Kim Fields Talks Iconic Roles In TV, The Upshaws, Dancing With The Stars, Living Single + More

wake that ass up in the morning the breakfast club morning everybody it's dj envy and julie charlemagne the guy we are the breakfast club we got a special guest in the building a legend actress kim fields welcome thank you so much it's so great to be here i can't believe i'm just now getting here oh man we happy to have you it's your first time on the show yeah really yes how are you first and foremost i'm great how are you i am blessed black and highly favored well all right and all right and happy birthday thank you very much thank you happy birthday to you thank you thank you thank you how does it feel to be a star on yet another hit show well thank you talk about you know being blessed and favored um it feels wonderful it's it's very surreal quite honestly uh and we knew that we had something really great we didn't know it was going to do what it did and continues to do and have the impact you know that it has on the culture and beyond so it's it's it's exciting it feels great of course we're talking about the upshores yeah season two so how did you get involved with the upshots for people that don't know uh i was actually on a press tour for uh a movie that i executive produced and started called adventures and christmasing and while i was in la on the press tour they said hey can you come in and do a chemistry meeting with mike apps and wanda sykes for a netflix series and i wasn't checking to do a comedy but i was like that's a trio you can't say no to and so i went in mike and i had great chemistry uh wanda and i had great chemistry and the netflix crew was there and before i got home practically they were like yep we're gonna we're gonna do an offer and you know go from there do you ever feel intimidated to keep up with the humor of the mike epstein's and wanda sikes not at all because we we all have our lanes you know and they're so funny but i know my lane you know and so and they definitely give me uh a lot of great stuff to do on the page as well um and they're not really doing a lot of improv you know it's it's so great our writers are misfire you know and so it's so great what they do and uh and so you really don't have to kind of jockey for position you know now we've seen recently that martin did a reunion show yeah would you guys be interested in doing uh you knew this question [Laughter] we have this this really great thread the six of us and yvette who created the show uh this text thread and so um you know we just love how everyone loves living single and again talk about impact you know that the show has made uh and continues to make um and we don't want to taint that by just kind of throwing a reboot together with the idea of a reunion show thank god everybody's busy so you know there's no plans for one in the immediate future but you know one never knows i saw you tell people.com that you got to be cautious when you do these uh reboots whether it's facts of life or living single he said you have to be really careful so what are you what are your worries exactly well because if you if you these characters are beloved you know martin fresh prince uh living single facts of life different struggles i mean these characters these these shows are so beloved and these characters really mean something to everyone and so if you get it wrong they're gonna be mad you know and if you if you get it wrong to this tune of well i didn't see the character doing that or no that doesn't make sense or trying too hard or just you know almost feeling like you're trying to put a square what is it a square peg in a round hole and so so you know it's almost like hey why don't we just kind of keep curating what's there and acknowledge that and celebrate you know the efforts that the those actors and those creatives are making now in other places absolutely as a fan it's selfish in a way right because it's like we would only want that for nostalgia purposes we got all of the reruns we watch it now it's a timeless show so just enjoy the art that's their reboot to the reunion i mean no the show like the living let me think we're running all the time like it's like watching like the mona lisa just go enjoy the art that was created and see what yeah the cast members are up to what they're doing if you don't see them that's that's what i thought was dope about the martin yeah i think the i think those reunions are kind of a nice happy medium you know a good hybrid for we're not really rebooting but here you get to see us all together uh because certainly social media you get to see everybody as much as they want you to see them um but i think it's a good little happy medium now to be honest no i just thought about i wouldn't i would love a reunion because i love hearing erica alexander talking oh my gosh she's as she's relaxed yes she is queen latifah yourself kim coles yeah i would like to see that i don't think about it just the conversation the moment right yeah absolutely well you know when we had one of those uh anniversary specials that i think tv one did uh and we weren't able to get everybody but um we got quite a few of us and so we were sitting around and chatting about the show and and that sort of thing so we have had that type of a moment not with everybody all in but you know close enough for you like mind frame on certain episodes how they shot it how did it how it felt you know i mean i would love to hear that i remember the first time well not the first time i saw y'all but i think probably one of the first time i saw you all together in an interview was on arsenio hall yes yes back in the day how important was that interview at the time that was major you know um because of what the arsenio hall show was to the world you know at that time that was what and nowadays we would call that a moment you know um and and definitely a highlight for all of us even for everybody that had accomplishments in the individual careers um to be able to do arsenio at that moment in time with all of us it was it was really great really really just a memorable you know moment definitely a highlight absolutely now you did housewives that was short-lived yes you didn't like it wasn't for you no no it wasn't that at all it was only supposed to be a one and done you know it was it was brett favre with the jets kind of moment [Laughter] so so um you know for me um i did what i what i had set out to do the mandate at that time in my career was i'm celebrating 40 years in the industry wow and so my team i said hey let's go into uncharted waters we only gonna do stuff that we've never done before and so um they kept asking me to do reality for years and i was like no the time's not right it's just too much so we said okay well let's just give that a try and see but knowing that i still had other shows to do other work to do as a director as a producer all kinds of things um so it was just one of those okay yep did that and then from there being almost catapulted into dancing with the stars which was a not only a game changer but a real life changer for me because i there was such a deep dive of surrender and pushing my limitations all the way to the point of no return you know and that was the introduction to me for um life begins at the end of your comfort zone wow and so from there i haven't you know looked back since it's always forward motion of what haven't i done what can we still do because there's a lot to still be done did you not like reality tv at all you know it's the production it's it's the production schedule you know um in scripted whether it's single camera multi-camera comedy drama whatever uh even in features you you have a very specific schedule um and so with reality tv you don't really have that and so it's a lot more demanding and when you're doing other things besides that um then it's really incredibly demanding uh and it was very difficult you know family wise just with just everything else that was going on so it was one of those yeah we're good we'll stay in the scripted spaces we'll stay in the certain lanes that that we can really maintain that type of of scheduling uh and that sustainability work-wise now we're dancing with the stars were you a dancer or was this something like that i've never done that before in my life but you've never danced so you had to be trained from the beginning was that uh it was it was um it wasn't difficult um the challenge that i i wanted to keep rising to every day was um come in as a blank slate be a blank canvas for my partner sasha to be able to kyrie irving try to tell lakers possibly interesting sorry yeah i didn't think so sorry and we're back um but but having that sense of um of of doing something that you've never done before but at the highest level you know um was really exciting um very very uh demanding incredibly demanding dancing about six or seven hours every day and i'm very competitive um and so there was nothing that he could ask me to do i was like if you teach it to me i will do my very best um and so now i have that skill set uh at that level and it introduced other things to me like now i want to be i want to compete professionally in um tango so um i just started doing lessons i make time i make time for it yeah and then covet happened so i had to obviously no more lessons but you know integrating that back into the schedule is something that i really want to do how how would kim feel to describe her journey in the entertainment industry oh um i i very exciting very surreal you know to be uh to be the the little black girl from harlem um who is who is the one that's still going you know and like our brother ll always says doing it and doing it and doing it well that's right you know and so it's very surreal that i'm not a stranger to people around the world that people have known of me or me since i was seven years old um it's it's you know uh it's like langston hughes poem well son i'll tell you life for me been no crystal stairs you know there's there's been some low lows and some high highs and you know all the all the stuff in between um there's still a lot to look forward to but i think at the end of the day i think people don't see me coming what do you mean well from the standpoint that that they they know of me you know but the idea of like it's almost like almost every time people say my name's like oh yeah oh yeah you know and so after a while in order for me not to you know have that really messed me up it became a thing of okay so now i have to flip the script and make it where i have the element of of surprise it's a surprise attack since now you're just not going to see me coming but know that i'm here so i think that's that's the way to describe it it's like this push-pull of i always feel very um honored uh and and with the flowers and and and all of that but is still a grind i'm still grinding and hustling like damn like i'm new at this i wonder if they don't see you coming because you you know you've had the blessing of having two characters that are just absolutely beloved like you see you see you and you see those two characters you think that is it i think that's some of it yeah i think that's some of it you know i think that the characters that i've played that i've been doing blessed to do these long-running shows um and then being behind the camera for so many years um and so it's just kind of those i i really like the um expect the unexpected i think that's my mantra going forward in my career you know um is that not only did you not see me coming but now you better expect the unexpected because you know i'm still here and i ain't going no goddamn where and that that that 80s celebrity is different that's real celebrity this now ain't real you came up in the era of real right right celebrities i'm sure that's why people recognize you all over the world um i you know i yes i totally understand that concept because the 80s were such a very specific time and such a a pinnacle for for culture pop culture um and so to survive that um and just what you know society-wise and life-wise what was going on i think it was just a lot so if you got to the other side of that and you're still going you know great but yeah i think that that's part of it it's almost like the characters in the 70s you know and even though fax life had just started then but you still had those staples you know that that were beloved as well so i do think that some of it is the time that i was getting my comeuppance you know which is why i'm so excited about the upshaws because it's such a new and and fresh take on a style of storytelling that everyone loves the the sitcom the classic sitcom but in such an edgy you know again expect the unexpected kind of vibe as a little black girl coming from harlem how did you get into acting so mom uh is uh well was because she claims that she's retired she's a director now she directs uh young dylan uh but my mother uh is an actress um and so she um was starring in hello dolly with pearl bailey when i was a little girl and i would go backstage and see her go out on tour and i would love to see the behind the scenes that was the magic to me very shy person kim fields and even as a kid very shy and so the idea of performing and wanting to be seen not my thing at all but the magic seeing the costumes and the wigs and the makeup and the sets and the props and that was my sweet spot i was finding more and more and so that's how i got kind of into it uh mom was in acting class here in new york and we couldn't afford a babysitter and so she would take me to her acting class with her there were other kids there their parents couldn't afford babysitters danielle spencer who played d on what's happening she was a part of that little tribe uh and so that's where we got introduced to it we would imitate what we saw our parents doing just because we were bored and that was how we entertained ourselves first commercial was um uh miss butterworth syrup when i was seven um and mom had moved us to l.a she couldn't take harlem and um at that time at the time that's when harlem the trip yeah yeah exactly yeah and my mom was like no i can't i can't do this anymore and i can't raise a baby girl on my own in this environment and my mom you know she was she was a teen mom basically uh and so she finished uh high school at high school of performing arts and then uh after she toured with a hello dolly she was like nope let's go so i was at p.s 92 came back home and when everything was fine by the time i got back home the little bit that we did have was packed up and she was like yeah we're leaving tonight uh okay wow yeah you know what's so interesting i mean i was gonna ask you know how did a child star survive and not go crazy like we see so many of them yeah i got my answer your mom was in the business yeah she already knew all the demons all the evils to keep you away from it you know i am always amazed at how my mom was able to raise me when she was such a kid herself and and had no blueprint at all um but my village you know those that my mom chose to have around me um and then as i you know grew up and and you know invited people into my life and my space my village is extraordinary and they they really do keep me together keep me grounded you know they're there for me in the low lows and the high highs you know and so um that has definitely helped um me not lose it and i didn't want to be a statistic i i thought that i owed again my village um way more than that you know than than what the normal child star path you know was going to be i was going to ask cause you hear all these stories about young child actors yeah these grown men taking advantage of them whether it's through the contract or or sexually and you were able to go through that because your mom was right by your side the whole time yeah absolutely mama's right there my aunt pat was right there um again the the rest of my village as i got older and and and just had really lifelong friends blair underwood malcolm jamal warner um you know that's blessed royalty right there yeah when you say i guess wow like because because it's not too many people you you know they characters names you know they real names like that's just i don't know i don't think you all realize how much of a part of our childhood y'all were yeah you know what i mean and are yeah yeah i think now we do because there's more accessibility you know with that the the way that that you can access your either fan base or your audience or the fans or the viewers can access you to a certain extent so i feel like we do know you know what i mean um and that's been very helpful you know especially in moments where it's like ugh this this feels kind of thankless but at the end of the day um you realize but i'm i'm still here and i'm still blessed to do what i do and again at that highest level how do you survive that social media time because at one time like you said you were only seen when you wanted to be seen right but now it's like you know you you go to the mall or you go to the grocery store yeah somebody's sneaking the pictures taking a picture i mean you could just have a head wrap on or you could just be doing garden work and you know but right we'll take a picture you know so how do you navigate through that well i i for me you know there's again people have seen me since i was seven so there's really no like kind of hiding space hiding place um and you know so i'm comfortable like if i don't have my makeup hey it is what it is it is what it is y'all have seen this face before it knew makeup so there you go um but i i feel like i've kind of navigated certain areas of of social media one from that standpoint of if you can't beat them join them and also doing it on my own terms you know if i don't if i'm not up for posting or i feel like i've had just a sensory overload take a little breather but but it's a it's a space that i actually enjoy because um i get number one i get to connect um with certain people uh i've even even you know collaborations i just did a collaboration uh with jonathan mcreynolds um and he sang on on my soundtrack and now it's under consideration for an emmys you know and that was because i thank you but i reached out on instagram because we follow each other and you know dms can be great and horrible so in that moment it was great um but but social media you know there's certain things like um anytime somebody tries to throw me in that auntie zone i am quick to respond this is the no auntie zone no auntie's i'm 44 today they call me uncle i like it really well good for you [Laughter] and i think it's you know some of it too if it's different from you know male female 5 but um yeah i just uh i i like the um the banter sometimes and just things that you learn uh certainly as a content provider you have to be in the space so that you know what's current and and what's relevant um as an entrepreneur i'm in the space it has helped me tremendously as with my budding coffee and tea business signature blends by kf because at that point i don't have to spend what you know a major company would spend on marketing and advertising so you know i think social media is a is a great tool i don't set out people have said a lot that my my pages or my spaces are like um a really happy place or a destination i don't try to be a role model i don't try to be um inspirational and all that most of the time and i think with a lot of the the work that you do it's from that place well here's what i need absolutely i'm speaking to myself first and if somebody sees it and gets something from it great um but most of the time it's i'm seeing either what i need or i'm seeing something that i need and it's not out there so i'll i i'll provide it yeah you know mom told me very when i was very young find a need and fill it or if you see a need then then fill that and so a lot of time my social media um is is coming from that kind of space you know um and i i enjoy it you know and when people try to get negative that's right either block or it's in the trash is that how you approach your home i said you mentioned your dms yes how many fellas are in your dm's that you're surprised about old or young i'm sure gotta be some young men in the dms as well as some older people that's actually a great question because i think what y'all generation don't realize is y'all are showing a different level of aging gracefully mm-hmm like when we was growing up 40 and 50 used to seem like oh oh that was that was grady that was greedy absolutely yes yeah um well i mean to answer that in in my in my dm's it's just you know i i basically have it set to the people that i know um so i don't have any like surprise like oh my god no um and then in in terms of like aging it's such a different like you said such a different time it's such a different everything you know and so i plan on adventuring and journeying and doing i mean just i'm in such a new space i think too and again the genesis of it dancing with the stars and then uh being regarded the way that i am as an executive producer you know people talk about having a seat at the table my journey quite honestly is i feel like i had to actually build the table in the chairs and then everybody was like oh but let me come to this table so i have a seat at the table it's just different how that table and that seat got created um and so that's actually very empowering and very um exhilarating liberating oh we yeah so that's that's really where i'm i'm i'm i'm really hovering and and moving about and and so with that yeah as i'm leveling up age-wise um it's it's one of those like you know like the princess said aj ain't nothing but a number that's right has it gotten better or worse for black creators in the industry uh i think you know in my humble opinion i think it's gotten better um just from the standpoint that i mean the the the opportunities that we can create ourselves and the gatekeepers aren't really there like they used to be i mean back in the day we had what three networks five networks now there's so many platforms now you have a any kind of phone with a camera and you can become your own network really quickly um there's so many different outlets that you can populate content on and things like that so i feel like it's better not just for people of color but just people period you know anybody that is in that creative space or whatever space you're in and want to create content i just was doing research for a show about architects uh and so in that research finding all sorts of uh like there's a youtube platform where this guy and this girl and all they do is they talk about different topics regarding architecture and it's massive you know and it's just one of those things where it's like whatever your interest in there's a guy on ig the fishing guy okay i'm mad at you whatever you want to do so i feel like it's it's the accessibility you know is there in technology has really helped us in terms of quality don't don't no junk up there people just because you can now you mentioned your coffee line yes now how did you get why did you get into the coffee business are you a huge coffee drinker oh my goodness yes yeah a huge coffee and tea drinkers so when i was a little kid my teacher in third grade she would read to us every day after lunch and she was reading willy wonka and the chocolate factory and she had this enormous thermos of black hot coffee that she would drink and so the aroma from that and listening to the story i always felt like i was in like the chocolate factory fast forward to me graduating from college and i read uh russell simmons autobiography and it really really before that one before do you yeah uh life and death was it called but it's the 90s it was i think it was before that but it was uh it was really a game changer for me from the standpoint of i know i wanted to be an entrepreneur i know i didn't want to wait around for some things to happen and then it became well what do you want to do and i know i didn't want to just license my name and so coffee i knew was certainly sustainable i love the idea that being a global uh i i like to think of myself as a global citizen and so doing coffee and tea gave me an opportunity to be in that global space as an entrepreneur working with over 36 countries around the world in different farms and growers and the bean belt so it's very exciting but also on a deeper level i love that coffee is always a part of someone's day someone's moment you know orti um but from that standpoint of you know you reach for it first thing in the morning uh to then to get through the day then to wind down or have it with dessert or after dinner um having a difficult or a a business deal um a conversation that may be uncomfortable hey let's grab a coffee and talk things over so i just love that it was always a part of someone's moment at any given time um and i see a lot of my career has has been like that as well so are you one of those ones that can't even do nothing until you get your cup of coffee don't want to talk to nobody according to my eight-year-old yes because he will look at me on facetime if we're not together and he'll be like oh why don't you get some caffeine and then hit me back so uh for the most part yes yes i am i want to talk to you about the the content of black you know shows art right do you think that it was some type of conspiracy to change the content because everybody talks about how you know the content is you know destructive now and influences people the wrong way but growing up you know you saw a living single it was yeah y'all had careers and you know y'all weren't i guess quote-unquote ratchet even though there's nothing wrong being a little ratchet but that's right it's like do you think there was a conspiracy to change the content of the shows ah i i you know if i'm really for real for real about it there's probably a conspiracy about every damn thing and especially anything positive to impact any people let alone people of color that said um i don't i i'm not aware of anything that was that you know um in your face about it um i think that as a as a content provider you have to listen to what the audience is saying that they want to see you know and when they put on these great shows or positive shows or whatever and people aren't watching they get snatched up so it's almost like are we are we in our own way sometimes but you know hey we don't have to watch everything just because it's black people or just because it's music or just because it's you know there are certainly many different ways that people can enjoy content and stories and so i think at the end of the day it's it's really about what's good storytelling what are really good characters i think that's what people want to see um and then it becomes the timing of it you know there are some shows that you feel like god that was ahead of its time and then some shows you like okay we've seen enough of that type of show can we please see something else so i i don't know that there's a conspiracy with it there was but i feel like there are certain efforts that that we as the viewers we actually contribute to um true true you know kim kohl's said that uh fox used black shows like living single and martin to build the network then kick them out the house what are your thoughts on that yeah um i mean you know when you when you are growing a network and and creating something from scratch yes you do gravitate towards what do we know is going to sell right away what do we know will have that loyal audience right away and historically speaking it's been black shows but yes there is that sense of okay we got the numbers we grew the audience and then sometimes it's also if there's a changing of the guard if there's a new network executive and they want to create a new vision put it in a new direction then you know and it has nothing to do with being you know shows of color um then you know you you go that route um so so i think that yeah that there there is definitely something to what uh kim said in terms of um you know how they build the network um yes do i think that there could have been a touch more finessing in terms of how you transition into whatever the new direction is um but you know people run their network how they want to run it so how important is it to have a creator like a regina hicks who's worked on like insecure girlfriends sister sister is it important to have somebody who understands those legendary black sitcoms and what it takes to create one yes um from the standpoint of her experience not in my opinion not because she's a woman or a woman of color um you know but and and here's why because there are those of us mike gabs one decides me we are people of color and you know two of us are women one is a man of color so we're already going to bring some of that to the table so the idea of well we need somebody who understands that voice well not if we have that voice her her her resume and and what she knows about running a writer's room or what she knows about how to have a you know a successful show on a successful comedy those to me are the more important boxes to check if you're going to just you know start checking boxes um but i do feel like there has to be that sense of um diversity even when you are telling a specific type of story like people will say oh i'm looking for a black director i need a female director well i check those boxes but i don't approach it that way i'm a director and so my sensibilities are about how to tell a great story secondary and what's kind of tertiary is yes i'm female or yes i'm a person of color but but for me it's you know if you're a great director you should be able to tell anybody's story now i love that because you know you have some companies they got that uh title now what is it president of president of diversity and uh inclusion conclusion yeah but it might be a black person that has no connection to the black community no experience with black people whatsoever listen i uh you know in the wake of certain um tragedies in the wake of certain um difficult moments in society um we had some you know what some would consider forward motion forward movement um and exactly what you're saying and for me i'm not i'm not about being a box checker and when you are a box checker and then you don't have the skill set to back it up it's like okay get get get in the door with the boxes that you check but then what you're going to do once you're in the door you have to have the skill set you got to bring the thunder otherwise you just the box checker taking up air so then check the box that i'm an air taker-upper you think that's messing up the art because it feels like sometimes they'll put some black shows on black movies and it should be whacked yeah yes yes i do yes i do i feel like it's messing up the art the craft um the culture i mean just just i mean come on you know there there are people that um you know the diversity on anything is what's up i mean it just makes it that much more interesting that much more collaborative that's that much more real in terms of of what the the reality is in most people's environments and it just makes to me for for it to be more interesting i think yeah i want you diverse in thought though i like i like diversity but i like diversity and thought diversity and creativity like what you said just the talent first yeah you know absolutely absolutely and then hey if you check a box or two cool but at the end of the day that's more of a i think of a corporate mind mindset of checking those boxes as a because because they want to look good that's right but then it's like okay but then the the work that's being put out there and not just in terms of the creative space but anything you know you should you could be a microsoft and and if you yes i check the box i'm black i'm female i'm fluid i'm bi i'm pronoun free or i mean just all of that and then you know now it's time to to show up and do the work that's right and you might be wack now you talked about you know you wanted to do reality show you wanted to be a director you wanted to do this is there anything that's that you haven't done yet that you want to do yeah what's on your bucket list that you're like this is what i want to do oh my gosh well i guess i don't approach it like bucket list vibe you know i think i approach it more of just you know here's some i want to do okay so let's let's go so so for me i'm definitely i want to do more drama i definitely want to do um sci-fi um because i love sci-fi and fantasy and you know folks can't just be the only ones in you know blue and green makeup and getting a check i mean come on i put another color on me and i'll get a check too so when he was through his birthday today what are we doing today baby what are we doing right now he wants to do it okay his birthday the only thing you're right i'm going to therapy at three and i got a workout at six but you know uh i'm watching miss marvel on disney plus and there's a in the welcome new jersey sign on exit 14 they have miss marvel sitting on top of the sign uh-huh i want to go see it i love i'm a science fiction guy okay comic guy i'm a blurred i like his birthday he wants to drive down the parkway just right that's exciting to me just to see it yeah she's the first muslim superhero she's on top of the sign right so now i i thought she was gonna say that you wanted to be up there and sit next to her that's some birthday to drop off my anxiety too bad oh i got a couple more questions because you know you said earlier you said this is a thankless business so what do black creators need to do to get there just do manage your expectations on getting that just due manage your expectations because you know usually my answer is you know be good be be better than you know set the bar don't just don't just don't just get to the bar and in fact raise the bar and all of that is fine but then you can do all of that and still feel like well that now what you know i i didn't get any accolades or i didn't get any flowers i didn't get any awards i didn't get a pick up so i feel like managing your expectations you know and i know you you were specific in terms of black creatives but for anybody that's listening you know and you're looking at wanting to go further you know hit it stronger and and and level up and raise the bar and and all of that um those are fantastic goals to have and more than likely attainable but at the end of the day you can do all of that and if your goal is at beyond what you can control then you know you have to manage that expectation versus it's a great example years ago blair and i were blaring wood and i were talking about auditioning and uh he said you know make the goal something other than booking the gig because that's actually not in your control you can go in there crush it kill it give them some they never thought about for that role i mean be extraordinary and not book it because of circumstances beyond your control they've already cast they're going with a different type of look they're going with a different name all kinds of things and so what is the goal you know but don't make the goal something pressurized like i gotta book this to pay my rent i gotta book this to get the light bill paid or my baby's needs used whatever it is because that pressure will then mess you up and you won't be able to be at your best but when you find that space where you are not in a pressurized moment then make the goal something that you can control oh i want to do better with my comedy or i want to work on being off book in an audition a bit more knowing all the lines a bit more things that you can control that way even if you don't get the job you go okay but at least i i was off book at least i feel like i got my comedy going a bit more because i'm more of a dramatic dramatic actor so that's what i think when i say manage your expectations you know now you mentioned auditioning do you still audition for for parts no um i am either no i'm either offer only or like with the upshaw's um chemistry um certain things i will do a meet and greet with either the director or the producer just because like you said earlier bro i don't know what's in some people's heads if they haven't seen the upshaw's when they hear the name kim fields i don't know what visual is going to pop up in there and even if you google me i don't know what image and you know there's a slew of them that come up how old am i going to be am i grown am i a kid am i an 80s teen that just nobody wants to see you know so so so i i don't mind meeting greets and things like that but i don't necessarily audition in that truest sense um of the word so what that's that's great advice you gave what so what is your intention when you do a show like the upshaw um to do something again that i've never done before so so those characters um and my character in particular i've not played that type of character so even though i've done you know 14 15 years of sitcom television um what makes this moment different well this is edgier edgier than living single well yeah because at that time living single for me was totally edgy to go from facts to life to living singles that was for real uncharted waters so now doing that same kind of thing okay so what are my expectations yeah you want to do the kind of great work that makes your industry and your peers take notice and you know submit you for awards and all these other things but if not i'mma be all right because i feel like wow that scene i put my foot in it wow that moment there was really great you know and so so i feel like that to me is is really when you go back to the goals and what are my expectations that i'm managing season two just dropped so you know yeah of course we want everybody to love it everything ain't for everybody every black thing and for every black person but at the end of the day i'm looking at okay for for my character you know did i did i leave it all on the floor and and that becomes my goal and my expectation that's what i expect from myself and then everything else is the gravy train you talked about doing something for the check or doing something for the money to keep the light bills on have you ever did a roll for the check and regretted it later on if there was ever a part in your life you'd be like well i gotta do it for this and then hate it yourself later on like i didn't like that no because excuse me because um i i i first i don't live in regrets i mean there's just what's the point of that that's that's energy that could be you know used for something else um but but i have um i don't necessarily take a role for the check um sometimes it's for the opportunity um so if it becomes a situation of oh well it's a small role but it's to work with so and so then okay yeah sure or it positions me i'm really big on positioning yourself and so if it puts me in a different position then okay yeah you know um thankfully i'm i'm more about who do i feel like being bothered with you know who do i feel like i want to work with um because that's real you know and i and i really am clear and grateful that i've gotten to a point in my career where if i'm like i think i'm i'm good i'm no i don't i don't really want to you know have that kind of energy in my in my energy right now and so there have been you know projects or opportunities where i've passed on that you know it would have been a great check um um i'll find another way to make some paper i got you what what do you what do you expect from the upshaw the netflix and the reason i asked that because i'm sure there was a huge difference between facts of life and living single you know and then the network the streaming service that's like what is that that's cable no no let's say it would be considered living single was was broadcast broadcast and then uh fact life with network yep and so in screaming service what's the differences in those three things well as a as as a business model um you know streaming services are just different because you um you can either get all the episodes at once or you can get them you know once a week like like a regular you know network would would distribute them um sometimes there's a tendency to feel that a streaming service will give a show more of a chance you know as opposed to well we aired three episodes they didn't work so we don't yank the show and it's like well wait give it give it give it a time give it some time um and the same with cable uh cable and streaming are usually kind of like kissing cousins in my mind um because it's you know for the most part commercial free um you have more liberty creatively back in the day it was thought to have been um a little edgier so you could do more you could say more you could cuss you could show nudity i mean you know so so there were all sorts of things that you could do on cable and then on uh streaming that you couldn't necessarily do on a broadcast network i was gonna ask one question with that it's with all those three different things with what you talk about i i feel like sometimes with streaming mm-hmm it cuts the life short right because every week you was waiting to see that person you see that network but now if you all let's say i watched the whole thing this weekend yeah now i don't see you for another you know until you got to do this yeah yeah yeah you know i miss you but now right you know every day i would have to wait for a thursday night to see the cops wait for you know whatever night to see living single social thursday night yeah both thursday night does that hurt at all um i think some people would argue that yes it does hurt it in a certain way um this this this newer business model um of distribution but i mean it it still works for you know some people love to binge uh and then it goes away and then you want to you know you revisit it like you said yeah i'm a miss you um so i think that there's something to be said for both models i think uh a a a platform like disney plus uh and now some of the others have caught on where they will stream but they still drop you know one episode a week so i think they've they've started understanding that people like that hybrid um some people uh uh like netflix has started doing where they'll drop a certain you know number of episodes and call that part one then you have you know part two even though in broadcast because people want to keep watching their favorite shows so remember you used to have like you know your cliffhanger and that was for the summer and then you didn't see any new episodes till the fall so now in the fall you get new episodes and then they have your winter cliffhanger what is that and then you you know and then you get new episodes after the top of the year that's real absolutely absolutely shoot a show right yeah what netflix does is they wait for the show to hit being here now it's a hit what was the show that just came out recently with the when they were shooting the people whatever that was called um i can't think of it oh it's okay game game yeah quick game so games came out right everybody but now you got to wait for them to shoot another squid game to get another budget to do that so yeah by the time it comes out a year and a half later i just thought about it now i got to re-watch the first one until you get to catch up i hate that i like that more of the yeah catch on enjoy it yeah absolutely you hate it but you do it you're right yeah i don't even know what age i was when i started realizing there was seasons cause it just seemed like on thursday nights coffee shows coming on different world coming on martin coming on living single coming on my my last question you grew up in the entertainment industry what was the best and worst advice you received um thankfully i've not had any bad advice wow yeah thankfully and if i had i guess i just didn't listen so um but my best advice was from my mom um and i mean my goodness when i wrote my autobiography i just felt like it should be called you know chips gems because my mother just dropped gem after gym in my life um but when i was growing up like one of the early days of facts of life and she said you started a hundred percent and she put her hand up here and she said kimmy you started at 100 and everything that you do and say every day that you're here either keeps you here or it can chip away right oh and i was like okay all right that's that's all right and then the second piece of advice when i went to do the um the audition for the miss butterworth sarah commercial so janet was there and that was the first time that i'd even seen her met her and you know they had those jacks and summer specials yes and so yes and so they had um those summer specials the jacksons had and so i knew who she was and i got into that and that was my first audition first time doing anything we had just gotten to la and i thought oh my god that's janet jackson i don't i don't belong here i want to go home i want to go home and i got terrified i'm very insecure and my mom took me into the bathroom and she said listen she's not doing anything to you you were doing this to yourself don't let anything or anybody intimidate you of your own doing but don't don't do it and there are times to this day guys if i'm like feeling you know some kind of way or in my feelings and feeling like oh i'm not sure whatever and you know my level of confidence or my security is not on full blast i will go into the bathroom and tell myself don't let anything or anyone intimidate you wow and especially when you're doing that to yourself and they're not even doing anything to you don't you allow your own mind to do that so those were the mischief right cause that keeps the child from never having imposter syndrome yeah always feeling worthy yeah which is two things that you always deal with no matter how old you are that's right absolutely absolutely and so that level of security you know really really helped seal seal the deal for me yeah well check out the upshore season two right now and we appreciate you for joining us the legendary kitchen thank you listen i'm so glad that i was able to finally get here and finally meet you happy birthday to you thank you have an amazing amazing next chapter filled with so much adventure and wonder and success and being grounded happy birthday i receive it all thank you yes indeed and go on and sit up there next to her it's kim fields it's the breakfast club good morning [Music] you

Channel: Breakfast Club Power 105.1 FM

Views: 413,488

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

Id: MYfk3RMYFDo

Length: 50min 33sec (3033 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 30 2022