00:00My plan to kind of diversify the body of work seems to be, it seems that it's being accepted pretty well.
00:16You know, obviously comedy, for a lot of people, probably they're just not used to seeing me do a comedy.
00:23And, you know, I definitely had worries that certain people wouldn't find me very funny.
00:30Even though I know deep down inside, I'm hilarious.
00:34This role of Travis is so close to my real personality.
00:39I'm much more silly, especially when I'm around family.
00:43You know, I've always been a practical joker, so I really enjoy being able to kind of bring that to the screen.
00:49What it really gives me a great perspective on is comedy, the genre itself.
00:55You know, great comedians make it look easy.
00:58When I was doing Think Like a Man, Kevin Hart gave me some advice.
01:01I was like, Kevin, I'm about to do a comedy, you know, television show.
01:04I need you to, you know, I need some advice.
01:06You know, what can you tell me?
01:07And he gave me some really good advice that helped me kind of get through those long days and long hours sometimes.
01:15But in addition to that, what I gained from doing a comedy was it's so hard.
01:23It's so much more difficult than drama.
01:25And while it seems like you're having fun, comedy requires a lot of energy.
01:30So you have to be full of energy all day, you know, and that's draining.
01:37You know, I've never left set more tired, more physically, mentally, and emotionally fatigued than I have after Common Law.
01:47And I did for Colored Girl.
01:48I think Think Like a Man was a nice kind of segue into Common Law in that, you know, I was slightly funny in Think Like a Man.
01:56You know what I mean?
01:57And I think, I don't think people were as shocked.
02:00I think if Common Law had come out first, I think it would have been a bit more, you know, especially after Underworld where I didn't smile.
02:07I think it would have been an incredibly, a more jarring difference, a more jarring response to me doing comedy.
02:18But I, so far the response has been great.
02:21I think people, you know, most people I've met or people that have, you know, told me their feelings on social media seem to really, really, really, really like it.
02:31And they think it's funny.
02:32For me, Twitter is the total antithesis of who I am.
02:37You know what I mean?
02:39I'm not a very social guy.
02:43Unlike my character Travis in Common Law, who's very inclusive.
02:46I'm not.
02:47Even in high school, in junior high school, I was very private.
02:50And I think I just got it from my parents, I think.
02:54So, for that, I don't necessarily see myself going, ooh, when Twitter comes, you know, first comes out, I don't see myself being like, oh, I'm about to be, you know, I'm about to be tweeting all the time.
03:07I mean, and it sounds so silly to say tweet, you know.
03:11So, it sounds so silly to say he tweeted me.
03:14It's like, really?
03:15But, you know, in the last couple of weeks, because I've only been on a couple of weeks now, I have seen some of the value, some of the power.
03:24It lets you know that there's a support system out there.
03:28Now, obviously, when you mess up, I'm sure people go after you.
03:31So, I didn't go through an ugly duckling phase, but I went through a phase where I felt totally ashamed.
03:40Like most kids, I was insecure because I had really bad acne.
03:43When I was in high school, in junior high school, I had, I had blackheads.
03:47I didn't just have pimples.
03:48I had blackheads.
03:49It was bad.
03:50I had really bad skin.
03:51And that made you feel ugly, you know.
03:53That made you feel ugly.
03:54And, you know, I get it.
03:56It's where you are.
03:57Your hormones are going crazy when you're a kid.
03:59And that is, that's pretty much where I was as a kid.
04:03And it made me very shy.
04:05Whose autobiography would you love to do?
04:07Here's the problem.
04:08If I say it on camera, somebody else, like Kevin Hart or somebody, goes out and buys the rights to that person's story.
04:16And then they say, you really want to do the project?
04:19Well, that's going to cost you.
04:21You know what I mean?
04:22All of a sudden, I got to pay him for it.
04:24You know what I mean?
04:25Like, so I will never tell anybody.
04:27If you just see me in it, you'll just see me in it.
04:29That's the way it's going to go.
04:30What do I look for in a woman?
04:32Like, everybody doesn't know already.
04:34I love a woman that loves herself.
04:37I love a woman that is intelligent, is loyal, responsible.
04:45I love a woman who understands she can let her hair down with me, but she doesn't have to do it with everybody.
04:53You know what I mean?
04:54That she can recognize the difference.
04:56I love a woman who has her element.
05:00I think a woman that doesn't know what she wants to do with her life, I've never really found that very attractive.
05:07But a woman who knows what she wants to do and has compassion for others, that's always sexy.
05:13Hi, I'm Michael Ely from USA's Common Law.
05:17We air Friday nights at 10 p.m. 9 central.
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