The Breakfast Club - INTERVIEW: Phylicia Rashad Talks Respect, The Rhythm Of Acting, Chadwick Boseman's Brilliance + More

Episode Date: March 20, 2025

The Breakfast Club Sits Down With Phylicia Rashad To Discuss Respect, The Rhythm Of Acting, Chadwick Boseman's Brilliance. Listen For More!YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@BreakfastClubPower1051FMSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prohibition is synonymous with speakeasies, jazz, flappers, and of course, failure. I'm Ed Helms, and on season three of my podcast, Snafu, there's a story I couldn't wait to tell you. It's about an unlikely duo in the 1920s who tried to warn the public that Prohibition was going to backfire so badly it just might leave thousands dead from poison. Listen and subscribe to Snafu on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up y'all? I'm AJ Andrews, pro softball player, sports analyst,

and the first woman to win a Rawlings Gold Glove. On my new podcast, Dropping Diamonds, we dive headfirst into the world of softball by sharing powerful stories, insights, and conversations that inspire and empower. It's time to drop bombs and diamonds. Dropping Diamonds with AJ Andrews is an iHeart Women's Sports production

in partnership with Athletes Unlimited Softball League and Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. Listen to Dropping Diamonds with AJ Andrews on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports Network. Have you ever wondered if your pet is lying to you?

Why is my cat not here? And I go in and she's eating my lunch. Or if hypnotism is real? We will use the suggestion in order to enhance your cognitive control. But what's inside a black hole? Black holes could be a consequence of the way that we understand the universe. Well, we have answers for you in the new iHeart original podcast, Sighin' Stuff. Join me, or Hitcham, as we answer questions about animals, space, our brains, and our bodies. So give

yourself permission to be a science geek and listen to Sighin' Stuff on the iHeart video app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember what you said the first night I came over here? Ow, goes lower. From Blumhouse TV, I Heart Podcasts, and Ember 20 comes an all new fictional comedy podcast series. Join the flighty Damien Hirst as he unravels the mystery of his vanished boyfriend.

I've been spending all my time looking for answers about what happened to Santi. And what's the way to find a missing person? Sleep with everyone he knew, obviously. Listen to the Hook Up on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Wake that ass up! Early in the morning. The Breakfast Club.

Yes, it's the world's most dangerous morning show, The Breakfast Club. Charlamagne the God, Jess Hilarious, DJ Envy's not in, but Lauren LaRosa is filling in for him. And we got royalty in the building, man. We have a woman who has represented, you know, black people, especially black women, correctly, forever. Miss Felicia Rashad is here. How are you, queen? I'm good. Good to see you.

Thank you. I'm a little starstruck, too. I'm a little starstruck. You know what? I do not even mean to keep staring at you, but I- Crazy. I cannot believe I'm sitting here across from you and just- Right?

And like, and like, it's, woo. We've been watching you on TV, you always carry yourself in such a regal manner, but then when you walk in the room, you feel it even more, so it's like, whoa. I was telling them, all right, mama walking in the room, straighten up, okay, clean up,

make sure everything tidy, all right? Yes. And I know you have this effect everywhere you go. Are you used to people acting like this? Oh, um, you all are, what can I just say? We are as a people respectful. Yeah. To each other.

Yes. Yes? Yes, ma'am. Yes, we are. Yes. We are. But not the ma'am. Yes, we are. Yes. We are. But not the others?

We are as a people. Got you. We're respectful. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. And you're here for, I mean, we're going to talk to you about a lot of stuff, but you're making your Broadway directorial debut in purpose.

Yes. How did that feel? Well, it was wonderful. It's not the first time I've directed. This is the first time I'm directing in a Broadway theater. But this play and this cast, it's a real gift. I hope you'll come and see. Yeah, I hope you'll come and see.

Brandon Jacobs Jenkins is the playwright. He received the Tony Award last year for his play Appropriate. And this particular production originates in Chicago at the Steppenwolf Theater. And the Steppenwolf has its own ethos, its own legacy for theater as it was formed by actors. So it's ensemble work and that's the best work.

You know? Ensemble work. Ensemble work, but then that spirit, I watched it move through the cast into everybody. The designers, the production office and staff, the theater staff, it's everybody. It's one, we, it's one. We call it collective intention. When I think about the things that you and your sister

have done, Miss Debbie Allen, I just wonder, what did y'all dream of when y'all was kids? When y'all were just two little girls growing up, like what did y'all play about? What did y'all think about? What did y'all imagine? What did y'all play about? What did y'all think about? What did y'all imagine? We grew up in Houston, Texas. Our father, Dr. Andrew A. Allen, is a dentist. Our mother, Vivian Ayers, is a poet. We grew up with a poet. We grew up with a visionary and it was about freedom.

It was about, pardon me, it was about realizing your full potential as a human being. Can you imagine things like this? Teaching little children like this? She would teach us things like, she'd have aphorisms and she'd give them to us to say, the universe bears no us to say, the universe bears no ill to me, I bear no ill to it.

And we'd repeat that, the universe bears no ill to me, I bear no ill to it. We'd just go around, the universe bears no ill to me. When you teach a child like this, when you teach a child, be true, be beautiful, be free, she would say things like this to us. And she'd say things like, thinking requires thought. Thinking requires thought.

We didn't know he was saying it, but these seeds were planted. By the time I was 11 years old, yes. Oh, Debbie. Debbie was nine years old, yes. Oh, Debbie. Debbie was nine years old and she said to my mother, I need dance classes and you're not doing a thing about it. And nine, wow. You're not doing a thing about it.

Wow. Well, you know, legal segregation at that time. My mother took the railing off the side of the stairs going upstairs. She took the handrail and had it attached to a wall in what was supposed to have been the dining room. And she hired this teacher who had come from the New York City Ballet, a Caucasian man, to come and teach Debbie in the house. Her ballet classes were there.

This is how we grew. We grew like this. And he gave Deborah a book about ballet with photographs of all the famous dancers. And we would look at that book all day, every day. My mother would take us to exhibitions, to lectures, things we couldn't understand. She knew we couldn't understand it.

She told us later, I knew you wouldn't understand what was being said, but you were present. And the seeds were being planted. When we were growing up, she didn't want us scarred by the ignorance of racism. And it was all around us. It was legal at that time. But as little, little children, if there was somewhere

we wanted to go and we were restricted, she'd explain it like this. She'd say, oh, well, that's a private club for members only, and we're not members of that club. And then she'd do something else. She'd invite all our friends into the living room. She'd teach us music. She'd teach us to tumble. She'd teach us things like this. She'd teach us choral speech. And that's how we grew. And at that

time, music education, this is very interesting in a time of legal segregation, music education was free and in the schools and the schools had instruments that students could use. I studied viola. Debbie played the bass violin, if you can believe it. The littlest thing in the school, they had to sit her up on a stool. They had to sit that child up on a stool and her little fingers, her little hands couldn't, you know, a bass player usually has big hands. You should have seen Debbie up there. She never missed a beat and she never played a sour note. She played that thing like she had created it herself.

This is how we grew. We grew up surrounded by a community that cared for its children. And I mean, we were safe. We were safe. We felt safe. I didn't feel fear as a child. Our mother was a great example of that, too. One night somebody tried to break in the house. I didn't feel fear as a child. Our mother was a great example of that too. One night somebody tried to break in the house and my mother was awake and she heard the clamor. She went out the back door and walked her way around to where this man was trying to come through the window.

And she stood right there and she said, you could get arrested for that, you know. Scared the bejesus out of me. He dropped everything in red. We grew up to be fearless, but not to be stupid. Expand on that, fearless but not stupid. Well, I mean, look, if you see a rattlesnake in front of you, come on. That's right. That's right. Don't be stupid.

That's right. That's right. If you see a car coming your way, don't be stupid. Absolutely. Absolutely. I love that. I love the story you just told. Because as you were talking about it, I'm like, man, how do you teach freedom to black kids in a country that wasn't providing you that freedom at the time? I'll tell you how. I'll tell you how. A poet, a visionary. You have to look inside and you have to teach young people to look inside. There's nothing but freedom there.

So much distraction today, right? One thing and then another to make anybody, not just African American children, but anybody feel separate from its creation, separate from the one who created everything that is, in the midst of majesty, nature, in the midst of presence, distraction. Pay attention to that. You're going to be stealing your quotes for the rest of the month. Every day on the show we do positive note and Charlemagne is over there writing down everything in his mind. That's right.

Mr. Shaheed is going to be quoting you for the rest of the month. I know it. Yeah. So you don't, you know, we knew history. You teach history, but you don't identify with the middle passage as who you are. That's not who you are. That's not who anyone is. That is what happened. But people survive that because as human beings. Right now, I'm just saying it, right now, we need all the people.

All the people, yeah? That sense of community you talking about growing up in Houston, you need that. You need to be able to teach kids freedom. You need to be able to instill security and safety in kids. And that can only come from us. It comes from home. And in teaching, you know, it's shared with others. Children are not born into this world fearful.

No human being is born into this world fearful or filled with hate. Nobody's born like that. You have to learn that stuff. You know, there's a song from a Broadway show. You have to be carefully taught. Carefully taught. Well, you can be carefully taught the right way, too. What was your mother's upbringing like? Because she seemed like she was so still and so sure of herself.

And I'm sure she had experienced a lot. My mother grew up in Chester, South Carolina. Hey. I'm from South Carolina. What part? I was born in Charleston, raised in a small town called Moncks Corner. Oh, you the people. Yep.

Okay. Gichi Gullah. You the people. Okay, so it was a small mill town, right? Her father was a blacksmith. One of his brothers was a mortician and the other brother was a barber and these businesses had been owned by her grandfather. It was an agricultural community, right? But there was a school there that had been founded by the Presbyterian. There were such a number of such schools pardon me, that had been

founded by the Presbyterian for the descendants of freed African people throughout the South. This school was Brainerd Institute, and in this school there was this classical education administered by black people. My mother was always interested in music. Oh she was quite the pianist. She described herself to me once as saying she was a little girl swinging high on the swing, looking up at the sky and dreaming big dreams. That's how she grew. Her mother passed away when my mother was nine.

She lost her mother. And she said as she sat at her mother's funeral and listened to the things that people were saying, she decided none of them were intelligent enough to tell her anything to do. She would chart her own course at nine. At nine. At nine. And she did. And she did. It was not an easy life. But there was this spirit in her Living in her burning in her that carried her through Her first publication is spice of dawns. This is collection of poems

her second publication Hawk If you read Hawk, you will understand how I grew This is an inner journey. This is an allegory of freedom, which parallels flight through space without a vehicle. It was published 11 weeks before the launch of Sputnik One. Wow. What'd you learn from your father?

Because you said he was a dentist. Oh, my father. My father was born on the back porch of a farm in Lovedale, Louisiana. He was one of nine children. His father worked on the railroad. He was a fireman on the South Pacific Railroad. And his mother, you know, was housekeeping, right? My grandfather put great emphasis on education,

and he made sure that all of his children went to college. Imagine it. Especially in that time. Imagine it. So, my father was a very kind and generous man. He was what was called a man's man. Men loved him and trusted him. He was always the treasurer of the dental association because they said, if Tex takes

care of the money, we're in good shape He was organized. He was very clean He loved music. He loved theater. He loved the arts. He came to see any and everything we did Whatever it was. He was very supportive He was He was so handsome He was so handsome. He was so handsome and he was so good. He did things that people didn't know he did. He was like that. In his office,

like that. And in his office, he dealt with people's pain and anxiety every day. And they came to him and trusted him. And when they couldn't pay, he'd work out a payment plan for them that was convenient for them. They didn't have to go anywhere and incur interest rates. He would work that out for them that was convenient for them they didn't have to go anywhere and incur interest rates he would work that out for him when my father passed away at his viewing the line stretched out of the mortuary all the way down the street all the way around the block

and when the last person came He said he looked at him he said you don't understand you don't understand that's my dentist And that motorcade as I remember And that motorcade, as I remember, that motorcade on the way to the cemetery stretched as far as the eye could see. He was so beloved. Thank you, Jeff. Thank you. So.

That's why I asked, just because, you know, when you look, like I said, you know, we look at Felicia Rashad and Debbie Allen, two strong queens, somebody had to raise them, somebody had to instill that in them. And as a father raising four beautiful black girls, you know, I'm just always thinking about, you know, what should me and my wife be instilling in them all the time, just so they grow up to be strong black women?

When you love them. My mom says all the time. When you love them. My mom says all the time. When you love them, that's all. You know, my father, if I can remember one great instruction my father gave me, two great instructions. He said, and I was a little girl, he said, never let anybody run over you. I was five years old when he told me that.

Never let anyone run over you. And then later on in life he said, always know the balance of your bank account and keep your own money. Yeah. What can you tell us about, without spoiling it, you know, the Broadway, but what can you tell us

about the story of purpose without giving it all away? I know you don't want to. Oh, this is wonderful family, family drama. And there's humor in it. A young man is recalling a visit to his home. And on this night of nights, so much happens in one night, and so much is revealed in one night, and some things are resolved. It's a... That's all I'm gonna tell you.

Okay. Except to tell you the cast. Harry Lennox. Okay. Latonya Richardson. Jackson. Glenn. Latonya Richardson Jackson. Glenn Davis. Alana Arenas and John Michael Hill.

It's the most incredible ensemble that I've ever witnessed. Each one is a master. Each one. And the inimitable Carrie Young, who was Ludibel in Pearly Victorious last season, that's our cast. People come at the end of the play and have various reactions. One woman said, oh, that scene at the dining room table? That was my family's Thanksgiving for the past five years in a row.

Relatable. Right. And she was not an African American woman. Wow. People see themselves, and that's when we know we are really doing our best work. Yeah. When you see yourself. I was gonna say speaking of doing your best work I think you know for a lot of us and watching you on television the iconic role of Claire Huxtable and just what that image of you know having a mom that was just so graceful and so,

like everything that you were in that show, do you like in real life, is there ever pressure or was there at the time for you to like upkeep like a certain like, I don't know, like an image or like just anything that people tried to- In my house? No, like, so not in your house, but like in real life, like in Hollywood and other roles you were taking and like, you know what I mean? Like, did you ever feel like, so not in your house, but like in real life, like in Hollywood and other roles you were taking in,

like, you know what I mean? Like, did you ever feel like, cause I think for us, like you are like the perfect, like image of like a black woman. Like, so I always wondered if you felt that pressure. No. Light is not heavy. Carry light.

Share light. Light is not heavy. Even in interviews, I understand what you're saying, even in interviews back then, you would still have the same deposition, the same grace when outside of that role. I'm gonna tell you the one that sticks with me. When you told Sandra's boyfriend. Alvin.

Alvin, that is iconic. And then when Vanessa wanted to go to Baltimore, where I'm from. To see the wretched. To see the wretched. Oh my God. When I tell you, those are my two key episodes, right? Well, yeah, because I'm from Baltimore and I done snuck out the house and I done all that.

You ain't knocked Vanessa out. I got knocked out a few times. Well, she almost did, but Cliff held her back. Well, yes. Right. That's it. That's it. Also, I also want to bring up the movie Beekeeper. Oh, my God. How was that working with Jason Statham? Oh, he's such a good person. Yeah. Oh, yeah. OK. So generous. So kind. Amazing. To a fault, you know.

That was a great experience. That was a great movie because it also talks to what's going on these days. I know y'all probably didn't see it, so The Beekeeper is a movie about an older woman who is robbed of her retirement funds, everything cleared out her bank accounts, fraud, a lot of fraud.

She took a phone call from this company to act it as if they were trying to like help her with some type of banking information and and she like kind of fell for it and ended up now and beekeeper did is this the question I always have did the woman kill herself or did she killed herself not because she lost her money. It was other people's money she lost. And do you know that maybe six months after that filming, I read of such a thing in the newspaper? Oh wow. This was a man.

And he was so embarrassed, he killed himself. Yeah. embarrassed. He killed himself. But the greater problem here is access. So much access to people. Is all of that necessary? Is it good? No. No it's not. And as we see it moving towards more Yeah How do you How do you now? These like cuz I mean you obviously pick and choose what you want to do with your roles like I watched you in the air from Detroit and I Like the one scene we all in the car and you were talking about the temptation

one scene we all in the car and you were talking about the temptation. Oh yeah. You said she slept with the temptation? Yeah. All of them she said. I'm going to tell you right now, I felt bad watching that. I'm like, I don't think I was supposed to hear her sing stuff like that. I thought that was a guy. That was a character.

I was like, she ain't saying that. Yes, but it's- You know what's so funny though? The first time I saw the clips, they didn't tell me it was from a TV show. Yeah. He thought- You're like, what the police are doing? I said, what?

He thought that you were up here here really reflecting on your life. I said damn she slept, Claire Hux was slept with all the temptation. No, no, no, that was the character darling, that was the character. As actors we play these roles. When you choose a character like that where it's like it's a lot different than how we've seen you or how I've seen you anyway And different things that you've done What's your thinking behind is it because you wanna you want people to see you in the different lights or is it just I?

Just want to do it what she was doing. Yes I that's why I chose the character because of what she was doing. Yeah People get all caught up in funny stuff. Yeah, what was that woman doing? She was rescuing people. She was rescuing people. She was living with the deepest hurt that a mother can have that she lost her child because she was not paying attention. And in her heart she felt that her child was alive somewhere, and this is years later. Right. But just in a moment of being too tired and too annoyed and too distracted and wanting to do something else, she turned away and in that instant her child was taken from her.

Yeah. And so she set about saving people. She went on saving people, hoping one day somebody would save her son. So I choose people because I choose a character because of what people are doing. Yeah. Got you. I wanna go back to something Jess said.

She brought up the Elvin scene, right? Cause that was a role, well, when you schooled Elvin on, I guess, the marital, the marital role, how much input did you have on that scene and what were you trying to convey? When you saw it on paper, what did you say to yourself? Oh, I know what I can do in this scene to convey a larger message.

Prohibition. It's no secret that banning alcohol didn't stop people from living it up in the 1920s. When we're five years into Prohibition, the government is starting to go, okay, this isn't working. In fact, you might even say it backfired spectacularly. I'm Ed Helms, and on season three of my podcast, Snafu, we're taking you back to the 1920s and the tale of Formula Six. Because what you probably don't know about Prohibition is that American citizens were dying in massive numbers

due to poisoned liquor, and all along an unlikely duo was trying desperately to stop the corruption behind it. They were like superhero crusaders, turning the page on a system that didn't work, wasn't fair, and was corrupt. So how did Prohibition's war on alcohol go so off the rails that the government wound up poisoning its own people?

To find out, listen and subscribe to Snafu on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Have you ever wondered if your pet is lying to you? Why is my cat not here? And I go in and she's eating my lunch. Or if hypnotism is real? You will use this suggestion in order to enhance your cognitive control. But what's inside a black hole? Black holes could be a consequence of the way that we understand the universe. Well, we have answers for you in the new iHeart Original Podcast, Science Stuff.

Join me, Jorge Cham, as we tackle questions you've always wanted to know the answer to about animals, space, our brains, and our bodies. Questions like, can you survive being cryogenically frozen? This is experimental. This means never work for you. What's a quantum computer? It's not just a faster computer. It performs in a fundamentally different way.

Do you really have to wait 30 minutes after eating before you can go swimming? It's not really a safety issue. It's more of a comfort issue. We'll talk to experts, break it down, and give you easy to understand explanations to fascinating scientific questions. So give yourself permission to be a science geek and listen to science stuff on the iHeart video app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Do you remember what you said the first night I came over here? How goes lower? From Blumhouse TV, iHeart Podcasts, and Ember 20

comes an all new fictional comedy podcast series. Join the flighty Damien Hirst as he unravels the mystery of his vanished boyfriend. And Santi was gone. I've been spending all my time looking for answers about what happened to Santi. And what's the way to find a missing person? Sleep with everyone he knew, obviously.

Mm, pillow talk. The most unwelcome window into the human psyche. Follow our out of his element hero as he engages in a series of ill-conceived, investigative hookups. Mama always used to say, God gave me gumption in place of a gag reflex. And, as I was about to learn,

no amount of showering can wash your hands of a bad hookup. Now, take a big whiff, my brah. Listen to The Hookup on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. I started to live a double life when I was a teenager, responsible and driven and wild and out of control. My head is pounding.

I'm confused. I don't know why I'm in jail. It's hard to understand what hope is when you're trapped in a cycle of addiction. Addiction took me to the darkest places. I had an AK-47 pointed at my head. But one night, a new door opened and I made it into the rooms of recovery. The path would have roadblocks and detours,

stalls and relapses. But when I was feeling the most lost, I found hope with community and I made my way back. This season, join me on my journey through addiction and recovery, a story told in 12 steps. Listen to Krems as part of the Michael Lura podcast network available on the iHeart radio app,

Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I didn't say anything. I just said the line. Oh, so it was just as is? It was there. Oh, wow. It was just as it is? It was there. Oh, wow. It was there, but it was the way you deliver it.

You know? So... You was like battle rapping. What? She was like, you know what? Anywhere, any beat. It was so good. I thought it was in private. You know, this is a part of your training as an actor, your language and how you use it, you know?

And there's rhythm and there's pace. And so much is conveyed in that way. If you said it another way, it wouldn't be as effective. Mm-mm. Yeah. Mm-mm. If you tried to say it like you were singing, the lazy river, no, it wouldn't work.

No. It wouldn't hit like Black Momma, no it wouldn't work. Mm-mm. No. It wouldn't hit, like Black Momma. No, it wouldn't. What would the writers' rooms like, though? Because it felt like a Black experience. Would they? Black writers, white writers? I mean, what would those writers' rooms like?

A combination. OK. The thing was to write a human story, to write about human behavior, the truth of human behavior. Yeah. That's what makes comedy and theater real, the truth of human behavior. You don't have to make something up.

If you're writing about something that's real, you can take a different perspective on it and your skills as a writer show up in your language or your, you know, show up in your language or your, you know, those things that writers do. Yeah. Yeah. What do you do to channel roles like your role in Fall from Grace? Like, well, you're the villain. What do you do to channel those roles? Everybody's a human being, right? Yeah. Everybody's a human being, right? Yeah.

Okay. She's just a nasty human being. Nasty. This is a person who is sick. Her whole perspective is warped. You've got to be sick to mistreat another person. I'm sorry. You cannot be sane and do hurtful things to people.

You just, a sane person won't do that. Do you agree? You gotta try. 100%. Yeah. 100%. Yeah. That's why one of the four agreements is, don't take offense to things, don't take things personal because what you do,

what somebody does to you is not a reflection of you, it's something that's going on internally with them. With them. It's hard to put yourself in that reflection of you, it's something that's going on internally with them. It's hard to put yourself in that position, but you really gotta know that. Yeah, sometimes you wanna just clutch somebody. That's right. Shake them real good.

My daddy used to say, you'll stop taking everything personal once you realize that it's a bunch of people out here on cocaine. Whoa. It's kinda true. I just said whoa. What he's saying is kinda true.

It's like, yo, people out here doing all types of stuff that you have no idea about. Where was your father from? Moncks Corner, South Carolina. All my family from South Carolina. Mama, daddy, everybody. Don't you just love it? Oh, it's the best.

Because you know, it's like, if you ever been to the International African American Museum, oh, you were there, I'm bugging. Yes, you were there for the grand opening. I didn't get to meet you. I wanted to meet y'all on the other side. But yeah, it's right there on the port

where like I think 50% of all enslaved Africans came through. So that's like home for a lot of us. Yeah, and don't know. That's right. And don't know. Another thing I wanted to ask you about when you ran down on Vanessa, who or what were you channeling in that moment?

Cause I'm sure you and your sister snuck out the house a couple of times and mama had to get on you. You never snuck out. We didn't have to sneak. Yeah. I didn't have to sneak. OK. Yeah, it was good.

It was good not to have to do that. Yeah. Sometimes we might have stayed a little too long. Right. Right. But we didn't have to sneak. It was fun. It was, you we didn't have to sneak. It was it was it was fun. It was you know, it was it was an actor.

And. You understand human behavior, you understand feelings, it's it's the way you develop yourself. This is the craft, this is what we do. And I guess if you do it in a certain way, people think it's you. Yes. That's why they can't see you playing a role like in A Far From Grace.

Like what? Yeah. Miss Rashad is a villain? No, she was. Right. Right. Exactly. We have to detach the actress from the character. Oh yeah, you know, and as an artist artist you don't want to sing the same song Or play the same tune. Yeah

That's right. You don't want to paint the same picture forever You've got a paint box you want to use those paints And do a different scenes because we have range those paints and do a different scene sometimes. Because you have range. Well, yeah, and you want to express humanity in whatever you do, at least I do. I was gonna say, your time at Howard, I'm a HBCU grad, I went to Delaware State.

Have you ever heard of it? Yes. Wow. Crazy. Get him to go up in police station. Next. Exactly, right. But the freedom that please thank you. Exactly, right. But the freedom that you were talking about earlier, I remember, like I was raised in a household where my mom was very much like that, but going to an HBCU, I remember that being the first time where I was like, okay, the world like really needs me.

And it was because of like teachers and counselors and stuff that kind of have the same spirit that you have. I wonder like for you, what was like one of your favorite things about walking on campus every day with those students as a dean? As the dean? Walking on campus, everywhere I looked, I was reminded of my time there as a student.

And I was reminded of my friends. And I was reminded of my friends. And I was reminded of the things that we did in the time in which we were living as students. It was an important time. Dr. King was assassinated in my sophomore year. Wow. Yeah, I watched these things happen. So much unfolded on that campus.

I remember when Muhammad Ali came and spoke on the steps of Frederick Douglas Hall. And I remember him standing there and he said, look at me. Can't you see that I'm free? And you could. Oh, there were great people. There were great, oh, the instructors. When I tell you about instructors I had at Howard University, you know.

Yeah, they pour into you. You never forget that. They pour into you in a different way and they're so Well developed. Yeah, they are deep They are deep. So there was a time, you know I'll just Reference it back to my father's area dentistry. Mm-hmm There was a time when African Americans were trained, could be trained at Harvard, but

they wouldn't hire them to teach. So these people who were trained in these great, quote, great institutions went to HBCUs to teach. You were receiving that education there. That discipline, those demands. They were serious about it. They were so serious about it. There was an instructor at Howard down in medical school,

Dr. Montague Jacob. They talked about this man. He was a legend there. My father's friend said, oh oh no, you don't understand. If we failed the test, he would say meet me in the lab tonight. And they'd all show up in the lab and while they were going around doing what they were supposed to be doing, he would pull out his viola and play as he walked up and down the aisle. And my father's friend said, you wanted him to play that viola

because that meant that he was pleased with what you were doing. Wow. I mean, there came, you know, people, we came through in a time that we should remember. I feel like that's a level of village I don't know if we have anymore. Well, we can have it if we want it.

And we can expand it. We can expand it to include our Hispanic family. We can expand it to include our Asian family. We can expand it to include our Caucasian family. We can expand it because we need all the people. That's a line from August Wilson's play, Jim of the Ocean on Esther. Whoo, on Esther says, I'm gonna show you what happened when all the people call on God in the one voice. God got beautiful splendors

and God got room for everybody. Were you, when you decided not to return back to Howard, did you feel like you didn't return because your work was done there or was it just like a personal decision because like business reasons like I just feel like people like you was what we need you on campus is every day but I know it's probably it's a lot to do all at once but like what was that like for you that decision not to go back? Well, I will always be connected. I will always be connected to Howard University. As a matter of fact, next week,

I will be in Washington, D.C. for the one night only reading of Chadwick A. Boseman's Deep Azure. He wrote that, right? He wrote that. So he was one of my students. Early, early on, when Al Freeman Jr. invited me to come and teach for a semester.

So we were in the studio doing the show Monday through Thursday, and Friday morning I'd get up and fly down and I'd teach. And he was one of my students, Kalechi. Susan Kalechi Watson was one of the students. Camilla Forbes, one of my students, Kalechi. Susan Kalechi Watson was one of the students. Camilla Forbes, one of the students. He was fearless, he was brave, South Carolina. South Carolina, Anderson. And he was also very respectful.

This is why I say as a people, we are a respectful people. We are. Naturally. So anyway, he kept in contact with me and after he had graduated, one day I received this call, I'm sending you something, Mr. Rashad, he would always call me that. I'm sending you something, Mr. Rashad. Even after he had attained fame and notoriety, he still called me Miss Rishon, always. So I said, okay.

And what he sent was a copy of this script that he had written, Hip Hop Theater. Hip Hop Theater was born on the campus of Howard University and he was one of the progenitors. He was one of the innovators. How can I say, hip hop language and rhythm through the voice and experience of a classically trained actor. It is grand.

That's like the essence of HBCU. Like when you say it, it's like, okay, that's what it's like when you go to like the CAF or like you and the parties, or it's literally like everybody is so like astute, but like you, it's a vibe. Like you can't describe it. You gotta just be there. And it's real.

It's real. And people are taking their education seriously. But now with this AI business, I don't know. Children try not to write their own papers and try to do this, what do they call it, this chat thing? Chat, GPD. And I'm, excuse me for stammering, but it puts me at a loss for words. Like, darling, don't you understand why you're here?

Now, if you wanted to do that, you could stay home. You should stay home, because you're taking up room that somebody else could be occupying who really wants to do the work. Yeah, who really wants to develop. What about your intellect, baby? Do you have no care or thought for your intellect, for expanding that? What about that? What about that? What about your worldview, darling?

Do you not care for that? Oh, okay, you're going to give that to the chat too. All right, well, let's see where you land. Let's see where you end up. So purpose, the play yes one of the things that said in this play by the patriarch he said he feels he feels that he has lost a communion with God he said ancestors were in such close communion with God in his creation. They knew how to do things and how to take care of things. He says, and I think that I have, I think

that we all have lost that. He says, well maybe it's old age, I don't know. But he says he's very interested in the things we used to do back home down in the country fishing and hunting and beekeeping and growing you know I was shocked shocked to know that they are children who don't understand that french fries come from potatoes that are grown in the ground. Those wasn't the children at Howard, was it? No. But I'm shocked. But I'm shocked to know. I'm shocked to know from two pediatricians in two different cities, right? They have books, you know, in their waiting rooms for the young children. Young children come in

and pick up a book and try to scan it. Because the parents aren't giving them books, they're giving them these little things. Tablets. These things. Yeah. It's like, mm-mm. Mm-mm.

So here we go back to parenting. You'll leave that in the hands of somebody else. That's right, that's right. And think it's gonna come out right? I don't think so. The dramatic pause. I don't know if this is a dramatic pause or you'd be stopping. That's why I'd be just like, I don't know. And I just, and I don't ever know when it's time to ask another question. Did you always speak in a dramatic pause or you just, right?

You call it a dramatic pause. He surely is called a dramatic pause. I'm trying to figure out sometimes it's a dramatic pause, but then sometimes you really are done. So I'm just trying to figure out sometimes it's dramatic Paul, but then sometimes you really are done. So I'm just trying to figure it out. She's taking our time to speak. We're in conversation. That's right.

That's right. That's right. I had a question about the Deep Azure. So the proceeds from the One Night Only are going back to the College of Fine Arts at Howard. To the Chadwick and Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard? To the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts, yes. Would, like today, if Chadwick could see, kind of like, you know, how the final product

has come along and everybody that's involved, like, what would his sentiments be? Like, how happy would he be to see all of this coming to fruition from that first phone call that you guys had about it? I'll tell you, his wife is very happy. And his producing partner, who was his best friend in college, they're very happy.

And I'm very happy because it's happening. And it's happening with a great cast of actors. I don't know if you have that list. I can look it up. I don't know if you have that list. You want to look it up, Laura? Yeah, I got it. Oh, you should look that up.

Isaiah Johnson. Yes. Amber Iman, who plays Azure. Greg Alvarez-Reed plays Tone. Joshua Boone plays Roshad. Lauren Banks, the street knowledge good. Yeah. I'ma mess this one up. Adesola Ascalumi.

She said what, what'd you say? Adeshula, okay, I knew I was gonna mess that one up. I'm sorry. Adeshula is the Street Knowledge Evil. Jess Washington is Stage Directions. These are all professionals. Yes. And,

God, we're so honored. We're so honored. And our honorary host committee. I mean, you know who's on that? I can look it up. Look it up and see. I mean, these are people supporting this. So the honorary host committee, Ryan Coogler is the honorary chair. Wow.

Common, Susan Kalichie Watson, Don Cheadle, Ta-Nehisi Coates. Ta-Nehisi. I'm sorry, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Kamilah Forbes, Reginald Hudlin, Kenny Leon, and Tyrell Alvin McCraney. That's like the Black Avengers. Yes, that's a whole new universe right there. Yeah, all to support his legacy.

Yeah, to support his legacy. Chadwick was, he was really amazing. Chadwick was an actor, yes. Chadwick was a writer. Chadwick was a director. Chadwick was a scholar. He studied many things. The etymology of words. Oh, he was deep into that. Into names and the meanings of them. He studied the Bible, not to Bible thump, but to understand its origins really, in the deep of me. And then he combined all of that with, you know, I hate to say it like this,

but I'll say it like this, with African cosmology. Why do I hate to say it like that? Because Africa's a huge continent and it is not a monolithic proposition. But there is a certain ethos that runs through all. He was brilliant. He was brilliant. There was nobody else to play Black Panther but Chadwick.

See how big we got him on the door. Oh yeah. And you know what he really cared about, he called me one day and this was after graduation, he was living in New York and he was so excited and he wanted me to know what he was doing and to come and see and I was thinking, okay now let's see, what premiere is this?

What film is this, what play is this? It was none of that. He was working with young people in the Schomburg Library. And he was so excited about that. Yeah, that's who he was. about that. Wow. Yeah, that's who he was. You know, you came up in an era, Ms. Rashad, where dignity and grace were everything.

So do you ever look at how wild Hollywood is now and you just think to yourself, boy, y'all got it easy. Y'all wouldn't have got away with that in my day. I don't even have a look at Hollywood. I could look at the way young ladies dress. Hmm. Hmm.

You know I should have worn some other pants. You got your hands out there. I'm not talking about that. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about- You're not sitting on their elbow, shoulder over here. You want my coat? The young ladies are so beautiful.

They're so beautiful. They're so beautiful. And something has happened in popular culture. And I don't mean to be critical, and I hope young ladies listening don't take this as personal criticism, because I don't mean it that way. But your young queens, beautiful and smart and brilliant and bright. And it really, I know I'm taken aback when I see on a college campus young women dressed in strips of clothing. I mean male instructors don't like it. But more importantly than that,

and you'd correct me if I'm wrong sir, no man wants his woman to be out like that, right? Now I grew up on Mefferman saying, wearing three fourths of cloth and never showing your stuff off, boo. Boo. That's what he said. That's what I heard.

But now that we've got, you know, it's like, there's, today's designers, I mean, there's ways, you know, there's, there are other things and I just. Leave something to the imagination. Yeah. It would be nice. Some things are for my eyes only, you know? Yeah, and like you said, there are ways of being sexy

without showing so much. Oh, please. And that's really not sexy. I mean, one of the most sexiest, most beautiful pictures is you, I forgot what year it was, but you got on like a basketball jersey. And like some jeans, you eat some popcorn. That is, that's an iconic picture.

Is it the white jersey? Yes. That was, yeah. That is a beautiful picture. That is like, that is the epitome of sexy. Oh, well. It's, I think it has to do with, it has a lot to do with what they see.

What they're emulating what they see. See, we grew up in a time where, you know, the singers, these ladies were dressed down, darling. These women, they were wearing robes and gowns and dew. Right? Well, it's a little different today. Yeah. So they're really just emulating what they see.

Mm-hmm. That photo was from 1987. 1987? Madison Square Garden. Was it Harlem Globe, Charlie Charlie? It was, yeah. You know the picture I'm talking about? Yes, this one right here.

Right? Oh, yes. You remember that picture? Yes, I remember. What you was doing? I was there with Malcolm Jamal Warner. Hey. Congratulations.

Oh, wow. We wanted all of us to be here before you got here. Yes. Congratulations. Oh my. You know, you got to give your icons their flowers and celebrate them while they still here. Oh, absolutely.

Thank you. Thank you. Whoa. Got her balloon. Got her balloon, got flowers. We don't never do that to nobody up here. Not camera. So these are beautiful flowers. You've been so gracious with your time,

so I just got a couple more questions. What's a lesson you learned way too late in life that you wish you figured out sooner and you would teach to the next generation? Now this is gonna sound weird to you after everything I've told you. The lesson that I learned later in life was that I'm enough.

As a young girl growing up, you know, and young girls go through this, you'll know. You go through a period where you feel like because, and it's because you're looking outside yourself, you compare yourself to everyone else you see and you're not enough. Because you don't dress like that one or you don't have hair like that one or you don't have legs like that one. You can think of any number of things. Young girls go through this kind of thing usually happens around adolescence where you feel like you're not enough. Part of that had to do with my mother being so beautiful,

my father being so handsome, my sister being so cute, my brother being so whatever. And I just thought, well, when I was born, the Lord was doing something else. She. I'm serious. I'm serious. I'm serious. What age was this that you'll carry with you until you look inside yourself and you start looking inside yourself and that

thinking vanishes and goes away. Because it's only when we look inside ourselves that we see what beauty really is. So when did you get to that place of worth? When did I get to that place? Yeah. I think I was about 30, I want to say, I was about 34, 35 years old. And now I look back at those pictures of myself and I say, why do you feel like that?

The mind. Oh yeah. The mind. That's why it's important to teach young people to look inside. The mind. The state of mind. And there's too much going on right now that's so distracting for them.

I don't know how young people feel if they listen to news reports today. They can't feel empowered. It's not meant to do that for us, for anybody. But it never has though. I mean, they always say if it bleeds, it leads. Especially for black people, they never would telling us anything to make us feel uplifted and empowered all of humanity is in the same boat my friend

Nobody feels empowered I was taught a very great thing. I heard a very great thing from a great being Some years ago. Make yourself great by making others greater. And that's what I would teach a young person. Make yourself great by making others greater. Yes, man. Well, thank you, not just for the interview, but for your career of things.

Thank you, just thank you for being you. Yeah. It is not every day you get to meet people that you grew up on and watched. Said to yourself, man, that person right there is a pillar of our community and what we need to be as a people. And then you meet them and you're just as gracious

and regal in person. So just thank you. Thank you to your mother and your father for raising such a beautiful, strong woman. Thank you. And I hope I can do the same for my daughters. I think you are. I think when they look at you,

they know that they're loved and they're protected Make sure y'all go check out purpose is running through on Broadway through July 6. It is Queen Felicia Rashad. Thank you for joining us Club. that prohibition was going to backfire so badly, it just might leave thousands dead from poison. Listen and subscribe to Snafu on the iHeart radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. What's up y'all? I'm A.J. Andrews, pro softball player, sports analyst, and the first woman to win a Rawlings Gold Glove. On my new podcast, Dropping Diamonds, we dive head first into the world of softball by sharing powerful stories, insights, and conversations that inspire and empower. It's time to drop bombs and diamonds.

Dropping Diamonds with AJ Andrews is an iHeart women's sports production and partnership with Athletes Unlimited Softball League and Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. Listen to Dropping Diamonds with AJ Andrews on the iHeart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Brought to you by Novartis, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports Network. Have you ever wondered if your pet is lying to you?

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