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  • 2 days ago
On this segment of ESSENCE Live, we go down memory lane with actor Larenz Tate to see how well he remembers lines from his classic films, like “Love Jones” and “Menace II Society”.
Transcript
00:00Joining us now in studio is a man we've loved since the 90s, Lorenz Tate.
00:08Hey, Lorenz.
00:09What's up?
00:09I got to give you some love.
00:10Ah, yes.
00:11Lorenz Tate just gave me a hug, y'all.
00:13He just gave me a hug.
00:14Okay, okay.
00:15So we want to have some fun and see if you remember your classic films as well as we
00:19do in a little game we call Remember the Lines.
00:22Oh, man.
00:23Here's how it works.
00:23We'll play the clip, and then you have to see if you can finish the line.
00:27Got it?
00:28Okay.
00:28Okay.
00:29Okay, the first one is from 1995's Dead President.
00:34Okay.
00:35I know about pride, but you got mouths to feed.
00:40Now I laid a little cash on one.
00:42Hey, man, stay the f*** away from my family.
00:44What did you say?
00:47Okay, Lorenz, what was your next line?
00:49I have to say, I'm going to lose this game.
00:54Don't disappoint me right now.
00:55Don't embarrass us.
00:56Come on, come on.
00:56I'm going to have to pass on this one.
01:00I don't know.
01:00What's the next line?
01:01Okay.
01:01Well, let's see what it was.
01:03What?
01:04You heard me, damn it.
01:06I said, stay the f*** away from my family.
01:08Listen, I wouldn't have been able to say, I'm cuffing on this, man.
01:15I can't.
01:15It's okay.
01:16We got the bleeps.
01:16Okay.
01:17Okay.
01:17We can hit you with a bleep.
01:18This is live.
01:19Y'all would have to keep on seeing me fall down the stairs as well.
01:27Listen, that was a moment.
01:28I remember that part very well.
01:30Okay.
01:31Let's see what I can do.
01:32Okay.
01:32Next, you play Frankie Lyman in the classic, Why Do Fools Fall in Love?
01:35So let's see how well you remember the rest of this scene.
01:38Roll clip.
01:38What was your next line?
01:51Listen, y'all making this very difficult.
01:54Why y'all doing this to me?
01:55Is this too hard?
01:56Yeah, that scene, because I don't know what happens next in that scene.
02:00I don't.
02:01Okay.
02:02Let's see what the correct answer is.
02:05Wait a minute.
02:05Wait a minute.
02:06I wrote the song with Herman, and I know the high part.
02:08I can sing.
02:09I can do it.
02:10I can't.
02:10I promise.
02:11I can do it.
02:11I can't.
02:11I promise.
02:12I know the high part.
02:13I wrote this song with Herman.
02:14I know the high part.
02:14You remember that.
02:15Oh, my gosh.
02:16Now I do.
02:19Okay.
02:19So it might get a little easier.
02:21The next one gave us some trouble, though.
02:23Okay?
02:23Okay.
02:23It was hard finding a scene where you weren't cursing up a storm.
02:27Oh, it must be Menace.
02:28But, yep, it's a movie we love.
02:30Menace is a society.
02:31So let's roll the clip and see what happens.
02:33Dog, dog, dog.
02:34Yo, dog, let me get a dump of this motherfucker, man.
02:37This is bad, man.
02:38Oh, shh.
02:41What is the line?
02:44All my Menace to Society old dog fans are going to be so upset with me because they know the lines.
02:50And, you know, I need some help.
02:52I need some help.
02:53I need some help.
02:54What was that next line?
02:57We can't give him any help, can we?
02:59Oh, my God.
02:59Okay.
03:00So we just have to see, you know, what the line was.
03:02Okay.
03:02Come on.
03:02I'm selling these motherfuckers for $59.95.
03:09Yes, of course.
03:10How do you not remember?
03:11Come on.
03:12Okay.
03:13Yes.
03:13I remember.
03:14Old Dog was selling the tape.
03:15He was out there.
03:16He was selling the tape.
03:16He was trying to get that money.
03:17He was trying to get his money up.
03:19Remember when he tried to sell the cheeseburger?
03:20He was always about to get his money.
03:21He wasn't trying to sell the cheeseburger.
03:23He just wanted to give it away.
03:24He just wanted to give it away.
03:24Anybody want a cheeseburger?
03:26Okay.
03:27And the last one is a classic romance.
03:29So, listen.
03:31Love, Jones.
03:32We just celebrated the 20th anniversary.
03:33The pressure.
03:34So, let's roll the clip.
03:35Okay.
03:36Okay.
03:36And do they call you daughter to the spinning pulsar?
03:39Or maybe queen of 10,000 moons?
03:43Sister to the distant yet rising star?
03:47Is your name Yemiya?
03:49Oh, hell no.
03:50It's got to be Oshun.
03:51Yes!
03:54Of course.
03:54I got it.
03:55Okay.
03:55Let's roll the clip and see if we all right because Corey's even over there talking about it.
03:59So, come on.
04:00Let's roll it.
04:00Distant yet rising star?
04:03Is your name Yemiya?
04:08Oh, hell no.
04:09It's got to be Oshun.
04:12Mm.
04:12Mm-mm-mm.
04:13Ah, yeah.
04:14That was a moment.
04:15That's a smile that you put on your face, child.
04:16Okay.
04:17So, just for fun.
04:18Do you remember any other lines from the poem?
04:19You have to.
04:20It's such a classic.
04:21Um, some of them.
04:23You know, it's been a minute since I've done the poem.
04:25Can you just spit a little bit for us right now?
04:28Ah, say baby.
04:30Can I be your slave?
04:32I've got to admit, girl, you're the girl.
04:35And I'm digging you like a grave.
04:37Mm.
04:38Just a little bit.
04:38Just a little bit.
04:39Just got my whole life.
04:40Just got my whole life.
04:41Wait.
04:42We gotta...
04:42I gotta snap it up.
04:43We gotta snap it up.
04:44Darius Love Hall.
04:45Okay, and so why do you think Love Jones still resonates with people 20 years later?
04:49You know, it was a universal story, really, about love and romance.
04:54And I think that at the time that it had come out, you know, a lot of people weren't used
04:58to seeing black people in love and black people vulnerable.
05:02And there was a certain sort of, you know, way that they spoke and how they lived and
05:07how they, you know, how they saw life and what the prism that they looked through was
05:14a lot different than what you've probably seen with movies like Menace to Society or
05:19Dead Presidents.
05:20And so it was really nice for us to do that movie.
05:23And when you have just like a great song, it can stand the test of time.
05:27And that was so well crafted and people still love the movie.
05:33I can't believe it's been 20 years.
05:3520 years.
05:35Why do you look the same?
05:38That's the real question.
05:39I give that to my mother and father, the genetics.
05:41My mom and pop still look very young.
05:43But, you know, just trying to do my best to stay young at heart.
05:46Yeah.
05:46And that always helped.
05:47But, you know, listen, I appreciate all of the Love Jones fans and all of the support
05:53that we've had over the years, myself, Mia, and the rest of the cast and the director.
05:58We were very proud of that movie.
06:00Yeah.
06:00And we love it, too.
06:01But we do want to know, is there any behind the scenes tea or like some like moments that
06:06you can share that we don't know?
06:08I mean, we just always we just had a great time.
06:11We did the movie in Chicago, my hometown.
06:14And it was just like surreal to go back to go back to Chicago to do a movie like this.
06:21You know, it was an underworld of these poets and intellects that I wasn't even aware of
06:31until we started doing the movie.
06:32But there's no there's no tea.
06:34Everybody got along very well.
06:36We had a great time.
06:38Bill Bellamy is a close friend of mine.
06:40Isaiah Washington and Nia.
06:43Everybody.
06:44Ted Witcher, who crafted, like I said, an amazing script.
06:48And his direction was just beautiful.
06:50It actually has become a classic.
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