00:00I'm Emile Wolbekin, editor-at-large at Essence, and today we're shooting at Milk Studios in New York City, the April cover of Essence, which is the cast of Think Like a Man. We're shooting Taraji P. Henson, Michael Ealy, and the hilarious Kevin Hart.
00:28I am at the Essence photo shoot. We're shooting a cover for Essence for a promotion for Think Like a Man. Myself, Michael Ealy, Taraji P. Henson.
00:38I really like Lauren's character. Very strong. She reminds me of so many of my girlfriends. So independent, so strong, sometimes too strong for a man. So hopefully, you know, women will learn something from Lauren.
00:52I play a guy named Cedric. Cedric is basically a divorced man who now has a negative taste in his mouth about relationships. And because of it, you know, I'm not the best person to receive advice from when it comes to relationships. I'm anti-relationship.
01:10I wanted to work with this guy right here. Mwah.
01:13I always wanted to work with Michael Ealy, and it was a great opportunity to do that. I was in a lot of scenes with Kevin, so, you know, that was a lot of laughs.
01:22Yeah, I'm the silly guy. You know what I mean? It's my job to make sure everybody has a good time regardless. So on long days, you know, I pride myself on making those long days fun long days.
01:32From trashing people's trailers, from knocking people's food over when they turn around and they come back and it's just a mess. Everybody knew it was me. But like I said, that's what makes me fun.
01:43Kevin Hart is pretty much what you see is what you get. He is funny. A very funny guy.
01:50I'm a jokester. You know, I'm serious. So that's what I do.
01:53Cover shoots are very challenging and creative, inspiring, and difficult things to put together because you really need the perfect storm. You need the right cover subject. So in this case, we took out the three stars of this movie. Then you need to make sure the styling is right, the photography is right, the lighting is right, the energy is right.
02:15You know, it's almost like you're about to laugh. They have to be smiling. Everyone has to be in a good mood. And that's not an easy feat.
02:21Well, Taraji's been experimenting more with bolder colors on her lips, but not a lot. So since spring, this trend is really bold colors like oranges and reds and great hot pinks.
02:33I wanted to really experiment with that with her. And then the wardrobe was so colorful and so bold and the backdrop was bold. So I just wanted to really make the lips bold, keep the eyes soft. And it worked out really beautiful on her.
02:44We haven't gotten to my favorite look yet. I haven't had a chance to put on the Burberry aqua leather trench. That's what I'm dying to put on. Ooh.
02:52One thing that's very important for the Essence reader is that she loves bold, beautiful accessories.
02:59You know, with black women, it's not just about, oh, I have a beautiful outfit. It's the accessories, the sunglasses, the earrings, the statement necklaces, the bracelets, the watches, the shoes, so important with the shoes.
03:14And in this case, we actually added clutches in a couple of the shots because it's on trend for spring, but it also really worked with the outfits.
03:21For spring, it was really great to use colors like hot pinks and orangey reds and just vibrant fuchsias on Taraji because they're also really in trend this season.
03:30We were really thinking about a Rat Pack feel for this because, you know, we wanted to really show the ensemble cast of the movies.
03:40We wanted Taraji to really stand out and be in the foreground.
03:45And then we wanted the guys to be there as almost eye candy, but they're hot guys and they're funny guys.
03:51And with Kevin Hart in the mix, you've got to have fun.
03:54I definitely look the best. You know, I think I'm the best looking between Mike and Taraji and myself, so.
04:00Mike, I look so much better than you. Mike.
04:05Scale of one to ten, you're like a six. He's so unattractive.
04:08I think all the viewers are going to be happy to see me break the unattractive nature up that's on the cover for this particular issue.
04:15Kevin doesn't want to sit down because his pants are too tight, so make sure we get a nice shot of that.
04:21Him struggling to sit down.
04:26Yeah!
04:27It's a great feeling. I mean, you join a great group of people that have graced the cover.
04:30So, for me, this is my first time.
04:32And to do it with two of my cast members that are great actors and great people was a great experience.
04:38It was a lot of fun working with the cast. We had a lot of fun.
04:42We had a great cast. And, you know, with a great cast, you get great results.
04:46Hey, what's going on? This is Kevin Hart.
04:48Right now, you're watching Essence TV. Watch it!
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