Jasmine Guy & Kadeem Hardison On A Different World's Impact, Character Chemistry, Black Love + More

wake that ass up in the morning The Breakfast Club morning everybody it's DJ Envy Angela Yee Charlemagne the guy we are The Breakfast Club we got some special guests in the building come on you gotta do better than that there you go come on now come on come on now come on now come on now come on now turn it up I gotta start like this okay this is a fun fact Okay the reason I went to Hampton University was because of me watching a different world wow how many times do y'all hear that at least half a dozen dozen a week where did you graduate I sure did you can go my first celebrity picture I ever took with was with Kadeem Artisan wow we were in the airport and you had the flip up glasses and everything yeah how old are you sure it was me I'm 100 a thousand people I owe you I was young we was coming back from Florida he must have just gotten a job in real life yeah not in real life they were just round okay yeah that makes more sense [Laughter] thank you thank you glad to be here I know this might be an odd question but do y'all know what y'all mean to just it's becoming more and more apparent as we get older as yeah like at first no in 1996 when we were done and probably the next 10 years not as much but then after 20 years and you think that's dead you go somewhere and you see somebody and their eyes jump out of their head and they almost like the king of Zamunda they go oh my baby that's right and they're like wow it's you I wanted to be an engineer because of you I went to Hampton I went to I wanted to go to Hillman I was trying to find out where this school was so it's becoming clearer and clearer as we get older but um but no at the time it's it's very moving to me now but at the time um both of us were you know we were from New York we used to hustling we had just done school days we were kind of like okay now what now what now what and um I don't know that we knew how the show was resonating with our people because we were not I wasn't around my people I was in L.A and I went from Melrose to the valley and back to Melrose and the only people I hung out with with them yeah wanted to go to impact because you know so I wasn't hearing it yeah I wasn't seeing it and coming from theater you know you know when you when you hit when you land you know and when you are having a communication and um what has been amazing to me is that you know we were always trying to make things better make things more believable have more um depth of content so we weren't really looking at what was Landing I wasn't right you know because when we talked um you know after the actor Kadeem and I really worked hard on that relationship because if you look at the first season in the second season I was like I don't know why why Whitley would like Dwayne based on what I was older I was up upperclassmen to him he was you know they had him playing the goofy guy and now she's dreaming about him I would have been dreaming about some seniors that I would like to cast well yeah how much input did you both have in some of the topics and themes that were on a different world because you guys did Cover a lot of real life things that you didn't see anywhere else they pretty much uh Debbie came and she had a plan but do you remember that she made us write our uh what we saw ourselves in five years or something like that we had we had homework yeah we would come and give you homework and we had to all go home and just write up a page or two of what we saw ourselves for our characters what we should do so that was as much the first season we were there I was there to be the snotty [ __ ] and he was there to be the goofy dude we were very clear you know the the what Debbie did was she made our characters deeper and more realistic she snatched all the weaves out of her hair even though I have one on [Applause] it was like she came into the pit she's like oh darling where's the hot sauce yeah yeah she made it because she went to Howard and and what is the difference of going to a black college or you know a big university right because you are loved you are nurtured you are part of a neighborhood they don't want you to fail they're not going to let you fail right and that came through in the way she worked with us you know and um she gave us a voice we couldn't give notes that first year we were just worried about it are they gonna call us back they were firing people left and right but also also to show also wait a minute also the show shifted though because wasn't the show sending around Lisa Bonet the first season but then she didn't come back with the second season I'm sure that had that made all of y'all have to be the stars now basically yeah well I thought that the show just wasn't gonna come back because she is and was the star of that show you know and our characters uh at least mine was based on her revolved around her you know who am I going to contrast or or you know how is how is Whitley going to be funny by herself there was she was the Mary Tyler Moore you know what I mean and I didn't understand that structural change in putting us together when we really didn't have even that much to do but we knew each other and I said you know first of all I'm like his big sister so it felt a little incestuous they had crush on you back then when he first met you don't have to you know I was young I was born my man was like 30 years old but the thing was we were friends and we did have good communication we could talk better communication with him than most of my relationships there's no pressure yes that's right that's right I was going to ask was it difficult to stay on TV because at the time there was nothing like this on television nothing about HBCU nothing about colleges was it difficult to stay on television I thought the first season was difficult I really took the job expecting maybe we'd get six or eight episodes and go back to New York go back to New York wow become a movie star and what was it was shot in L.A yeah yeah they shot in L.A wow yeah y'all made me feel like y'all shot it in Virginia on campus like I've never in a million years would have thought now all the exteriors were in in Atlanta and then Spelman and Morehouse yeah but yeah we were just in a studio in L.A and we weren't near The Cosby Show which was filming and yes we have a cup yeah so um that was a disconnection too because Californians they never heard of hbcus now I grew up across the street from Morehouse I'm from Atlanta so it was as right as rain to me I didn't I didn't realize that black people nobody knew about black colleges not on that side of the country I didn't know either nope yep I never heard of it um and then and neither one of us have gone to college right I was going to ask that either of y'all actually attending HBCU in real life I barely got out of high school I had to do summer school and all of that yeah I had to go to summer school on 14th Street like there was a not a 14 17th Street there was a a little school that when you was messing up in your high school they sent you in there [Music] I think it was uh I think once once we had Jesse on we were doing a lot of controversial stuff and I think you know the riot show yeah there was some stuff that maybe the network wasn't as thrilled about gotcha it was a lot of battles back and forth with Debbie and trying to you know make it current and relevant and it was like yeah let's just have the you know the romance and the Chase and that every every deep show that we did she fought for battle wow it was a battle with the network Them White Boys did not care about uh date rape apartheid HIV a riot HIV okay they were like just put Whitley and Dwayne and be funny wow that did Haze into it Hazen yes so y'all didn't even see it coming then because you know you treating us like monkeys and we not monkeys hey we're not doing your work we're doing our work and the power that we had they diminished I felt diminished because they always said but you come between Cosby and cheers I said but people can change the channel right yeah they'll have to watch this show yeah yeah I just felt like we were always on our our own I never felt a part of that Hollywood System like I would watch Roseanne bargaining you know I would see people that were like the way we were an ensemble company with with actors that and we would never get nothing nope you know they'll have Roseanne Barr singing The Anthem at a at a Padre game we got five singers in our cast wow and we number two wow that's crazy so I always felt the exclusion I always felt it and I never felt a part of that whole you get Emmys and yeah never even never got nominated another never invited to the show wow like never like come on and present a joint or just be in the crowd and let us shoot the cast that's okay your word up you can't put too much clout into that [ __ ] anyway I agree with you because I feel like we were you can't put too much so you can't put too much in the criticism you gotta know who you are and where you belong and that was my family that was my company but you know they used to ask me to do stuff for NBC like parades and [ __ ] and say happy birthday to Cheers I say why am I saying happy birthday to them I'm getting paid for what stage 29 you're scared that y'all gonna be stuck in character like that everybody always looked at you as as doing or you know always looked at you is is you know Whitley you know were you ever scared of that and type getting Typecast that Typecast 100 like I knew that soon as it was over well I thought that I should have did four years and graduated and maybe a fifth year to transition into new cast members new freshmen and then and then they should have did four five in transit so in my eyes the show should have never ended it should still be on now not reruns oh yeah because it could be yeah like how it could be like grown this could have been a different world yeah yeah it could just always go on because there'll always be kids in college and there'll always be something to talk about yeah right like Whitley graduates but you're still there and then people are coming in underneath you and then you graduate and then the people you introduce it just seemed like a perfect vehicle to create young to Showcase Black Talent you know whatever you said about typecasting is true but also man that that eight late 80s early 90s Fame was so big that we know y'all real names like I don't just know y'all characters I know that's a Jasmine Guy and Kadeem Hardison yeah that's I think that means something too what about Marissa Tomei right that's the one white character on the show yeah was that something that you feel like they said we got to put a white person you know on the show or well we came on after that yeah and I never understood it not being a dressed and I actually wrote an episode this is how naive I was I thought I could be on a show and just write an episode I was like well I didn't write this yet and I brought it to Susan and it was addressing the fact that um well she goes to a dance and she asks this boy to you know dance with her and he was like you know I ain't dancing with no white girl you trying to you know and she it it blew her away she comes back and she says I never thought about it she said well why did you why'd you come to Hellman because they have the best journalism Department in in Virginia and they told me they're not addressing the white person at the black school issue yeah wow why you know what's so interesting because it was so obvious like the weirdest thing to this day when I when I went to Hampton and it was white kids walking around campus it was just weird I was like you know I wanted to be like why but on the road HBCU they got scholarships so they they went it was just always weird it would be interesting to see what that experience for them was like though like you said to your point way more interesting especially when we carrying eggs please put eggs around like they're babies I'm like are we getting ready to drink yeah we listen we are celebrating y'all you see we got the balloons in the back that say Hillman I'm sorry I'm embarrassed by the champagne they got but we not on no damn budget you sure my flowers that is so nice I'm very embarrassed by the champagne I'm sorry I can't believe they would do that well let me try it I'll let you know so Jasmine back to um you though you said you wrote that episode you also directed some episodes right did you direct episode I directed uh fall out my chair uh the Tupac episode wow um I directed that I've directed another one too I don't remember which one um it was violent Cats in the Cradle no that was a uh I can't remember his name thank you sir it's okay it's been a while okay yeah so did they come to you or were you did you guys do that because I brushed my teeth no I'm gonna drink it though why would y'all do that give her some tequilities don't have me nervous about being on this show I was like is he like Howard Stern like what is the problems I've seen you interviewed but I haven't seen you I hadn't seen the show so I go on YouTube and I'm watching it and I'm friends with Amanda seals oh that's family yes you know and I was like okay what's the problem like what can we talk about that's going to be so horrible nothing nothing that's all I'll still continue we're talking about directing and Debbie Allen so directing when it came to directing and writing Debbie made us put it in our contracts that we had to we got to direct episode or two wow all right wow our season after with the second or third season the other third season how did she know that like how did she know that's something that you always want to do the the more you do the less they can tell you you can't do that was the word she said to me because I was like I don't want the ring I didn't want to go do my acting and go and then go and she said to me we'll never have this opportunity again so you will do whatever you can while we in this position of power and choice you know yeah I wrote like I don't know three three or four episodes he's directed Glen Turman directed you know she was an advocate for use this opportunity so the next time we're not beholding you know um and it was great Crossing that barrier of from actor to the writer's room and hearing how they really talk about us oh my God are you kidding did you have to check people did you have to check did you have to check people in the writer's room oh I didn't say I didn't say anything in the writer's room I just listened because it was 12 of them but I didn't I hadn't seen that process because that all happened before we get our notes you know and um and well it was it was my script that I had written so I had to be in the writer's room and that was the first time I saw them imitate us wow wow yeah and say oh no you know don't don't give her that that's a waste oh I was like oh goodness gracious yeah it was good you know and it was good that I was in there because um everybody every artist has to understand what the other artists do you have to have respect for what he does what she does you know just because you're in front of the camera doesn't mean you that's it yeah you know and I knew that I didn't create this character I didn't write these words I don't know how to speak French you know whatever was going on I didn't dress myself I didn't do my hair and makeup so I was always aware of the illusion that's created by a team of people but I also come from theater right how much do you know that you know that when you're on stage you're not the only one making all that happen right how much of Willie Gilbert was really you um I didn't have I I know what wasn't me because of the way I was raised I know politically I had a lot I had a lot of issues with the with what I had to say but I knew that there was somebody on this show that was gonna say the right thing when you're the only black person in a white cast you have to say all the right things but when when I was Whitley and I have him and Charlie and Craig and Daryl you know I was like well somebody because this what I'm about to say when I said to um Charnel Kimberly Reese it was our apartheid show and she was going to give up her scholarship because they were divesting I said but I only know you I don't even know those papers yeah yeah you don't know my first scene with uh Lisa Bonet in the in the room um she's she's like are you saying you you you parked in the handicap I said why should I be punished cause I can walk [Laughter] as long as it's funny but no the balance was that in the show right you know I'd have it out with him I'd have it out with somebody that would challenge that thought so I had the freedom to really go there with her wrong which usually with acting I'm always like oh I'm not gonna you know but on with Whitley I said we're gonna we're just gonna let her go that show y'all have money for wardrobe too I was gonna say that because if your wardrobes is always fly yeah so they gave they invested some money in your wardrobe yeah second season watch what I won the first season it didn't appear she was well no the Wardrobe went to Lisa Bonet yeah yeah as they should yeah but I think the Wardrobe spoke to those characters too because since he did a great job knowing who these people were so it's one person doing all seven of us you know from the bright colors to the um you know the I don't I don't know do you wear uh suits when you go to class I always felt like Whitley was overdressed the business you had to business attire if you're in the business department you have to wear a jacket oh okay okay what about those the infamous glasses the infamous glasses came from our first year executive producer and beats passed away um she went to two two nights before we shot my first episode she went to a Bowie concert and I think his bassist or his drummer had him on and she came to me two days before and she was like hey I saw these they look kind of cool but you want to wear them and at the time I thought this [ __ ] is so corny give me some glasses and a hat and a hood any way that I can hide myself and not be so recognized I'll take it anything so so yeah I donned him quick I was like yeah yeah sure bang got any hats got any I was in charge of the sneakers you know I mean I made sure that the foot I chose the Footwear but I let the Wardrobe people do wardrobe until they got down to the feet and then I was like nah I'll bring them some stuff and the Ages was really bright I just remember shoulder pads and bright colors yeah yeah those glasses I remember those glasses were awesome and now they're known as the Wayne Wayne glasses you know when you see Jazzy Jeff with them I know the Dwayne Wayne glasses no matter who wear them even to this day those are Dwayne Wayne glasses Wade wearing them yeah yeah now what are your thoughts on shows that represent black coach on on TV today I enjoy particularly Atlanta it's probably you know my favorite show because it's it's just so weird and it's so different it's so um out there that it was it's one of the uh regrets now is that I didn't get the chance to do an episode of Atlanta like I called my agent as soon as I heard Don was doing a show on FX and was like hey bro get me in like I'll pull cables whatever they need over the outrun camera whatever I just want to be a part of this because I think it's going to be special and uh and damn it the ending and I didn't get on it oh man so that's my favorite one uh I enjoyed blackish and their run um and I've done a few episodes of grown-ish um and I like I like what they're doing although it's not HBCU it's not it's not the same but it's still focusing on some black kids in college you know promoting education which I think is you know can't be done enough that whole formula that whole blueprint was Cosby in a different world absolutely black is grown it's guaranteed yeah yeah yeah I like shy and I like insecure and I um I am so excited when I watch these shows because we would always have ideas but it was not the time I pitched a lot of ideas I had a production company and um just to be able to see our voice and the textures of our culture and um that the producers are black and that they are women is is that makes me feel good absolutely absolutely Lena waves too she you know she loves yeah loves y'all her production company is called Hillman uh human Productions yeah you mentioned the Tupac episode I know both of you guys were close with Tupac or cool with Tupac so how did those relationships happen for me I was just directing them that week Jasmine oh see there you go that's the better one that's 50s 50s okay cool all right thank you I throw that other [ __ ] out don't worry I don't know cold I don't know what the [ __ ] that is Merlot [Laughter] we upgrade a little bit yeah um yeah I just got to director me I was fortunate you know uh Jada said he wanted to do this show and he was excited and I know friends with many MCS rappers and I know how they can [ __ ] off sometime and so I was real nervous like this is my first week directed and I was like is he gonna show like because I've I've messed around trying to do a video with dirty and he never showed yeah yeah I got your money yes I remember that because yes and then actually because I was working with them at the time he actually came and did a video that he was on for Giza and they wouldn't let it come out the labor wasn't clear dirty because he didn't show up to his own video yes I was down there waiting six seven hours they asked me to be you know I was like of course I love yeah when you see that video they don't really show his face it's just like a big wig yeah so um so yeah so I was just nervous as my first directing gig just like okay I just hope he and once he came he was I always thought it's not not a hot take but I always thought he was probably going to be a better actor than rapper than rapper yeah I didn't you know music is is subjective like you like it or you don't know if it's what you where you are in that time of your life I just he he scared me as an actor I was like this dude can reach places that I can't even imagine his eyes you know how they always talk about actors you can see what they can do about looking in their eyes like pocket in my eyes look at him go and Jasmine aren't you working on a documentary yes they're doing a um a movie about his mother and I wrote the book um evolution of a revolutionary about a Fannie um it's just interesting if you stay here long enough you'll see how interesting life is because when I wrote that book like you know [ __ ] 20 years ago whatever um it was really to empower a family because I felt like you know how when somebody do good in your family and then they bring the whole family with him and I just saw this boy at 21 like with all these people like what are you doing how come you ain't working why aren't you in school I was just the Shakur Cox family and I would I would just talk to them one-on-one and just try to find out where they were because I didn't I mean if I had gone a different world and my whole family was dependent on me to you know what I mean I never knew that pressure and when I talked to Affinity first of all I always wanted to tell the story of a a female Panther because I feel like all the movies that I've seen have been biased I mean because they don't tell the truth about the um I know you were in one you know yeah how Macho and how um you know sexist yeah it was rampant that was the error too though like that's that whole era was massage that's true yeah you know and I thought well can we tell asada shakura's story can we uh you know do an Angela Davis uh can we do Kathleen Cleaver and when I met Tupac I didn't want to say oh I can't wait to meet your mom you know so I did it um but I I and I didn't really realize her story because it was all the newspaper it was there wasn't any linear story about her anyway I started talking to her about telling her story and doing speaking engagements on her own right she's highly intelligent and I don't know that's how it started I ended up writing the book because she she didn't want to talk to nobody else I mean after we had done all those interviews and stuff she was like then and then um there was a lot going on with Tupac and when I met him um I met him four months before he was shot then he healed then he went to jail then he came out then he got shot again you know what I mean and so I just put it on the back burner but a Fannie's story is incredible and um she wanted to talk more about her life than the Panther Movement because that's like from 19 to 21 she wanted to talk about crack she wanted to talk about her recovery she wanted to talk about um you know raising her two kids and you know I don't know so I wanted to ask y'all man you know I often feel spoiled because I'm 44 so you know like in the mid 80s we saw black sitcoms like The Jeffersons and Different Strokes but then you know the Cosby's came in two two sevens in a different worlds but I feel like all of that just came to a abrupt end like towards the end of the 90s number one do you think that was the Renaissance for black TV and do you think there was something bigger at Play stop all those positive images of black people on TV it only seems that like if it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck um I don't have a need uh uh evidence to support it except for the Optics all right so yeah um I do think it was okay come on with it our last season number two number one sometimes Cosby in different world but five six seven years okay why would you put why would you change our time slot um and why would you put us again against Martin wow yeah I definitely took that personally you ain't got but two black shows on the network saying you put us at the same time against each other and what have we done what have we done to deserve this kind of disservice you know we're not competing with Martin no we come under 8 30 they come on at eight why did you move us that was a detriment was that because Cosby Show ended and didn't they put y'all up at eight because yeah coffee was the lead-in yep okay so that could have been it strong enough we weren't strong enough to hold another time slot and not against Martin yeah right I feel like we have the same audience and so what do white people do divide that's right that's right that's right you and you you got two hit shows let's put them on at this same time they don't do that to their own shows so yes I do feel like it was um deliberate I feel like it was racist I know who was running NBC at the time and I don't feel we were respected hmm because I feel like you know I feel like they always said y'all came between Cosby and cheers and that's why you're number two they said that to my face so they thought it was because of the network that these shows were having all the success because of the time slot between one and three we gotta be two got you nothing because we between one and three yeah which is fine right I really don't care yeah you know but that you make that a point that I come on a nighttime talk show with Joan Rivers or Dennis Miller and that's the first thing at your mouth well how does it feel to be between Cosby and cheers and and sometimes I didn't I didn't know how to answer it and Dennis Miller even said to me that was a that was a horrible lead yes because you [ __ ] insulted me and you acting like I'm the [ __ ] what which one am I you know what am I doing it right people would have turned off right after The Cosby Show and not watch that Orchard did they pay y'all like y'all wanted to did y'all get paid or did you have to fight for that yeah fight for that I went and did I went and did a white man can't jump can I have another champion here we go give us something good stuff I went and did white man it meant Woody Harrelson and um and he was doing cheers and they had a way bigger Ensemble and you know he kind of let me in on what he was making I was like and y'all number three what damn I know that's when it hurts what is when we go when we talk to others we went out into the field and found out that cheers I was like how he had an assistant he had all kind of [ __ ] going on I was like where are you getting treated you like you just came off the bike in New York but I'm confused about that because you had Bill Cosby who already had so much success why wouldn't he give that game to the spin-off show the cast of the spin-off show he he purposely had us shoot in California away from him I don't think he wanted to have to he was running this this was it boom y'all go over here and work that out and then when it wasn't working to the way I think we all wanted he called with Debbie and said Miss Thing get in there with your broom and clean that [ __ ] up it seemed like she was a blessing though absolutely you know no no she was the best thing that could have happened to us that show was dead yeah that show was I thought it was going to get canceled I really thought Debbie came on that show and and Susan fails I mean we had brilliant women running that show turning that around fighting against the network fighting for you know she said we're the dark-skinned people in at this school yeah we're the brown people you can't it I I don't know I just thought that first season I already had called my parents I was like well I've made um I've made thirty thousand dollars and I paid off Greg and I'm paying off my AmEx and I'm going back to my apartment because I thought that [ __ ] was booty got paid during that time when y'all number one and number two what was the most can we say yeah it's 30 years ago I thought you I thought I saw you say that somewhere I thought I saw you I think he was with Ryan Cameron uh I saw you said somewhere Miss guy you know Ryan yeah radio Legend of course yeah I like you radio people I saw you say that somewhere how much I made it was like on the first season I made six thousand dollars a week I mean that was I was like yeah 250 at the village no yeah you know I had done when I did Broadway as an ensemble member I made 800 a week that was a lot of money when I did Fame the TV show I was making 750 a week and when I worked when they danced with ailees I made 75 a week yeah I just thought we only had contracts for seven episodes yeah you didn't know how long it was gonna last I don't know and they were firing and you had to sign six years okay before you understand this yeah yeah so but I went into the producers and I tried to give my two week notice yes right she tried you tried the question I said I'm very grateful for this opportunity because that that first season I'm telling you yeah it was whack and I didn't like the way they were treating um Lisa Bonet and they said well have they said had so-and-so said anything to you I said you disrespect her in front of the audience in front of me you disrespected me too how did he say disrespect her just do it just say the way they were talking all up in her face and you know I'm like that's a sweet girl because you're not getting up on me like that and you know leave that with [ __ ] I mean we from New York as far as choreographers and directors and whatnot but yeah I was like you know I I didn't interfere on set but I was like oh no oh no you're not treating her like that she had to hire security really yeah so that's why she quit probably nah because wanted her to be on because she was pregnant she didn't want to show black girl pregnant in college I I thought it would have been a great um tool and and something to to it could Inspire because it was all inspiring so why not you know because that's a real thing yeah go get your education absolutely I've heard so many rumors that I don't know where what comes from I've heard that he wanted to incorporate it on the show on on our show I've also heard that Jesse wanted to um have a single mom because he's from a single mom that went through school and then I've also heard that um that was a network that didn't want to incorporate her wholesome right whatever right but first of all it would have given her something to play absolutely because I felt like they were always looking for Denise Huxtable you're not using the meat that she comes from you don't know what you're looking at because you haven't seen a little black girl like this before and to give her a baby there you go something to do and it would have helped the Jalisa absolutely right yep and then your ass would have been she wouldn't been messing with you yeah so you got to go back to when you quit so you quit yeah they didn't tell me anything they didn't tell me that I couldn't quit no see you in the morning yeah right okay thank you for this little lovely note I had grievances so as I was quitting I was also expressing my Grievances and they listened to those okay bro they asked me if I had any um insight to such and such I said no no not really like I just want to go back to New York and get another job right it's what's that story [Laughter] I got more money too though how'd you end up getting more money after the conversation with Woody Harrelson uh yeah it was uh yeah it was hold down time for me it was uh we held out yeah as a team of y'all did separately no we should have done it together but we did it separately sometimes I was the last one and it was like the reading and all this drama and I'm like why do I have to do this it's very degrading it's very degrading and then you know other actors that aren't going through that [ __ ] I'm like yeah I remember I remember sitting at home uh playing sick like I'm sorry Debbie I can't I'm not gonna make it he was picking covert all those years ago I'm not gonna be able to come in today yeah I was like I said and I think I think Jasmine is sick too and she said darling Jasmine is here yeah and I was like damn it yeah and had to get them and get in my car and drive to work late like yeah I'm better now but y'all eventually got the money though yeah yeah okay yeah I mean got some we got the money I mean I got I got what Woody was making when I talked to him was your mom in the business at this point she was my manager she was okay so all this time she was managing you yeah yeah yeah okay I taught her she says not me power of no you know she was like I think you should go back in I was like no not for that not for this okay she'll say that right there I learned about the power of no and you knew your worth and wouldn't go in and take less than this and I was kind of like we got a contract I don't know how we're gonna get out like Jasmine tried to quit she wrote a two-week notice so you have to get fired I guess yeah right that's the only way you could no they can fire you right yeah yeah so yeah it's like someone breaking up with you right you have to make them break up with you yeah you got to be bad guys I'm gonna have a call back and they give me a paper like a contract like this right I'm just signing it I look at how much I'm gonna make that six thousand dollars right I was like oh you know and I haven't gotten the job yet right right this is the other thing yeah it's my callback yes so they put me in one room and this other girl in another room they said one of you are going home and one of you go into the reading yes a table read you know who's the other girl I am not I am not calling that girl's name out of course I remember her she's still around TV world I don't know okay I want to ask you all about I'm blind completely blind I want to ask you all about about black love right because Dwayne and Whitley set the tone for black love for what seems like a whole generation have you seen the show yes anything about your own relationships outside of the show wow good question Charlemagne there was some crossover because I was having a better sometimes I was having a better relationship that was scripted than in my real life and other times I didn't know how to negotiate real life like it was one thing to be able to play something that someone tells you to do and and you know and he's easy to love and easy to work with but um I kind of I I don't know I feel like I was a bit of a mess in my real relationship then I also I often talk to him because I didn't understand the language I didn't understand um ultimatums and um men speaking I don't know and you know I got famous during during the relationship too right and I felt like he was good with me as a dancer in the Ensemble but not so good with me being a star real estate I again was like well you weren't listening to me you didn't know who I was you know you don't know if somebody gets famous or not but certainly you knew that I was talented certainly there's a possibility [Music] um and you can't handle that what must what am I supposed to do with that first of all I have a daddy and I have friends male friends you're not the only you're not you know the only male figure in my life and if you're not happy you should leave physical insecurities so absolutely and then I'm playing Whitley who's younger than me I mean hurricane her age is in her 20s and I'm in my 30s you know and yep okay for example I'll just say this when we got married when Dwayne and Whitley got married I was breaking up with my boyfriend of five years wow wow and the irony of that was like people were coming up to me talking about [Music] congratulations how do you feel are you nervous I'm not any more nervous than I have been for the last six [ __ ] years on this show I'm nervous today could you get married you do understand it's acting that I'm not really getting married that this ain't the dress right yeah The Producers oh my God are you nervous I feel like no let's go already and you never tried to really highlight her when when she lost a man and y'all was so close and so tight you never never crossed the line I was I was in love with Crazy Summer that's right yeah yeah and they were best friends that would look good yeah how did it impact you off off the air like having that that yeah it was a it was strange it was you know like it was too much fun to pretend to be in love with jazz yeah it was just it was too much of a joy um the relationships off screen it was Cree pretty much most of the time we worked and then then we broke up and and and as um as she was breaking up with me on giving me the ring back and was getting ready to run off mess with uh Joe Morton's character cree and I had kind of broke up damn what if they had written to the script that now you increase characters you got to be together after y'all pregnant she was with uh Gary door then yeah she was very Shazam yeah I was like [ __ ] I was like one of the first one Brothers on TV yeah so I so the the only difficulty in the whole thing for me was was uh you know uh having to go to work and having your ex kind of be there yeah and I think people think that we bleed in and out of reality you know because I never thought about none of that right I never thought about them Jasmine yeah I don't even think about that okay who I need to be right now boom in my real life is more important to me than any of these [ __ ] I play okay so when people feed into this fantasy like oh he's with Cree so I'm not gonna touch it that don't happen when we off camera we off camera when we on camera let me tell you everybody on that show was good yeah real good that's the key too that's right real good yeah Daryl Bell Lou Myers Glenn Turman Patti LaBelle charnell you know what I mean we were not passing the ball to other amateurs right that's right y'all was the 90s Bulls right yeah and I don't think actors you know sometimes they sew up tight that they don't want to talk they don't want to get notes from other people or whatever but okay let me tell you one thing that Kadeem told me I was in makeup and then I was in the middle of doing this scene with Joe Morton first of all he was pierced because I had a rule with him that we don't kiss until it's time to film time to take I don't need to catch him all week I mean you don't have to pack the snow kiss right and um some morning comes on and he kisses me for real and rehearsal but I was taking her back you know because he said I know I know you ain't just it's like a Thursday you you pop in I'm in makeup and I say um something's wrong with this scene you know there's it just I it just I don't know it wasn't he said y'all need to go to the live the laboratory and get some chemistry wow that's Petty Hardison right there yeah yeah it was like yeah okay good luck with you he was like yeah work on it you ain't got no chemistry that's what's wrong I said I'm out I thought it was gonna give me a no like if you say it like this if you sit on his lap you know no he was like y'all need to go to the laboratory and get some chemistry did y'all have instant chemistry or did y'all have to like spend time together offset to build that up um I think I think the chemistry I think we had chemistry actor active was instant but to really um make the love story true it was work because I was Ultra respectful of Dominic her relationship and Creed my relationship right so I wasn't really trying to you know go for it yeah she came one day after rehearsal kind of like she could have with Joe but didn't and said this scene isn't working honey when I come in the room you have to act like you like me and I was being Ultra respectful trying to keep everything out in front and I didn't understand and she said okay hold on you beat me and I'm Gonna Be You So then I played Whitley for that little scene and she played Dwayne and she came in the room with a whole different energy I was like okay so go for it it's like if you're gonna be my man if I'm gonna be your girl then it's got to be that way that's the only way it's going to work and I'm just like you ain't got to tell me twice and that was it and then from there I think the relationship just got more real more authentic and and connected to people in a whole another way I was able to touch it anyway getting her face anyway get mad at her employer anyway and I love you yeah right I know y'all got to go but I gotta ask this speaking of that when you crashed away yeah you looked very sincere like like that's why people feel like what we was watching was rich you know what I mean what did you do to motivate yourself to get into that space to do that um I didn't agree with the whole like we had done so many real things on the show so many things that were that were that felt real that that from the AIDS and the apartheid and all of that for me to crash this wedding like this felt like a complete leap didn't make any sense so and I read it two weeks before it was a two-part episode so I knew for two weeks that I was gonna have to get to that place where I had to break up this wedding and it was really hard and um and one thing I gave I gave myself was uh as I'm coming down the aisle there's a dude on my left I told him I said when you grab me make sure you get a good grip on my left arm because I want to struggle and try to get away wow and and as soon as I felt him go to grab me I gave him a swim move and got out of it and that propelled me forward so it just kind of and then he had to re-grab I made him look silly but he had to re-grab me and then pull me out and and I lost the lyrics like I was so um no no I was so nervous about if I don't get it right the first time it's going to degrade it's going to get worse and it's going to get worse because I'm really having a hard time committing to all of these words wow I'm really I don't believe it Kadeem doesn't believe it wow Wayne has to believe it so I have to kind of put myself there and that had never been a problem before I could always just put myself there and go for it and now all of a sudden I didn't buy it so um once I you know was getting dragged out and lost the lyric I panicked and and I and I knew that her cue was will you I'm supposed to run down all the vows and say will you which is what the preacher has and then she said I do but I got lost in the lyric and uh and just yelled out baby please just because I was drowning I was like [ __ ] that was an ad-lib yeah yeah wow I'm just like we're gonna have to do this again and again and again and it's gonna get worse every time and it will never be like that that was the first and only take in front of that audience that audience lost it yeah were you aware that he was drowning in the town like how did you no I was standing there because the audience was screaming too yeah you know and I was like hold it hold it I said baby please and then the second please it was like jazz yeah I knew that I knew it was Jazz because please baby please from it's from school days yeah so I was like wow oh okay I got you yeah baby help me and we are not doing this [ __ ] again okay yeah nothing magic yeah yeah you said you said Debbie came over Debbie came over the uh loudspeaker because the director is up in a booth and so we can't see her directly we can only hear her when she gives notes or she'll give them to the stage manager and he'll come and whisper something to us but she came over after everybody ah and they calmed down she said got it moving on wow yeah thank you what a relief wow because you don't want to do that again because of the the emotional build that was in there but both of us thought that [ __ ] was corny you know I well he complained I didn't even know you had all that that you said to them before yeah because I complained I said please don't do The Graduate are we doing The Graduate up in here I don't know I told myself I felt it was uh disrespectful to you know and and I've I've spoken at Spelman and those girls were like you know that's that wasn't a compliment right for him to come up there at the last minute the night before you at your mama's house and if it had been me in my real life and you came up in my mama's house you know and then the next day you object no well it's too late when they asked the question at the wedding they do say if anybody disagrees with just waiting yeah right and and coming to coming to her mama's house was my idea I told the writers they were like well how can we make it better for you how can you make it better for you and I said here's what I would do yeah I would go at least the night before and say hey if you really feel this like we could jump this fence and get out of here and they'll never see us and I ain't gotta do all of this wildness you know tomorrow so that was me saying to the writers give me you know this is what I would rather do and it was like you can do that but you still got to go and do this wow yeah and that's why that part one is more real to me than that open the door I know like I was like he was like yeah cause I was like really yeah really well they gotta go guys okay well 35 years 35 years that's right congratulations on Saturday on Saturday the 24th yes um Marathon will be there yapping away in between joints however they cut it up we went and did a little sit down with him and uh and just talked oh and I'm on Amazon there you go um Harlem hello I love that show yeah I played Grace Byers mom okay um and um I'm a Jamaican [ __ ] so it's funny and then you had to learn the pathways yeah I've been I've played in Jamaican many times okay okay okay I've been a downside girl too okay hey I can't make my booty do one at a time and then I have a movie called The Lady makers that's on Amazon too the lady makers we love y'all and we value y'all I know next time please let me come back absolutely yeah I was like we got the same watches we got hip hop no idea what those things well it's The Breakfast Club hey we love we love you all we value y'all we appreciate y'all we celebrate y'all always man thank you for every contribution to the culture that y'all have ever made and it was a pleasure to meet both of you yeah [Music]

Channel: Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM

Views: 1,524,868

Keywords: the breakfast club, breakfast club, power1051, celebrity news, radio, video, interview, angela yee, charlamagne tha god, dj envy

Id: Q1cueYYJed8

Length: 64min 6sec (3846 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 21 2022