00:00Hello from Hollywood. I'm Brandi Victorian, Senior Entertainment Editor at Essence Magazine,
00:05and we are here at the premiere of Halle Berry's directorial debut,
00:09Brews, during AFI Fest. Check out the stars we talked to on the red carpet.
00:19This movie took me through a lot of emotions just as a viewer, so I can only imagine for you,
00:24playing the character, also directing the film. How did you decompress when you weren't on set?
00:29Well, you know, after 30 years of being in the business, I've learned how to do that. You have
00:32to leave those things there because it can be really detrimental to your real life. And I have
00:37two small children, so it's easy. Turn it off. You say, mama's going home. Mama goes home. Okay.
00:45It's not every day that, you know, actors get a chance to work with the likes of Halle Berry. What
00:49was it like being on set with her? And did she give you any advice for your career?
00:52Yes, she did. She told me that I'm the main person. I create the character. And she definitely,
01:01she was very much nice. Definitely like a mother to me.
01:05It's Halle Berry. Of course it's intimidation. I mean, I'd be lying to you if I was like,
01:09no, it's cool. You know, it's just Halle. Right.
01:10But no, no, no, 150%, it was intimidating. But she created an environment where ego wasn't at the
01:16forefront. So it was irrelevant. Right. So for us, it was all about the work. And she really
01:21made sure it was about the work, which is really something that I admire about her the most.
01:25Really, real salt to the earth, this woman. Truly an artist through and through.
01:30My lovely brother, Shamir Anderson, who's going to be in this. I couldn't be more excited. Okay. Now, as two
01:36actors, I mean, do you all go over notes together? Like, do you prepare for roles together? How does
01:40that work? Oh, no, we don't talk. We don't talk business. We don't talk business. We don't do that.
01:44We don't do that. We don't opposite side. You can keep that stuff over here. I'm gonna keep this stuff
01:48over here. Okay. No, no, no. That's a lot of love. You know, Shamir's my best friend. You know,
01:52we talk about everything, business, life, you know, that's, that's, that's the bro. Now that you have one,
01:57you know, director, credit under your belt. Are you ready for your next project? I think so. I think so.
02:03You know, you get bit by the bug, you know, when you have a chance to, especially as a black woman,
02:07to tell a story from your point of view with a strong female gaze, you kind of realize, you know,
02:13that hasn't been done nearly enough. So we have to really start telling our own stories for ourselves.
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