-Welcome back to "Late Night." We're here with Common.
Now, I want to point this out
'cause this is the first opportunity, obviously.
And I know this is not why...
You don't do the work for the awards.
But you do have an Emmy,
you've got a Grammy, you've got an Oscar.
That's the EGO.
-Yeah, I got a little -- a little EGO.
-You've got a little EGO. But this is it, this is --
Now, you've thrown yourself -- your hat in the ring for a "T."
Would you be upset if you had an EGOT?
[ Laughter ]
-I like the way you phrase that.
I mean, listen, I'm very grateful
for just being on Broadway, man,
and to be a part of the theater community itself.
That was -- that was a dream of mine at some point,
and the fact that I'm actually doing theater now
is just like...
I'm just in the spirit of that
and I'm trying to give my best every night.
-So you really want it?
-Oh...
[ Laughter ]
Nah, nah.
[ Cheers and applause ]
But this is the thing. This is the thing.
For me, also, it's like, every...
You know, what you just named, which I'm super grateful
to have those awards you just mentioned.
But every -- whether I was doing music
or whether I was acting in a film
or creating a song for a film, I just went in it
with my heart and soul, man, and put my spirit into it
and gave my best.
And whatever results happen, that's icing on the cake.
Once you're done, you know if they say you're in the running,
of course you're like, "Okay, well..."
And to be recognized by the peers of like...
To be recognized by people in theater would be amazing feat,
but I'm just happy right now that I'm on that stage
with Stephen McKinley Henderson, who's just incredible.
-He's amazing. He's been amazing forever.
-And this incredible cast doing Stephen Adly Guirgis' play.
It's just like, man, this is stuff like I dreamed of,
but I didn't know I would be able to do it
with this group of people and at this level.
So, just for people to say, man --
my family to come see me on Broadway.
Look, some of my family had never -- some of my people
who came from Chicago had never seen a play,
and they came to see "Between Riverside and Crazy."
So that, right there, you know, is an award.
That's a victory for me, yeah.
-You talk about your family. I know you're close.
Your mom was your first business manager, is that correct?
-Yeah, she was. -How'd she do?
-Well, she was great initially
because, you know, my mother's from Chicago,
and she was -- she's a teacher, but she also did corporate work.
So she knew business pretty well.
She got that Chicago hustle in her, too.
So she was really good with the business and made me --
and asked me to invest in properties early.
But eventually, it started to become like,
you know, your mother telling you, "Aw, don't do that,
don't spend money on this and that."
And the business manager went to business damager after a minute.
[ Laughter ]
-How'd she take the news when you --
When you moved on, how 'd she take it?
-Aw, man, it was tough.
But, you know, when a mother loves her son,
she gonna eventually say, "Okay, it is what it is."
But now, she sees the business is flourishing even more,
and she's doing the work with my Common Ground Foundation
and having great pajama parties now
and having great birthday parties,
so she don't care about the business like that no more,
long as the money is flowing. -That's good.
That's good. The money's flowing, she's happy.
-Yeah. -You mentioned --
You mentioned she was honest when you were Tiny Tim
in the second grade, in your performance,
and I'm assuming she's honest today.
Has she seen you on Broadway?
And what has she told you about your performance so far?
-Yes, my mother brought 198 people to see the show.
[ Laughter ]
That's a real number.
-That's a lot -- That's a real number?!
-That's a real number. -All in one night.
-All in one night. -I'll tell you,
my parents have asked me for tickets before,
but never that many.
-198 people.
-My parents don't know 198 people.
-[ Laughs ] 198.
Well, and she loved it.
She came to opening night also.
And she's saying she may bring back 150 for the last week.
[ Laughter ]
That being said, she told me I did very good in the play.
She said --
but she said -- but she said...
She also said, "You will be great eventually,
but right now, you're very good."
[ Laughter ]
-That's a mom for you, right there.
-That's a mom, yeah. -That's the right kind of mom.
Common, everybody!
"Between Riverside and Crazy" is playing at the Hayes Theater.
we'll be right back with Jonathan Lemire.