
Speaker 1: both of you, guys. This is a very difficult scene.
Speaker 1: For those of you who don't know this scene. It's
Speaker 1: from a film Precious. There is abuse of the highest levels.
Speaker 1: I can't even comprehend a child going through this, And
Speaker 1: that was one of my questions with you, because I'll
Speaker 1: address both of you.
Speaker 2: But.
Speaker 1: Lean, as a psychiatrist, you're supposed to be neutral and
Speaker 1: clearly in the actions excuse me, it's stated she's floored.
Speaker 1: That tells us something about your disposition. Miss Wise can't
Speaker 1: go on. Miss Wise looks as if she stopped breathing
Speaker 1: this situation. And I'm sure you've been around a lot
Speaker 1: of situations in this. You know this is your job, right,
Speaker 1: This sounds like you've never had this experience. So where
Speaker 1: do you where do you search to get this type
Speaker 1: of experience with this?
Speaker 5: I definitely how to use imagination because for it to
Speaker 5: be this extreme and I just pictured, you know, if
Speaker 5: it was like I pictured my little sister if I
Speaker 5: was younger, and when she was younger, and like I
Speaker 5: had a hard time even like fathoming three years old,
Speaker 5: like just the size of a baby at three years old.
Speaker 5: But yeah, it's so it's so extreme that like the
Speaker 5: only thing I can pull from is imagination. How to
Speaker 5: create it because I have not experienced or or have
Speaker 5: seen it.
Speaker 1: So and then there are maybe references of films, like,
Speaker 1: you know, we're talking about abuse, so they play enough
Speaker 1: every Saturday, you know Jennifer Lopez's films, Maybe there are
Speaker 1: films like that. In reference to where women were being abused,
Speaker 1: It's a very difficult subject. I mean, I can't imagine,
Speaker 1: you know, being in a film and I know that
Speaker 1: we're acting, but the truth of this is that this
Speaker 1: young girl is being abused in the same bed with
Speaker 1: her mom and her abuser. So for you, Julisa, how
Speaker 1: do you prepare for a role like this where you
Speaker 1: have no experience and you also have a child?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean I definitely as a coal read It's
Speaker 6: like going through it, I was like, oh wait, all
Speaker 6: of this is happening. Okay, cool, But like if I
Speaker 6: was to do research and stuff on it, I have
Speaker 6: to make sure that you don't judge the character, because
Speaker 6: you can't play a character and judge it at.
Speaker 3: The same time.
Speaker 6: Right, So coming from the respective of an abused woman,
Speaker 6: I have to think about, well, she had trauma, and
Speaker 6: what are her traumas and what are her triggers and
Speaker 6: going through all of that, it's like, okay, well, how
Speaker 6: did she justify her actions or did she even feel
Speaker 6: to fight in them, Like I just try to put
Speaker 6: myself in the mind frame of the person and what
Speaker 6: are her surroundings and what were the stakes? Like if
Speaker 6: she didn't allow this to happen, would she be out
Speaker 6: in the street?
Speaker 2: Well?
Speaker 6: What you know? Like, so none of it makes it right,
Speaker 6: but it's like trying to make sure that like I
Speaker 6: just put myself in their shoes as opposed to like
Speaker 6: judging it from the outside, because you can judge anyone's
Speaker 6: situation from the outside and you have no clue what's
Speaker 6: happening on the inside, and you don't exactly know, not
Speaker 6: that this would ever happen in my life, but you
Speaker 6: don't know what would happen or how you react when
Speaker 6: certain things come up.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 6: So and your past plays a role, your fears play
Speaker 6: a role, like your stakes. All that plays a role.
Speaker 6: So yeah, when I'm like if I was reading for
Speaker 6: the first time, as you always say, the first time
Speaker 6: you go through, Yeah, I'd be floored because it like
Speaker 6: of everything that's happening, and I think about my child
Speaker 6: and what would happen. But then I have to flip
Speaker 6: the table and think about, Okay, where is she coming from?
Speaker 3: Right, what are the stakes for her.
Speaker 1: So and I like that statement that you don't judge
Speaker 1: the care you can't judge the character. You don't know
Speaker 1: this story behind it, right, And in this particular case,
Speaker 1: you definitely were abused and molested as the mom some
Speaker 1: that happened in your past. But I still think that
Speaker 1: out of all the situations that you have had over
Speaker 1: your career, you've never had this, And that's why it
Speaker 1: was important for the writer to write she is floored,
Speaker 1: to let us know the impact. And then there's kind
Speaker 1: of a nonchalant sort of way in which you kind
Speaker 1: of like have made this the new normal, an acceptable
Speaker 1: quote unquote, which is really sick with you.
Speaker 5: Yeah, right, Yeah, I think about when I was when
Speaker 5: you know, I was just reading this when I was here.
Speaker 5: But we had when you had Derek Bernard on the show,
Speaker 5: he talked about it, like the reminder about serving like
Speaker 5: the relationships like in the you know, in our work.
Speaker 5: So I was trying, even me as a therapist and
Speaker 5: a psychologist, I was trying I'm sorry a psychologist. I
Speaker 5: was trying to I was almost trying to like give
Speaker 5: her the benefit of the doubt like before, like I
Speaker 5: feel like my mind's already made up. I'm protective of precious,
Speaker 5: like it's such such a special case. But I feel like,
Speaker 5: like I feel like I was trying to like fight
Speaker 5: to listen to her because I'm like, it's it's so
Speaker 5: irrational that, like you said, like she's got it, Like
Speaker 5: I feel like she's got to be coming from something,
Speaker 5: you know what I mean. So I was really trying
Speaker 5: to not to not judge her character and like hear
Speaker 5: her even though my mind was made up. But I'm like,
Speaker 5: but I was trying to hear her instead of just
Speaker 5: coming from like a defensive standpoint.
Speaker 1: Which is good because acting is a part of listening.
Speaker 1: So she was giving you that breathing space as well.
Speaker 1: So another thing that I wanted you to add, Leanne
Speaker 1: about your preparation, what.
Speaker 5: Was that that if I had time to prepare for this,
Speaker 5: I would try to go to shelters or you know,
Speaker 5: homes or centers for women who have been abused to
Speaker 5: like really get a sense of the truth of it,
Speaker 5: because I wouldn't want to play a characature in a
Speaker 5: role like this.
Speaker 1: Excellent, So observation, homework, research, all of that stuff is
Speaker 1: about the preparation. And then of course you know you
Speaker 1: need time. So I applaud these ladies because this is
Speaker 1: all a code read so they are literally getting it
Speaker 1: just as I'm getting it as well. Okay, so this time,
Speaker 1: let's read it again. I'm not going to read any
Speaker 1: action and we are just really focusing on building these characters. Okay,
Speaker 1: whenever you guys are ready.
Speaker 5: Abuse, yes, mis Sehnston abuse.
Speaker 6: There's no drugs in my house. No drugs because Precious, no,
Speaker 6: damn Well, I will ask Bright Blue if she brings
Speaker 6: some drugs in my house.
Speaker 5: I am referring the inappropriate acts of physical and sexual
Speaker 5: abuse involving Precious.
Speaker 3: Why'd you say that that? Okay? Okay? When did it go?
Speaker 3: When did it start?
Speaker 5: Yes? According to Precious as files, she's had two children
Speaker 5: by your boyfriend, the late Carl Kemwood Jones. It's also
Speaker 5: her father. You have been calling her saying you want
Speaker 5: to be reunited with your daughter and grandson, and then
Speaker 5: you want them to come home. Well, I think you
Speaker 5: better explain just what happened in that home.
Speaker 6: Well, I the Precious belong at home because I'm a
Speaker 6: good mother.
Speaker 3: She had everything and told her at.
Speaker 6: Pink and White baby carriage, Little Pink booty socks, dresses,
Speaker 6: everything I put on her pink, pascious. She's so smiling
Speaker 6: and healthy. They didn't go by that didn't throw whole
Speaker 6: wheels up in the air. I take up and down
Speaker 6: the hunch ins with the fifth Street me and called loved.
Speaker 6: I dreamed of the day we was gonna, you know,
Speaker 6: get married, get housed with grass color TV and all
Speaker 6: the rooms press. She born at the same time. It's
Speaker 6: Westsun that got killed. You remember him, don't you, precious?
Speaker 6: He born summertime, same time as you.
Speaker 1: I was born in November, as far as I know.
Speaker 6: Yeah, that's right, a little Scorpio child. Scorpio's crafty.
Speaker 3: Look. I ain't saying they lied. They just can't always
Speaker 3: trust them.
Speaker 5: It's Johnston. When did the abuse happen? How often and where?
Speaker 5: And when were you first aware of this? Even going on?
Speaker 3: When?
Speaker 6: I don't know when to start. When I remember it,
Speaker 6: she still little, and maybe around three.
Speaker 3: I give her bottle.
Speaker 6: I still got milk in my breasts, and says, but
Speaker 6: not from hub, from Carl sucking. I give him titty
Speaker 6: precious bottle.
Speaker 5: Hygiene you know, excuse me, h, you mentioned something about
Speaker 5: the hygiene and connection with.
Speaker 6: I bridled her titty m bottle moore, better for kids, sanitary.
Speaker 6: I never get dried up. It's Karl always on me.
Speaker 6: It's like that, you know, child man, woman got both.
Speaker 6: What you're gonna do? We in bed, So I put
Speaker 6: on one side of me, on the pillow, Carl on
Speaker 6: the other side of me.
Speaker 3: I think that's the day it started. So he or me.
Speaker 3: Then you reach over the precious. I said, call what
Speaker 3: you're doing?
Speaker 6: Said, shut your big ass up. It's good for her,
Speaker 6: say I say, stop it.
Speaker 2: Call.
Speaker 6: I want him on me. I never wanted him I
Speaker 6: heard uh. I didn't want him doing anything to huh.
Speaker 2: I wanted my.
Speaker 3: Man for myself. Sex me up. I'm my child.
Speaker 6: Hey god, damn it. See you can't blame me for
Speaker 6: all that ship that pressure has happened on me. I
Speaker 6: love Karl. I loved him here daddy, but he.
Speaker 3: Was my man.
Speaker 1: And scene wow, very very powerful. My wish is that
Speaker 1: our our audience was able to pick up the tension
Speaker 1: the relationship. Just you know, this was a really really
Speaker 1: deep scene. Give it up for Liaan and Alisa. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Wow wow brings it. You know, we need to pick
Speaker 1: me up energy in here. Pick me up. I love
Speaker 1: if you're looking for love. If you are looking for love,
Speaker 1: you're going to love this book. The Spirited Actor Principles
Speaker 1: for a Successful Audition by me Tracy Moore and I
Speaker 1: share some insights and tips and love. So stay tuned
Speaker 1: as we leave class and session, and we're going right
Speaker 1: into Give Love. Thank you. Give love when you have
Speaker 1: done all you can, when you have prayed and whatever
Speaker 1: your religious belief, when you have fallen to your knees
Speaker 1: and ask God to help you, when you have no
Speaker 1: other resource, when you have nowhere else to go, stop
Speaker 1: breathe and give it to God. Your plan doesn't provide
Speaker 1: the relief and the comfort of God's plan. Relax, it's
Speaker 1: already taken care of. Thank you for joining us on
Speaker 1: The Spirited Actor Podcasts with me Tracy Moore. I look
Speaker 1: forward to our next Spirited podcast. Thank you,