- 2 weeks ago
Ryan Michelle Bathe talks about the new season of "First Wives Club."
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00:00David and I seriously need to reconnect.
00:03You didn't have to do this gig in Los Angeles.
00:05So the only option was for me to give up my career again.
00:09You getting me this job at this firm is the best thing that's ever happened to me.
00:12It's crazy trying to be the new Ari.
00:14I do not envy you.
00:16This is assault!
00:17How many years do you think they would give me for murdering a client?
00:19Because I think I want to murder a client.
00:24Well, first I want to congratulate you on the Emmy nomination for Sylvie's Love.
00:28Such a big deal.
00:29Yes, so where were you when you got the news about the nomination?
00:35Where was?
00:35Probably in my kitchen.
00:38Where I am most of the time.
00:40Okay.
00:41I think I was in my kitchen.
00:44And I will say that the sweetest text I got was from,
00:48and the most excited text was from Nnamdi.
00:51Oh, yeah.
00:52He's the producer and he's the star of the film.
00:55And he was just like, you know, heart, smiley face, big stars, and like 17 emojis.
01:02And he's like, are these enough emojis?
01:04I was like, there's never enough emojis.
01:05So, like, just to know that the nomination is for people who really appreciate it, you know,
01:11is even more like, yay.
01:16Yeah.
01:16You know what I mean?
01:17Yeah.
01:18I remember watching the film like early Sunday afternoon,
01:21and it was just like such a sweet, like, feel-good movie.
01:24I was like in a great mood, you know, like the rest of the day.
01:27And I read it in a previous interview.
01:29I think you said you cried when you first read the script.
01:33I did.
01:33Yeah, so I'm curious for you, you know, what touched you so much about this storyline?
01:40Well, A, I've got a few reasons.
01:43But first of all, I'm a sucker for romance.
01:45Okay.
01:46I'm a sucker for romance.
01:47I just am.
01:48It's romance, like, yay, right?
01:51Yep.
01:51Two, I'm a sucker for period peace, you know?
01:55I love that.
01:56And three, it was the fact that I've never seen us like this, you know?
02:01Like, I've never seen a period peace with Black people that was so incredibly specific
02:10and simply just about love, you know?
02:13And listen, we know what was in the background.
02:15We know what was going on.
02:17We all know.
02:18But there were those moments and those times and spaces when our parents and our grandparents
02:24and our aunts and uncles just lived their best life.
02:28Like, we think that we invented that, but we did not.
02:30Like, they lived their best life, you know?
02:33And then, you know, you sit down and you hear them talk about, we was drafting, honey, honey.
02:40We got on the, remember when someone, girl, you know, my grandmothers have a phrase, you
02:46look like you melted and poured into that dress.
02:49And that's not the best.
02:51You look like you melted and poured into that dress.
02:53Like, I mean, I just, you know, in the midst of, and, you know, listen, you could go back
02:58to any time in history and do a completely different movie, but the fact that we had
03:01just never seen that and that it was just such a complete film and just so, just art,
03:06artistically and musically executed, that's why it meant so much to me.
03:12Yeah.
03:13And I loved what your character represented as well.
03:15Like, we didn't often see those Black women, you know, who took a chance, who stepped out,
03:20who were independent.
03:21What was it like for you stepping into her shoes?
03:25Well, it's funny because I, you know, I was, I grew up, actually, I'm in NYC right now.
03:30I grew up in a lot of different places, but I lived in Connecticut for many years when
03:36I was young.
03:37And, you know, I think because of that, and I was in an organization called Jack and Jill
03:42and in, out where I live in Connecticut, right outside of New York, the mother's work, you
03:50know, and a lot of the mothers that were in our chapter were those first or some of the
03:55first, you know, like they were some of the first women in finance.
03:59They were some of the first Black women in, in the publishing industry.
04:04They were some of the first Black women in producing.
04:06And, you know, at the time I had a vague awareness of, I mean, I was a kid, but as I got older
04:12and started to really, I mean, I would see their names in publications and be like, right,
04:19wait a minute.
04:19That's so, so, so, you know what I mean?
04:21And just how impactful that was for me growing up.
04:27And it was just an amazing opportunity to get to play someone who is of that lineage,
04:35you know?
04:35Because there are a lot of Black people that do a lot of amazing things that we'll never
04:39know about.
04:40Yeah.
04:40It's not just, you know, the Daniel Hill Williams or the Louis Latimer, whoever we learn about,
04:47you know, Martin Luther King.
04:48There were just, we, the only reason why we are where we are is because of the unsung
04:53heroes.
04:54Yeah.
04:54So for me, I just thought it was an opportunity to really, you know, give those unsung heroes
05:01their flowers.
05:02Yes.
05:03I love it.
05:05And then switch your gears.
05:06So first, Wise Club, back season two.
05:09What can you tell us about where we'll meet Ari this season and what she'll have going
05:14on?
05:15Well, the whole season has already dropped.
05:18So whatever I tell y'all.
05:19That's right.
05:21All I can say is go, go to BET Plus and watch this show.
05:25You have to download the app.
05:26Ari is, you know, as usual, these girls are always going through some kind of changes,
05:31right?
05:32So she's, too, going through her changes.
05:34There has been a move.
05:36She has definitely stepped into this whole new role of being, opening up a new law firm.
05:44Before we first meet Ari, she has, at season one, she has left her law firm.
05:50But it's definitely one of those ways to step into law firm kind of thing, you know, where
05:56you work your way up and she probably spent her life there.
05:59And then she decides to change gears for David.
06:02And we know that story.
06:04And so now she's sort of taken on the role of being the sort of senior member and building
06:10a law firm from the ground up and the sacrifices that that requires.
06:15And so that's where we meet her.
06:16Okay.
06:17And I love, you know, your character is kind of like the voice of reason with the other
06:22two ladies.
06:23Yeah.
06:24That's how I felt looking at it.
06:26How much are you like Ari and like, and with your girlfriends, like, are you that person,
06:31the planner and kind of talking off the ledge?
06:35I'm not the planner, but I am the talker off of the ledger.
06:38Okay.
06:40Like that is definitely, they call me and if it's like, you know, I'm that, I'm that one,
06:47but I'm definitely also the one that like, if it's not a high ledge, I will grab everybody
06:53and we'll all jump off.
06:55So I'm sort of a bit of a wild part.
06:58I think they, you know, I'm not the one that's like this.
07:01That's definitely not my role in the friend group.
07:03Okay.
07:04Like, it's like, you know, I will, like that's the situation.
07:08I'm always going to try, always going to try.
07:11Like, how can we do this thing that is illegal and also not get arrested?
07:15Because sometimes it requires what it requires.
07:20Yes.
07:23Definitely.
07:24Right.
07:26Listen.
07:27Yes.
07:28Sometimes you've got to do it.
07:29And they're like, Ryan will come up and I will, I am the planner in that way.
07:33Like, they'll be like, I'm not the one that's going to plan the vacation.
07:36I'm not the one that's going to plan.
07:38Let's all go to where this venue is.
07:40But definitely if there's a heist and we don't need to get arrested, I can plan that.
07:44I'm the criminal enterprise.
07:50Good to know.
07:53No, seriously.
07:54Like, Randy, if you ever get in trouble, just call me.
07:56Listen, I will.
07:58And thinking about, you know, Tracy Oliver is, you know, creating this series and she has such a long legacy of showing, you know, diverse Black women in our stories.
08:07I mean, what's it been like working with her?
08:09And what do you love most about this series?
08:11It looks super fun to me, you know, kind of seeing it all put together.
08:14But what's it like for you behind the scenes?
08:17Well, you know, it's so fun.
08:20Like, I think what was amazing, like, you know, chemistry is never something you can fake.
08:24You can have all the degrees in the world and all the training as an actor and all of those things.
08:28And you can make something really beautiful with, you know, your activities.
08:32But when you get chemistry, it just makes it that much more.
08:38It goes from an aria to, like, I don't know what the next level of aria would be.
08:47You know what I mean?
08:47But it's, and so for me, what was the most incredible is the fact that Jill and Michelle truly and I, we really did have that inexplicable kind of chemistry, you know, and that going to work was a joy and working with them was a joy.
09:05And, you know, the three of us truly did become a unit and a team, you know, especially season one.
09:14So that was, to me, the most, you just never know.
09:17You know, you never know.
09:18People can be, you know, God bless us everybody, but not everybody that you see on screen and that you're like, oh, she looks like she's trying to hang out with.
09:26Sometimes you're like, I would go in my trailer.
09:31I would go, we just, it's fine, it's fine, it's fine.
09:37You know, and sometimes I think women get that burden.
09:40It's like, that was like the Sex and the City curse.
09:42Like, well, you know, they're not friends in real life.
09:44Oh, did Jerry Seinfeld like they sound damn good?
09:46I don't know, do you care?
09:48No, you want to turn on, watch the show about nothing, let's keep it moving.
09:52You know what I'm saying?
09:53But they never say to men, like, did, you know, I can't think of a show that, you know, do the guys on FNL get along?
10:03Nobody cares.
10:05But they will write how many big pieces about whether Kim Stahl and Sarah Justice Parker hang out in real life.
10:12Exactly.
10:13I mean, you know, where we should get, I would like to see you get to that point where, you know, nobody care.
10:20Yeah.
10:21And when it does happen, yay.
10:23You know, like when we do get to that point, that's awesome.
10:26But that shouldn't be the crux of how professional relationships are defined for women.
10:33Yeah.
10:34No, completely.
10:36And thinking about that, so with Rachel Hilson from This Is Us playing your daughter in this series, did you work with her on set from This Is Us when you were on the show?
10:47Well, I'm like, no, I didn't.
10:49Okay.
10:50I didn't.
10:50The first time we met each other, the first time we worked with each other was on First Wife Club.
10:56Yeah.
10:56Okay.
10:57So the meta of it all is kind of like.
10:59Yeah.
11:00It's a beautiful thing, you know, kind of nice, but also it's a little creepy.
11:07Yeah.
11:07Yes.
11:07That's right.
11:10Right.
11:10Well, you also recently signed a first look deal with ViacomCBS.
11:16Congrats on that.
11:18As well.
11:18What can you tell us about this deal and like what kind of projects you might be looking
11:22to develop?
11:23Well, I really want to develop work and projects with people that have not, that we haven't seen before.
11:32You know, I'm looking at first time writers, you know, developing people, you know, really
11:38being like an incubator, you know, for people who may or may not get an opportunity.
11:45Definitely Black women, you know, definitely women of color, women, you know, women who don't
11:54always see themselves terribly represented, be that body size, shape, you know, all of that.
12:03Because I think that we miss out on so many beautiful stories when we look through a very,
12:08like one lens and every single show and every single network and every single thing is from
12:13this one specific lens.
12:14Because I think we miss out on a lot.
12:16So I would love to.
12:17So that's what I'm doing.
12:18I really want to incubate and grow a production company from the ground up that is really
12:25working with, and I'm going to use the word diverse, but a well-rounded group of people
12:33from unexpected places.
12:35Okay.
12:36Okay.
12:37And you did launch your production company in a pandemic, right?
12:40Down on Maple.
12:42I did.
12:42That's as, that's as unconventional as you can get, right?
12:46Like, oh, yay.
12:48Right, exactly.
12:49That's a huge, huge yay.
12:52Had that been in the works for a while?
12:54And how did you decide, you know, last year?
12:56It was time.
12:56Oh, wow.
12:56And so I've done a few cabarets in LA and one of the cabarets, a guy happened to come
13:04and he just happened to, a couple years later, get an opportunity to be in a position where
13:09he can offer these kinds of deals with different talent and different people.
13:14And it just kind of went from there.
13:16I mean, it's a much more complicated story.
13:18And there's, you know, I can tell you that, you know, my stylist and his wife, Melissa Massey
13:23and Mark Allen and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
13:25But suffice to say, for the purposes of conversation, yeah, I was approached and I, it's something
13:31I've always wanted to do, a space I've always wanted to occupy.
13:34And so I've said, absolutely.
13:36Okay.
13:37Honored to say yes.
13:39Yes.
13:40Well, thinking about it, I was trying to calculate all the jobs and things you have going on now.
13:47You know, and it made me think about, you know, I think everyone is excited now that
13:51we're kind of back, you know, to normal, what we call it, or new normal.
13:55But I'm already kind of finding myself being overwhelmed by things.
13:58And just like there's now so many obligations and things.
14:01So I'm curious for you, you know, what has balance looked like for you now or the new
14:06kind of normal and boundary setting, you know, as you kind of navigate being back, you know,
14:13active in Hollywood and this environment we're in now?
14:18That's a really good question.
14:20Because I feel the same way.
14:21Like, I feel overwhelmed, like, because it didn't, it didn't ramp up.
14:25It didn't go from zero to three to six to nine to 10.
14:29Like, it went from zero to 45.
14:32Overnight.
14:33Exactly.
14:33And then we decide that everything had to be today.
14:36Like, just this day?
14:38Did we, was I in on the converse?
14:40No?
14:41Okay.
14:42So, yeah, I, you know, that was, that was overwhelming, especially when you have kids.
14:47And then it's like the kid obligations are, are a lot and can be overwhelming because it's
14:52like, oh, that's, they gotta get here, they gotta get here, you know?
14:55So I just, I think that I'm going to try to find a balance going forward and say no to
15:04certain things.
15:05It's very difficult because every, I have four people, myself, two children and a husband.
15:10And even if we say no to 50%, each individual still has, and I'm responsible for definitely
15:18two of those individuals and all the things that they want to do and things I want to do.
15:23And then the, you know, he's got going on.
15:27So it's difficult, I think, when you have kids, because you can't say no for your, for
15:32them.
15:33Yeah.
15:33You know, and that's, what's hard when you're like, well, you have to pick that gets hard
15:40because it's not, I don't know that it's fair for me to ask them to pick.
15:45I mean, you know, listen, if it, if, if my son decided he wanted to play football and soccer
15:50and water polo, I might be like, you know what, bro, you don't have to, maybe you have
15:54to pick at that point, but you know, it does.
15:57And when in their mind, it's not a lot and it's not a little one, it's not a lot for him.
16:02And it's not a lot for me, but when you put all those three things together, that's
16:05when it becomes a lot.
16:06So I'm, I'm going to, it's going to be interesting to see how we make this all kind of float.
16:11Yeah.
16:12Yeah.
16:12Yeah.
16:13Maybe, maybe you can do a part two of this conversation and we see how I figured it out.
16:17It's right.
16:18How it started, how it's going.
16:21Exactly.
16:22Exactly.
16:22Let's do that.
16:23Yes.
16:25Were there any other projects or, you know, special things in the works for you right now?
16:29Um, well, I am in New York right now filming a pilot, so that's pretty cool.
16:36Um, yeah, it's really exciting.
16:39And, um, you know, it's just, it's a really, it's, it's, it's a, what an interesting time
16:44to be alive, right?
16:45Yeah.
16:46Absolutely.
16:47What an interesting time to be alive.
16:48Like we are going through as much as it's been crazy, like just to see, um, black women
16:54in the space of entertainment have been such a growth in these past, like five years.
17:01Yeah.
17:02Huge.
17:03Bananas.
17:04In just a great way, you know?
17:05Yeah.
17:06Wow.
17:07Like what a time to be alive, you know?
17:10And then of course, everything that's happening on top of it with, you know, I mean, I, I'm in
17:14a sorority and, you know, uh, it's funny, Michelle, who's in season two of First Wives
17:20Club, she's also, if we're in the, we're in the same sorority.
17:24And I was like, there was a time when you couldn't get more than one black person, black
17:30woman on a TV show.
17:32Yeah.
17:32That's like, now it's like, I'm in a TV show and it's like, I'm going to be like,
17:37like, like, you know what I mean?
17:38Like it didn't seem to be like that and even on a BET, you know, BET would have whatever
17:44show they have, but it was, you know, the one being married, you know what I'm saying?
17:49It was that thing.
17:50Exactly.
17:51And, and, and I, no shade, cause I love that show.
17:55Like I literally like, well, I will watch the last episode just to see that dress that
18:00she wore, the wedding dress.
18:01I was like, somebody, I need details.
18:08Talk about it.
18:10Wasn't it gorgeous?
18:11Yes.
18:12She changed into the like reception dress.
18:15You know, you know.
18:17Yes.
18:18It was worth the wait.
18:19It was worth, it was worth the wait.
18:22It could have been 15 minutes longer for my case, but that's okay.
18:26That's all right.
18:27I didn't like seeing Michael Ely beat fight in, fight in, I didn't like to see that fight.
18:33I would, I wanted to see that be more of a verbal thing.
18:35Cause I was like, their faces are too pretty.
18:37Like y'all know y'all pretty.
18:39Y'all know y'all pretty.
18:40Why would you hit each other?
18:41Like, why would you let yourself be hit?
18:43Like, can we do like a pretty man fight?
18:45Like, just very verbal, very like, you know, if I, if I wasn't so pretty, I, but I, I am.
18:54I'm not like, right.
18:55Anyway, so I, I have digressed, but my point is, is that, you know, it's nice to see another
19:03show with this number of black women and that it's not, you know, there's, they have so
19:11many different women to choose from and it didn't have to be like, well, this is the
19:15one show.
19:15So let's call in all 75 people and it's going to be the usual suspect and they might not
19:23even want to do it, but that's all there is to be done.
19:25Right.
19:26And so it's just a really incredible time to be alive and to have, to see the, to see
19:31the, to see the progression and the transition and how it's evolved.
19:35Yeah.
19:36That's how I feel.
19:37You know, as a consumer, I'm like, we have run the world.
19:39We have first wives club, this Harlem show is coming.
19:42Seeing groups of girlfriends together is exciting that there's not just one show, even in that
19:47space.
19:48Exactly.
19:48Yeah.
19:49I mean, that's like, there was a time when they would have been like, well, you already
19:54have that job.
19:55Yep.
19:56You've got girlfriends.
19:57You have it.
19:58Yeah.
19:58You got it.
19:59You had it.
19:59Yep.
20:00You had it.
20:01And you had the game.
20:02What more stuff do we want?
20:03Right.
20:05Something else?
20:06That was it.
20:07Yep.
20:08You know, and that was it.
20:09And now it's great that we're living through a time when, when they want to imitate great
20:17life.
20:18Because before it was like, you had one great life, so we're not going to imitate that.
20:21Because all y'all are going to watch that one show.
20:23Now it's like, oh, we want our own version of whatever.
20:27Or we want our own.
20:28So we, you know, and I mean, they're still trying to recreate plans and it's been 25 years.
20:33Exactly.
20:34Girl.
20:36That's another 30 minutes, right?
20:42Yeah.
20:43No, but thank you.
20:45Thank you so much.
20:46It was so fun chatting with you.
20:48Love everything you have going on.
20:50And thank you so much.
20:52Thank you so much.
20:54You're the best.
20:54And anytime, just, you know, you know where to find me.
20:57Okay.
20:58All right.
20:59And if I'm in trouble, I still know where to find you.
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