00:00Luckily, we had an amazing black woman wardrobe designer
00:04who was like, say less, I got you.
00:06And she was like, can I play?
00:08Can I go there?
00:09And I'm like, do what you will.
00:11And every look, like I was like, I'd get to my trailer,
00:14I'm like, ah, this is amazing.
00:16It's even more amazing than the next.
00:17Oh no.
00:18It's a code red, code red baby.
00:20We're late, we're late, let's roll, let's roll.
00:22I'm Zoey.
00:23DJ.
00:24Let's go.
00:24Arash.
00:25Up and Adam.
00:26And this is Paul.
00:27Morning, Jay.
00:28Morning, Paul.
00:28We turned our two families into one.
00:31All right, rise and shine.
00:32Morning.
00:34Wake up, Ella, or this video goes on your Instagram in three, two.
00:38Dad, no.
00:39Touch me, lose a finger.
00:40Good morning to you, too.
00:42Ta-da.
00:43Luna, strong choice.
00:44Suggestion, take off one thing.
00:46Solid advice.
00:47Hey, hello, Brandy Victoria with Essence Magazine.
00:49How are you?
00:50Hi.
00:51How are you doing?
00:52Good, good to see you.
00:55Before getting into the plot, I had two questions
00:57that I wanted to get off my chest because early in the film, we see Zoey and Paul this flashback
01:03of when you first met, and you have this red dress and the gold chain and ponytail, and
01:08it was very much giving Connie from Two Can Play That Game.
01:10Okay.
01:11And that was like, was that on purpose?
01:12It was a little, that was a little Easter egg for, you know, if you follow the trajectory,
01:19you might, you know, and we even gave her a power pony.
01:22So yeah, that was a little nod to Connie Spaulding.
01:25Okay.
01:26Nice.
01:27I loved it.
01:28And then second, the fashion, which I see you have of your new New York collection there.
01:32I mean, such good looks coming from Zoey.
01:34I was like, is this a preview of what's to come?
01:37You know, can you talk about shaping, you know, her looks?
01:40Yeah, because like, you know, they live on the east side in LA, which I am not as familiar
01:44with, in all fairness.
01:46Luckily, we had an amazing black woman wardrobe designer who was like, say less, I got you.
01:52And she was like, can I play?
01:54Can I go there?
01:55And I'm like, do what you will.
01:57And every look, like, I was like, I'd get to my trailer, like, ah, this is amazing.
02:02It's even more amazing than the next.
02:04So then me and Larry Sims, who's my partner in the flawless hair care line, we were like,
02:08well, we got to match, you know, each new look, it needs a new hairstyle.
02:12So I don't know if you started counting.
02:13Some folks have said they got up to like 15, 17 hairstyles, but I wanted to show textured
02:18hair and that when, when Zoey ended up marrying Paul, she wasn't running away from blackness.
02:23She was just running towards love.
02:25And we wanted to make sure that was clear because she still has black children in addition
02:31to biracial children.
02:32In addition to being a stepparent, you know, to, to other kinds of children, she's still
02:37a black woman first.
02:38And we never wanted to lose sight of that.
02:40And talk about, you know, what drew you to this role.
02:42I feel like we haven't seen you, you know, play this kind of character before.
02:45So what made you say like, yes, I want to, I want to do this.
02:48Yeah.
02:48So Kenya, Kenya reached out and he was like, I got this script.
02:53I want you to read it.
02:53Just give me, you know, your honest feedback.
02:56And I was reading it.
02:57I was like, well, this is like my own family, my real immediate family.
03:00And then my extended, you know, family in Nebraska.
03:03And I was like, you never get to see families like this in movies or on TV or anywhere really,
03:09except when we get held up as like the sign of failure, you know what I mean?
03:15So to, to be a part of a blended family, that's blended in every way that you can imagine racially,
03:22culturally, level of ability wise, co-parents, multiple animals.
03:27Like we, we're doing it all.
03:30We just never see it.
03:31I was talking earlier today.
03:33I'm like the last, the only time I can remember a multi-generational
03:37household where everyone was sort of valued for their skills was Encanto.
03:43And that just came out.
03:44Yeah.
03:45Yeah.
03:45You know what I mean?
03:46Because in our families, yeah, grandma's going to be in the house.
03:50Auntie, cousins, neighborhood people, we believe you are your brother's keeper.
03:55So nobody is, you know, falling through the cracks.
03:57You just, you know, we don't call it step or, or foster kids or, you know, adopted or whatever.
04:02It's just the family and you cover each other.
04:05So, but you never get to see it celebrated.
04:08So when I read the script, I was like, can you say less?
04:10I got, I'll be there.
04:11What one scene, um, in the film, like was the most relatable to you?
04:16Probably the scene at the pool with the problematic mom
04:20or the scene with the security guard when they first, you know, move in.
04:25Those, those, those feel, uh, real and relevant.
04:29And I have, you know, lived through those many times over in my life.
04:34Now, how did you learn?
04:35Cause, and that struck me as well.
04:37Like the response from Zoe in those moments was very.
04:40Zoe.
04:41Not like me.
04:41That's true.
04:47We wanted to keep the movie on Disney plus.
04:50There was going to be a certain reaction.
04:51Otherwise we were going to end up on Hulu.
04:53So, uh, no, we, you know, the way that they, they wrote Zoe is very, take the high road,
05:01very patient, very much open to being an educator.
05:06Um, all things I am not on board with at this juncture.
05:09Um, and it's one way, it's one way to handle it.
05:12It's a, it's, it's a, it's a common way that people move through the world.
05:16And, you know, you feel like you attract more flies with honey than with vinegar.
05:19And, but with this film on Disney plus, we had to figure out a way of addressing real serious issues,
05:25but in an age appropriate way.
05:28Uh, so that, that the whole family can get it and understand that's the villain.
05:33Do you see why they're a villain?
05:35Do you get it?
05:36These are, these are some of the challenges.
05:38And perhaps if you see your behavior reflected in one of the villains,
05:42maybe this is a gentle nudge towards getting right with yourself.
05:47Yeah.
05:47And the Lord.
05:48Yes.
05:49And I wanted to ask about that because I felt the, the movie did such a great job of
05:52handling race and even with like Koresh, you know, in the conversation, um, you know,
05:56with the father and, um, I wonder how involved were you just in like shaping those scenes and
06:02make sure, you know, they were true, you know, particularly to the black experience.
06:05Yeah.
06:06So, uh, Kenya, Kenya, Kenny bears wrote this along with his writing partner, uh,
06:11Jennifer G Henry, who is a comedy dynamo.
06:15I'm obsessed with her.
06:16Um, you know, so go, yeah, they already created the script.
06:20So just kind of going through and wanting to make it more even where you see Zoe and Dom's
06:27backstory as well as, you know, Paul and, and his ex-wife, and you understand what happened
06:34in those relationships that are not stereotypical to, you know, I've been married to two athletes
06:40now, and there's a thousand other things that can go wrong.
06:42Um, just making it a little bit more realistic and a little bit more equitable.
06:46So, so Zoe's side was not given sort of short shrift.
06:50Of course she'd be with Paul.
06:52No, it's not that easy.
06:53We, we have to earn it and we have to show it.
06:55We have to, you know, I don't know if you remember back in geometry, you had the proofs
06:59and you had to show your work, you know, um, usually the way that they do interracial
07:04relationships, um, you know, in the media is it's like a given and they never show their
07:08work.
07:09Um, and I just wanted to be very clear that she was in no way, shape or form, um, abandoning
07:17who she is in her community.
07:19Um, and that the relationship formed, you know, organically, uh, and there was no pressure
07:26to assimilate, um, in any kind of way on, on, you know, Paul to Zoe or, or any of the kids.
07:34Uh, perhaps there is an encouragement to always be gracious, um, in a way that I, you know,
07:43we kind of went back and forth with, uh, the scene with Dom and, and, um, Paul, uh, you know,
07:50we, we futz with, you know what I mean? Cause I'm like, Dom's not wrong. You know, it does take
07:58a different set of a different skillset to raise black children in America, especially when you
08:03want to move them into all white communities. It is a different skillset. And Paul did not have
08:09that skillset. Um, so those conversations we needed to tweak to just make them honest and real,
08:14uh, but still in a way that it's age appropriate and, you know, every, every member of the family
08:21can, can get it. Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it. No, always. Thank you. Take care.
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