Choppin' it Up with the cast of "A Different World"

foreign [Music] [Music] here's a chance to make it [Music] we can take care just remember it's a different world [Applause] [Music] Brown [Music] I know [Music] now that I'm ready [Music] now yeah here's our chance to make it and if we froze You Can Dance [Music] come down well the All-Star crew welcome to Wilmington Delaware we're glad to have you here we're glad to have such a cultural phenomena and history making cast in our city so um we're going to go ahead and begin our conversation we're going to start with you Mr Bell can I just say one thing real quick thank you all for that opening dance yes give it up to the Christiana Art Center [Applause] if you didn't know I wrote that yay [Applause] that's so cool so we're going well why don't we start with you why don't you tell us why don't you tell us what you're doing now and tell us the significance of your character Jalisa um oh okay what I'm doing now what are you doing now what are you doing now I've recently finished doing a did you hear me great I recently finished doing Gray's Anatomy yes [Applause] I got a I got a lot of tweets and posts from probably so many of you saying Jalisa How You Gonna shut down the hospital Jalisa didn't shut down the hospital but that's a whole other thing just before that I was doing uh the Broadway show Tina yeah Tina Turner musical did you see it so um coming up or do we have any Dwayne Johnson fans yeah he has a show called young Rock so I just finished filming with Mr Johnson I will be inside yeah so that's where you can you can see me and myself decree both do lots of voices for different animation we'll talk about that but I do Karma's World ludicrous's animated series uh if we have any Star Trek fans in the house Star Trek lower decks I'm the voice of Captain Carol Freeman and then a few other things so uh I'm I'm not busy at all I'm just chilling talk about Jalisa jalisa's character for any body who has thought about pursuing anything in their life and something in their Spirit was telling them it's too late you've missed your window I believe the character of Jalisa was designed to set us free of that to say it is never too late for me to believe in myself to be my best self and to go for it and do not be afraid and the day you quit the next day could have been the day of the release of your blessings so so Delisa was there in the mix holding her own and um you know as a brown skin woman of color making it happen and and doing it uh you know it was it was it was a blessing to be there in the in the midst of all of this amazing energy and telling big and powerful and important stories and somewhere along the way having a laugh every now and then thank you you're welcome Daryl run what are you up to these days uh what am I up to about five foot seven I still have designs on six foot I don't know you're welcome [Music] so I I have not been working in front of the cameras and working behind the camera so I've been producing um I I started my producing career uh working with Bill Cosby his first comedy special in 30 years was called far from finished and I produced that for bill um it was interesting at the time that bill was going to do this a lot of people didn't know that he was still doing stand-up and this was probably around 2013 and we went to Comedy Central and Comedy Central as a demographic of 16 to 34 year old white men and so when we propose doing at the time a 77 year old black comedian there was some resistance it ended up being the number one comedy special on the network so yeah that that's where I I started my producing career and currently myself and my significant other Tempest months [Applause] [Music] we're producing a a show for Amazon where I can do some two shows for Amazon right now ones are going to be a big Halloween special we're gonna have a lot of fun with that and some other good things coming up so I'm busy talk about Ron Johnson um what I like what I really like and it's something I think you see in in all of our characters look particularly if you're a fan of the show from season one to season six it's how much they change right you know Ron started off as this goofy little kid and a lot of people saw him as a sidekick and he grew into this man and he he was an entrepreneur he started his own business he he became his own you know it was one of the fun things that I see on social media that you hear all the time now who did you like better Ron and Kim or Ron and Freddie [Music] [Laughter] some people might feel some type of way about that right what's really interesting about where it landed is particularly when people talk about the transformation of Freddy's character too and those two characters would have never been together in in the second season but they were perfect for each other in the end I agree and and that's that's really what you talk about going to school and the maturation problem maturation process I like Freddie with Shazam [Applause] [Music] [Laughter] one of the things that I always find funny was like a different world became so incestuous everybody was involved with everybody like World College I don't know about that you can't be in a relationship with somebody who's not on the show that wouldn't work so your only option is with the actors you work with so that's that's how they quickly talk about your on-screen and off-screen Bromance with Kadeem all right well look there there is there's no brothers there's no faking The Chemistry Between Us and and that extends from Kadeem all the way across the stage for all of us as you can tell when when Jasmine jump in when someone says something that's for real yeah I love these people this is my family right here and one of the most difficult things for us is to really be professional while we're talking y'all cause we're trying to hang out you know what I mean we don't get to see each other all together that often so this is a special for us as it is for you right so and just just to let you know but but to answer the question directly Kadeem and I have been Brothers for so long I am honored to be his daughter's Godfather now along with our other friend Matt but we ain't gonna talk about Matt um but but that's what matters that we our relationship is forever and and while we get to talk about Dwayne and Ron sometimes we talk to each other all the time foreign everybody am I the only one having an out-of-body experience right now okay just just checking just checking like this is really surreal and we we really we really honor you guys today so today we're going to give them their flowers right iconic so right now we're just kind of going down the line just um asking the same question like you know how did you resonate with your character and like what was the what was it like being on a different worlds so I guess we'll continue with Creek ready please man [Applause] wow uh Brad and Freddie and I are probably very similar to each other in that we both care about this planet that we and we both want to make sure that all women have the right to body autonomy and that we want to change the way this plant this uh America United States of America is governed so uh that wasn't much of a stretch my father who took the train about five years ago was a very powerful activist he was on the very first Green Peace boat the Rainbow Warrior and he also fought for Native Native American rights with Leonard Peltier and um so I watched that growing up and I remember auditioning for a different world and they asked you to talk a little bit about yourself and that's I believe how Freddy was born definitely birthed from who I really am I I'd like to think I'm a little smoother than Freddie God is willing but uh and what's what's the other what would she be doing now I'm sorry foreign [Music] [Applause] so so what does being on a different world mean to you and like in your life what does being on a different world well it changed in any moment that kind of stands out in your experience well I think there's so many moments I mean Kadeem was my very first love so that's a huge thing right and we got to work together and love together and he was the best first boyfriend you could ever ask for because he's such a beautiful tender-hearted being so to be brand new and to have this one foreign so that was a big deal also I uh I'm a I'm a school dropout I lived in a school bus with my family I started school in the fourth grade I dropped out right before the 10th grade so I've probably had almost six years of formal education and uh so different world gave me a college experience I was never going to have and I'll never forget Charlie and I coming up together two timid little things joining the cast and then my princess Jasmine and I probably love at first sight she just took incredible care of me made me a better actress and has always been a really kind sister and Daryl and Dawn I mean really the the best part of different world is that it's familial we really became a family and also to have the honor to have made such an impact on black people [Music] that's probably the best part and also to encourage people to go to hbcus [Applause] and I'd say uh last but not least last but not least just to represent the freaks you know because I think that we come in all different colors shapes and sizes and I think that people really needed to see Freddy because there's a lot of Freddies out there [Music] I mentioned the voiceover stuff Korea is a part of something that is groundbreaking yes that is happening right now please please share with that desert oh yes that's right um like I said um I am on the very first all Native cartoon that's ever been made which is so exciting because we all know what it's like to be excluded and I believe that indigenous people have been invisible for so [ __ ] long and finally children will get to see themselves and dream of who they can be as well thank you thank you for sharing that and over to Charnel hey hey now Kim now Kim your your character was serious you know what I mean like she was really boring no no she was she was not she was she was a great example she was a great example and she was serious about her business she knew why she was at Hillman you know what I mean so she was focused you know super focused so how do you relate to that character and this is the same question like what does that like what does being on different world playing that character who was about her business and met a med student you know um what did that mean to you wow absolutely give it up absolutely we are different uh Kimberly and myself were entirely different she I mean I'm focused but she was really focused on what she needed to do she had uh she was responsible um dedicated [Laughter] but yeah we're just really opposites because I remember there was one scene where um Daryl and Cree were you know messing around I know and Kim came like a grown woman and instead of bashing or facing which she had every right shirt but she was telling me she was like that's what I love about camp on the other hand it was me a different story get off a little bit actually uh with with Kim I loved him um very much and I love the the camaraderie that we have um everybody's different but yet we're the same um we love hard yes and we like heart you know and even though we don't see each other often because we're all doing things when we get back together it's like yesterday like we've never you know been apart yeah but I have to tell you and I have to do this and after a different world guys I know um you need to see me I just kind of like disappeared um I had a priority um my mom had Alzheimer's and I decided she was my priority and yeah and my career took a back seat but she passed away last year September 21st but the thing is guys which is amazing she passed on her blessings to me and so I'm back out there today it's amazing film that I wrote on changes it's free check it out family movie I have an acting school in Houston Texas just about to tour a play that I wrote called No Soldier less behind dealing with the veterans because we need to take out check out our veterans and it's a lot of black veterans that are homeless and we have to recognize them and we don't do it enough and we and we understand your Ardent proponent for mental health advocacy could you talk about that you know for the Urban League yeah we're like stepping down yeah and we're going to be doing that real soon you know in Virginia this is so many things that God has done I just think it's amazing that when you're in the valley he gives you lilies [Music] you know and even though I wasn't a part of the entertainment sect but he made me a part of the entertainment sector teaching and so I just have to tell people just one thing you know if you have a priority you know take care of your family take care of your mom and dad because I mean they took care of you yeah you know and it says in the Bible right honor your mother and father do that because you will be blessed because my mom is with me 24 7 and I feel her blessings I just feel her around me so I just want I know it's off but no no that's perfect okay I miss God yes [Applause] your character is so iconic Whitley Gilbert um and when you why are you laughing no no because I'm going to tell you why oh no no no no no no no I'm going to tell you why but no I'm going to tell you why it's because hearing you talk on the show and when I heard you talk for real it was totally different from the Whitley that we know on the show so kind of let us know how you kind of morphed into that character of Whitley Gilbert like what what did you have to do or where did you pull from and what was it like being on such an iconic show a different world um the first one the first one yeah because that was a lot oh I'm sorry you just look like somebody I know you yes but you don't know me right okay [Laughter] [Laughter] oh I know you're not and I'm not gonna bother you I different world [Music] did through the regular where you auditions um but I had been in there a couple of times I went up for the role of Julissa obviously I didn't get it [Laughter] so when I come back you know six months eight months later I'm like I have to be something wasn't resonating you know it wasn't so um well they said she was a a black southern belle and I said what's a black southern belle do we have something else I really didn't understand what they meant and I said I was with my mom and I said you know what do they think of black southern metal is I really didn't get it so I thought I made it up but I didn't make it up and I used an accent from one of my teams more um humorous but I think the um the thing that I had to do once I got the part was how do I make what is funny deeper yes I worked I work backwards with Whitley because I know anytime I talk like this right right so it's not the content of what I'm saying it's a way of saying it right and that's what you call I mean as actors or crutch or a cheated it's like Dynomite you know you wait for that that's right you still need that substance yes some substance you know a really demon I came in with six or seven episode contract yeah so by episode five because he was like what you think what you think yeah because the first season was very tentative people were coming and going and you know we had the the nucleus of Lisa Bonet and Donna Marissa but everybody else was they would just look like well let's try this let's try this a lot of great talent too it was a little um stressful you know um and we didn't have the sense of obviously for myself I didn't have a sense of belonging because um there was separation between all these different departments I've never done a TV show and I didn't understand how it worked it in theater you have interaction with your director your choreographer on a daily basis and the other people in the show and I just felt like okay I went in and did my lines and went back to my my room you know um and but I knew what I was supposed to what I was hired to do and he knew what he was hard to do so but in the grand scope of things like how was it another thing it was about how making the goofy guy with the flip-flops and the snotty little [ __ ] from the south people that people can relate to that's what the levels that's right you know when I um well when we did make it through the first season the second season Changed by bringing in um Debbie Allen Susan fails as our head writers [Applause] and then these two came in I think we had two episode guarantees yeah we had two episodes yeah two episode guarantees yeah they were like if we don't like these characters in two episodes yeah and then they then they up okay yeah it was crazy that's what I'm saying we learned something new isn't that crazy I mean we were scared every day we were scared every afraid yeah every other day every week you know what I mean yeah yeah you know they were on board like that and one thing to Jasmine um and she'll be able to speak to this because one of the legacies of a different world was how it introduced hbcus to the world it continues to be the most popular advocate for hbcus so for a lot of people until they saw a different world they didn't know hbcus existed right that's right Jasmine didn't understand that and why okay okay [Applause] [Laughter] [Music] that's natural yeah I didn't know that it was even a thing yes but out in L.A they don't have you know it just wasn't a thing in other parts of the country and so I didn't understand um how important it was that they put that Cosby put her spin on you funded hpu he knew he knew okay all right and uh we have Kadeem Wayne I was looking for the flip of glasses bro but um but I mean such a pleasure to have you here brother so please like as someone who started out you know as a Supporting Cast and became a lead you know on the show that's right so so tell us about this journey like what it meant to you uh to be a part of a different world and tell us about your character and your character's development yeah um I'm really learning now about what it meant at the time it just for me it was like get to work on time do your [ __ ] right keep your job but now 35 years later I hear my grandbaby wants to be an engineer because of you I'm in the math department because of you yes yeah I knew it was cool to be smart and and and and corny a little bit and a little overzealous a little bit and I was comfortable with that because I saw you do it on television so the representation that Dwayne kind of that's a big thing that that at the time I had no idea I wasn't really paying attention I would hear it at the gas station occasionally from grandmothers about their babies wanting to be in math and but now seeing the 40 year olds that grew up on us saying hey bro I I created a career because of what I saw you did that's that informs what it meant to me I can't really say it any other way than goddamn right you know um because that wasn't my plan um I got the job I beat up the little guy down there for it he was auditioning I was auditioning he would call me up and say hey man I'm auditioning for this thing a different worlds Cosby's been off I was like me too you say hey man I got a call back me too me too I got another call back I didn't [Laughter] so having nowhere to stay you know in L.A being new to me he was there and I just would stay at his on his couch and then uh and then every day every day he would drive me to the job I'm a New Yorker so we rode bicycles and motorcycles and then uh and then every day you got to pick me up at the job you know hey Bro 4 30 you got to be here to your crib [Laughter] um but yeah so I got the job and like jazz said we had a short deal you know it wasn't it wasn't you'll be here for the whole 24 episodes and have fun kids no I was like well let's see what you got because we're looking for something to pick this show up a little bit so far they had done a couple and then I don't know if they thought it needed something so that's when we showed up and um yeah I was pretty much a nervous wreck I think the first season and I'll tell you all my actors whatever is real you know whatever's present you got to go with it so nervous actor 101 if you look at season one Dwayne talks a lot with his hands and that's just my nervous energy coming out and instead of fighting against it I said oh well [ __ ] I gotta use it so you know it became part of his DNA and then you'll notice by season three Mr Cosby said um it's time to grow one up grow them up that's right lose lose the glasses get them some suits you know what I mean we're gonna make them a man now and and that meant to me that shorty was going to get all Daryl was going to get all the funny lines and I was gonna be like the old uh uncle that complained about how much toilet paper he used and complained about everything um which was cool because then it meant serious relationship taking things more seriously a chance to show growth in the character for our young men like this is what happens you get to school you're a little over the edge and then you settle in by the time you're a junior okay now you done figured out some stuff and how to move forward um so yeah the Journey of them and what it means to me is uh yeah it's it's it's what it's done for my people yeah right yeah that's where [Music] and the journey has just been you know the most incredible ride like all the talent on on this thing like they all good so I've never had to be like all right me and Jazz ain't knowing the [ __ ] gonna fall apart right no no got it got it got it got it that's right so I could just lean back and be like oh snap let's see what they doing this week um so yeah yeah that's um I'm gonna cut it right there yeah thank you thank you [Applause] guys have such good words I want I you know one of the things girl yes one of the things that we've all we've already is just this the love we've got from fans because our show was not critically embraced but here we are 35 years later [Applause] so since we have the audience being involved [Applause] [Music] so yes let's go and get the audience involved audience questions because one of the things that we talked about which is so impactful about the experience at HBCU is the personal experience in attention you get from professors like how your professors take a special interest in you when I was I went to Syracuse University I didn't go to an HBC but I left Syracuse to go audition for school days and I went to Mission College my first agency [Applause] and I did that with Jasmine and Kadeem after that I went to Hillman College with Jasmine my second HBC but I can tell you my life has been impacted by the special attention that I got from my professor at Syracuse and then the first time in 35 years I can tell you that there was a professor who took a personal interest in me and changed my life and he just retired from the University of Delaware and his name is Casey Morrison and he's sitting right over there foreign [Applause] Morrison was the head of the African-American studies department at Syracuse University and when I went to Syracuse which all the way in Upstate New York and so cold just like when we came to Delaware I was surprised that the black population in Syria I still talk right at lunch today literally it is it is 2022 and it was in his class that he taught me that Syracuse was one of the major thorough points of the Underground Railroad yeah and that's where all those black people settle and it's one of the things that I learned in my education that this man imprinted on me for the rest of my life [Applause] you're sweet thing I got I got one quick hello for you from Sinbad I talked to him [Applause] always gets nothing but love when he comes to Delaware so he's sure I said hi to all of you we're going to give you an opportunity to interact with the cast so if you could keep your comments and to a minimum and make sure you have a question to ask hi my name is riazelia Allen also known as attorney Southern Belle hey I really reached Jasmine Guy she got her copy of my book and I'm giving it to you all as well because you all have impacted my life and I'm like the hugest fan that I have a different world parties watch parties everything so Freddie you're the reason why I went to law school oh and I'm also a professor at Southern University [Music] [Applause] okay look look one second before you ask your question I hate to be the bad guy on this we want everybody to get a chance to ask a question so if you can keep your comments you know we we love them we want to give them their flowers but keep it to one statement then ask a question so we can keep the the program wrong thank you so my question is I'm a writer how did you all interact with the writers of the show and did you all have any input in what was written yes so the short answer to that is yes Debbie Allen made sure in our second season that we would have a conversation with our writing team after every Runner so they got we had an open dialogue with them in our reactions were always Incorporated in the show furthermore there was a point probably around season three where all of us started to write down things about our characters that no one knew that we created and those turned into story lines that got into the show so there were things that came from us that all manifested himself and that was because Debbie Allen made sure that our creative input was hurt High proud HBCU grad family thank you [Applause] another question was character direction or storyline that you did not agree with and what was it and how did you handle it uh yeah I wasn't really keen on that breaking up that wedding [Laughter] I'm sorry as a as a man I thought it was wild disrespectful foreign so yeah I I did not agree with breaking up that wedding I thought the better idea would have been to go to her the night before and convince her to hop this wall and let's be on with our lives see and I told the writers and the writers wrote it so yes we did have some input but I still had to break up and then I a couple I was gonna say I had a couple of things when they started making me and Walter myself in Sinbad they started making us everybody and Mama just to tell everybody now behave you shouldn't do that that became my whole thing and then we got to the episode where they wanted us to get married and he and I were like oh my God this is the kiss of death and we booked heads on it so badly that they broke up the wedding they wouldn't let us get married because we were so against it but they fixed both our butts because next season I came back and Sinbad was gone and I was married to Colonel Taylor [Applause] how did that happen I said we've been on this show almost three years and never even had a scene together people would stop me on the street are you going to do Walter like that okay I want y'all to know when they asked me to kiss Halle Berry I was like no [Laughter] that's where I draw the line [Music] okay we have another question over here oh that's so good I've been getting my 30 second warning Love The Breakfast Club interview yeah phenomenal it was phenomenal I'm a Delaware native so what I'm going to say to you with this is that the melanation that came across that TV for us gave us the opportunity to see that we made a difference we won that TV show we were just oh my goodness I'm a writer so I said people are interested in our stories yes oh my goodness and you guys are not the broad brush that everybody tries to paint us at you are all the diversity within you showed us now I'm going to ask my question before this gentleman oh okay see they know me they're calling me my name so the thing is I have one question when's the reboot cause we ready cause we ready who we got the right who we got to call who we got the email when's the reason oh I'm sorry are you all ready for the reboot because we are okay so so the bottom line is and and Debbie has been very public about this we wanted to do it for a long time uh car seat Warner owns the show and for a long time Carson Warner uh wasn't really interested in doing the reboot now there's the challenges W said with rights with the writers and now with Mr Cosby's new situation there's a challenge with the networks as well so it is it is I can only say you can never say never but as of today it looks like slim and none guys I flew all the way from Phoenix Arizona to be here because this is the greatest show of all time all time right now there's somebody from Delaware going how did he get in so credit to the writers I know there's some phenomenal writers but how much of it was improvised because you guys were such Geniuses that so many of the lines were just like okay they're just too good too good how much was was improvised I'll tell you that um our writers were excellent and and one of the things I committed to doing was trying it as it was written but load my chamber with alternates just in case this didn't work or that didn't work so that whenever we got in front of the audience and we did something that fell flat no worries I'm loaded we also he also taped into front of two separate live audiences so once we knew we did what we were responsible for for the first audience and they got it all in the can usually by the second show it was later we all have dressing rooms stuff happens in your dress room that's eat your body's business but we would come back and you could let things fly for the for the second show and then they they would take the best of both and edit it together so like I have to say too actually you have to guys I have to say this this this we call her princess uh Jasmine Guy baby she took the words she did not ad lib she took the words and made them work for her and one time we were in a scene I don't know whether you remember and and the writing wasn't that great that that week and and actually and I was like I was in my head I was like how's Jasmine gonna flip this what is she gonna do so I got I had forgot my line she was that great that I had forgotten I was a fan I had forgotten what you did with those words that was impossible to do and so it's not even about ad libbings what would you do with what they give you right right oh yeah I do have to say that was the greatest Joys was to break her up because she's so perfectionist so do you remember okay this was in there sitting on the couch and I had to come in yes and every time I came in you know first I came in like and the second time I came in by the internet and she would not break up and this was you know so that was one time that was my duty I gotta break up you and Whoopi Goldberg don't look at me don't look at me and don't touching me she's trying to do her makeup oh God powder hours hilarious but we had much fun doing it off camera as we do oh yeah oh yeah backstage was just as exciting it's amazing there wasn't a lot of AD living but again Debbie Allen so you live by the sword and you die by the sword right Debbie Allen would give you permission to try anything on the stage and if it were to like honey we're keeping that but if it didn't work so I'll keep your day job don't remember she would always say and in my case it was uh uh Gary Coleman about to get your job okay all right so I just wanted to say I appreciate y'all I was a little kid watching my mom had her head everybody say Cosby y'all and I think Rosanna chairs somebody but y'all y'all showed Sisterhood friendship y'all showed what it looked like it wasn't coonery it was family you're correct Jalisa I related to you I have a successful career because of you wow yes I I saw a priest corporate that's me I'm coming through my briefcase that's me because of you so I appreciate you Ron you always had us back you was ready to rumble don't have no question just want to pay homage guys yes well that's what we're here for that's what we're here for all right hey there are a couple of babies here that got a question um when did you take an interest in acting and was there someone who um inspired you how old are you I'm nine you're nine I started singing at four I started dancing at seven I started acting at 11 so you are the perfect age and that is something you want to do yeah to to start exploring and experiencing and reading plays and learning music if you want to write and write scripts write short stories if you want to paint pictures whatever you want to do that makes you excited and creative now is the absolute perfect time and the truth is you're never too young or you're never too old not at all not at all that has been so extraordinary I think everyone would agree with this on a different world the answer to your question about who inspired me oh Lena Horne Lena horn Gladys Knight yeah uh Patti LaBelle Diane Carroll Ron O'Neal Glenn tournament like yes and we got to work with all of them it's like all the people that inspired us I look at who they are and I'm like it's preacher oh my God to work every day you know we got to hang out it wasn't it was incredible the talent that we got to work with and right and the fact that all of all of the heroes that we met never disappointed never disappointed we stand on their shoulders and it's a blessing to us that you guys are inspired by what we have done because with any luck you leave this world a better place than when you arrive the room is better because you were there so if we can offer anything please take this Love Take This Joy take this excitement and let it shine through you to whomever else is in your circle in your spirit lift them encourage each other you know what I'm saying for the little babies who are here she wasn't even born in the same decade not even the same Century this is 2000s you know what I'm saying so that's what we need to keep doing for each other all of us stand on someone else's shoulders a nine-year-old like doesn't know a world where there wasn't a black president okay or vice vice president yes that's all they know yeah so anyway sorry go ahead I just wanted to say thank you um I went to Morgan take your time take your time I started having mental um health issues so I started struggling with anxiety so I left Morgan but you guys were my escape and I still watch you to this and I watch you every day anytime I'm anxious or I'm depressed I'm like my daughter's sitting here she today and she um she knows I'm like if different world doesn't want just let me be just let me be I'm in my happy space um since then I have healed and now I'm an advocate for mental health and I have a um I teach I have an online school for black men and women so we teach mental health advocacy and our next year theme for our Gala is a different world yes I have a question you have a question well I just wanted to say thank you I have a question for her hold on how old is your daughter how old are you you want to go down yes okay all right you're 15 that means you're in junior high school now you start your sophomore year in high school and you want to go to Howard University all right this is totally off topic and I knew there was a reason I knew there was a reason I have my own non-profit organization and we give scholarships and support you [Applause] now it's called the a new day foundation there's a pamphlet there's a book there's a notebook there's a t there's a t-shirt in here that says I am my best investment okay Mom I want your information Mama didn't finish college but you're gonna go [Applause] oh God bless you [Applause] God bless you God bless you [Applause] yes [Applause] we might as well go home now ain't nobody's up in there let's just get on the hell out of here [Applause] that's it he's sending babies you can't answer a question now she's in tears no grab this put this in your bag and just bring it just bring it I don't know [Applause] um hi I'm from Delaware my name is Kelly um a different world meant a lot to me but Freddie meant a lot to me as a black female but as an awkward black female as a black female who listens to rock music as a black female who was always othered as not being officially black because I speak the way that I do you saved my life you made it possible and acceptable to always be me always being I followed your music career I am obsessed with you yes so I just want to say thank you yeah yes my question is for Miss Jasmine Guy oh um my question for you is how did you get through the therapy scene how did you get through that moment yeah but I didn't know she was gonna do it like that because she was our director so I've been doing it with the stand-in during the week and then the audience comes in Debbie comes on she got a wig off [Laughter] right and um yeah it took it took more takes than we've ever done I kept laughing okay I guess I have to be the straight man yeah that's right the balance of that but she was cracking me up she cracks me up anyway but yeah remember wait when we had the Thanksgiving dinner she came and flipped over the sofas and the wind came off the wind came off right right next question go right in I I thoroughly enjoyed the show my wife and I um we're kind of like doing with we're High School sweethearts and uh I really love the show more have a comment for Miss summer this summer I thoroughly enjoyed you the first time I heard your voice was on Inspector Gadget I was like wow that's amazing and I I did some research on us you were just a teenager I was uh 11 years old yeah but I loved you on Inspector Gadget definitely love yours number five [Music] even your shortest blurb I've ever heard less than five minutes yeah on Rick and Morty on what Rick and Morty oh you uh you said oh Jesus hail what did I do your character was a giant in the cartoon but you know I've done over 500 animals here yeah so it's okay if I can't remember them thank you brother I appreciate it so much I think it's your turn okay I feel like I've been waiting my entire childhood to stand here before all of you until you thank you from the bottom of my heart I am Nakia I'm all the way here from Detroit with my 13 year old son okay but this afternoon because I absolutely had to be there be here to tell you guys you're my heroes I'm one Miss Jasmine who you said you know I grew up in Detroit there are no hbcus but when I saw a different world I knew I had to do it I went to Howard University on a full scholarship because of you guys um fast forwarding whatever the questions I want to ask is I became a community advocate because of you guys you created shows about the AIDS epidemic about you know what was happening to Rodney King what was really happening in real in the black community and I do that for young girls on a daily basis and I feel like I'm a Dying Breed so I guess my question is for all of us who know that the next generation is our responsibility how do we get the real issues not the fake ones but the real issues out here in front of the kids so they can also either through real life or the Arts address these issues and create change like you guys did for us foreign that's one of the things we do through the sorry were you answering the question Jazz I was with the ghost no no go ahead I didn't hear you I'm sorry no I was wondering how she reaches her girl yeah no do you are you a teacher or do you work at the Y or you know what I'm saying like created myself in Detroit and we teach leadership leadership service Academy Service Learning entrepreneurship business you know and to take the issues that affect thank you the issues that affect the black community and have these young girls ages 6 to 16 go out and create the change so do you come together like in a classroom we meet every other Saturday in the city of Detroit we create service projects and the girls go out and do them I personally have an answer another question oh okay um what we do through the foundation is we have a group for teen boys called mentors m-e-n-t-o-r-s which stands for men talking of relevant situations and for girls it's sisters hang out um and it's for ages 13 to 19. and we create what we call experiences for them and they're usually groups of no more than 20 and we take them to career opportunities or cultural experiences that they're not normally exposed to and there are no parents involved so the parents trust us with their child usually for an entire day and we take them to the experience whatever it is I've taken them into the recording studio and taught them how to make and create their own animation video game projects we've taken them to City Hall to show them how government works all those kinds of things with them and we feed them and we have what's called a safe space conversation where by the end of the day they've made new friends from around the city they now have an opportunity for peer-to-peer mentorship and then we guide conversations with them through myself and the other adults involved all that to say each of us can do that there are young people in your church young people in your neighborhood your child's friends take them in small groups best as you can try to get your church or if you're in a position take them to see a play and sit and talk about it engage them give them the freedom to speak freely and talk amongst themselves and what the kids learn is that they're not the only ones usually going through what they're going through so they don't feel as alone and some of the stories that these kids will share with you will really Break Your Heart of what some of these kids are dealing with but each of us can do that you don't have to be famous you don't have to be rich you just have to care and even if you take them a handful at a time full added out of time I'll add a layer of complexity to that in this sense one of your questions talks about and what we hear from different world fans are we don't see shows like yours that have an aspirational message on television anymore facts that's part of what's changed in 2022 versus 1990. with the Advent of social media YouTube and others there are algorithms that are designed to make you look that way so often what we talk about and it's not that we haven't seen young men of color killed unarmed and we see that a lot but the news is meant to make you look at that and it's meant to make you angry it's meant to make you scared because then you will act and you will feed into that it's like a car crash on the street it'll stop and you'll look so the idea of whether or not we can influence our children to look at different things is to get them to look away from the media often and that's just the way that the media now exists versus back when there were only three stations on television it's just different if you click on YouTube all those thumbnails are designed to make your children look at stuff they had no interest and things that will pull them down a rabbit hole that will keep them for the rest of their lives that didn't exist in 1985. I did so there's a lot of it's not that there aren't real issues and challenges in our community but all you have to do is look at CNN today all you see is coverage of hurricane Ian right now did Donald Trump die but like we're not talking about Donald Trump today we're not talking about what they arguing about on Capitol Hill like where did all that go well we have something else that's catastrophic and you'll watch it all day so we're going to play that for you so you will wonder where all the other important news stories that are important to us there's there's a uh uh there are two other news organizations gosh down there I wish I could remember the name yes I say gosh darn it um but one of it is just about good news things that are out there that you can learn that will help you that will help enrich your lives that will help feed your spirit and lead you in a way that will make you and your family successful and those are things that we have to look out for and gravitate toward and direct our children towards thank you you have a question over here so much a question just want to say thank you for coming Jasmine Miss Jasmine Guy you came to my high school in 05. I still have the autograph picture um also Miss Dawn Lewis thank you for inspiring my mom for my name my name is Julissa and I too was a student that went to Scott College uh got my bachelor's degree at the age of 28. so and got my Master's at 30. so come on I just want to say thank you to all of you thank you for your inspiration it continues and when I decided to have some children whatever that is they definitely gonna be watching a different world thank you this gentleman got a question first of all this is an absolute honor to be talking to any of you guys um my question is really simple to be how do I say this first of all Cree you have the best name on the show to me meaning the first name Creek Summers that's name my question is I am also a Jalisa I will be yeah my question to you all is I'm 33. how many times have you all heard that I was named after either your character or your real life excluding you because it's about five or six of us in this city one of them is my nail tech so it's about five or six of us in Delaware so excluding Miss Dawn Lewis how many of you been told I've been named the um or Dwayne Jasmine or Whitley charnell or Kim Cree or Freddie Daryl or Ron I want to know has anybody ever told you guys I love I have a lot of creams now all of a sudden me too I'm going crazy just so everyone knows what it means I was named after a tribe of Indians called The Plains Creek Indians and they're a nomadic tribe in Saskatchewan that I was raised with and yeah I'm noticing a lot more creams these days yes thank you no one has ever said they were named Rhonda Darrell trash [Applause] [Music] Barrel behind me this is like this ain't right I wanna I wanna tell you a number of years ago that made the Guinness World Book of Records as the most popular name given to Children based off of a television camera records wow I love your sweatshirt by the way my name is Phil named after some white Goblin General Hospital yeah uh Phillip chance so I have a quick comment you know I do have a question so you know you know common is I'm a relatively new professor I'm a full-time Social Work professor at Del state so foreign it's emotional because education means everything to me right and so that the Wayne Mutiny episode you know where he came and gave a quiz and it was just like every it was revolt against them and that and I had so I showed that end scene where you're talking about the urgency of Education I showed up every class that I teach right just because it's it's it's so important you know what I mean um I wanted to say that but my question is and I'm about celebrating and showing love to the ancestors right so this could be for Dawn and for Chanel um the ancestors Mary Alice pass right we talk about Lou Myers who passed can you can you speak to them in one more name and I know people may not know him Rosco Lee Brown I try to do I've tried to do so much research on them and it's just like I can't find anything what all right I can't believe that because he was an incredible economy I know I see like the filmology and what have you but you know somebody writing about them and writing about I don't necessarily see it so can you speak to just Mary Alice and Lou Myers and what they meant and rascally Brown and what they meant to just the elders in general you know actually um a kind gentle crazy soul do you remember when he used to get his burrick details oh that was my favorite because Kadeem had this fancy Lotus right and he'd get it detailed and Daryl had a fancy card then Lou Myers had this old beat up Buick and he would get his Buick detail did he would say Crete did you see my bird he was just beautiful just and very knowledgeable you know you can go around all my goodness but he was very very intelligent knowledgeable and I learned a lot from him I miss him dearly I think about it it's it's a little hard for me to talk about the three of them um Mary Alice was there when I started a different world Roscoe was there when I started different world Lou was there when I started different world and Daryl mentioned before some of the icons that we got to work with there was so much there was so much history in in each of them there was so much graciousness so much humility so much joy to see us succeed um where they had encountered ceilings and barriers and each of them as talented and as gracious as they were suffered no fools okay they they did not mince words what they said they meant and what they meant is what they said um Lou had this whole other side he liked playing Honky Tonks yeah so every now and then Lou and I would end up at clubs doing Blues sets and singing and just carrying it on and um they were they were they were all three such amazing amazing people bless you they were just really amazing I like to uh say something about Lou um [Laughter] a little everyone is my favorite actor Jasmine might be my all-time favorite actor that's right but Lou was the one who really watched a different world and watch how Mr Gaines always looks like he's being interrupted yes always from working yeah from really working foreign [Laughter] [Music] build in a life Beyond just your words yeah take the scene and say okay I'm starting here and I have to oh what did you say okay I'm dealing with you I have to get back to what I was doing it's it's my favorite thing to watch yeah on the show is how Lou always was busy and in the first season I got paid a an incredible compliment by our editor um he said um whenever something's not going right I can always in editing find a camera that's all in you because you're always doing something and this wasn't something that I had planned I just was having fun with my friends and but then I saw Lou doing it and it became work and it became ah stay alive in the scene at all times that's it [Applause] uh quick on on Rosco Lee Brown aside from his Othello but go watch Uptown Saturday Night yes but watch Uptown Saturday night and watch them rock that he's so good I tell you you know because both Lou and Mary Allison trained theater actors yes there's a discipline there that everybody who starts if you come from theater it's different than television and film because you can always flip through the pages to your part you know when the camera's on you you know when it's a single and it's not looking at you but in theater there's nowhere to hide so you have to be active all the time and I got that from both Lou and from Mary Alice what I the joy that I got from Marriotts is Tony went in this amazing talent Debbie would make us do calisthenics every day and all of us would have to put a little dance move at the end and Mary Alice will give you something like yeah I mean it wasn't a whole lot but it was just so sweet yeah because I mean watching Mary Alice do push-ups on her knees like she would get down in it I remember and it was just amazing to watch but you know with with Lou it was precisely what uh uh Kadeem was saying that for me I didn't go to theater and train my first job I left school to go to school days like I was learning on the job and to be able to watch all of them first to be able to watch Glenn tourman to be able to watch Lou Myers to be able to watch all these Legends I was in acting class every day and that's how I would get better and when you you know whenever you hear people talk about let me thank my amazing cast because like Kadeem said when everybody is so good they make you come to work because you don't want to be embarrassed they'll make you worse [Applause] oh God I guess I'm the last question first of all I want to say thank you for being here um you guys are a big inspiration Miss Cree I want to thank you for playing Susie Carmichael because that is I grew up watching Rugrats and I was tired of seeing the White characters and when Susie came that was everything but my question is the more serious episode like the Mammy dearest um when Creed was raped um the eighth episode did you think that it was going to be such a big impact like because you got that too police brutality but just everything in general like [Music] this is my old high school teacher y'all Mr show hope I made you proud the question is though for the more serious episodes the way that you guys portrayed it and the feedback that you got was it what you expected no I don't think we could have known that it would have the impact it had at the time but we did know what it took to get those episodes to the air which was coming up against so much censorship we've said it before tonight that during the AIDS episode the network wouldn't allow us to even show a condom we'd have to point to it in a purse and Jasmine reminded me today that the HIV character had to be female they didn't want us to really get into what into any homosexuality of any kind and those were the kinds of landmines that we had to tiptoe around but all credit to Debbie Allen for finding a way to get it out there so we knew what it took to get it on air but I don't think we had any idea that it was going to knock people out like that and uh it's just what an honor to get to be a part of something like this right yeah there was [Applause] there was a sense of urgency about it because in the artist Community those were the ones who died and those were our friends and we were all at Debbie's house when magic announced he's had HIV we were at Debbie's house when he went to announce his retirement so it impacted all of us closely like right there there's you know one of our friends Norm's teammate that had HIV and back then when you heard I had HIV that was a death sentence it wasn't like it is and that and so um it was by design that that all of the producers and writers chose heavy topics that were important because they wanted to say important things yeah and and the fact that you know you hope that it does this no one would have told you at the time I know 35 years from now we'll still be talking about it but they knew they knew right then it was important and it was important particularly in in the Cats in the Cradle episode where Ron and Dwayne end up in a fight in that football game yeah that was told rashmon style where you had everyone's perspective where we were the bad guys in their story they were the bad guys in our story and it was left kind of in the middle for you to decide until the end to the end when you saw somebody finish doing it so even if we got them there was somebody else and we all know that feels like you know it just doesn't stop when everybody said when you think racism going to be over like when everybody yeah okay so so the significance of of the of the issues was recognized then and we are just you know fortunate that this is what you talk about when you catch lightning in a bottle that we were able to do it in a way that it was so well received then and it holds up against the test of time now yeah piggybacking the piggybacking or lightning in a in a bottle I have a question for you guys um when I got approached to write the theme song for a different world the people that approached me knew me as a singer-songwriter the casting directors knew me as an actor I was doing a show for them at the time I got the call was given the broad strokes this is what the show was going to be about write it and meet me in the studio and we will record it so I took a combination of The Cosby family that we have been watching their portrayal plus the positivity that had been spoken into my life as a young person to encourage me and Propel me forward at the time I had no idea that the song was going to have the impact that it seems to still have so I want to know from you guys because we're I'm still a musician Cree is still a musician what about that song got y'all going so much Aretha Aretha so it's got nothing to do with the song okay okay all right all right so it ain't the words at all I need to release that wait one at a time words say the words okay I'm about to cry are you going to record this yeah I want to hear it okay go first go for it [Applause] I know now that I'm ready to come from yes it is now [Music] if we focus on our goals [Applause] just remember what you've been told [Applause] ladies and gentlemen the cast of A Different World

Channel: Wilmington Library

Views: 17,831

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Id: O-ggzrsxehY

Length: 85min 21sec (5121 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 24 2022