WEBVTT - The Spirited Actor - Daphne Maxwell Reid (03/17/2020) 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.320 Hello, and welcome to the Spirited Actor Podcast with me 0:00:03.520 --> 0:00:06.480 Tracy Moore. I was a casting director for film and 0:00:06.519 --> 0:00:10.640 TV and commercials for over thirty years. I transitioned to 0:00:10.680 --> 0:00:14.240 a celebrity acting coach after I cast a film New 0:00:14.320 --> 0:00:19.440 Jersey Drive with executive producers Spike Lee and director Nick Domez. 0:00:20.079 --> 0:00:24.479 I auditioned every rapper from Biggie Smalls to Tupac, and 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:28.240 I realized that rappers and musical artists they needed help 0:00:28.280 --> 0:00:32.640 transitioning to acting. My clients consist of musical artists from 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:37.440 Buster Rhymes to Eve, Missy Elliott, Angela Yee from The 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:41.120 Breakfast Club, and Vanessa Simmons, to name a few. I 0:00:41.280 --> 0:00:45.120 also coach sports stars and host as well. I feel 0:00:45.320 --> 0:00:48.760 I have the best of both worlds. As a casting director, 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:51.360 I know exactly what they're looking for, and as an 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:53.880 acting coach, I can coach you to be remembered in 0:00:53.880 --> 0:00:54.360 that room. 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:55.240 Now. I know. 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:58.680 I know actors want to get the job. I get that, 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:04.920 but being remembered by casting director that is powerful. Meditation 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:09.280 of the day life has two rules. Rule number one, 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:16.920 never quit. Rule number two always remember. Rule number one 0:01:17.200 --> 0:01:22.679 Duke Ellington, no matter how hard it gets, never give up. 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:26.560 You should always keep the vision of your dreams clearly 0:01:26.680 --> 0:01:31.520 embedded in your mind. When things do appear bleak, just 0:01:31.600 --> 0:01:34.360 know it's a test. You can get through it, and 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:39.199 you will survive. I have had my share of chaos, 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:44.720 but looking back now, I can honestly say I made it. 0:01:44.720 --> 0:01:47.880 It's not over, but at least I know that, somehow 0:01:48.000 --> 0:01:53.160 or another, I will continue to persevere. Today I will 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:58.160 strive to be a winner. Welcome to the Spirited Actor 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:03.000 Podcast with me Trey see More. I don't even know 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:08.240 how to begin this introduction because, aside from being a 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:17.919 phenomenally talented human being, actress, executive producer, just creative, overall 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:25.120 creative being, she is a dynamic, spectacular every adjective that 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:29.880 I can think of that talks about empowerment and beauty 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:36.960 and just graciousness and elegance. I want to introduce missus 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:41.160 Daphney Maxwell. Read. Ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:48.639 for miss Daphney. Ready. Yes you are, Yes you are, 0:02:49.680 --> 0:02:52.600 And I'm gonna have to look through it. No you are. 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:56.280 I'm gonna have to look through at thesaurus and get 0:02:56.320 --> 0:03:01.320 some more adjectives because it doesn't it really doesn't touch 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:04.919 upon who you are. And I feel so incredibly blessed 0:03:04.960 --> 0:03:08.160 to have this opportunity to have a conversation with you 0:03:08.720 --> 0:03:12.840 and for other actors to be able to embrace this 0:03:12.960 --> 0:03:17.639 conversation and your words of wisdom, your experience, just everything 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:20.239 everything that you embody. 0:03:20.840 --> 0:03:24.400 Well, thank you. I please to be asked to share. 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:28.320 Well, we're going to start at the beginning. That's where 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:30.960 I want to start. And like I said, you know, 0:03:31.080 --> 0:03:35.600 this is a conversation, you know, I this is a 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:39.720 platform for me to continue to educate and inspire actors 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:43.600 on their journey and knowing the truths about the journey, 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:46.720 not what they heard from actor be who messed it 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:51.400 up and you know, became telephoned now Okay, we want 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:58.080 the truth. Okay, so hard. Yes, So I wanted to 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:04.560 start at the beginning. What was your inspiration to enter 0:04:04.680 --> 0:04:06.080 into the entertainment business. 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:14.800 I really didn't try to. I in high school, I 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:19.680 was playing with a group called the Group Theater Workshop 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:22.640 in New York was led by Robert Hooks. 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:24.880 Oh yeah, I love Robert Hooks. 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:29.479 Kevin Hooks day Yeah, the group theat a workshop became 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:33.600 the Negro Ensemble Company right after I left. Wow, I 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:39.320 was working with folks back then who were teaching me 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:45.240 to do improvisation and creation and presence and being and 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:50.440 how to deliver a line. And this is in high school. 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:53.040 But I thought, hey, this is a fun thing to 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:54.560 do on Saturday. 0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:56.360 Lines. 0:04:57.520 --> 0:04:59.960 It was in the sixties, and in the sixties were 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:02.679 there were not a lot of examples of black women 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:07.680 who make a living acting. I had Diane Carroll, I 0:05:07.720 --> 0:05:11.960 had Diana Sans. I had a couple of people that 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:15.160 I could look to, but they were working hard. I 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:17.839 wasn't as talented as Diana Stance because she could sing 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:21.919 and she was gorgeous, and I said, well, let me 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:26.880 go to school and use my head, and you know, 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:31.359 this is fun. So I never considered it as a career. 0:05:32.440 --> 0:05:35.240 Then when I got to university, I was out in 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:42.160 Chicago at Northwestern and went through a discovery of myself 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:46.919 there and realized that I was a black woman for sure. 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:50.520 In New York, you don't know, but everybody's everything. I 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:54.920 don't call somebody who is Latino. You don't call them 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:56.919 either Puerto Rican or Cuban, because they may be the 0:05:57.000 --> 0:05:58.680 other and they may cut you right. 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:00.359 True. 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:06.560 You just don't distinguish and New York was such a 0:06:06.680 --> 0:06:11.200 homogeneous place. I mean there were people of all colors, races, countries. 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:14.960 It was a wonderful place to grow up and be 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:22.200 exposed to the actual world. So when I got to Chicago, 0:06:22.279 --> 0:06:24.520 it was quite different. There were black things and there 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:27.880 were white things, and they didn't kind of mix together. 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:34.080 So I had a lot of challenges in just dealing 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:37.880 with being a black woman in a place that they 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:41.880 didn't want me, which was very different from me. And 0:06:43.000 --> 0:06:46.800 I realized that I have the strength that my mother 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:50.960 gave me, the responsibility to myself that my mother gave me, 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:55.760 and the courage that comes from somewhere deep inside of 0:06:55.800 --> 0:07:01.360 me to understand that these people just were gig prints. 0:07:01.400 --> 0:07:02.120 They didn't know me. 0:07:03.560 --> 0:07:04.120 That's true. 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:06.440 I guess it was time to let them know who 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:10.320 I was. So I went about living my life and 0:07:10.680 --> 0:07:15.560 got discovered by my junior high school teacher in New 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:21.040 York who submitted me to something called seventeen Magazine's Real 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:25.640 Girl Issue. And it was an issue where they took 0:07:25.880 --> 0:07:28.760 girls who had achieved things in high school and put 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:31.880 them in one issue. And this is when seventeen magazine 0:07:31.960 --> 0:07:38.160 was large format. I mean, it was like it and 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:42.720 I got selected because I was a merit scholarship winner 0:07:44.200 --> 0:07:49.720 and I modeled for the first time. Wow, And I said, 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:52.080 you mean you just want to want me to stand 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:52.720 here and smile. 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:56.480 That's it. 0:07:58.000 --> 0:08:02.920 That picture became a full page in seventeen magazine Wow, 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:06.880 and was won by I leaned Ford, who was one 0:08:06.920 --> 0:08:08.920 of my model agencies in New York. 0:08:09.080 --> 0:08:10.600 Right Ford Models. 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:17.400 Yeah, I became a Ford model of special booking because 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:19.760 I didn't live in New York. I was in Chicago 0:08:20.280 --> 0:08:24.480 at school, so I would fly back and forth to 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:26.080 New York. Now, this is going to hurt your heart. 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:30.400 I could fly round trip to New York, from New 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:33.920 York to Chicago and bath for twenty five dollars. 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:37.080 Oh my god, I'm Oh my god. That definitely hurts 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:37.560 the heart. 0:08:41.040 --> 0:08:45.920 Wowty five dollars. I would go to work, make fifty 0:08:45.920 --> 0:08:48.920 bucks an hour, and go back to school. Wow. 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:52.680 And did you have to in that fifty bucks? Did 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:55.880 they take out that percentage already or did Were you 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:57.800 able to come home with fifty bucks? 0:08:58.920 --> 0:09:00.679 Oh? I worked a couple of hours hours and I came 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:03.080 home with whatever. I came home more than I had 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:03.760 when I was. 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:08.200 A scholarship That's amazing. 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:13.880 It was all just spending changed to me. And so 0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:17.600 that was my life. In college. I went back and 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:21.480 forth to New York and did editorial modeling. I was 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:24.880 never sold them to be the Runway girls or anything 0:09:25.000 --> 0:09:28.520 like that. So I did editorial modeling and one day 0:09:28.559 --> 0:09:32.600 I went back to New York. I had a kind 0:09:32.600 --> 0:09:36.920 of a mentor back there named Amy Green, and she 0:09:37.000 --> 0:09:40.720 would book me on things and call me and say, Okay, 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:43.560 come shoot this and come shoot that, and you know, 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:46.240 I'd go into the same day, I'd go back to school. Wow. 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:49.040 I came one day and she said, Okay, put this 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:52.960 red jacket on. Now, just a little bath gower and 0:09:53.000 --> 0:09:55.160 some lip gloss on your hair, old to side. Don't 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:58.000 worry about it. Sit on the window there. And I 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:01.320 sat on a window. A guy ca amen, he might 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:06.400 have shot twelve fifteen shots. She said, Okay, that's that's good. Okay, 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:08.880 go back to school. And I got back on a 0:10:08.920 --> 0:10:10.080 plane and went back to school. 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:10.959 Wow. 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:14.600 That October of nineteen sixty nine, I was walking by 0:10:14.640 --> 0:10:17.920 the newsstand and I saw my face on the cover 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:19.080 of Glamour magazine. 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:19.760 Wow. 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:24.320 And I was the first black African American girl on 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:25.320 the cover of glamor bag. 0:10:25.520 --> 0:10:28.160 Yeay, excellent. 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:33.440 It was like, oh, what a delight. I'm just playing. 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:40.360 I'm still just playing school. I'm studying interior design and architecture. 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:43.960 I met the love of my life. I'm gonna get married. 0:10:44.000 --> 0:10:50.000 So I got married in school. Wow, and commuted for 0:10:50.040 --> 0:10:55.280 the last year in school, but continued to model after 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:59.880 I got out of school. Pregnant yay. Wow, one does 0:11:00.200 --> 0:11:01.000 in the sixties. 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:08.079 Okay, you juggling a lot. I have impressed family. Just 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:10.440 jet sitting back and forth, back and forth. 0:11:10.559 --> 0:11:10.839 Wow. 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:13.479 Yeah, it was fun. 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:16.520 In school, like I mean, you know, it says a 0:11:16.559 --> 0:11:17.640 lot about your character. 0:11:19.400 --> 0:11:24.400 Well, I had a lot of fun. And I just 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:26.439 modeled and modeled and modeled. And then when I got 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:31.640 out of school, I was really not interested in getting 0:11:31.640 --> 0:11:36.200 a job as an interior designer. I kept modeling with 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:41.240 the Chicago groups and started doing commercial and I was 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:44.240 hanging out with people who did commercials all the time 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:47.760 and voiceover talent and stuff. What is that? Let me 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:51.200 see that. So they would show me and take me 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:53.640 to a studio and I said, oh, I could. 0:11:53.520 --> 0:11:58.600 Do this now. Did you feel that there was in 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:01.760 coming from a world of model where you have no words, 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:04.960 but you still have to sell that product or that 0:12:05.760 --> 0:12:09.520 piece of garment. Right did you feel that? How was 0:12:09.520 --> 0:12:14.560 the transition going from no words to now incorporating words 0:12:14.559 --> 0:12:17.360 and building a character even in a commercial. 0:12:18.720 --> 0:12:28.200 I've been talking all my life, Okay, was no big deal. 0:12:28.440 --> 0:12:32.079 I want to do okay, yeah, oh show them that. Okay, 0:12:32.120 --> 0:12:36.360 I can do that. It was all O JT. It 0:12:36.440 --> 0:12:39.360 was just on the job. When I was on the job, 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:43.840 I was paying attention to what everybody was doing. I 0:12:43.920 --> 0:12:46.440 wanted to know what the lightning guy was doing because 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:49.840 he was making me look better, and I was wondering 0:12:49.880 --> 0:12:52.360 what the focused puller was doing, and he was making 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:57.360 me in focus. So I knew positioning, I knew hitting 0:12:57.440 --> 0:13:02.600 my light, delivery of life, he's k I did that. 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:06.000 At the group theater workshop, I learned how to deliver 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:10.920 lines and how to make a point and what to emphasize. 0:13:11.400 --> 0:13:15.720 And when I started the voiceover stuff in Chicago, I 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:19.200 was it was suggested that I just take magazine articles 0:13:19.240 --> 0:13:21.840 and read them out loud in the mirror and see 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:25.760 if I could sell myself on what it was doing 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:29.960 and kind of get a flow going, find your center. 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:33.680 So that's what I did, and I happened to be 0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:36.760 good at it, so I kept doing it and they 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:44.080 kept paying me. And then Robert this is a man 0:13:44.200 --> 0:13:47.520 named Robert Conrad, came to Chicago and we just lost 0:13:47.600 --> 0:13:52.360 Robert come about a weeks ago. He was the man 0:13:53.320 --> 0:13:58.240 who I would say discovered me. He put me in 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:02.400 a television series he was shooting in Chicago called The 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:05.280 Duke The Duke, and he put me in as a 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:09.079 regular and he wrote me in. I auditioned for some 0:14:09.160 --> 0:14:11.040 part and my agent says, well, you didn't get that, 0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:14.760 and then she said, oh, you're in the script that 0:14:14.920 --> 0:14:17.120 just came through. It's all handwritten in here. 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:20.440 Wow. Hand written was. 0:14:20.360 --> 0:14:23.800 Looking out for me. Wow. He saw something in me, 0:14:24.200 --> 0:14:29.920 and he just gloaned on it. So I did The 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:33.080 Duke a couple of episodes in Chicago. I think we 0:14:33.120 --> 0:14:36.320 did maybe six or seven episodes, and then that was over, 0:14:36.400 --> 0:14:39.560 and I went back to modeling and mothering and trying 0:14:39.600 --> 0:14:41.920 to keep a marriage together that was falling apart because 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:46.480 my husband was falling apart. And finally decided, Okay, this 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:49.760 marriage is not going to last. I got to go, 0:14:50.600 --> 0:14:54.000 and I left Chicago and moved out to la not 0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:58.360 knowing hardly anybody I had a girlfriend out there who 0:14:58.480 --> 0:15:03.240 was a lawyer, and I said, can I come out 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:05.040 here and stay with you for a week and see 0:15:05.080 --> 0:15:08.280 if I can make this go? She said sure, sure, Sure, 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:11.360 you can come sleep on the couch. I got out there, 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:14.760 and the first person I called, of course, was Robert Conrad, 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:18.440 because he was out there was another show called A 0:15:18.480 --> 0:15:22.760 Man called Sloan. He said, where are you? I said, 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:24.920 I'm in La. He said, come down to the studio. 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:28.560 I went down. I was in the episode that was 0:15:28.640 --> 0:15:29.200 up next. 0:15:29.520 --> 0:15:34.480 Oh my god, Oh my god, that's excellent. 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:39.480 Me in that episode. Wow, And it was a great part. 0:15:39.680 --> 0:15:42.160 I got an agent the first week I was in 0:15:42.320 --> 0:15:45.040 La and started working. 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:48.240 That is very rare. Ladies and gentlemen, and that is 0:15:48.360 --> 0:15:48.840 very rare. 0:15:49.000 --> 0:15:53.040 I am blessed. I understand this. It was not my efforts. 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:56.600 It's got me where I was. It was the stars aligning, 0:15:57.560 --> 0:16:01.920 people seeing something in me and being able to uphold 0:16:01.960 --> 0:16:03.080 what they thought I could do. 0:16:04.600 --> 0:16:05.320 That's beautiful. 0:16:05.360 --> 0:16:10.440 So I was very, very blessed and still just getting 0:16:10.440 --> 0:16:13.000 to the point where can I make a living out 0:16:13.040 --> 0:16:13.360 of it? 0:16:13.600 --> 0:16:18.320 Right in La? 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:21.400 In La. But it was the seventies, it was the 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:27.080 late seventies, and the early eighties, and it was a 0:16:27.120 --> 0:16:30.960 time where they were looking for black girls to kind 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:36.560 of get into position. They couldn't be too light, they 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:39.760 couldn't be too dark. They had to be just the 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:43.040 right flavor for them. Wow, And they would slide them in. 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:47.080 And there were little opportunities that came up, and I 0:16:47.400 --> 0:16:50.320 was working my butt off. I did things A Hill 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:56.400 Street Blue, Yeah, and McCormick and whatever, all of us. 0:16:56.440 --> 0:16:57.840 I did so many little. 0:16:57.640 --> 0:17:00.160 Shows, eighteen guest starring, Yeah. 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:04.520 Those that were going on. I had a great career. 0:17:06.000 --> 0:17:09.120 And I met We met Tim. I had known him 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:12.680 in Chicago because we had worked together, but he didn't 0:17:12.720 --> 0:17:13.480 do nothing for me. 0:17:15.119 --> 0:17:17.160 Oos should we be recording this? 0:17:18.320 --> 0:17:19.720 Yeah? Right, he knows. 0:17:21.080 --> 0:17:30.119 I loved I love it. They are the best together. 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:35.440 Oh yeah, we've had a wonderful We just celebrated our 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:37.680 fortieth Valentine State again. 0:17:37.840 --> 0:17:40.719 Oh that's beautiful forty. 0:17:42.240 --> 0:17:46.520 Yeah. We met in January nineteen eighty and have been 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:47.480 together ever since. 0:17:47.560 --> 0:17:50.400 I love it. That's beautiful. 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:53.320 I got to work with him. I met the guys 0:17:53.960 --> 0:17:58.000 when he was on WKRPNATI. When you're dating somebody and 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:00.320 you go to their show, you meet the crew. You 0:18:00.359 --> 0:18:03.040 need the writers, you meet, the directors, you meet everybody, 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:06.719 and hey, they put me in WKRP. 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:09.240 I loved it. 0:18:09.359 --> 0:18:12.040 Two shows that then they move on to a show 0:18:12.080 --> 0:18:14.880 called Simon and Simon, and then writers said, okay, we're 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:16.880 going to write you in here. Tends in the ud 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:21.320 in this too. So that's how my career progressed. It 0:18:21.440 --> 0:18:24.919 wasn't me beaten down doors and saying I gotta do this, 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:27.560 I gotta do this, my heart says, I gotta do this. 0:18:28.520 --> 0:18:33.720 It was I'm blessed with opportunities, and to take advantage 0:18:33.720 --> 0:18:36.480 of these opportunities to the fullest, I have. 0:18:36.520 --> 0:18:38.120 To be prepared excellent. 0:18:38.160 --> 0:18:43.320 So I stayed in shape. I just spent my downtime 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:46.240 doing things that I loved, which is what I encourage 0:18:46.240 --> 0:18:51.080 actors to do. Find something you love with which you 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:58.200 can eat and do that and and love that while 0:18:58.240 --> 0:19:01.919 you're waiting to be chose, because an actor has to 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:07.280 wait to be chosen, and unless you are creating your 0:19:07.320 --> 0:19:11.240 own projects, you have to wait to be choken. 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:15.920 Wow, that's I'm going to reiterate that during the show. 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:21.840 Way to be chosen, because you're absolutely right, and the 0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:26.560 preparation is, you know, if you believe and know that 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:29.400 there is a role out there for you, and when 0:19:29.480 --> 0:19:33.280 that role presents itself, you are ready for that. And I, 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:37.119 like you said in the downtime, that's where the preparation begins, 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:42.439 and that's where you're constantly nurturing that your talent. You know, 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:46.520 my generation, I know all of your body of work 0:19:46.560 --> 0:19:50.639 and have enjoyed you from Afar and then when I 0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:52.359 met you, it was like, oh my god, one of 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:57.440 my favorite actresses in the Hawaii world for real. So 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:02.960 and when you said Simon and Simon, like your face 0:20:03.080 --> 0:20:06.240 immediately popped up in a show in like an episode. 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:11.400 I just remember so. And then you know, there's that generation. 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:14.520 You know, you have been blessed to go through several 0:20:14.560 --> 0:20:19.280 generations of you know, consistent work, which is rare in 0:20:19.320 --> 0:20:25.160 this entertainment business. So when you got to the Fresh 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:29.119 Prince of bel Air, Aunt Viv, you know we're going 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:31.920 to talk about this story. You have to tell Yes, 0:20:32.400 --> 0:20:37.320 you have to tell this generation and beyond tell us 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:39.080 how that transition happened. 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:44.120 Okay, we had been working on a bunch of shows 0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:47.080 in La my husband and I. We did Sister Sister, 0:20:47.160 --> 0:21:00.000 We did Frank's Place with Dun cancel much later. Yeah, 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:03.600 right when we finished Frank's Place, we got picked up Snoops. 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:07.800 That's the show we got as a payback for canceling 0:21:07.840 --> 0:21:13.359 Frank's Place. Network kind of held on to their talent 0:21:14.520 --> 0:21:18.040 and we did CBS shows for many years, and then 0:21:18.040 --> 0:21:21.680 we had deals with TBS. Tim created shows for CBS, 0:21:23.240 --> 0:21:23.720 so we. 0:21:23.640 --> 0:21:29.720 Did Snoops and we were exhausted and we decided we're 0:21:29.760 --> 0:21:34.280 moving out of la and we're going to Virginia because 0:21:34.320 --> 0:21:38.240 they just elected the first black governor in the United States, 0:21:38.280 --> 0:21:39.240 so something must. 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:43.919 Be happening back there. And Tim is from Virginia and 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:47.880 was supporting the governor for his run. So as soon 0:21:47.920 --> 0:21:50.760 as he got elected, we bought a farm back in Virginia. 0:21:50.800 --> 0:21:52.200 We said, okay, time up. 0:21:52.520 --> 0:21:52.760 Nice. 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:56.520 Working for the past ten years really hard, and we're 0:21:56.520 --> 0:21:59.520 going to slow down nice. So we did that. Right 0:21:59.600 --> 0:22:04.640 before we left, I got an audition call. We want 0:22:04.640 --> 0:22:07.040 you to come and there's a role for a mother 0:22:08.080 --> 0:22:11.480 and it has to do with a young rap star. 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:13.880 And I said, wait, wait, wait, wait, no, no, no, 0:22:14.200 --> 0:22:18.280 I'm not doing no rap stuff. Sorry, So I said no, 0:22:18.440 --> 0:22:21.760 thank you. I didn't go to the audition, but they 0:22:21.840 --> 0:22:24.680 told me about the project right, And I said, now 0:22:24.880 --> 0:22:28.000 this is not for me. I'm at the farm, my 0:22:28.119 --> 0:22:32.600 new farm in Virginia, just playing away, having a grandson. 0:22:32.960 --> 0:22:39.359 Slow it down the tall and oh, what a cute show. 0:22:39.920 --> 0:22:42.760 This is that little Fresh Prince thing. They were talking about, 0:22:44.119 --> 0:22:49.119 what a cute show. So I'm looking at it. I said, oh, well, 0:22:49.359 --> 0:22:52.560 I didn't do that, and I'm going on about my 0:22:52.600 --> 0:22:59.080 business in Virginia. Three years later, three I guess this 0:22:59.359 --> 0:23:02.600 call and they said they're having an audition for the 0:23:02.640 --> 0:23:04.840 Fresh Prince of Bell there. I said, before I hang 0:23:04.920 --> 0:23:06.760 up the phone, I'm getting a play ticket. 0:23:07.480 --> 0:23:11.119 I'll be there, okay, okay. 0:23:09.920 --> 0:23:13.040 Yes, And I came back to LA and it took 0:23:13.760 --> 0:23:18.439 two weeks of auditioning. I auditioned probably five times, and 0:23:18.520 --> 0:23:21.239 every time I went back to a callback, there were 0:23:21.280 --> 0:23:23.200 women there that I had never seen in my life. 0:23:23.280 --> 0:23:27.320 M wow. And I kept going back, Oh good, I 0:23:27.320 --> 0:23:29.800 can go back, and I kept going back, and then 0:23:29.800 --> 0:23:34.240 finally said, okay, now tomorrow you go to the network. 0:23:34.320 --> 0:23:37.800 I said, oh, okay, I get to the network callback. 0:23:38.040 --> 0:23:41.440 There are three of us, totally different people. 0:23:41.800 --> 0:23:42.040 Wow. 0:23:42.440 --> 0:23:45.600 But I had already hit it off with James Avery, 0:23:45.640 --> 0:23:53.880 who I observe and our auditions were always fun and delightful, 0:23:53.240 --> 0:23:59.080 and we had a chemistry, so I was confident, but 0:23:59.359 --> 0:24:00.919 I didn't know what they were looking for, so I 0:24:01.240 --> 0:24:07.800 was not overconfident. After I read for the network, I 0:24:07.880 --> 0:24:13.920 went home and I guess I prayed, and Tim was 0:24:13.960 --> 0:24:16.760 out in LA with me that time, and we just 0:24:16.800 --> 0:24:21.000 sat around and we said, Okay, we'll find out tomorrow. 0:24:22.040 --> 0:24:25.640 And tomorrow was the longest getting there I was. It 0:24:25.640 --> 0:24:29.080 was eight o'clock in the morning, it was ten o'clock 0:24:29.080 --> 0:24:34.639 in the morning, and no phone had wrung. Finally, about 0:24:34.720 --> 0:24:39.840 ten thirty that morning, they called and said you got it. 0:24:41.600 --> 0:24:48.440 I cried, Oh was That's thrilled. And it was also 0:24:48.600 --> 0:24:51.960 the first television show that I had done it. I've 0:24:51.960 --> 0:24:55.080 been working in television for ten to twelve years. That 0:24:55.280 --> 0:24:58.000 was the first time I had done it before a 0:24:58.040 --> 0:25:02.680 live audience. It was going to be wow, wow w KRP. 0:25:03.040 --> 0:25:07.360 The episodes that we shot were a lot of film based. 0:25:07.440 --> 0:25:11.600 They were kind of offset doing film based, so I 0:25:11.760 --> 0:25:16.280 really hadn't worked before a live audience. And I was like, 0:25:16.640 --> 0:25:18.280 in New York and high school. 0:25:18.119 --> 0:25:26.840 Wow, but you had your theater training though, right the yeah, yeah, 0:25:27.080 --> 0:25:28.160 But when. 0:25:28.000 --> 0:25:31.720 You start on a sittim you don't know. You have 0:25:31.960 --> 0:25:36.720 to learn how to wait for the last right. You 0:25:36.760 --> 0:25:38.760 can't just keep talking. 0:25:38.600 --> 0:25:41.800 Right right and talk over it. 0:25:42.280 --> 0:25:44.960 You can't talk over the last right. You got to 0:25:45.040 --> 0:25:51.360 let it breathe during rehearsal. We have the writers who 0:25:51.440 --> 0:25:53.160 supposedly laugh, but they laugh at. 0:25:53.080 --> 0:25:57.399 Anything, right, Yeah, okay, true. 0:25:58.720 --> 0:26:02.520 I was welcome at Fresh Prints as if I had 0:26:03.960 --> 0:26:08.800