Kerry Washington Came To Play!

Hello everybody, we're here with Scott, it's so exciting! What is up neighbors? We got the Kerry Washington pulling up to the house today. You know her as an actress, a producer, best-selling author. But did you know she also has a killer Tina Turner impression? Let's say who's is better. Kerry! Oh my goodness! What is this? This is Rosemary from My Garden. No way! Because I know you cook in Sutton. You know Sutton, good! Sutton! I cannot believe you're sitting in my house right now. I'm so happy to be here. I'm losing my mind. We'll find it, because this is a really important moment. Right? I love that I'm here. Same! I will never forget we were on the carpet of the NAACP. Oh, I was geeking you down. Imager wars. I was so excited. She's taking her photos. And I hear Scott and I turn around. Is Kerry Washington walking towards me like, "I am so proud of you." So proud and excited and inspired and all the things. You know you like when good things happen to good people. Yes. You're one of the real ones. You're one of the guys. Anytime you walk into a room, you come with presents, you come prepared, you come with a generous heart. Yeah. So now that we all get to come here and give that to you. It's unreal. Or that back into you. It's unreal. It's a delight. The amount of tears that have been shed on this island is unreal. Also you feed people, so. You know you gotta eat. I mean we're gonna come for the food. If you come for an afternoon, I gotta feed you. My mama said, "Hey, don't do people the wrong way." You know what I'm saying? So we've got a little functional mocktail for us today. I'm calling it the Kerry Crush. Oh, wow. Because it's kind of like a blush color almost. It's frothy, just in time for autumn. We've got pomegranate. We've got orange. We've got a little agave. And then I'm gonna top mine off with a little champagne. Cute. Because I love it. And so why not? You know what I'm saying? Yes. Halle Berry introduced me to this champagne. It's what the Cartier customer gets. Like the top 1% of the Cartier. I have not seen that champagne. Baby. Have I? That's amazing. But I found the family that does it. And I ordered a case. Oh, wow. Hello. Are you? You're like I'm the one. Yeah. Halle Berry told me to give you a call. My brand. I love that. Okay. So here we go. I'm gonna shake this up. Okay. Tell me again what's in it. So you've got pomegranate, orange juice. Beautiful. No like juice cocktails. We're talking pure juice. Sure. Like you squeezed a pomegranate? No. No. No. No. Here we are. This is so fancy. Oh, it's beautiful. Right? It's sweet. How can I help? I feel like I need to do some baby. Just sit there and receive it. Oh, dear. There you go. Yeah. And now my hand is wet. Show me to do that for you. No, but I got it. If you run it under hot water. Here we go. Oh, you got it. So a little bit of soda. Mm-hmm. Just you want to see the bubbles form. See how pretty that is? It's like a little party. Woo. I love that sound. Now it's a party. It just sounds rich. Malady. Mm. Thank you. Boom. To us. Amen. Oh, that's beautiful. Right? That's like a sexy mimosa. Ah. That's why I called the carry crush. Okay. You see? I'll take it. It's so nice. Good. I'm so glad. I'm so glad. The thing about you is that you are never not working. And even when you aren't working, I feel like you're working because you use parts of your life. If you harness this incredible inertia that's happening in your life, and you pour it back into your work. Mm-hmm. I feel like I see it in different projects. Mm-hmm. You're bringing a different part. It's like, oh, this is the part that I've experienced. This is the part I'm ready to share. This is the part-- Oh, interesting. Do you know what I mean? I do know what you mean. Because I think as I grow as a person, my instrument for expression grows. Because when you're an actor, this is your instrument. Exactly. So as I move through life, I do feel like my instrument evolves and I'm ready to play different songs. Yes, I also love you back in feature films. Mm-hmm. I love a movie. I do love you in movies. I do love a movie. I'll be honest with you, I would have never necessarily thought of you in Ben Affleck as a married couple. Me neither. When you got this call. I was kind of shocked when I got the text from him. What? Well, how did the text happen? Tap, break it down. I was-- I think I was in Santa Barbara. I was driving around. And I got a text from him. He asked me what my schedule was for the next few months. And I was like, "Why?" Right. And he said that he had this project. But he was like, "You know, if you're not even available, it's not worth me sending." I was like, "Send me the script!" "Send it to me!" And it happened to be in a window when I was going to start imperfect women. But I had three months before I was going to start. And he was like, "We'll figure it out. We'll shoot you out. We'll get you done." So you still have time to prepare for the show. You did this before? Yeah, I did this before. That's the thing about movies in TV. I've got three months before I start this limited series. Yes. Yeah, I can shoot a movie. I'll figure it out. Because it's him. I mean, I have extraordinary respect for Ben Affleck as a director. Absolutely. And I read the script and thought it was so exciting and interesting and provocative. And he was shooting an L.A. Right. I was like, "I'm in." Animals. So I screamed it. OK. We screamed it in the screening room. How did it go? I'm going to tell you. Yeah, I had us on the edge of our seat. Woo! I was so glad to not be in a theater because I was yelling at the TV. There were points that I was like, "Tell her. Tell her." I don't want to give too much a way about the movie. But I loved the fact that it was this family unit of like a major point of like intensity just without the plot point of the kidnath kid. But what was happening in their lives was already alive. Already so heightened and intense. Baby. Yeah, everybody's got some secrets. Everybody's got secrets. Everybody has secrets. Secrets make for good drama. I love them in film. I don't love them in life. I'm not a big fan in real life. Yeah. Because they're great for drama. When you're acting on an movie with a man who's also directing the movie. Yeah. Because you had some very intimate scenes. Yeah. Is it like, cut. How is that? You want to take it one more time? You want to do it one more time? How does that happen? I think it's really great. Because when the director is in the scene with you, they're really invested. They're in the energy of the scene to know whether or not it's working. So it's really fun. Do you enjoy directing while also acting? I do. It's how I started directing. Because my first directing was at Scandal. Right. Really. And so I love it. It's also the first time ever on Scandal that I brought an acting coach to set. Because I did want to make sure I always work with a coach and I always work with a coach before I get to work. Wait, really? I do. I still always work with a coach. But I wanted to have-- Be very Washington. Yes, honey. Every role is new. Every time you start a new character, you're starting from the beginning, from scratch. Yeah. So it's really important to me to work with a coach. So I have some support. Someone to challenge me. Yeah. Also, somebody to help me be extra prepared. Because I never want to be the person who's slowing things down at work. I don't want to be the reason why somebody's not going home. Oh, I'm figuring it out. Now we're going to take it. No, I did my homework. I did my homework. I did my homework. So when we're here, we're all utilizing our time in the smartest, most efficient way possible. Yeah. But on Scandal, I brought my coach to set when I was directing. Because I was like, I need an eye. I need somebody who's can help me know whether or not I got it. Because I'm so busy thinking about that person and the camera and the lights and the time. And are we breaking for lunch? Exactly. All of this of that you do have-- And not just number one on the call sheet, but also the director of the episode. Yeah. But Ben does it flawlessly. I've heard that. Yeah. He's really good. He's a great director. So I hope he doesn't watch this, though. I know, right? And he needs another thing to be good at. Yeah, no. And he doesn't know. That is true. So we've got some real life scenarios in the honor of animals coming out on Netflix. Okay. I would say ethical dilemmas. Oh, dear. We're calling it morally speaking. How would you-- Morally speaking. Morally speaking. How might you deal with this dilemma? I'm scared. You should be, because they are crazy. Who thought these up? You might say I had something to do with it. Something to do with it. You had a hand in it. No, maybe. After someone you love dies, it's already a problem. This is already a problem. After someone you love dies, you find something on their phone that would change how everyone remembers them. Do you reveal it or delete it? What do you do? Carry Washington. What do you do? It depends on who. - Who? - Right? It depends on, okay, someone I love. - Someone you love. - You have their phone, so someone close to you. - I think I delete it. - You delete it. - And then you like, and then you like delete it. - And you delete it. - They're dead. Why mess with how everybody thinks of them? - Well, we gotta live. - First I would forward it to my husband to be like, can you believe? - Can you believe? - And I'm not keeping secrets from him. - Right. - So I forward it to Namdi, and then I'm like, now we're gonna delete this. - Me? - But if I love them, nobody else needs to know. - There's a close-knit group of friends and one family member. - Yeah. - In the event I die before them. - Yes. - They get my phone. - You've assigned responsibility to wipe it. - Wipe. - Okay, but I'm gonna complicate it. If this person's child came to me and asked about something. - Why do you gotta animal this thing? - I'm just saying. So. - Carrie, we were already in a bad place. - So I would delete it, I wouldn't reveal it. But if asked, I don't know that I would lie. - Okay, so Carrie's not on my list. - No, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, I don't, yeah, I guess, I'm sorry. - Okay, a fire breaks out in your building. - Okay. - And you only have time to save either your pet or a stranger trapped inside. - Oh. - Who do you save? - The operative word here for me is stranger. - You're so rude. - You're so rude. - I'm just, I'm processing, I'm processing. 'Cause like, strangers be dying every day. (laughing) - This is stranger dying right now. I'm not to say that that is like, that's a terrible thing for that stranger. - When the LA fires happened, we had to evacuate. - Whoa. - We were close to one of the fires just for a night. We were packing up the car, and my son was like, what about Spiral? Who is our lizard? And I was like, I looked at my husband. (laughing) - No, yeah, (laughing) I told you about that damn lizard in the first place. - We packed up Spiral, we did. We packed up, and you know, lizards are cold-blooded. So, you gotta keep them warm, and I couldn't pack the heat lamp. So, Spiral sat at the foot of the passenger seat, and my mother was sweating bullets, because the heat was turned up for Spiral. But we were like, no, it's dark. We had our two pets and our two parents and our two littles. - Oh, my goodness. - We were offering you your hotel rooms that would allow lizards. There aren't many. - I can imagine so. What about Spiral? - Ah, I was thinking we were gonna go back in. - We were just about to pack up Spiral. - Let me put this down. - Leftward gecko. - This is a terrible question, because people are very, I don't, I wouldn't want anyone to die. - No. Pet or stranger. - Correct. - But if I had to pick one, I'm gonna go probably with the thing I know. - With your pet? Well, then if I ever live near you, I'm introducing myself. 'Cause I'm not trying to be a stranger in your life. - Hello? (laughing) - And also, if you are a stranger to me in our building, you wanna be. - Oh, that's interesting. 'Cause you're a friendly. - Yeah. - What if it's a child? What if it's a child to you, man? - Oh, why did you keep-- - Because I wanna know-- - Why are you at that change thing? - Because it's a wrinkle. - Does that change things? - A baby? - Yes. - Yes, that changes things. - Yes, so now-- - Still making the same decision. - Are your dogs listening? (laughing) - All right. He don't love ya. - Yeah. - Same decision or you're leaving the pets now for the baby. - 'Cause I'm gonna say, yeah, I just feel like the world is a rough place. - Yes. - And if this-- - You've made it so with these questions. - Listen, I wouldn't want to see that baby have to deal with some of the stuff we deal with in life. - And maybe it's better that the baby just-- It's pliers a terrible way to go though. - I'm a Paul. (laughing) - I'm kidding, of course I take the baby. - You're not kidding. - I would say the baby. Do I have to take the baby's the baby now, my baby? - Maybe. - That makes a real conflict. No, no, no, you can bring the baby to me. Bring the baby to me. - I'm bringing the baby to you. - That's fine. - I'll take the baby to you. - And I'll get you another dog. - Please. - Please, we will date it. - This is horrifying. - You did it. - You did it. - No, this movie. - Yes. - Because the whole time. - Yes. - Carry the whole time I'm watching this movie. I'm like, what are they gonna do? - It's a conundrum. - They're gonna stay in the house? - Who can see us? - How can they know? - And at one point the man is running. I said, if we can get out, we can get out. - See? - Okay, number three. - Okay. - Your adult child confesses they committed a serious crime and begs you not to turn them in. - Yeah, carry. - What you're doing? Hm? We're spiral in this one. (laughing) - Spiral goes to jail. (laughing) - If spiral kidments are crime, spiral's going to jail. - I don't wanna answer this question because I don't want somebody to bring the answer to this question as evidence to court one day. (laughing) Call me a liar. (laughing) - See your honor. - So I'm not answering this question. But I love my kids and I will protect my kids. I'm gonna say depends on the crime. - Oh, that's a great answer. - Depends on the crime and depends on the life. - And do you feel like your life is in danger? - Yeah. - That's what I'm saying. Like, did you bring me that answer? - Like, how serious a crime? - Yeah. - Is anybody looking for you? - Hm. - Like, was this a victim? - And might you repeat this crime? - Yeah. - Or was it a one-off? - Right. - Was it self-defense? - Was it an accident? - Hello. - I got questions. - Yeah, this is-- - This is nuanced. - Blindly? - Blindly, you love your kid. - I love my kid. - I protect them from the systems that may not be built to handle their mistakes. - Yes. - Or humanity. - Yes. - And so I'm gonna ask more questions. - Yes. - And if nobody got hurt? - The bottom line is this is a silly question 'cause I have great kids. That's just a ridiculous question for me. My kids are amazing and they're not committing crime. - Well, I can tell you, my imaginary kids might be hell on these streets. (laughing) And if you need to use this in court, then I love 'em. - Shit. (laughing) - Your doorbell camera catches the neighbor's child emptying your entire Halloween candy bowl into their bag. What do you do? - You better hope I'm not-- - In real time? - In real time. You see it happening. - I've run outside. Are you kidding? Yes. - What do you say? - What are you doing? What are you doing? (laughing) What are you doing? - I snapped back to say the last dance was over. - Yes. This is not a treat. You little trick. (laughing) It's not, it's not okay. - It's not how this is going. - This is not what neighborly behavior. - See that? And imagine that's the kids you saved at that fire. (laughing) See, speaking of Halloween though, when do you, when do you do your decorating? Do you celebrate the autumn, the harvest kind of thing around your house? - I do, I do, I'm a big like gourds and pumpkins on this front steps. And we do a gratitude tree, like a paper gratitude tree where you can write things you're grateful for, throughout the season to add to the tree. - Okay. - I love a pumpkin gourd and then it turns, it evolves into a point setta as the season progresses. - See, so I like, what is it nightmare before Christmas? - Yes. - That overlap, me too. - I love that overlap. - You've been to Disneyland when they do the, they change haunted mansion into Nightmare. It's so fun. - It's my favorite. - So you have to start with the mums, the mums and the gourds and the front step and then you evolve into a point setta. - See? - I was never too early to start with Christmas. - Yeah, no, that tree is ridiculous. It's, is there a tree here? - Yes. - Yes. - It's, it's fall. - I'm trying a new life. - Is it still up from last year? (laughing) - Y'all, my Christmas tree from Macy's just arrived. So I'm gonna answer some of your questions about holiday hosting while I put it up. And thank you to Macy's for the tree and for sponsoring this part of the episode. And for making me officially one of those people that puts decorations up way too early. - Bass is set. Okay, so first question is from Tinniki. Or maybe Tinniki, doesn't matter. What's your best advice for hosting during the holidays without spending the whole day in the kitchen? Because the host deserves to enjoy the party too. And I know that's right, Tinnachi. Listen, I just have a caterer. I'm just kidding, I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But preparation in this case is everything. Whenever you can cook or prep the night before, do it. And if your family can be trusted with a couple of the dishes, you can delegate. Now, I didn't say potluck, but hey, baby. (upbeat music) Okay, look good, good. All right, our next question is from Emily. Okay, so Thanksgiving is at my place this year and my favorite aunt and uncle have just had a bad breakup. I wanna invite them, but I also wanna keep the peace. Everybody's adults here. Talk to them well before Thanksgiving and make it clear that everybody needs to remain cordial or at minimum respectful. And I'm not above schedule and shifts. Auntie, maybe you come for hors d'oeuvres and drinks and Uncle, you come for dessert 'cause you wouldn't bring nothing good to eat anyway. And everybody gets invited and nobody has to flip a table. (upbeat music) This last one is from Derek. I'm typically an introverted person. How can I channel your scat energy? With all of these holiday events coming up, how do I put myself out there when meeting new people? This one is actually pretty cool. My cousin told me something at the start of my career that really changed the way I walk into rooms, especially when I'm nervous. And sometimes you just really have to pretend like you're the one throwing the party. How would you move through and greet people if they were all your guests? It takes some practice, but it has helped me tremendously. (upbeat music) All right, coming together quite nicely. We'll do the ornaments next time. You can get your tree and ornaments at Macy's today and start your holiday refresh with Macy's home at Macy's.com or at a Macy's near you. - I like for my lights to go up early. - Okay. - My lights go up like around Halloween. Lights go up Halloween and I keep them up till Valentine's Day. - If you, whoa, I know. But you can program the light to kind of do like a-- - I do white lights, only white lights. - See? So you're golden. - Yes. - I grew up and it was rough for a number of years. - Understood. - And so when we would like get ready for like the Christmas tree and the Christmas decorations, it was my mom, she was raising me, single mom, and then had got married and had two younger sisters, but it was still basically single mom. And so it was what she could afford. And sometimes she couldn't afford until the night before Christmas Eve for us to get the Christmas tree because that's when it was like, you could roll up and be like, "What y'all got left?" - Oh. - Do you know what I mean? - Little Charlie Brown tree. - Baby, we always had two more than one. (laughing) Do you know what I mean? - So you start early 'cause you're traumatized from starting so late. - So now, we have went up right now. 'Cause why not? - It's your house, dammit. - And I live here. - Amen. - Amen. - You're being held hostage with a stranger and given one choice. Cut off one of your own appendages or the stranger dies. - Operative word here is stranger. And I'm just gonna say like, I know all of these, I know 'em. - You wouldn't lose a pinky toe to save a human being's life. - Have you ever tried to run without a pinky toe? (laughing) - I don't wanna be kidnapped with you, ever. - You're not a stranger. - Okay. - See that? I would be like, "Kidnapper, this is not a stranger to me." - Mm. - So, new trick. - New trick. - New choice. - New challenge. - Yeah. - Yeah, I would lose a pinky toe. - Okay. - If I could choose the appendage, if they were like your whole right arm, it's more complicated. But, (laughing) - But for like, one and a half minutes. - Yeah, but like, what, like a year one year? I can still hear, but I'm just to lose an year. - It's like, we're always in so- - Van Gogh, chic, it's all good. - For a life. - For a life. - Okay, I too, I too would- - Right. - With your pinky toe. - Or even a pinky. What are you doing with this? You're not doing much with this. - Rings? Lord. (laughing) - A self-driving car must choose between protecting its passenger or swirving to avoid several pedestrians. Who should it be programmed to save? The person in the car or people outside of the car? - I mean, save the most people, right? So if there's a lot of people out on the street, you make the decision to save the most people. - Yep, that's right. - Unless I'm in the car. - And that makes me save me. - No, but I think that's right. It should be programmed to save the most people. - Yeah, all I can think of is I robot. And how close I feel like we are to it. - We are very close to it. - And every time I see the robot at the show and it's like break dancing or like working at Amazon. - That's coming in, yeah. - I'm like, oh, cool, so we're almost there. - Your best friend, not a stranger. - Okay. - Your best friend asks you to provide a false alibi. - Ooh, swearing they didn't commit the crime, but can't reveal where they really were. Do you lie for them? - Best friend? - Yeah, they're swearing they didn't commit the crime. - But can't reveal, why can't they reveal? - Why can't they tell me? Like if you want me to lie for you, is it better that I don't know? - Oh, they're trying to protect you. Do you believe them? Have they ever lied to you before? - I don't think this friend has ever lied before. - That's why they're your bestie. - They're my best friend. I'm gonna say-- - What do you do? - Fuck it, yeah, I'm gonna lie. - Oh. - Would they lie for me? 'Cause if they would lie for me, we gonna be in this lie together. - Mmm. - Can I return to a previous card and ask, what's the crime? - What's the crime? That was key for us, even with the kids. - With the kids. - What did you do? - Like if it's J-walking, we're good. - Some other stuff. - Could be more problematic. - Why, why? - I think about the role you had in imperfect women. - When I got that card, that was like a friend dies. I'm like, oh, no. (laughing) Imperfect women got me in real trouble with dead friends. - It was crazy. - Yeah, that character. I loved playing her 'cause she was so messy. - But so together. - Yeah. - But so messy. - I get to play a lot of characters like that. That on the outside, they are presenting as if everything's good. - Right. - And on the inside messy. - So, I'm messy. - It's so cute. - It's so against type. (laughing) 'Cause you knew where I was going. I was like, - No, I can't stand it. - I'm telling the same thing though. - I'm not messy at all. (laughing) - Oh, jeez. - We used to argue at the monitor at Imperfect Women because some people were like, who cares, she's dead. And other people were like, no, it's not okay. She is your girl. Like, why are you doing that? - One thing that I have noticed in your characters with the exception of Abby, maybe. - Hmm. - Is they all have a mean walk. - Oh. (laughing) - Abby was the only one she had to stay in that house. - Somebody did point out there's a little bit of a walk in the trailer down. I think it's like in the workplace. But yes, I think how a character walks, how they move through the world. - Right. - Says a lot about who they are. So I think about it a lot. I think about where a character holds their energy. Are they heart-forward? Are they brain-forward? - When they move into a state. - People in their sexuality, so it's their hips where the walk comes from. I really think about how we think about ourselves, impacts how we move our bodies. You know, you have a friend who over thinks everything. And all their conversations are like this 'cause their head is forward, right? And then you have other friends who are just in a heart break and they feel really vulnerable. And so they stand like this all the time because their heart is being protected, right? Like how we stand says a lot about where we are on the inside. - I love this. And this is why I love talking to an artist, right? No matter their focus, medium. - Focus, medium. - Yeah, they're medium. These are the things that they are thinking about. They're considering when they're bringing their art to life. The thing that I love about you is that there are so many ways in. - To the characters? - For you. - Yeah, yeah, yeah. - That's just my insecurity, I think, as an artist 'cause I wanna have a lot of different tools in my toolbox 'cause you never know what's gonna be the thing that unlocks it. - Yes. - So I like to have a lot of different approaches 'cause you need different things on different days and different characters require different skill sets. And, but when you were talking, it also made me think about you because I feel like you are elevating hosting to an art. - Oh, wow. - The way you think about hosting on a show in a home that you're thinking about it in this really artful way that's, it's very beautiful to witness. - I appreciate that. I don't think I've ever thought of that. It was a dream that became an option that is now the path. - Well, let's be honest, it didn't become an option. - Yo, no, yeah. - You created this opportunity. - No, what do you mean? - This was not supposed to be this. I'm gonna be really real with you. - Okay. - I wanted a fucking win. I was tired of being in this scenario, this overall deal, first looked deal with NBC Universal, we're spending all this time and this energy creating these concepts for shows, these materials for shows, these presentations. No, they would get bought and you get in development hell and then executives would change over, crossover. Priorities would change. It wasn't that we were so far away from like, none of this was so close, you could taste it. - Yeah. And it was like, okay, so we know we're not crazy, the ideas are great. What can we do where no one can tell us? - No. - No, I just wanted a win. One win. Yeah, but you did that because some people don't understand that the nose that you have to collect the nose on the way to the yeses and you didn't let the nose stop you. - No. - That's huge. And now thank God for the nose, 'cause it's yours. This is yours. - It could have given it away. - Yes, quite literally. And so we were creating just like one low pocket. We'll do an episode, maybe a few. I'll get some practice at my own late night show, show that I can do it. Practice if I couldn't. And then it became the path. - So fun. - I'm forever grateful for it. And I get emotional thinking about how easily it could have been when no one wants it. No one wants us. We're not good enough. - Let's pivot, let's do something. Let's change course, let's give up. - This is a universe telling me to give up. - No, you saw a different truth. A different truth. - It's good. - Girl. - It's good. - That's real good. - That's real good. - Just like this here. - I think it's time to re-up. I'm gonna ask this question now, we can discuss it at the table. - Okay. - But was there a sign for you, a signal to you that your time at Scandal was ready to be done? - Oh wow. We'll enter that at the table. (laughing) - Y'all, I got well with our and every fridge around this place. They are perfect for when I really need to lock in. It's an energy drink made with real fruit and vegetables with no added sugar, and about as much caffeine as you have in a cup of coffee. And that caffeine is sourced from tea. That's tea. - It does say that right? (laughing) - It tastes good, and it does good for the community. 20% of the profits go back into the community through health programs. So choosing this is really about generational wellness. Use the code houseguests for 15% off at wellwithall.com or on Amazon. That's tea. I'm so Ginzy. - Welcome to the backyard. - Or as Oprah would say, - Welcome to my garden. - Yeah. (laughing) - Thank you. This is so beautiful. - Thank you for coming. - This is delicious. - I love seeing the rosemary in the butter. Thank you for doing this. - Of course, of course. Do you love outside of the show really in your life? Do you love to feed people? - Yes. With food and fun. 'Cause I think that like there are multiple ways you can feed a person. I take really seriously the notion of being a bright part of someone's day, right? That like Tevin always says, like if you can't have a good day, don't you go messing up nobody else? (laughing) And I take that like, that's real. That's real talk. I feel like. And I'll accept further as if you can be a blessing to someone. Why not be? In the kitchen, we were talking about the end of scandal. Yeah. Was there a signal or a sign, a moment, something that informed you that beyond where the story would end, that it was time to say bye to this experience? He really came from Shonda. Really? I think Shonda had a sense, the great Shonda rhymes. He had a sense that we were coming to the end of the story. And she actually came to me and said, "I only have but so many more of these episodes. Do you want to do one more longer season or two shorter ones?" Really? And we talked about it. And I said, I think we agreed that the most kind of loving act would be to do two shorter ones. And a total of more episodes, we could tell more interesting story by pushing the envelope with timing again. And it would give everybody more time to get used to the idea that we were ramping down. Yeah. Because it can be very shocking to sunset a show like this. Yes. But I was ready. You were? I was ready. I mean, I miss my scandal family tremendously. We also were very much in each other's lives. Absolutely. I mean, we see each other all the time. We talk all the time. We text all the time. And so are so loving to one another. We are. So I wasn't ready to let go of them as people. And I didn't have to. Right. Thank God. Right. But I think we were ready to let go of the show. I feel like you were among the first film actresses to really blow up the idea of like working in TV should be, can be of the same caliber or even maybe just level status of film. I don't think I was groundbreaking as a film actress going over to television when you think about women. I mean, Glenn Close was doing damages of course, Kira Sedgwick had that hit show on USA. Look, there were really established film actresses who understood that they could play complicated anti-heroes in the series format. It hadn't been done by a black woman on a network show. Right. So that was exciting and groundbreaking and historic. But I had the sense that as a woman, I might be able to do something really special in the series world that I wasn't having access to in the film world. Really? Of course, then the crazy irony was that we shot the first season scandal and then I went and did Django. I'm saying. So it was this wild one to punch because I got this amazing opportunity. I've not been able to look at Leonardo DiCaprio the same. The way he grabbed you in that movie, I was ready to fight. Django, of course, comes up and I loved the fact that it was, it also brought you and Jamie back together. That's what he said to me. When he called me about this project, he was like, it's time. It's time for us to reunite. We're actually looking for like the third project in our trifecta. I'm sorry. Because it feels like we need to complete the cycle by doing one more something. I'm sorry. Wouldn't that be fun? Yes. Sitting, it was when Namdi was playing for the Eagles and I was sitting in the parking garage structure in Philadelphia outside Whole Foods and Jamie called me and was like, I really think we should do this. I think this is, I think I found it. This is the one. Yeah. I mean, at that point I had already met with Quentin, but I think I was nervous about it. I wanted to check in with him about it. There was a lot to be nervous about. It was very controversial. And I wanted to make sure that he was really doing it because I thought this is very complicated, difficult, challenging material as an actor. It's a really complicated story. I want to make sure that I'm doing it with actors that I trust and where we're going to have each other's backs. Right. Because in so many cases, also things change. Yes. And now he's, he's no longer attached. Yes. And now you're on set with somebody who you don't know or trust and you're being asked to do things that weren't originally in the script. And does that happen to you? Of course. We're like, oh, this is not, we're doing this thing now. I'm not going to say, no matter what you do, I'm not going to tell you what the movement is. I actually have tried to get myself fired from a movie because I was like, this is not what I signed up for. And I was like, I could give you, like, four other actresses. Nobody will know the difference. You did this enough. Not nobody will know the difference. This is not what I'm here for. Really. But it's only happened once or twice. And you're like, what do I have to do to get up out of here? I tried. My team was like, you have, it's a contract. It's done. You have to do it. In contracts. You get better lawyers. That's what happens. You hear me? I've read and heard. You describe your bringing to characters parts of yourself, like your truth that had been uncovered by you, but had not been shared to the world that you were able to live through some of that, through your characters, in particular Olivia Pope, because she was like, so emblematic of a time, so iconic, right? Is it difficult for you to let her go? I know that you said it was time, but I'm wondering what part of her was the hardest to lay down. The Prada Purse is. No, I read that you kept all the Prada Purse. Not all of them. I have a few. I do have a few. That's what she got better at attorney. I do have a few. I think the friendships was the hardest thing, like I can't take for granted that I'm going to see Katie Lowe's and Bellamy Young every single day in the Hair and Makeup Triller, just because we have to be together. We have to be much more intentional about carving out time to see each other. The character herself, if I think I was ready to let go of, I was ready to speak more of my truth as me and not need to hide behind something or have to utilize an avatar or a mask to express who I was. And also, when I started playing Olivia Pope, she was aspirational for me. I had to step up in order to fill her shoes. She was such a huge force. She had so much power and confidence and capacity and intelligence and power that I really had to push myself to be able to fill her role. By the time the show was ending, I felt like she and I were very different people. In those years of scandal, I had received so many gifts and become a producer and start a production company, become a director, but I'd also become a wife and a mother. I still considered her aspirational in a lot of ways, but I also was aspiring to more and different things. And so you're able to move on from that feeling done and maybe even better described as job well done. Oh, thank you. You know? I do. Like when people talk about, oh, like we need a scandal movie or like I don't say I would never do that. It would be so fun to be reunited with those folks. It would be so meaningful. I just saw it like landing your body. You were like actually. Yeah, yeah. But I don't feel like I left anything on it. Yes, I do. I feel like I left it all in the court. I played my best. I gave my all. We won the championship. Yeah. And I could move on confidently and fulfilled. And then a lot of my work started to be about motherhood and about relationships. Well, less about relationship, but more about motherhood because that was a huge part of my life that I couldn't bring to task with Olivia Poe because Shonda was like she is nobody's mother. So really. Yeah. I know what this is going to be. Yeah. I mean, I had, my character had the first on camera abortion on network television. Yes. And it was such a courageous thing for the writers to write and for us to do. Did you have any part in that being a storyline? Did you have any? No, no. I wanted Olivia Poe to be pregnant because I was pregnant and I was like I'm getting bigger and bigger and bigger. So are the bags. Yes. The bags are getting bigger. The coats are getting bigger. I'm trying not to waddle down the hallway like it would be so much easier for me if Olivia Poe was pregnant. But Shonda understood that inherent in parenting a black child is vulnerability. And Olivia Poe was a superhero. She can only be vulnerable to fits. Right. You talked about it on the show that during this time, you became a mother, you became a wife. I'm curious to know, especially given the story that you share in your memoir, how your relationship to fear changes when your children go out into the world. Your heart is outside of your body, running around. How do you navigate that? I guess it's this combination of humility and faith, meaning I need to know that I'm not in control of everything and I have to believe in my faith practices that things are going to be okay. So it's like a surrender to life on life's terms, understanding that things are going to be okay because I believe that. That doesn't mean I don't have a hand in it. That doesn't mean I don't have to show up to try to make things better. That doesn't mean I don't work to be as safe as possible to fight for justice, to do all the things. I have to have a hand in it, but once you've done all you can do, you have to stand. You know the song, you just stand. You have to have faith because also I want to let my kids live. Yeah. I don't want to be like Rapunzel's mom, keeping them in a tower. Like. Come with me, Brazier here. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. Growing up in the Bronx. - Yeah. - Is that lore or is that real? - What do you mean? - Is it not you being from the Bronx? - Oh, I was like, I know you think I made it up. - Not the Bronx in the whole world. - What? - What? (laughing) - I'm trying to question my Bronx credibility. - Right? - Oh, like the Bronx being the Bronx. - Yeah, your experience in the Bronx. - Yeah. - Is it true that you took a dance class from Jennifer Lopez? - Yeah, several. - Carrie? - I know I should be a better dancer. - So Jennifer and I went to the same boys and girls club. The Kipps Bay Boys and Girls Club. - Right. - In the sound view area of the Bronx. - Very familiar. - And we had this beloved dance teacher, Larry Maldonado, who was like everybody's mentor, big brother, father figure, amazing, amazing dancer, choreographer. And he was the first person in my life that I knew personally who was touched by HIV/AIDS. And when he got sick and went to the hospital, Jennifer was like one of the big girls. So if I was like eight, Jennifer was like 16. And so at that age, that's a big difference. - You're like an adult, and I'm like, - Yes, yeah, it's not like now where we're all hanging out at the pool, adults. Back then it felt different. And so she was a role model. She was our hero and she used to step in and substitute teach dance class. - Wow. - Yeah, when Larry got sick, Jennifer used to teach class. - I just love how small this business is, this world is, our experience, how connected we really all are if we stop long enough to pay attention to it, right? And I just think it's such a beautiful, it's such a cool thing. - It is. - You know what I mean? It also gives more fuel to the notion of like, are you from the Bronx? - Oh, do you know J-Lo? - I know. - Yeah. - Turns out. - Right, he's like, are you in anapolis? Are there anythings? - Yes. - I think. - I'm so crazy. I'm very aware that she was the only person I knew. I mean, later in life, I went to the same school that went up out to one, two. So I also had that kind of role model. But when I was a kid, Jennifer was the only person I knew who was close to making it, who was close to fame. Like, now my kids go to school with so many people's kids and the idea of doing this isn't foreign. But for a kid in the Bronx, like, how do you get there? - How? - That strange place Hollywood and how do you, how do you do it? - Is there a train? - Yes. And like, do you have to know people? How do you get people's attack, like, all of that? But I used to, I used to rush to finish my homework on Sunday night so I could watch her be a fly girl on in living color, 'cause I knew her. I knew her. - A cousin who was a fly girl with? - Really? - Yeah, it's a, it's a crazy thing to think about. Like, we were watching for my cousin. - Yes. - And I was across. - You know what I'm saying? - Watching for a Jennifer. - Yeah. - And like, it also speaks to the legacy of what the Wayne's brothers have created. - My God. - Because they, - My God. - They really have created so many opportunities for so many of us that have fired so many of us. They've, they've changed. They have changed culture in so many ways on so many levels. - And still. - A lot of times when I travel internationally, the first thing people will say, if it's not Django is Little Man. - Really? - Yes, because the Wayne's brothers, they're hunkers and they're changing overseas. - That's so funny. - If it's not Django, it's Little Man. - I wanna shift gears a little bit because I remember watching an interview with you talking about the discovery in thicker than water. And how even you came to learn about your familial history and choices your parents made in order to have a baby. - Yeah, in order to create me. - Yeah, yeah. I lost my father 11 years ago. And so I think about the things that we didn't, like the truths we didn't get to live or uncover and how you had an opportunity, had had an opportunity to not only uncover, but then live through, work through and be on the other side of that discovery for those people who aren't aware. - Yeah. - I don't wanna tell your story. How would you, how would you? - I wrote this memoir thicker than water because a few years ago, my, I guess eight years ago now about, I don't know, my parents told me that my dad is not my biological father, that I was born with the help of a sperm donor, which was shocking to me. I had no idea. And it really transformed our family. It changed the way that we talk to each other, the way that we speak truth, the way that we share ourselves fully. - Yeah, fully. And the reason I even brought it up is because I'm curious to know, I mean, you've spoken at, at some length about how you internalized that discovery, how you worked through it, the book even explores how those things affected other things in your life. But I'm curious about now, after moving through the period of like sharing the book, what were some of the first conversations back with just you and your family, like on the other end of this no longer, not just being a secret within your family, but also like out in the world. - Out in the world, what was that first family gathering, like where was like, whoo, okay, say it. (laughing) Are you ready, are you ready? Are you ready? Are we sitting over there? Okay, cool, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I mean, if you want to talk about, we can talk about it in a little fun. - You know, or did you have those kinds of experiences? - There was some adjusting in my extended family, but I think the people I'm closest to just absorbed the information and kept it moving. - Really? - Because the reality is, if my dad is not my biological father, it doesn't mean he's not my dad, like he's my dad. I mean, that's kind of where I get to in the book, it's like he's the one, he's the one that chose to do this courageous thing, to bring me into the world, he's been the one in my life to walk this path with me imperfectly as all parents do, he's my dad. So, in some ways, everything changed, and in some ways, nothing changed. We could just deepen our ability to tell the truth to one another, and to me, that's more intimacy. - Absolutely, you can kind of underestimate or undervalue the word truth because we use it for so many different things, and now authenticity is the one that we use in this life. - Curated, all those love words, yeah. You lose some of the umph, the impact of it, I think, but to be able to live in your truth and display, demonstrate love in truth, right? It's like powerful. - That's funny because I think what I was seeking for most of my life as an actor was, I was looking for emotional truth. - Right. - It's what I look for as a director, as an actor, as a producer, whether I'm-- - It's the basis of performance. - Yes, I'm looking for emotional truth because I felt unconsciously I was grappling with a lack of emotional truth in my home. And so I was seeking it out in characters, in projects, in artwork, in other relationships. And when I got that emotional truth from my parents, it was so freeing. - Yeah. - It was so empowering. - You said something about saying I love you to your father. - Yeah. - The first time after recognizing and absorbing not only the immense weight that had been lifted from you, but also in real time, helping your father process, his own, the change I'm sure in the chemistry of his body. - Yeah. - To be able to hear his baby girl, his only kid say, I love you. - I love you. - I now know everything and I don't love you less. - Less. - Every time you've heard me say I love you up until this point, it was on the condition of a lie. - Right. - And today, you get to know that I see you fully. I know who you are, who you aren't, and I love you. That is real unconditional love. Like, we don't give people the ability, the capacity, the permission to love us unconditionally if we don't let them know who we really are. - Right. - And in some ways, robbing ourselves of a truer experience. - Yes, of knowing that we're enough, that we're lovable. We're robbing ourselves of knowing that we're lovable. - But also, like, if we don't know, or truly believe, that we are. - Yeah, it's terrifying. It's so terrible. That was, I'd never seen my dad more afraid than in that moment. - Really? - That's what made me say it. I was like, oh, he's terrified right now. They think that telling me this truth is going to destroy our family. That's why they haven't told me for 40 years. But it did the opposite. And it wasn't, it's not that it wasn't hard. I mean, we were in family therapy. I mean, we dragged Nomdi into all four of us in family therapy. We were working it out. - That was like, okay. - I was like, I didn't know that I was bringing this to you, but this is who my family really is. - Right. - But a gift, you know? - Yeah. - What a gift to be able to be in truth together. - And so I know that you went in search of, you know, who this donor might have been, who this donor might be, to find some more information about who they are. Were you able to find? - Yes, I'm still learning a lot. - Wait, what? - I'm still learning a lot. So I'm figuring out how to share what I'm learning, but I've hired amazing people to track down information. And so yeah, I'm in a real discovery process right now. - Like right now. - Yeah. - Okay, what you can share. When you're prepared to, I'm just, I'm so curious about one. How are you processing the picture learning? Like in a time when I would imagine, it was not like they had a whole bunch of information. - No. - And we're like, oh. - I literally asked the person who found the golden state killer to be on my team to track down this person. Yeah. So it's been a really intense uncovering where I'm still gaining information. But it's exciting. - Is there a part of you that would be open to or desires like, if it's possible a meeting? - Um, if it were possible, yeah. Yeah. - Yeah. - One of the things that I'm really grateful for is that this is not a part of the book. Because when you read thicker than water, the hero of that book is my dad. - 100%. - And so I'm really grateful in the way that God has parsed out this information so that that will never change. - Ever. - In that piece of work. In that literary work. - The title itself is so powerful. Your relationship with your father is so powerful. - Yeah. I'm also in this really wild period of life that I feel like a lot of my friends are in, what's like casually called the sandwich generation, but where I have young children and older parents and you find yourself in a caretaking position with boom. - Yeah. - And it's really, there's this word again, but it's very humbling. Like I have a very intense understanding of time right now. Because you really see how kids are growing and parents are aging and where do I fit into that. Life just feels very fragile and valuable and meaningful and time has a different weight to it than it's ever had before for me. - I would imagine you start to recognize one growth. - Yeah. - And a sunset. - Yes. - You see people entering phases and leaving other phases. - Yeah. - Everybody's transitioning and it's just very poignant. And maybe also it's just that I'm in a place in my life where I have a little more wisdom to compare it to and so I'm able to see. - A different awareness. - Yes. I definitely feel a heightened sense of awareness of how precious time is. - That's real. - I know that you are and rightfully so fiercely protective of your family dynamic, especially your household, right? - Yes. - And in particular your relationship with this beautiful man. - He's so beautiful. - Who loves you. I mean, what? Tell you that man is beautiful. - He is. I mean, that's just facts. - That's not even facts. - No, that is literally fact. Y'all are a stunning. - Well, that's very kind. - And I want to be careful because I also want to be sensitive to the idea or the notion that people's idea of a couple can be interpreted as a pressure or as a-- - Oh, interesting. That's a placement of like an expectation or the right. - Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. - We then all carry that, right? - I think that's actually why we don't talk about our relationship a lot. It's because we don't want to navigate that pressure. So I don't even know. It feels, it is really nice to protect the things that matter most to you. - Absolutely. - You know? - I want to ask you a question and you can say moving on. - Okay. - Was there a moment when you're interacting with this man learning more about who you are in this relationship, how it might feel different where you were like, this feels like the thing I want to be doing the rest of my life. - It was very early on. - Really? - Yeah, it was very early on. It was part of why I was initially like nervous to date him because it was very early on. I was like, oh, oh, oh, oh. - This. - Yeah. - I remember seeing the two of you at Essence, right? Like women in Hollywood, I remember seeing the two of you and I know how the room moves. You also have this way that I just feel like we sway when you walk around. I don't know what it is. You hit the carpet and people are just like, oh, it's so funny. - And so when you and your booing together, it's like, whoa, it's beautiful. It really is beautiful and your family is beautiful. And thank you for sharing so much of your family's history with us. I think you've empowered so many people to go in search of or to honor their curiosity or that inner knowing of like, there's something more here. - Yeah. - I really appreciate that. - Yeah, that instinct, that like something, it's the princess and the pee, right? Like something's off to follow that. I feel like that's what my parents gave me. My parents gave me permission to trust myself more. They allowed me to put my instincts back together, to heal my relationship with my instinct, to not ignore my instinct. - And how in your body you can become. - No, kids know, kids know. - You think? - Oh, kids know, I didn't know what was up, but I knew something was up. They may not know the details. - Right. - They know when they feel safe and when they don't. - You feel safe these days? - I mean, right. - In the world? - In the world, right in your home, maybe. - In the world, yeah, in my home, I feel safe. In the world, the world is challenging. - Yes. Very challenging. - The reason I ask, 'cause I've read that you have before, like someone saying to you something as simple as, "Are you okay? Are you doing? Are you all right?" Was like this like, "Oh shit, what can they handle?" - Yeah. - How honest can I be here? - And also, like, I just was so, for so much of my life, it was much easier to be clear about how a character feels and about how I felt. - Really? - Yeah, I felt so confused and disconnected from myself a lot of the time. That's why acting was so comfortable for me, 'cause I could securely be this person in these given circumstances and I wasn't trying to navigate my broken sense of self or instinctor. Sometimes it was hard when people would be like, "How are you?" I'd be like, "I don't know." (laughing) "I don't know." But now I do feel like I know. - Right. - It's not stressful when people ask me how I am. - Yeah. - I just feel like therapy, especially within our community, it's still something, it feels like it's so new to us. Even though it is not new, it feels like publicly in a lot of spaces we're not still not talking about it quite enough. - Yeah, it's actually one of the things I loved about playing Abby because she's a therapist and having a black woman as a therapist in this film I think is really powerful and interesting. - And see her in our office. - Yes. - With a client. - Yes. - That was not black. - Yes. - What would you say to that person who's still on the fence or still unsure if it can be helpful to them? - Just do it. I mean, we do so much to take care of ourselves physically, you know, your house, your closet, your kitchen. Why would you not do the work to take care of your brain? - Right. - Also proactively. Like don't wait for something to go wrong. Like be curious about you because you could just grow. You can be more of who you want to be if you can be more aware of who you are today, you know? - I do. I really do. - I love therapy. I've been in all different kinds of therapy for years and family therapy and couples therapy and I just think it's really important. - The thing that I always say, especially to friends who are starting their therapy journey, is it like, it's like dating. - Yes. It's not like-- - It's sometimes it takes a minute to find a person. - It's not necessarily the first therapist, the first professional that you meet is not necessarily your therapist. Who's the dynamic that you like? - Yeah. - That unlocks and a vulnerability with you. You can trust. Sometimes that first one is not it. - But I think also you're gonna get out of it what you bring into it. - That's true. - Because part of it also is, if I walk into an office looking for somebody else to solve my problems every week, I'm still not dealing with the stuff I need to be accountable about. But if I'm willing to be doing the work on a constant basis and I'm just looking for somebody to bounce it off of and somebody who can offer wisdom and insight 'cause they have a little more experience than I feel like I'm less disappointed. I'm disappointed less often, you know? 'Cause it's really a great therapist is a miracle and it's so important and it's been life-changing for me. But even when I haven't been with the one, if I'm willing to bring my most courageous curiosity into the room, it's not a waste of time. - Ooh, I know this is gonna be good today. I knew it was gonna be good today. - Oh, let's see. We put the steak down on the butter, baby. - Where we put the steak down on the butter, baby. - Now mind you. - You get your steak cooked at what temperature? - Medium well. - Medium well. What we talk about? We say it 'cause black folks. - I don't want it to move at me. - No, cook the food. - Please. - A little pink is not bad, but don't believe. - Cook it. - Cook. - Hold your, hold yours up. - See mine has a little pink, it's nice. But it cooked. - Cook it. - All the way. - You ready to play a game? - Yes. - Let's do it. - Okay. - Let's do it. And then I want to talk about your podcast you were bringing. - Yes. - To the world. - Whoo. - I am excited about this. - Tell me the rules. I don't even know how to play. - Oh no, we're gonna get to the game in a second. - Okay. - But there's a little bit of fun before the game. - Oh, okay. - I was doing my research. I was looking at some good students. - I had to form a film that you were in revisiting for Color Girls. Broadway plays that you've been in you're producing background directing background, and I need you to explain this Why does the cheese crunch? I mean it's gross You were the bilingual queen yes, so I did a - Everyone knows how to pay their bills. - Yeah, right, right. - In college, I worked for this incredible company called Standard Deviants. I didn't have a lot of on-camera experience, a ton. So it was a really fun opportunity for me to make some extra cash. Working on the weekends in DC, and we made these educational videos that people still watch in school. - Through this day, I'm minding my black business on TikTok. - Ah, let me ask you this. How do you say cheese in Spanish? - Kesso. - And work. - Cheese. - Cheese. - And you say it like this. Crunch, crunch, crunch. (laughing) - It worked. - It worked. - I mean, I'll never forget egg. - Oh yeah, this is not the one where I break it up my head. - Yes! - Would this involve some sort of like improv? - Yeah, a lot of the kids who didn't were in an improv group. I wasn't in that improv group, but I did a ton of theater at GW. And I was in another group for students of color who were doing theater called Shades of the Fine Arts. - I know that's right. - I helped start that class. - Shades of the Fine Arts. - We were so fancy, weren't we? But I really needed that extra cast. - Baby. - And I learned a lot. I mean, I learned a lot about working on camera and where the cameras go in the lighting and-- - Thank you. Thank you. And for now on, Kesso. - Kesso, me and cheese. - The quirkiness of the internet. Okay, what is certainly not quirkied on the internet is your show bringing back as a podcast. - Yes. - The street you grew up on. - Yeah. - Where did the concept of this come from for you to take people back to where it all began? Like what did it unlock for you when you answered the question yourself? - I'll be honest with you, it was not my idea. - Okay. - We were in COVID and this woman who works at my company, Emily Kitchen, who does all my social media. She's the brilliant mind behind a lot of that work, not all of that work. She said, "I have this idea." It's COVID, we're all stuck at home. We have nothing to do. The name of your company is about the street that your mother grew up on. - Oh, it's mom's okay. - Yes, my mom grew up on Simpson Street in the Bronx. So why don't we interview people about the street that they grew up on? And it'll be a way for people to know Simpson Street better and know each other better and know themselves better and it'll just give us something to do. I mean, on our first season, we had Eva Longoria and Michelle Obama and-- - No biggie. - Yeah, just friends, really. That I was like, can we have you on to talk about the street you grew up on and whatever else you wanna talk about? Because I often find when you talk to somebody about the street they grew up on, there's always a connection to who they are today. Because we're either learning at that age who we wanna be or who we don't wanna be. Like, where did you grow up? What's the name of the street you grew up on? - For the longest amount of time, I would say would be so-back's drive. Like that was the-- - So-back's. - So-back's drive. Like that's where I had like some of the most consistent formative years. - Where? - In Indianapolis, Indiana. - When you think about so-backs? - Yeah. - What is the first thing that comes to mind? - I had a dog named Midnight. - Midnight. Okay, so what we already know, was that your first pet? - My first pet was a fish named Kelly. It was my mom's. - So you know that's your sexy alter ego name. Kelly, so-backs. (laughs) That's not bad. - If it was my mom's name. (laughs) - That's a little weird. - Maybe we say Midnight. - Yeah, Midnight. - Midnight is good. - Midnight is good. - Midnight is so bad. So what's that? - That's kind of-- - Hi. - Okay. - You started the show in COVID. And now you're bringing it back? - Yeah, we have-- - Okay, so-- - Several seasons. Our first season is a real grown-up official podcast. - You wouldn't say it was a real grown-up official podcast when you had Michelle Obama on it. - But we were only on YouTube. So you couldn't get us in all the places that you can get a podcast. And now we're doubling the number of guests. So we're doing 20 guests this season. I'm really excited about Ben Affleck and Jessica Alba, Demi Lovato. - Come on. - Really, really exciting. - Do you enjoy being on the other side of the interview 'cause you're so good at it. You hold such great space for the people that you're talking to. And you also invite them to go, like you ask a question, and they answer it. And you're like, "Let's go a little deeper." And then maybe that's like the director in you? - It is. It's also really, it's like reverse engineer acting. Because a lot of times when I'm acting, I'm asking myself, how did this person become who they are? Where did they grow up? What church did they go to? Who were their parents? Where did they get their belief systems? So I'm trying to come up with all of that when I'm building a character. And now this is getting to do it in real life, going backwards, like with people I love and admire saying like, where did you grow up? How did you become who you are? What are your greatest memories? - That's really cool. - But we don't often get asked this question to go back to this time. I could immediately see your whole body language change. - Yeah. - When you started talking about that house and remembering the joy and remembering your mom and you remember the smells and the sound. - At a water bed. - You did not. - That's a water bed. - How old were you? In third grade, you had a water bed? - I told my mom, was you letting no joke? We were on the second floor and I was supposed to have a water bed on the second floor. - That doesn't sound legal. - Probably not. - This message is a paid partnership with Apple Card. The summer may be coming to an end, but my travel plans are still in full effect. Whether I'm in Miami or Monte Carlo, Indianapolis or Ibiza, I never have to worry about what's in store because I've got one travel companion that always has my back. My Apple Card, it's accepted anywhere in the world. Nice or card is accepted. And I can earn up to 3% daily cash back on all of my purchases using Apple Card with Apple Pay. But that's not all. Apple Card has no fees. - You heard me. - No annual foreign transaction, late or over the limit fees, no fees ever, which means my vacation stays over the top. Apply in the wallet app on iPhone today. Subjected credit approval. Apple Card is issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA Salt Lake City branch terms and more at applecard.com. - Okay, so in the vein of that, we have a little game here. And we're calling it spin the block. - Spin the block. - Spin the block. So now, before we get started, are you satisfied with our car choices? - Let me see. (laughs) - Yeah, this one matches better. - It's true. - Yeah, it's true. - And it looks faster. - I mean, I'll go to the same speed. We'll see. (laughs) - Okay, so we've got trivia questions. We've got to answer. - Okay. - First to buzz in, first to buzz in, gets to answer. If you are correct, you roll the die. The die will tell you, it tells you how many moves you can make. Once you pass or stop on the stop sign, you pull a card. - All right, let's go. - You ready? - What's in the cards? - We'll see. - Oh, dear. - All right, first question. - As a kid, you knew it was time to go home when. (bell rings) - The lights came up. It's street light. (bell rings) - Belle. (laughs) - All right, go ahead. - One, two, three, four, five. Okay, we passed the stop sign. - Okay. - So we'll pull a card. Recite a movie or television quote you know by heart. - Is there a time limit on this? - Okay. - Okay, here we go. ♪ Hakuna Matata. ♪ ♪ What a wonderful phrase. ♪ ♪ Hakuna Matata. ♪ ♪ Ain't no pass and quote ♪ ♪ Hey! ♪ ♪ It means no worries for the rest of your days. ♪ - That's good. ♪ It's our problem for you, right? ♪ - Yes. - We're next question. - Next question. Let's do Whitney Houston math. - Oh. - If six of y'all went out, then four of you were really cheap. - Yeah, yeah. It's cheap. - It's like two of y'all had did, right? Two of y'all had did it. See how he did it? (laughs) See how he did it? See how he set me up? - Don't even try it. - And see how he set me up. - You see how he set me up? - And see, oh, and see. - And two of y'all had dinner. And this is something credit card receipt. - Whoo! It's not right. - But it's okay. - Whoo! - I'm gonna make it any way. - Do, do, do. - Okay. - All right, okay. Oh no, do your best celebrity impression. I'm so nervous, I'm feeling (laughs) I don't have a celebrity impression. Okay, my best celebrity, what? - You don't have a celebrity impression. - No, do I have one? - I don't. - You don't have? - Do you know of one I have? - I think so. - Okay. - Oprah. - Oprah. -Oh, I got help. -Nistina Turner. -Oh, is that what you wanted? [ Laughter ] -I mean, you have several. -Okay. -But I heard the Tina Turner comes from a childhood place. -Yeah, when I was a kid, what happened is I would wake up in the morning with my hair all over the place. 'Cause the bonnet would always fall off. I went to bed with the bonnet, but the bonnet would fall off. And so then the hair would be in that, like, Tina Turner, like-- -That tees. -Out, tees. So I used to come out and say, What love got to do, got to do with it. - My cousin's gonna be like, go back to bed. - Go back to bed. - Yes. - Yeah. - You also have an Oprah? - I did that on SNL. - How would you have, would you? - That's just, you know. (laughing) - He's a lot of breath. David, he's a lot of breath. Hello, everybody. We're here with Scott. It's so exciting. (laughing) Laterally is. - I love her so much. - Same. - I texted her before SNL and I was like, "I just so you know I'm going to be doing "the Russian of you." - They asked me to do it and I think it's really fun. - I hope you like it. - Wait, so did she like it? - She did. - Okay, good, okay, good. - When I hosted SNL, there were no black female cast members. - Crazy. - And they would fly Maya in to do something because there were no other black women on the show. And so when I went on, we were like, we have to make a thing of this. So my very first sketch, I played like seven different black women. I just kept running in and out the door. I was Michelle Obama. I was Oprah. I was, it was really fun. And I was grateful that they were willing to make fun of themselves. - Right. - Like this is a true show. - And you all need to do better. - Yeah. - And they? (laughing) - Not us. - Look at the girls! (laughing) - Exactly. - Yeah, I'm just looking. But I'd love to come back. - Right, exactly. - Yeah, next question. - Oh shit, wasn't, okay, here we go. - What were you most likely to find in grandma's cookie tin? (crickets chirping) - Change. - No, sewing kit. Hello, it's me. (laughing) Not the dirty record. Hello, it's me. (laughing) - Oh! - Yeah. - No way. - Three, four, five, six. On the stop. Okay, here we go. - Okay, let's see. - Tell us about a book that changed your life. My book. - No, that's right. - It's bigger than water changed my life. But another book that really changed my life is this beautiful book called The Artist's Way. Have you done it? - I've not done it. But I've heard you talk about it. Will Smith has talked about it. - Really Porter talks about it. And how transformational it was to how they approach their craft. - Yeah, it's really fun. I find it most useful to do it in a group because it's filled, it's a 12 week course in a book. And if you do it with other people, they will hold you accountable. Because anything that makes you grow, there are points in the book where you're like, this is so stupid, I wanna do this. - I don't wanna do this. - But then you do it. And on the other side, you're like, that changed me. So when you do it in a group, it forces you. There's exercises at the end of every chapter and Shoei says, do one that you really, really wanna do and do one that you really don't wanna do. - I'm gonna do it. - Yeah. - In Sister Act, Will Be Goldberg's character is placed in a convent for witness protection. Before being placed, what was her job? - She was a loud singer. (bell dings) - I don't know if that was, if you really-- - I got it, I got it! - I'm the one who just did a whole play in honor of Will Be Goldberg. But we can give you the point. - Yeah, it's true. - Because I got it! But also, not only did you do the play, but you've also worked with her in film. - Yeah. - What a colored girl. - Yeah. I just read her latest memoir, latest books. - She's written a few. - Yes. And they're all incredible. But this one, in particular, dedicated to her mother and her brother, I read it and then I listened to it twice. - Wow. - Because it was, and I recommended it to everyone, because there's something about an icon revealing more about their life, their process, not necessarily just their work, but about how they are, why they are. - I mean, this is why I do street you grew up on, because it's this window in tulet. - Yeah. - I always talk about Simpson Street, the name of my company, as being my family's once upon a time. Because it's the street that my grandparents, when they came to this country from Jamaica, they lived in the Bronx on Simpson Street, and would always hear stories about what happened on the roof at Simpson Street or on the stupid Simpson Street. And so, that's our once upon a time. So I love when people share that with you. - Yes. - Working with her on For Colored Girls was incredible, 'cause it's actually, I watched her one woman show on Broadway when I was like nine years old, and I used to recite it alone in my living room into a brush, like I had the whole show memorized. - Really? - My mother used to let me swear, walking around the house saying, "Mother fucker, because I was quoting art." - Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, I don't say it out there in the world, but you can say it when you're doing a monologue. - I dreamt of doing this show, 'cause Woopie Goldberg plays five different characters, she's extraordinary. But at some point in my career, I would talk to other actresses, like on set for For Colored Girls, and Nico Noni Rose and I were both talking to Woopie, and we both started reciting the show to her. - See what I'm saying. - And everybody started talking about how profound that show was in our journey, Tracee Ellis Ross, Robin Theddy, so many people, and I thought, oh, we should come together as a group, and honor her, 'cause there's only one Woopie. So let's each take one monologue and do it for her, in honor of her. - That's how this can be. - That's what we did at Lincoln Center this summer. - It must have been the ultimate way to honor the impact of this person in the world. - This person who so many of us say, like, I would not do what I'm doing today if it were not for your courage. - Correct. - And when she made that show, she was trying to say to the world, please see me, make room for me. - Yes. - And now we get to say, look what you've done for all of us. It's so cool. - What was her reaction to the fact that not only had you planned this, and you guys were putting it together, but that it was gonna be at the Lincoln Center. Well, I asked her to be a part of it. She was a producer on the project, 'cause I wanted her blessing, but then she refused to come to rehearsal, because she didn't wanna get in our way. - Yes, yes, yes. - She wanted to give us a way to room. - Absolutely. - But that meant opening night. (laughing) - I was so terrified. - No way. - I was so terrified. - No way. - Is she gonna like it, what you're gonna think? - Is she gonna show me, be like, this is terrible. But she actually went to every single actor, all five of us, and said how beautiful it was. She was like, the piece I did was called Surfer Girl, and she was like, Surfer Girl is yours now. - I was, I couldn't believe it. - So I'm at six, is that what that was? - No, that's my role. - I thought you were gonna forget. - Cheater, cheater. - Oh, four. - Oh, four. (laughing) - Not you looked the way to see her. (laughing) - It's just six, this time I'm already so pissed. I'm gonna be so pissed. - What is it, what is it? - Oh, it's six. - Is it six? - Does it count? - Is it six? - Yes, it counted. - Who asked you? - Who asked you? - Landed on six. - It landed on six. - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - Ha ha ha ha. (laughing) - Yeah, stop card. - Yeah, okay, here we go. What did you wanna be when you grew up? - Hmm, this? - Really my best friend, that's what you wanted to be. That was your job description, you were (laughing) - Yep. - You wanted to be a host, a journalist. - Yep, I was in the third grade and I knew that this is what I wanted to do. My sister booked me, big sister. She booked me, my first gig in the third grade, I was playing a young Reggie Miller. - What? - Versus a young Larry Bird for the player intro videos for the Indiana Pacers. It was a crew, it was one camera and an audio, with one light and I was like, I wanna move these things. - Yes. - And I'm beginning back in the car and I was like, this is what I wanna do and she was like, you need to relax. And then we went to the game where they showed it. The lights go out, the video comes on and the crowd goes crazy. I knew they weren't necessarily cheering for me, but to be a part of something, a show, a spectacle where it moved people, I was like, I wanna do this. - Okay, so I watched your interview with my sister friend, Devine, and you were talking about not wanting to hold her Oscar because you want your own. What do you want an Oscar for? - Acting. - I did not know that. - Yeah. - So not just hosting, you wanna be an actor. - Yeah, entertainer, yeah. - All around, all the things, singing? - I am not a singer, but I would say. - But I would say? - Yeah. - Being trained in different disciplines within this industry has been something I've always been passionate about and serious about. - Oh, I now understand the three times reading Whoopi. - Yeah. - Because she is a host. She hosts the Oscars and she's a journalist on the view and it's all the things. - All of the things. - An actor and a performer. - At the peak, at the pinnacle of every single one. - Yeah, that you got thing. - I'm endlessly inspired, but I absolutely third grade. What did you wanna do when you grew up? - Well, first I wanted to be a marine biologist. I wanted to be the woman in the show at SeaWorld, with the dolphins and stuff. - Yeah. - Yeah, I wanted to be like that one who's like, I feel like I'm being judged. - No, no, we don't. Listen to me. Listen to me. I can't have a Christmas tree up. You could be a marine biologist. - Yeah, I wanted to be, because I love the ocean. I love the water, I love the ocean. I love educating, I love being on stage. I was like, that's my dream job. - You're like, now I know as an adult, I've seen black fish. I know it's very cruel. What happens to these animals. At the time when I was a kid, I wanted to be the lady who was standing on Shamu's nose when he jumped up in the air, I wanted to be like, yeah, that was me. That was supposed to be me. And then I took biology, and I was like, you know what, nobody needs that will. - I'm gonna be on the stage just who needs a will. - What college do the students attend in a different world? - That is me. That was definitely me. - How many? - How many? - How many college. HBCU. - Okay, all right. - Yes. Okay. - Thank you. - All right, yes, okay. Finish the lyric, sorry I'm just testing I've been searching for someone to satisfy my every need Can you sing out loud please I've been searching for someone to satisfy my every need and as you have my discussion with someone that I need real love but you didn't finish the lyrics searching for someone to satisfy my every need if I finish your inspiration the real love I was like why can I hear the song why can I hear it I love that you're saying it oh my god are you feeling all right are you doing over there come on Bronx oh we what's one TV show you could rewatch forever other than scandal obviously I mean obviously yeah I'll be honest with you I'm really enjoying the the vampire list at like yes yes that's serious I haven't seen that I'm really I was really into Anne Rice yeah yeah yeah I could see that was an interesting time I'll never forget watching interview with the vampire and I was watching it and over and over and over because you'd be back in VHS you had so many VHS I remember my mom walking in and being like why are we watching this movie again and then she watched it one time all the way through and I never saw the tape again she was a hail now you should not have been watching this one time let alone many times and she's right but you turned out okay almost a delinquent thank you all right next questions what does it mean when the stove light is turned on at night kitchen is clean is that is that what it is at your house I was gonna say it means you're black yes that way you had some to say when you can get in there maybe we both were all for that one but that's two truths it is too true okay you're all first yeah five does that mean you won I should have rolled first I don't I tried to use it but you insisted well let's see if I can make it then it's a tie oh I like your rules I use the rule book if you ask okay let's see we made it home we both made it home and thank you for coming to my house thank you so much this has been so special truly truly truly I am so glad to have you and so glad to be able to do this and share this time with you are the bomb thank you so much the bomb such a pleasure okay I think we need to make another drink okay great what do you think I love it hello baby thank you oh I thank you macy's for sponsoring this episode honestly this has been real Christmas tree almost ready so sad when you come to somebody's house and embarrass them oh we've got to see I tried I tried he said yes about to be about to feel real bad for you feed me and then I beat you yes okay we got to see I'm glad we ate first let's say so you know spit it in my foot