May 10, 2024 • 15 mins
Riele Downs sat down for a one-on-one interview with BIN's Tyrik Wynn to discuss her new Lifetime movie, Abducted off the Street: The Carlesha Gaither Story.
In the film, Downs plays Carlesha, who is kidnapped at knifepoint while walking home from a family gathering. Determined to survive and outsmart her captor, Carlesha leaves clues behind at every opportunity. Meanwhile, Carlesha's mother, Keisha, played by Kenya Moore, stops at nothing to find her daughter.
Listen to BIN's exclusive interview now.
In the film, Downs plays Carlesha, who is kidnapped at knifepoint while walking home from a family gathering. Determined to survive and outsmart her captor, Carlesha leaves clues behind at every opportunity. Meanwhile, Carlesha's mother, Keisha, played by Kenya Moore, stops at nothing to find her daughter.
Listen to BIN's exclusive interview now.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Twenty twenty four to one to thirteentwelve Reel Downs Tyreek Quinn b I in
Take one What to Do Guys,we got an amazing guest in the building
with us today we have the oneand only Reel Downs who got a movie
coming out soon. So we definitelylooking forward to this. Premier on February
(00:23):
tenth on Lifetime. Adducted off theStreet The Carlsha Gaither Story. Yes,
Hi, nice to be here,Nice to meet you. Yeah, of
course, yeah, great to haveyou in the studio. So tell me
about this, tell me a littlebit about this movie. You know,
the audience they want to know,they're looking forward to her. Yeah.
It's a true story based on ayoung woman named Carlsha Gaither, who is
(00:44):
who I play, and she essentiallygets abducted off the street one night,
and it's the true story of howshe manages to escape within seventy two hours,
and she's leaving hints along the way, kind of finding creative ways to
communicate back to people where she isand she ends up getting found, which
is really really wonderful and lucky gotyou. And you know what's crazy,
(01:04):
So it's crazy because like this thiscame at like an interesting time because I've
recently been watching a lot of thesemovies. Now, have you a lot
of the like missing on Lifetime andstuff? Is like I'll just like look
at some of them on Hulu duringlike my Ledge Breaking, right, and
the stories be crazy, they'd becrazy. What are your like? How
(01:25):
have you felt about them? Like? What draws you to them? Yeah?
I guess it's just like I mainlywatch them to kind of learn how
these people think, you know whatI'm saying, and then things to like
watch out for when you're out hereand stuff. Like me personally, I
don't really think it's even safe tobe out by yourself anymore. It's really
not. It's really not. Yeah, it's it's crazy. Definitely definitely got
to stay safe out there. Sotalking about this project, right, what
(01:47):
can you say really like attracted youto this? Mm hm? I mean
to harp on what you're saying,Like, I hadn't even thought a lot
about those type of things that Idon't watch a lot of content that like,
I'm very easily scared, So Ihave never really died into this world.
So partly the fact that it wasdifferent than what I've done, but
also just to spread word about it, because even to know how much I
learned from just reading the script andwhat she went through, I'm like,
(02:09):
oh, how many more people canbenefit from knowing how she escaped and the
risks of being outside And like,I don't know. If it can at
least have one person even stay offof the street and be safe, then
that's what I need to do.Yeah, for sure. So did you
did you actually have a chance tomeet her? Like, do you actually
know her personally? I didn't.I don't know her personally, but the
(02:31):
director and the producers worked very closelywith her to get the story correct,
so I kind of like referred tothem with her. But yeah, I
understand why not because it's still sucha sensitive, you know, story for
her in time of her life.Like I would understand why she wouldn't want
to be be present for that.But yeah, I never got that like
face to face got you? Okay? So like win it? Because earlier
(02:52):
you were talking about like how you'relike a scared person. Yeah, so
how was it, Like, didyou since you're like a scared person,
did you find it was easier toplay this role like where you could really
portray being scared? Hmmm, Iwould honestly say so, I feel like
that's a good way to put it, Like just diving into a lot of
the material and just doing any sortof thought experiments before the scene of like,
Okay, how would I actually feelif I was in a similar situation
(03:15):
That kind of like definitely brought methere a lot of the time, and
playing off of like I had wonderfulco stars, so playing off of them,
and like me and the guy whoplays the abductor, like we're actually
he's a great guy in real life, you know, and we're friends and
everything, but like in the sceneshe's he's really intense, and just kind
of leaning into those those moments andplaying off of him, it was able
to get to a pretty authentic placeI feel for me. Yeah, that's
(03:38):
that good acting, right, thatis a good actor. And it'd be
funny because yeah, because when I'dbe watching this stuff, I'd be looking
I'd be like, I bet youthat person like a really nice person.
Yes, I know, right,it'd be like the most friendliest people because
like sometimes meeting some of these peoplewhen they come and studio like wow,
you're yeah exactly, I feel likeyou kind of have to be or something
(04:00):
like. I remember on the firstday he was telling me, like,
his name is Sam, and hewas telling me, oh, yeah,
by the way, I have likemy wife told me to tell you I
have a daughter, and like,you know, I'm not that guy.
And I was like, okay,if you I feel like them, you
know, brings a level of comfortthere that you're able to like really work
and get into it with someone yourespect already, you know. Yeah,
yeah. So and so I actuallyhad a chance to see like a couple
(04:23):
of little clips from it, andso what I saw was I saw that
you were walking and there was thisperson that was like behind you, and
you were kind of like looking back, you know, just like seeing what
was going on. Right, Soobviously you can kind of sense that there's
something going on or about to godown, or potentially like this person who's
looking at you behind you wants todo something. Right. Do you have
(04:45):
any advice for girls or I meanjust anybody who may find themselves in that
situation? Mm hmm. I know. I've thought a lot about this,
and I feel like for starters,calling someone immediately and just having someone where
where you are, what exactly isgoing on? Having that witness. Even
I feel like can often scare someoneoff not go like trying your best to
(05:08):
not be walking alone at night,as difficult as it is. It's like,
you know, how do you reallyavoid these situations? But as much
as you can, maybe uber havesomeone with you, like having a person
with you, that's that's there.And like this is even remind us from
myself, you know, because I'mlike realizing how many situations I put myself
in where it's like, oh wow, maybe in a different situation, I
wouldn't have been that lucky, youknow. So just trying to make sure
(05:30):
people know where you are, tryingto not be outside alone at night,
and if you ever feel that situation, like calling someone immediately and just going
with your gut on that, don'tworry about like I often worry about offending
someone. No, you can't beworried about that in those times. You
know, you just have to keepyourself safe, Yeah, because it's all
about safety, being safe out herein the streets because people crazy, people
be crazy, people are crazy forshow. And then so because I know
(05:54):
y'all filmed this in Canada, butlike where actually did the story take place?
Like I'm in Philadelphi. Yeah,yeah, which I've never been there,
so Philly is the last place youwon't be by yourself. I guess
have you been. I've been toPhillies Okay, Yeah. I like the
cheese steaks, Yeah, those aregood. Yeah. And then and this
(06:16):
movie is really significant because obviously you'rea black woman, and this has taking
place in Black History Month. Thisone is coming out, so we in
Black History Month now, right,talk about how important that is. Yeah,
I mean I've said it's really importantthat this type of story is highlighted
all year long, but you know, people are specifically paying attention this month.
(06:38):
So I feel like getting it outthere at the time where people are
looking for content like this to supporttheir eyes are on black content, like
this is the time to put itout there and to get as much viewership
as it can. But you know, as much as we can perpetuate this
like year round and just get sortof attention on the disparity between like how
many black people, specifically black womengo missing and how little news coverage it
(06:59):
gets, the better because that's it'sbeen a big issue that I feel like
a lot of people are not payingattention to. Yeah, I got it.
And like so when speaking of newscoverage during during the film, where
they're like, because I know insome lifetime movies they'll show like the news
covering the actual story that happened.Did that take place in this movie?
Yeah it did? Yeah, wellyou know the way sorry in the movie,
(07:21):
like they showed the video and stuffon and yes. So like basically
in the movie you have people playingreporters to oh yes or yeah yeah,
yeah they did, I believe Yeah, okay, gotcha. Interesting. So
when it comes to playing these typesof roles, right, what what do
you have to do to prepare yourselfwhen it comes to because I know a
(07:45):
lot of times people say, likepeople want to be actors and actresses,
but they struggle with like memorizing lines, right, like getting getting the feeling
and like being in the moments.So what advice do you have? Yeah,
I mean just really repetition is forme just going over it as much
as I could, because I didn'twant the lines to be so important in
(08:05):
this I wanted to make sure theywere in there already so that I could
focus on like the emotion and onbeing in it. And I think when
you don't have the lines, it'seasy to get in your head and just
try and remember things. So asmuch as you can repeat things as much
as you can kind of either eitherimagine yourself in the situation or pull from
other places, like sometimes because Ihadn't been through anything like this, Like
(08:26):
I had to pull from a differentemotional place because wow, I really don't
know what this type of thing wouldbe like to be honest, you know,
so just finding whatever way you canconnect to the material and where you
can pull that emotion from going overthings reading, Like I had to read
a lot of information about her storyand everything. So yeah, as much
research as you can do. Yeah, research, Okay, So that they
(08:46):
have, Like so they had likepast news articles where y'all could like read
just to kind of get a senseof what happened. Yes, it's okay,
interesting, Okay, nice. Soyeah, they had it like they
basically had it set up for y'allwhere y'all could really just dig into the
s saying, get the feeling flthe atmosphere. Okay. Nice. So
what was it like? So,do you live in or you live here?
(09:07):
Do you live in Canada? Youlive here? I live in La
but go back and forth between Torontookay, nice. So because you're that's
where you're from, right, yes, okay nice. So what is it
like up there? Okay, Ilike it a lot. It's just you
know, city, very diverse,lots of great food, good vibes.
Yeah. I love it there.It's like it's it's bustling. It's hustling,
you know, so there's always thingsto do. My whole family's from
(09:30):
there, so whenever I go,I get to see family, which is
really nice for me. So yeah, okay, what's the food like?
Mmm, that's such a good question. I feel like like, for example,
La doesn't have a lot of likeIndian food or Jamaican food necessarily.
Toronto has a lot of really greatIndian food and Jamaican places. So I
just feel like if you want likeflavor from just around the world, that's
like the best place to go to. Really might put that on my list,
(09:54):
definitely do. Yeah, yeah,for sure. That sounds like it'd
be an exciting trip. Yeah,yeah, I like that. So talking
about we're talking about Black History Monthand this being February and stuff and this
coming out on February tenth, whatdo you do in what ways do you
celebrate the month? Like history.That's a good question. I mean,
going to as many black owned restaurantsor establishments as I can. I was
(10:20):
telling my friend over here, butthere's a thing in LA called the Black
Market. So they did at thelast Saturday of every month, and it's
all black vendors and everything. Soanywhere I can go to just support support
black people, watch black movies.I do with my sister and my mom
a lot, and just celebrate,like honestly, it's our month. Just
have a good time, you know, and just appreciate it. Soaking in
(10:41):
Yeah, I like that. Doyou have a favorite black business? Hmmm?
A favorite is hard, I guessbecause there's so many. I mean,
I recently brought from this place.This is so random, but this
was at the Black Market. Itwas called Little Africa, and it just
had these really cool like things,but just these really awesome stickers and socks
that I've just like, you know, things that could just make you feel
(11:03):
like yeah, you know, yeah, yeah that's awesome. And I always
like this, you know, Ilove this month, and I think it
really just gives us a chance.I mean, obviously, you know we
should do a year round, butI think it really gives us a chance
to just kind of reflect on thepeople who've made some really big contributions to
society and you know, our cultureand stuff like that. Is there a
(11:26):
specific person that has really stood outto you or inspired you to, you
know, do the work that youdo. Mm hmm. That's a great
question. I mean there are somany influences. I feel like my mom
was kind of the first one,you know, and she's the one who
got my sister and I into acting, and so she's been a big role
model for me. Of course,they're like the industry hard hitters like you
(11:46):
know, Viola Davis and Lapeta andNango that I always look up to and
I think are incredible. I'd loveto work with Denzel Washington. I love,
like I was talking about this inmy last interview, just any creative
who kind of is doing like hastheir hand in a lot of different pots,
like for our childish Scambino like thosetype of people. I feel like
I have done a lot for ourcommunity and just like bringing black people up
(12:07):
and uplifting us. So yeah,nice, I like that. And you
talked about your mom right, talkabout like your parents. I feel like
our parents really have a big partin our careers. Yeah, stuff like
you know, for my parents,they really really supported me, pushing me
and stuff like that. You talkedabout your mom, how your mom helped
you get into acting, and howimportant was that to you. Yeah?
(12:31):
Extremely, extremely and especially because shehad done acting herself. I feel like
she knew the ropes so she gotto bring my sister Iyanto that And I
always had that person to be likeif I had any questions about what to
do here, like I had thatguide, which I feel like is something
maybe not a lot of people getto have and on set as well as
a person who was acting as achild, specifically, having someone solid there
(12:54):
to look out for you and toyou know, to advocate for you,
I think is really important, especiallywhen you're that young, you know.
So yeah, okay, and Iactually so I did it. I'm not
sure you might know him, youknow, Isaac Ryan Brown? Yeah,
yeah, yeah, So I didan interview with him recently and he told
me that his mom, you know, they moved to la and his mom
took off for like six months.Right. Oh, she really made us
(13:16):
sacrifice? Did they? Did shemake us like those type of sacrifices for
you? Oh? Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I mean the whole like
relocation really, I mean she wantedto go to La So I think it
was like, you know, definitelya happy thing for all of us,
but sacrificed a lot of time andenergy just being a guardian on set for
me while I was a kid andlike going through being you know, doing
kids TV and everything. So Iwill always be indebted for sure. Nice.
(13:39):
Yeah, And just before we closeit out, I want to ask
you about this, right because youtalked about kids Stevie and Watch You and
Henry Danger. Yeah, yeah,what was what was that like being like?
Because I know a lot of alot of young actors dream of either
being a Nickelodeon store Disney or aDisney channel, so you actually lived that
Nickelodeon star life. What was thatlike to finally get to that point?
(14:01):
Yeah? It was so exciting.I mean it came at a time where
I was really wanting something like likethat, you know, of that kind.
So I remember before that doing moreserious roles, which I was appreciating,
but I had had that same curiositylike I was like, I'd be
fun to do like a comedy orsomething young. And I've always loved superheroes.
It was like really the perfect timing, perfect situation, and you know,
(14:24):
getting to go to the things thatI watched as a kid, like
the Kcas and like all of thosetype of events. It was a totally
new world and it was exciting andfun and a lot more. We didn't
do it in front of a livestudio audience, but we had to do
run throughs every week, so thatwas in front of all the producers and
kids would come sometimes and watch us. So it was just a lot of
energy, a lot of energy aroundall those years. Yeah, I like
(14:46):
that. It sounds like a lotof fun for sure. Yeah, it
is very fun, very fun.That's pretty cool. So well, appreciate
you so much of coming in andtalking to us about this. So we're
definitely be looking forward to it.I'll be watching. I'll make sure I'm
in front of the TV. Thanks, like time, So that movie is
coming out February to what time?Oh, I don't know the time exactly.
We'll be looking for it, probablyeight. Okay, that's good.
(15:09):
Yeah, usually it's usually time andlike prime time and stuff like that.
So we'll definitely be looking forward tothat movie. So make sure you guys
that are listening, to make surey'all check that out. Y'all reelled downs
in the studio. Appreciate you somuch for coming. And before we go,
go ahead and tell everybody besides themovie if there's anything else you got
coming up, anything else you're workingon. Yeah, a lot of things,
a lot of things that are inits infancy and that are in progress,
(15:31):
but nothing I can fully share yet, So I guess just stay tuned.
All right, We're gonna be stayingtuned in. Yeah, I'll follow
your Instagram, so yeah, I'mgonna be watched. Absolutely. Thank you
so much. Of course, weappreciate you coming in. Guys, stay
tuned in to the Black Information Networkon your home for twenty four to seven
news. I'm Tyrequin
Twenty twenty four to one to thirteentwelve Reel Downs Tyreek Quinn b I in
Take one What to Do Guys,we got an amazing guest in the building
with us today we have the oneand only Reel Downs who got a movie
coming out soon. So we definitelylooking forward to this. Premier on February
(00:23):
tenth on Lifetime. Adducted off theStreet The Carlsha Gaither Story. Yes,
Hi, nice to be here,Nice to meet you. Yeah, of
course, yeah, great to haveyou in the studio. So tell me
about this, tell me a littlebit about this movie. You know,
the audience they want to know,they're looking forward to her. Yeah.
It's a true story based on ayoung woman named Carlsha Gaither, who is
(00:44):
who I play, and she essentiallygets abducted off the street one night,
and it's the true story of howshe manages to escape within seventy two hours,
and she's leaving hints along the way, kind of finding creative ways to
communicate back to people where she isand she ends up getting found, which
is really really wonderful and lucky gotyou. And you know what's crazy,
(01:04):
So it's crazy because like this thiscame at like an interesting time because I've
recently been watching a lot of thesemovies. Now, have you a lot
of the like missing on Lifetime andstuff? Is like I'll just like look
at some of them on Hulu duringlike my Ledge Breaking, right, and
the stories be crazy, they'd becrazy. What are your like? How
(01:25):
have you felt about them? Like? What draws you to them? Yeah?
I guess it's just like I mainlywatch them to kind of learn how
these people think, you know whatI'm saying, and then things to like
watch out for when you're out hereand stuff. Like me personally, I
don't really think it's even safe tobe out by yourself anymore. It's really
not. It's really not. Yeah, it's it's crazy. Definitely definitely got
to stay safe out there. Sotalking about this project, right, what
(01:47):
can you say really like attracted youto this? Mm hm? I mean
to harp on what you're saying,Like, I hadn't even thought a lot
about those type of things that Idon't watch a lot of content that like,
I'm very easily scared, So Ihave never really died into this world.
So partly the fact that it wasdifferent than what I've done, but
also just to spread word about it, because even to know how much I
learned from just reading the script andwhat she went through, I'm like,
(02:09):
oh, how many more people canbenefit from knowing how she escaped and the
risks of being outside And like,I don't know. If it can at
least have one person even stay offof the street and be safe, then
that's what I need to do.Yeah, for sure. So did you
did you actually have a chance tomeet her? Like, do you actually
know her personally? I didn't.I don't know her personally, but the
(02:31):
director and the producers worked very closelywith her to get the story correct,
so I kind of like referred tothem with her. But yeah, I
understand why not because it's still sucha sensitive, you know, story for
her in time of her life.Like I would understand why she wouldn't want
to be be present for that.But yeah, I never got that like
face to face got you? Okay? So like win it? Because earlier
(02:52):
you were talking about like how you'relike a scared person. Yeah, so
how was it, Like, didyou since you're like a scared person,
did you find it was easier toplay this role like where you could really
portray being scared? Hmmm, Iwould honestly say so, I feel like
that's a good way to put it, Like just diving into a lot of
the material and just doing any sortof thought experiments before the scene of like,
Okay, how would I actually feelif I was in a similar situation
(03:15):
That kind of like definitely brought methere a lot of the time, and
playing off of like I had wonderfulco stars, so playing off of them,
and like me and the guy whoplays the abductor, like we're actually
he's a great guy in real life, you know, and we're friends and
everything, but like in the sceneshe's he's really intense, and just kind
of leaning into those those moments andplaying off of him, it was able
to get to a pretty authentic placeI feel for me. Yeah, that's
(03:38):
that good acting, right, thatis a good actor. And it'd be
funny because yeah, because when I'dbe watching this stuff, I'd be looking
I'd be like, I bet youthat person like a really nice person.
Yes, I know, right,it'd be like the most friendliest people because
like sometimes meeting some of these peoplewhen they come and studio like wow,
you're yeah exactly, I feel likeyou kind of have to be or something
(04:00):
like. I remember on the firstday he was telling me, like,
his name is Sam, and hewas telling me, oh, yeah,
by the way, I have likemy wife told me to tell you I
have a daughter, and like,you know, I'm not that guy.
And I was like, okay,if you I feel like them, you
know, brings a level of comfortthere that you're able to like really work
and get into it with someone yourespect already, you know. Yeah,
yeah. So and so I actuallyhad a chance to see like a couple
(04:23):
of little clips from it, andso what I saw was I saw that
you were walking and there was thisperson that was like behind you, and
you were kind of like looking back, you know, just like seeing what
was going on. Right, Soobviously you can kind of sense that there's
something going on or about to godown, or potentially like this person who's
looking at you behind you wants todo something. Right. Do you have
(04:45):
any advice for girls or I meanjust anybody who may find themselves in that
situation? Mm hmm. I know. I've thought a lot about this,
and I feel like for starters,calling someone immediately and just having someone where
where you are, what exactly isgoing on? Having that witness. Even
I feel like can often scare someoneoff not go like trying your best to
(05:08):
not be walking alone at night,as difficult as it is. It's like,
you know, how do you reallyavoid these situations? But as much
as you can, maybe uber havesomeone with you, like having a person
with you, that's that's there.And like this is even remind us from
myself, you know, because I'mlike realizing how many situations I put myself
in where it's like, oh wow, maybe in a different situation, I
wouldn't have been that lucky, youknow. So just trying to make sure
(05:30):
people know where you are, tryingto not be outside alone at night,
and if you ever feel that situation, like calling someone immediately and just going
with your gut on that, don'tworry about like I often worry about offending
someone. No, you can't beworried about that in those times. You
know, you just have to keepyourself safe, Yeah, because it's all
about safety, being safe out herein the streets because people crazy, people
be crazy, people are crazy forshow. And then so because I know
(05:54):
y'all filmed this in Canada, butlike where actually did the story take place?
Like I'm in Philadelphi. Yeah,yeah, which I've never been there,
so Philly is the last place youwon't be by yourself. I guess
have you been. I've been toPhillies Okay, Yeah. I like the
cheese steaks, Yeah, those aregood. Yeah. And then and this
(06:16):
movie is really significant because obviously you'rea black woman, and this has taking
place in Black History Month. Thisone is coming out, so we in
Black History Month now, right,talk about how important that is. Yeah,
I mean I've said it's really importantthat this type of story is highlighted
all year long, but you know, people are specifically paying attention this month.
(06:38):
So I feel like getting it outthere at the time where people are
looking for content like this to supporttheir eyes are on black content, like
this is the time to put itout there and to get as much viewership
as it can. But you know, as much as we can perpetuate this
like year round and just get sortof attention on the disparity between like how
many black people, specifically black womengo missing and how little news coverage it
(06:59):
gets, the better because that's it'sbeen a big issue that I feel like
a lot of people are not payingattention to. Yeah, I got it.
And like so when speaking of newscoverage during during the film, where
they're like, because I know insome lifetime movies they'll show like the news
covering the actual story that happened.Did that take place in this movie?
Yeah it did? Yeah, wellyou know the way sorry in the movie,
(07:21):
like they showed the video and stuffon and yes. So like basically
in the movie you have people playingreporters to oh yes or yeah yeah,
yeah they did, I believe Yeah, okay, gotcha. Interesting. So
when it comes to playing these typesof roles, right, what what do
you have to do to prepare yourselfwhen it comes to because I know a
(07:45):
lot of times people say, likepeople want to be actors and actresses,
but they struggle with like memorizing lines, right, like getting getting the feeling
and like being in the moments.So what advice do you have? Yeah,
I mean just really repetition is forme just going over it as much
as I could, because I didn'twant the lines to be so important in
(08:05):
this I wanted to make sure theywere in there already so that I could
focus on like the emotion and onbeing in it. And I think when
you don't have the lines, it'seasy to get in your head and just
try and remember things. So asmuch as you can repeat things as much
as you can kind of either eitherimagine yourself in the situation or pull from
other places, like sometimes because Ihadn't been through anything like this, Like
(08:26):
I had to pull from a differentemotional place because wow, I really don't
know what this type of thing wouldbe like to be honest, you know,
so just finding whatever way you canconnect to the material and where you
can pull that emotion from going overthings reading, Like I had to read
a lot of information about her storyand everything. So yeah, as much
research as you can do. Yeah, research, Okay, So that they
(08:46):
have, Like so they had likepast news articles where y'all could like read
just to kind of get a senseof what happened. Yes, it's okay,
interesting, Okay, nice. Soyeah, they had it like they
basically had it set up for y'allwhere y'all could really just dig into the
s saying, get the feeling flthe atmosphere. Okay. Nice. So
what was it like? So,do you live in or you live here?
(09:07):
Do you live in Canada? Youlive here? I live in La
but go back and forth between Torontookay, nice. So because you're that's
where you're from, right, yes, okay nice. So what is it
like up there? Okay, Ilike it a lot. It's just you
know, city, very diverse,lots of great food, good vibes.
Yeah. I love it there.It's like it's it's bustling. It's hustling,
you know, so there's always thingsto do. My whole family's from
(09:30):
there, so whenever I go,I get to see family, which is
really nice for me. So yeah, okay, what's the food like?
Mmm, that's such a good question. I feel like like, for example,
La doesn't have a lot of likeIndian food or Jamaican food necessarily.
Toronto has a lot of really greatIndian food and Jamaican places. So I
just feel like if you want likeflavor from just around the world, that's
like the best place to go to. Really might put that on my list,
(09:54):
definitely do. Yeah, yeah,for sure. That sounds like it'd
be an exciting trip. Yeah,yeah, I like that. So talking
about we're talking about Black History Monthand this being February and stuff and this
coming out on February tenth, whatdo you do in what ways do you
celebrate the month? Like history.That's a good question. I mean,
going to as many black owned restaurantsor establishments as I can. I was
(10:20):
telling my friend over here, butthere's a thing in LA called the Black
Market. So they did at thelast Saturday of every month, and it's
all black vendors and everything. Soanywhere I can go to just support support
black people, watch black movies.I do with my sister and my mom
a lot, and just celebrate,like honestly, it's our month. Just
have a good time, you know, and just appreciate it. Soaking in
(10:41):
Yeah, I like that. Doyou have a favorite black business? Hmmm?
A favorite is hard, I guessbecause there's so many. I mean,
I recently brought from this place.This is so random, but this
was at the Black Market. Itwas called Little Africa, and it just
had these really cool like things,but just these really awesome stickers and socks
that I've just like, you know, things that could just make you feel
(11:03):
like yeah, you know, yeah, yeah that's awesome. And I always
like this, you know, Ilove this month, and I think it
really just gives us a chance.I mean, obviously, you know we
should do a year round, butI think it really gives us a chance
to just kind of reflect on thepeople who've made some really big contributions to
society and you know, our cultureand stuff like that. Is there a
(11:26):
specific person that has really stood outto you or inspired you to, you
know, do the work that youdo. Mm hmm. That's a great
question. I mean there are somany influences. I feel like my mom
was kind of the first one,you know, and she's the one who
got my sister and I into acting, and so she's been a big role
model for me. Of course,they're like the industry hard hitters like you
(11:46):
know, Viola Davis and Lapeta andNango that I always look up to and
I think are incredible. I'd loveto work with Denzel Washington. I love,
like I was talking about this inmy last interview, just any creative
who kind of is doing like hastheir hand in a lot of different pots,
like for our childish Scambino like thosetype of people. I feel like
I have done a lot for ourcommunity and just like bringing black people up
(12:07):
and uplifting us. So yeah,nice, I like that. And you
talked about your mom right, talkabout like your parents. I feel like
our parents really have a big partin our careers. Yeah, stuff like
you know, for my parents,they really really supported me, pushing me
and stuff like that. You talkedabout your mom, how your mom helped
you get into acting, and howimportant was that to you. Yeah?
(12:31):
Extremely, extremely and especially because shehad done acting herself. I feel like
she knew the ropes so she gotto bring my sister Iyanto that And I
always had that person to be likeif I had any questions about what to
do here, like I had thatguide, which I feel like is something
maybe not a lot of people getto have and on set as well as
a person who was acting as achild, specifically, having someone solid there
(12:54):
to look out for you and toyou know, to advocate for you,
I think is really important, especiallywhen you're that young, you know.
So yeah, okay, and Iactually so I did it. I'm not
sure you might know him, youknow, Isaac Ryan Brown? Yeah,
yeah, yeah, So I didan interview with him recently and he told
me that his mom, you know, they moved to la and his mom
took off for like six months.Right. Oh, she really made us
(13:16):
sacrifice? Did they? Did shemake us like those type of sacrifices for
you? Oh? Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I mean the whole like
relocation really, I mean she wantedto go to La So I think it
was like, you know, definitelya happy thing for all of us,
but sacrificed a lot of time andenergy just being a guardian on set for
me while I was a kid andlike going through being you know, doing
kids TV and everything. So Iwill always be indebted for sure. Nice.
(13:39):
Yeah, And just before we closeit out, I want to ask
you about this, right because youtalked about kids Stevie and Watch You and
Henry Danger. Yeah, yeah,what was what was that like being like?
Because I know a lot of alot of young actors dream of either
being a Nickelodeon store Disney or aDisney channel, so you actually lived that
Nickelodeon star life. What was thatlike to finally get to that point?
(14:01):
Yeah? It was so exciting.I mean it came at a time where
I was really wanting something like likethat, you know, of that kind.
So I remember before that doing moreserious roles, which I was appreciating,
but I had had that same curiositylike I was like, I'd be
fun to do like a comedy orsomething young. And I've always loved superheroes.
It was like really the perfect timing, perfect situation, and you know,
(14:24):
getting to go to the things thatI watched as a kid, like
the Kcas and like all of thosetype of events. It was a totally
new world and it was exciting andfun and a lot more. We didn't
do it in front of a livestudio audience, but we had to do
run throughs every week, so thatwas in front of all the producers and
kids would come sometimes and watch us. So it was just a lot of
energy, a lot of energy aroundall those years. Yeah, I like
(14:46):
that. It sounds like a lotof fun for sure. Yeah, it
is very fun, very fun.That's pretty cool. So well, appreciate
you so much of coming in andtalking to us about this. So we're
definitely be looking forward to it.I'll be watching. I'll make sure I'm
in front of the TV. Thanks, like time, So that movie is
coming out February to what time?Oh, I don't know the time exactly.
We'll be looking for it, probablyeight. Okay, that's good.
(15:09):
Yeah, usually it's usually time andlike prime time and stuff like that.
So we'll definitely be looking forward tothat movie. So make sure you guys
that are listening, to make surey'all check that out. Y'all reelled downs
in the studio. Appreciate you somuch for coming. And before we go,
go ahead and tell everybody besides themovie if there's anything else you got
coming up, anything else you're workingon. Yeah, a lot of things,
a lot of things that are inits infancy and that are in progress,
(15:31):
but nothing I can fully share yet, So I guess just stay tuned.
All right, We're gonna be stayingtuned in. Yeah, I'll follow
your Instagram, so yeah, I'mgonna be watched. Absolutely. Thank you
so much. Of course, weappreciate you coming in. Guys, stay
tuned in to the Black Information Networkon your home for twenty four to seven
news. I'm Tyrequin
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