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00:00You know a winner when you see it and this show wins on so many levels for me and for
00:20the fans and I think most important the celebration of black family, the celebration of community
00:28and the celebration of really a depiction of who we are and the cast has done such a brilliant
00:35job at that.
00:36They're getting ready for their season two, but before they start taping their season two,
00:43they are of course here at the Essence Festival, so let me read it here.
00:47Let's give it up a round of applause to the ultra cool patriarch Bill Williams played by
00:52the one and only Dwayne!
00:55Let's talk about the patriarch Lillian Williams played by Saekon, single, come on out Saekon!
01:02The very confident and independent Kim Williams played by Laura Karaoke and last but not certainly
01:09least the earnest young man who's stolen all of our hearts as 12-year-old Dee Williams played
01:15by EJ Williams!
01:22Let's give it up for this entire cast.
01:26What they've done for prime time television, the representation of black family in a beautifully
01:34written and told story deserves a loud round of applause.
01:41Welcome, welcome!
01:45I gotta start off here.
01:46Let's see.
01:47Dulé, since you're the patriarch of the family, not that that means you lead, but we're gonna
01:51go for the tradition.
01:52I'm probably the oldest though.
01:53We'll do age before a cute and beauty.
01:57I mean, listen, I had you guys on.
02:00We knew it was gonna be a hit.
02:02You've been in TV for almost all of your adult life on some of the biggest shows out there.
02:08Why was this one so good, especially being a reimagined version of a classic?
02:14For myself, being a part of the show was important because our stories matter.
02:18And when you take a show like The Wonder Years, which is so iconic with a certain time of year
02:23in this nation, when you go back and look at the show, we don't exist in that world.
02:28And when I knew that Saladin was taking a bat at this and being able to tell a story from
02:32our point of view and our experience, I knew that it could be something that was powerful.
02:36I think it was important to show the family unit and that we've always been here.
02:40We are here now.
02:41We'll be here an hour tomorrow.
02:42And then there's so many similar things of what was going on back then that are going on now.
02:45Yeah.
02:46So when I had a chance to join the cast, I said, come on, let's do it.
02:49Yeah.
02:50I'm so glad that I did.
02:51Oh, my God.
02:52We are glad you did, too.
02:53Saycon, we know, listen, already a legendary career.
02:57The range of things that you've done, it's so beautiful.
03:02But what does this show mean, especially the response from the fans?
03:05I think that's what's so special.
03:07This has been so meaningful for me after spending many, many years.
03:11A lot of people know me from Broadway and being in that world.
03:15To have an opportunity to finally come to television and play a mom to be a part of this amazing, strong, beautiful family.
03:26I think I'm kind of speechless quite often.
03:29Well, when we talked on the show, you talked about just the emotional impact to play this mom, an independent mom, a career mom, a black mom who is there in this beautiful light of representing so many of us.
03:44I mean, I got emotional when I first saw the episode and the woman that you are portraying and knowing who you are behind the scenes.
03:51Oh, thank you.
03:52And the episode you all just watched was the lads and ladies.
03:56Lads and ladies.
03:57Lads and ladies, honey.
03:58Trying our best to put our children in the best position ever to be able to expand and to be able to go forward and do the best that we can.
04:07And then still sometimes being put down or not allowed to excel by our own.
04:12You know, I think it's important to see the good and the bad side.
04:17Yeah.
04:18And that episode tackled colorism and some of those things that are talked about within our homes but are not often talked about out loud.
04:25And to do it on a network show.
04:27Very powerful.
04:28Very powerful.
04:29Very powerful.
04:30Laura, the last time you were in school, you were getting ready to graduate or going some...
04:35I graduated like a year before.
04:38A graduate.
04:39So here you have, you're graduating and then you end up on this hit show.
04:44The fashion, the music, the script, the storyline.
04:48Did you feel like, I work for Disney, I'm the real Cinderella now.
04:51Yeah, it was like a pinch me moment.
04:53Or the real Tiana.
04:55What was it like when you first read the script?
04:58Instantly.
04:59It was my first pilot season of auditioning.
05:01So the second I read that script, I was like, I have to be a part of this.
05:05Yeah.
05:06Like, it's such a beautiful story.
05:07And to be able to start my career doing such an incredible thing, it's amazing.
05:12And to know that it's a reimagine, it's a different version of the Wonder Years.
05:16Which again, when people first said reimagine version with an all black family,
05:21especially knowing how that original version was such an imprint.
05:24For you, this is the original version.
05:27Yeah.
05:28Because you're so young.
05:29Yeah.
05:30So that's amazing to also just, it's a completely new perspective.
05:34Yeah.
05:35And being able to be a beautiful dark skinned family for people to see.
05:38Yes.
05:39A blessing.
05:40Yeah.
05:41I know some of us.
05:42No, that's powerful.
05:43Some of us grew up watching the show when it was on before.
05:46And so, yeah, for you, I love that you all, this is your experience of the show.
05:51Yeah.
05:52And I love, Laura, that you brought up a beautiful dark skinned family.
05:55I mean, because black representation of course matters, but also the layers of our melanin
06:01and our complexions matter.
06:03And here's this family.
06:04There's no racial ambiguity.
06:06This is a black family.
06:08Yeah.
06:09I think that was something that was important to Saladin when he was telling, crafting the
06:13story, because he grew up in Alabama and this is a story that's based off of his life.
06:17It was very important for him, for this family on screen, to reflect the lives that he saw
06:22growing up.
06:23And so I'm so glad that he really took the bat and swung that bat and held onto that bat to
06:27make sure that it happened.
06:28EJ.
06:29Salute Saladin Patterson.
06:30Absolutely.
06:31So EJ, I mean, this is you.
06:34This is your life, man.
06:35Pretty much.
06:36Pretty much.
06:37Um, you come from a family of other artists, your siblings, your dad playing ball.
06:46Um, so you kind of are a star family, but then here you have this breakout role.
06:52You're a kid.
06:53Were you prepared for this?
06:55Um, on a scale of one to 10, I would probably say about a seven.
06:59You know, there are a lot of things.
07:00That's a strong C.
07:03And how do I know that?
07:04Cause I got a lot of C's.
07:05I mean, I'm told though you were prepared because your dad had always instilled in you that this, this moment was coming.
07:13Right.
07:14That this important show needed someone like you.
07:17Right.
07:18Um, you know, something that me, while my dad started, I'm not going to take the credit, it passed down to us that I love to tell people is that a delay is not a denial.
07:25So a lot of things that have happened in my life is not a denial.
07:26So a lot of things that have happened in my life as well as my dad's.
07:29For those of you who don't know, my dad played professional for 15 years, played with the Harlem Globetrotters, bounced around.
07:33But a lot of his life, coming from rough beginnings to now, a lot of stuff was delayed in his life that he once thought was a deny.
07:39Was him being denied once he got older, delays not a denial.
07:42So for me, coming into the business, him just, you know, giving words of encouragement, not only me, but my younger brother, my older sister, to dare to dream.
07:51He dared us to dream to the highest limits that we can dream to.
07:54And I actually, no pun intended, cause his hands are pretty high right now.
07:58Yeah.
07:59Um, you know, so, um, yeah, I mean, now that he's here, I'm just not going to take it for granted.
08:04Yeah.
08:05Yeah.
08:06You know, we talk a lot about, you know, black girl managers or black excellence, but lately and thankfully, there's a lot of conversation, and Dulé understands this, about black boy joy.
08:16Yeah.
08:17And you've become the picture of black boy joy.
08:20Pretty much.
08:21I mean, season two is around the corner.
08:27Do you want the show to tackle more of the things that were relevant at the time?
08:33What is this?
08:34The sixties that are still relevant now to where we are.
08:37I mean, I would love to, but I think another thing is the audience that watches it will be able to look at it and analyze it their self that a lot of things that happened that were similar to that.
08:47Yeah.
08:48So for example, uh, even from the first episode, you know, from, uh, Don saying that there was even something back then that was kind of a whole bunch of people worldwide.
08:56Obviously, even if you, if you grew up in that time, you don't have to watch it and know, Hey, that was happening.
09:01We have COVID.
09:02Yeah.
09:03So there's always something that's, you know, reflecting off of now, which I think a lot of the viewers will be able to see and understand without having to be said.
09:11Okay.
09:12Quick round here.
09:13Favorite episode or favorite moments.
09:14I know y'all love the fashion.
09:15Cause I actually asked Laura and say, God, I was like, did you take some of the fashions from?
09:19There's a jumpsuit that I want.
09:21I'm telling Sessie, I'm like, Sessie, you know, you need to go on and get me that jumpsuit.
09:26How fun was it to dress in the vintage clothes and bring back some of our best soul train moments?
09:31Oh, so much fun.
09:33Like it was dress up every single day at work.
09:35It was.
09:36Every time she walk out, we're like, she's just giving us supermodel with the Afro.
09:40The whole thing.
09:41Yeah.
09:42And Mr. Cool cat daddy now.
09:43Oh, I know.
09:44Dulé, the music.
09:45I mean, just the layers again, cause you, you've done so many things in Hollywood and in the industry to see the layers that are touched with this show.
09:55Um, and every cornerstone of it being authentic to the experience of so many, cause we're not a monolith, but in reality it captures the experience of so many African American families then and now.
10:08Yeah, I mean, I'm, I'm just very, I'm thankful to be able to tell this story now.
10:13You know, a lot like even my character, Bill Williams, the fact that he's a musician, that he's not actually achieved his full, the fullness of his dream as being a musician, but as it, but he's willing to make choices to be there for his family while still trying to express himself.
10:27I can resonate with that.
10:28I know so many jazz cats growing up who are brilliant, who are talented, who are phenomenal, but never fully got a chance to see this shine.
10:36And for myself, I, that's who I, that's who I, whose story I am telling.
10:40So you knew people and know people like Bill?
10:42Oh, like Bill Williams.
10:43Definitely.
10:44And I'm a tap dancer and I started as a tap dancer.
10:46And you are, you know, so growing up.
10:48We have a stage.
10:49You see what I'm saying?
10:50I'm not but a thing.
10:51Okay, okay.
10:56Yeah.
10:57I'm not but a thing.
11:00I'm a tap dancer.
11:01You know what I'm saying?
11:02You know when somebody is a tap dancer, he didn't say, let me warm up, let me stretch.
11:07LeBron would have had to stretch.
11:09Dulé is like hit it on carpet.
11:12Bam.
11:13But it's, it's their story where I feel like I'm telling.
11:16The people who are passionate about their gifts, passionate about their journey, but also passionate about their family as well.
11:21And how do you, how do you, you know, manage that, I guess, marry the two of those things together.
11:25But I always bring it back to Saladin.
11:28This world is the brilliance of his mind.
11:30It's something that's been inside of him to see that he is watered.
11:32And I'm so thankful that we've had a chance to see it grow.
11:35Yeah, second, with the Broadway background that you have of being celebrated in this world of Broadway, to having fans of TV, which is a different audience in so many ways, right?
11:44To have fans of television celebrate the work of this cast and the work that you're doing.
11:51How does that feel?
11:52Especially in contrast to what sometimes Broadway is seen as a world far away, but this is in our homes.
11:58Our TVs are in our homes, on our phones, in our cars.
12:01Well, this is the most important, I think, because it is not just on our TVs, but it's on our phones.
12:08It's wherever we want to look.
12:09We're, this, in this modern era, we have a chance to see a family sitting down, having dinner together, having conversations together.
12:17The things that we may need to remind ourselves to do in our modern families.
12:22You know, I love that we're able to use social media, some of us are filming right now.
12:26We can interact with each other, but we can also have this sort of, the old school, vintage way of connecting, which is what you get to see on the Wonder Years.
12:35I'm so proud to be a part of it, and it feels absolutely relevant and absolutely wonderful.
12:42Oh, on that note, on that beautiful note, I am just happy to be part of a company that has brought such an important and beautiful, this show is shot so beautifully.
12:51When I first, I was like, are y'all all this gorgeous?
12:53Is that lighting?
12:54And then you see the person, and you're just as beautiful.
12:56But it's important, and I'm so happy that my son, Moses, who's three, lives in a world where he can turn on a television.
13:02And yes, we do break the rules, he's 3D Watchers TV, but that we can sit down and see a beautiful black family represented in an authentic and stunningly written way.
13:13Congratulations on all the success.
13:15Season two, make sure you support the Wonder Years.
13:19Let's give it up.
13:20Come on, Essence.
13:32Let's give it up.
13:33Let's give it up.
13:34Let's give it up.
13:38Let's give it up.
13:39Tekrar.
13:40Nice lens.
13:41Next lens or in the Пер tension?
13:43��.
13:45We love it.
13:46Let's give in back to thewen.
13:47Let's give a taraf.
13:48Let's give give a chops, if we love it.
13:53Let's give him a chance.
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