00:00I saw Essence here and I was like, I gotta talk to Essence, because we, you know, this is us.
00:07The Bob for me. The Bob.
00:11Hey, Essence family, it's Gia Peppers here at the 2022 SAG Awards. We are so excited because the
00:17carpet is about to open and we're about to connect with some of our faves who are nominees and have
00:21just been absolutely killing it this year. Now, the fact that Aretha is being celebrated tonight
00:26twice. Kind of awesome. Very awesome. I feel like she had something to do with that. You know what I
00:33mean? I don't think any of that stuff happens by accident. You know, I feel like Aretha's like, I'm
00:38gonna get my time. So either way, Aretha wins. Thank you. Either way. Either way. Yes.
00:45I really like representing, you know, just the colorful hues and how we can put our skin and
00:52everything and just how celebratory we are as a culture and we represent that in our fabric
00:58oftentimes. And you know, I knew 99% of the people would be here in all black and I'm the only brother
01:04in the world with this song right now. Well, look, I grew up, you know, just a fan of Venus and Serena,
01:09not a tennis fan, just like, Oh, whenever they were playing, we knew. And so to have that level
01:14of responsibility to come into a project, knowing that you can honor that family and that legacy in that
01:20way is like, you very rarely get to do that. And so I was like, look, sign me up. I'm willing to go
01:27there, do everything possible, work with the screenwriter, work with everybody, the family
01:31to get it as right as we could make it. I constantly get people commenting on the morning
01:36show, commenting on an episode or something that just happened. And you just, there's no way to plan
01:41that out. I know that you are retiring after 28 years of working and being a part of this incredible
01:45organization. Any person, young woman that wants to take up space in Hollywood, what would you tell
01:50her about taking up her space in these major rooms? You know, don't be afraid. They're only men.
01:58You know, I think women have to just take the room when they get in the room. I think the first day on
02:03set, when he came out with that accent and the hunt, short shorts and the hunch, you know, Trevor
02:10and I had spent a lot of time looking at tape of Richard Williams. And we were, we saw him, we were,
02:17we just said to ourselves, wow, this is amazing. And you know, it was telling the one day that
02:22actually Venus came to set. She was watching him and she went over and they talked and she came back
02:30and said, I forgot that was Will and not my dad, you know, so. What did that feel like to work with
02:35them? And was there any piece of advice that they gave you about playing them that really stuck with
02:38you for your real life? Honestly, they're the funniest woman I've ever met. And we, Demi and I,
02:45Serena and Venus, when we're all together, it's kind of like looking in the mirror. And yeah, I mean,
02:49they're our big sisters now. Honestly, they just told us to be ourselves. That's the most important to
02:53make sure we love on our family because those are the people that are your biggest cheerleaders. The way
02:57has been paved for us, but we still have a lot more paving to do. And so it feels like a blessing,
03:04and it also feels like a calling because we also both also need to pave the way for the people who
03:09are coming after us, right? The thing that I've learned as a black storyteller is that you got
03:16work to do, brother. It's not just for you. It's for all of us. Wow. Yeah. I mean, it's Sunday,
03:20so it makes sense that we have sermons and Pastor Deshawn just went off.
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