- One of my favorite things about this podcast
and having the opportunity to host it
and have these conversations is that
there are all these black actors that just feel like
family to me,
because they've been in all of the stuff that I've watched,
whether it was sitcoms or movies.
Like you can see Blair Underwood in the show,
and then you go and see this movie
and it's Blair Underwood again, you know?
So it feels like I know y'all, kinda, sorta.
- Hey, girl, hey.
- Hey, it's good to finally meet you in person.
(laughing)
I feel this was especially true in the '90s.
The '90s was just so black, media-wise, movies, television.
- Just so good, yes. - I know.
What was goin' out for roles in the '90s like,
when it was so black?
Was it like, there are so many opportunities around
for everyone?
- Well, lets just talk about how that's, I just miss that.
I miss the fact that you could turn on CBS, ABC, NBC
and there was opportunity and different shows showing us,
showing our family life.
- In different ways--
- Comedies, shoot, sketch comedy, sitcoms,
different things that had our experience on television
that you didn't have like to pay for, that you didn't have
to have your Netflix, or whatever,
to get true, authentic stories about us and our race.
But again, different moments in our families,
so I would love to see that come back.
- Well, I'm optimistic that we can make--
- Oh, we can keep hope alive, now!
- That we can make media black again!
- Absolutely, all the way around.
- All the way around.
- Just have the diversity.
- At least try.
- Try a little harder.
There you go, there you go.
In the '90s you were one of the it girls
as far as Black Hollywood, Black media.
You were on shows-
- Was I considered that?
I guess-
- I think so, I mean remember the essence cover
with Halle Berry-
- True that, true that. - And Loretta Devine?
Yeah, I would absolutely class you in those ladies.
This is just gonna be like an hour-long love fest,
so I hope you're okay with compliments.
- Okay, okay, I'll be okay, I'll be okay.
- Okay, I'm not so I also apologize.
- I'll be all right, I'll make it through.
- Okay.
But yeah, you were on shows that like everybody loved
and everybody watched, "The Fresh Prince,"
"Family Matters," "Steve Harvey," and this is all before
getting your own sitcom.
- Yeah.
- What was it like to be a part
of so many different sitcoms?
Like, was the energy different on each set?
Is it sort of like, "Okay, this is a Black sitcom, we know
"how this works?"
or just like-
- Yeah I think it's two parts, right?
One thing we know about Hollywood, or I'll say I know
about Hollywood, is they like something new.
- Yeah.
- I was a new girl, I was a new, fresh face.
You know, it really kind of came easy, because again,
this industry likes new, so someone that they hadn't seen
on everything before.
So, I do believe that as an actor it is easier in that
beginning of your career when, you know, it's like,
oh, let's have her,
that's somebody new that people are talking about,
okay, then let's have her over here
because that's somebody that's new
that they're talking about.
You know?
So I believe that played into it a lot.
it was always fun,
it is always fun to be the guest star.
- Was there any point while you were guest-starring
where you were like, okay, this is fun and it's cute
but like I'm ready to like be the star-star
and not the guest star?
- Here's what I'll say about me.
(laughing)
As calculated as I am now in my life,
I wish I was calculated back then.
I wasn't calculated.
It was all so new to me,
every opportunity was like,
"Oh, this is great."
I think now, looking back,
If I knew what I know now about the industry,
it would've been way more conversations with my people
and agents and managers about, okay, now I have this body
of work, now we need to take that to different networks
and show them what I've been doing,
and show them that I could possibly have my own show
or create my own show.
I was really, honestly, figuring it all out, still,
you know so that's what I'll say.
It was all great, but my plan was not as strategic
as it probably should have been,
me not even thinking of that at the time.
- That makes sense.
I feel like that would've been me, as well.
- Just happy, happy-go-lucky.
And just like, okay, we working everything is paid
for, okay, cool, great.
- Families eating
- "What's the next one?"
- "Fantastic."
(laughing)
- Is there any guest-starring role
that was your favorite?
Or, I don't know if it's like how you can't pick
a favorite kid, so I won't-
- Oh, that's easy though!
No, that's easy.
- Oh, okay, go ahead!
- So especially back then, The Fresh Prince.
The Fresh Prince, first of all, when I did it
was like, that show on television.
- Oh my gosh, I never missed an episode.
- It was right when it was the biggest thing on television,
and you know, first of all, meeting Pam Grier.
I had never met Pam Grier.
- Oh my gosh.
- So, when I met Pam Grier on set she was so nice,
and she was like, girl, look, I do my own makeup.
If you don't like what they doing, you do it yourself.
'Cause they don't know what's goin' on girl, you better do
what you know that's gonna make you look good.
Don't be coming out there like...
She was all of that.
You know?
- That's a good point 'cause I'd imagine that-
- She was great, she was amazing, and to this day people
just love that episode that she played my mom.
- So, so good.
- It was so fun, and the whole,
"Oh, you slept with Candace!"
People will say it to me, people just love that episode.
- Let me know, I will be good.
(laughing)
- God forbid.
(laughing)
- [Elise] "Are you on click?"
Some just say no.
(laughing)
- [Tracy] Okay.
(laughing)
We set.
- [Elise] Oh okay.
- [Producer] Sorry, you don't have to fully answer
the question cause we got it, but--
- [Elise] Oh I'm sorry, which one we doing?
- [Producer] We're just redoing the Essence cover,
and she's gonna ask you what you remember
from being a part of it,
if you could just like,
answer it and just say few sentences, and then we can stop.
- Yeah, just like for 10 seconds.
(producers talk amongst each other)
All right, so the late nineties, I consider truly the golden
era for black people on television.
And I feel like the best example of this is the Essence
cover that you were on Ford's 30th anniversary cover.
I mean not a big deal, it was just you, Queen Latifah,
Michael Michelle, Loretta Devine, Vivica Fox, Halle Berry
Jada Pinkett Smith, Regina King,
you know, just yeah.
You were soon starring in your own
sitcom, "The Hughleys" 1998 through 2002.
I was a fan of it,
like from the very beginning because I was really, really
into stand up comedy when I was younger.
Still am.
And I remember D.L. Hughley as a host of comic view.
I was like, this is going to be funny.
And it was funny.
It was one of my favorite shows.
Did you have to audition for this role?
Because again, like during this time,
like you're kind of everywhere.
- No I didn't, no, I didn't.
But let's talk about that for a moment.
Now we're in this moment of, you know, people creating.
African Americans creating content and how important
that is and how that is helpful to people's careers
and acknowledging people who can have the ability
to have ideas and create them.
So I like to emphasize the fact that, you know, D.L.
and his comedy and everything was the creator executive
producer of The Hughleys.
- I do not think I realized that.
- And people don't know that this was all a brainchild
from the comedy that he did,
that ABC came to him and gave him his own show off
of what he had already accomplished.
So they took that and made that the show.
So I think, you know, even he does, I mean he doesn't
really talk about that, but that is the truth,
that it was all a brainchild off of the comedy
that made that show happen.
And no, I didn't audition for it.
This was after, you know, and in the beginning of my career
I was considered more of, cause you say a film actress
coming from Rosewood, then Money Talks
and then after that, thank you,
and then doing The Hughleys.
So ABC offered me The Hughleys, which was a blessing
because you know, they thought we look well together
playing husband and wife, but you know, being
my first sitcom, that was my second television show.
But my first sitcom, you know, I learned a lot on that set
and learned a lot about having the position of being
the star, you know, and what that means.
And it was fun behind the scenes to be able to go,
oh, we're gonna have like your cousin and this.
It'd be like, who do you like?
And being in that process.
Oh yeah, I love Vivica.
Vivica played like my cousin on this show.
- So, your input was considered--
- They would ask, you know, who do you like?
And I was like, okay, this is cool.
And I just loved being on that show.
And I think people also forget how, you know,
not on the nose political, but it was very political
about living in a neighborhood that, you know,
you were the outsiders coming into a neighborhood
that maybe people didn't think that you fit.
And a community embracing us and how we as a family dealt
with those different things and our, you know,
other race neighbors and all of those things
and how we still had issues and problems
but stuck together as a family.
I think it was really an important show that people
seem to forget that.
And I think, you have lots of, you know,
different shows that have embraced those themes
like The Neighborhood, like Black-ish,
like things like that,
which really stemmed from that family element
that we had on the show.
- Did you find that it was more difficult
for you to get roles as a black woman?
- I think, you know what, for me, the interesting thing
was around, let's see, what year is that?
You know, we had a writer's strike.
Maybe it was '08 or something, I think around in there.
So then nobody was working for a while there.
Somewhere around in there was where it was like,
ooh, coming off of that strike, that's when TV changed.
That's because, see, we had all this great TV,
all these fun times, you know, my race and other races
were making a lot of money on television.
Then the writer's strike happened.
Then they could not have content that had writers.
Then that's when reality TV was born.
That's when you started to get like the Snookies
and the you know, MTV of it all,
and oh let's find this untapped talent that nobody knows
that's hilarious because we need content
cause there's nothing that we can do because the writers
are on strike.
Let's get these reality shows up and running.
Pay them, you know, $45 a week and they will be happy
because they're unknown.
And it's not necessarily
because you have to keep in mind coming from
I'm not an actress first, I'm a celebrity first.
I'm a talent first.
So that switch didn't upset me in terms of like why?
It upset me because I was like, okay, I get it.
But now I got to figure it out.
- Before the reality boom,
there was Hustle And Flow, 2005.
- Hustle And Flow was fun.
- Tell me about it.
- I thought it was so amazing to do something
that, first of all, we shot in Memphis.
So that was just to have something--
- Back home
- Yeah, to have something, become Oscar contenders
and my hometown, be it the subject matter was what it was.
But embracing my hometown.
Like I loved that.
- Had to feel good.
- I loved that.
It had, it felt great.
And then we had a premiere in Memphis as well
as in Hollywood and just being able to take Terrence
and Taraji around and go say y'all want to go bowling?
Okay, I know where to go, you know, and just have them
in my city was great.
- I didn't realize that it was shot in Memphis.
I'm like imagining like me being an actress now--
- Well what was really the best part
like okay, we had the one house
where they did all the mixing
and all the music took place.
And we shot this and it was super hot.
People used to stop by and just everybody knew
what house we were using.
So people would stop by with plates.
Y'all hungry?
We got some plates for y'all.
Y'all something to eat?
We cooked something last night, y'all hungry over there?
Let me see Terrence.
- [Tracy] Hi. - Where Terrence?
What you looking-- hey Terrence!
(laughing) How you doing?
My momma love you Terrence.
- I got some yams, if you want some.
- All of that, all of that, all the time, it was so funny.
- I love that so much.
Southerners, man.
Southerners. - Southerners.
It makes you, they used their delicious food
to be able to meet who they wanted to meet.
- I feel like there was a time when I wondered,
because I could see how well the movie was doing, you know,
like all the awards it was getting.
And there was a time when I cause you know,
being black, you know, there's always
a moment where you second guess,
the good stuff sometimes.
- Well, you know, at the end of the day too, you know,
people were worried about the subject matter.
The people had a lot to say about the subject matter.
- Like is the reason that white people like it
because it's another movie with black folks
in roles that they already think of us in?
- I think it was more so for me, what separates it, I mean,
and again, it's just my perspective, it separates it
from certain things that I feel people looked at it for.
One because it really is a movie about hope.
It really is a movie about believing in yourself.
When people look at you like this, like you're dirt,
like you're scum.
Like you're just some pimp, but you have so much more
inside of you.
If someone gave you a shot.
I look at that movie like,
I think that's why it resonated.
I do.