00:00I have two of the stars from the new film, The Perfect Guy, which will hit theaters tomorrow,
00:07September 11th. Check a listing near you, Sanaa Lathan and Michael Ealy. How are you?
00:12Good. You're so good at that.
00:13Well, thank you. I'm trying.
00:14Good to be here.
00:14I'm working on my global domination Oprah moment.
00:17Well, Ella.
00:18Thank you. Thank you.
00:19Thank you so much for coming to Essence Live. It's your first time here.
00:21Yes.
00:22I'm very excited about the film. The trailer looks a little scary. I'm not going to lie.
00:27I don't know if it's something that I can watch. You shared the name of one of my crazy
00:30ex-boyfriends. It kind of touches me in here. I'm just saying. But we've seen many fatal
00:35attraction films from Obsessed to No Good Deed. What makes The Perfect Guy different from the
00:40others? Those other types of scary films.
00:43Well, you know, we definitely used as a model fatal attraction. We were very, you know, we
00:50kind of studied that. Obviously, it's not the same. It's a reverse kind of situation.
00:54But the thing that sets this apart, I think there's some real good character development.
00:59Obviously, really good acting. But there's a twist at the end that I think people won't
01:06see coming. And I'm really excited to get feedback on that. But it's different. It's
01:11definitely different from what you think you know about these films.
01:16Have either of you ever experienced a perfect guy or perfect girl type of situation in your
01:20real life dating lives? Not to this extent. It's a little much, right?
01:24Yeah. Yeah.
01:25Laying under the bed and everything is a little creepy. I think we have to acknowledge that this
01:28is Hollywood. This is popcorn. This is fun. This is entertainment. And so therefore, it's
01:33a little bit more heightened. Yeah. Than what we've actually experienced. Yeah.
01:36You know, I pray that no one goes through this. Yeah, exactly. No, what he puts my character
01:41through. Oh, yeah. It's no joke. It's brutal. He's lucky I'm still talking to him.
01:46Even now. Because what he put me through, oh my gosh. He was the character. Yeah. Now,
01:50was it a little scary in between takes? Like, we were looking at him and you're like, I don't
01:53know, is he Michael? Is he still Carter? I don't know. Absolutely. I mean, you know,
01:56it's always so nice to look at that face. But I have to say, I have to say there were days that,
02:04you know, especially when he was in some of the darker moments that I had to stay away from him on set. I
02:09would look into those eyes and I was like, okay, let me just walk away. It's like, end scene. Now,
02:13Sanaa, your character separates from Morris Chestnut because he wants, because you want children,
02:18excuse me, and he does not. He's not ready for a family. So when it comes to your personal love
02:22life, what sort of circumstance would be a deal breaker for you in dating? Bad hygiene.
02:28Mm-hmm. Stay with. No, yeah, yeah. I mean,
02:31you can work with that. But if it doesn't come together, then, you know, that's a problem. I mean,
02:36I definitely think. She's like, it's a problem. I think that, um. After a certain age, hygiene
02:41should just be there. I'm sorry. I can't wait on you to get it together. Exactly. I can't do that.
02:45It's so true. I mean, I just need somebody, you know, I think somebody with a lack of sense of
02:50humor is a deal. Definitely a deal breaker. I mean, I think life is too stressful. You know,
02:55everybody has their struggles and it's important to laugh. Definitely. So that's definitely
03:01top of my list. And Michael, you have to go to a pretty dark place and become extremely aggressive for
03:06this character. Now, we saw you were usually like the go-to guy, like the love interest that
03:10everybody wants. And now you go into this really dark, like, oh, God, I don't want to ever date
03:14this person type of character. Right. Right.
03:16How did you prepare for this? Well, you know, I think in The Perfect Guy, it's nice because I get
03:20to play a nice combination of both. Mm-hmm. I get to play the romantic guy that people are kind of
03:25used to seeing me as. And then it makes a nice detour. Okay. Off into a different area.
03:33And, you know, for me, it was important to do the research and actually understand
03:39what sociopathy is and what, you know, a classic narcissistic sociopath would do. And so I did as
03:46much of that as I could. And that's really where I fed this character. You know, it's just from that
03:52research. So now I have to ask, who's the better kisser, Morris or Michael? And no pressure because
03:56he's sitting right here. Oh, my God. Like, he's not here. He's not here. I don't remember.
04:01I think you do. I think you do. Oh, oh, oh. I think you do.
04:08You know, a lady never kisses and tells. I like it. You told me.
04:13He's like, you said it without really saying it, which is actually a good set.
04:17Yeah. I mean, you know, I understand. Morris isn't here to defend himself.
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