Latest / The Breakfast Club / INTERVIEW: Kim Fields Speaks On Upshaws Part 5, Mental Health Awareness, Legacy + More

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INTERVIEW: Kim Fields Speaks On Upshaws Part 5, Mental Health Awareness, Legacy + More · The Breakfast Club

0:00
Speaker 1: Wake that ass up in the morning. Breakfast Club. Morning.
0:05
Speaker 2: Everybody is the j Envy Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne the guy.
0:08
Speaker 2: We are the Breakfast Club. We got a special guest
0:10
Speaker 2: in the building, the legendary and Kim Fields.
0:13
Speaker 3: Ladies and gentlemen, Morning, good morning, So glad to be here.
0:16
Speaker 4: Ho are you feeling?
0:16
Speaker 3: I feel amazing? I feel amazing. How about you, guys?
0:19
Speaker 5: That's Black and Holly famous, right, all right, that's what
0:22
Speaker 5: another hit TV show, Kim season five with the Upshaws
0:25
Speaker 5: on Netflix.
0:26
Speaker 1: My god, how does it feel?
0:28
Speaker 3: Really very surreal but awesome and you know, just loving
0:32
Speaker 3: how everybody loves the Upshaws. It's it's really incredible. We're
0:35
Speaker 3: in the middle of filming new episodes now while new
0:38
Speaker 3: episodes just dropped, and it's just, you know, just the
0:41
Speaker 3: party turn keeps on going.
0:42
Speaker 4: Does it get weird?
0:43
Speaker 1: Ever?
0:43
Speaker 2: Because people know you for so many different things, like
0:46
Speaker 2: this new generation probably knows you from the Upshaws, but
0:48
Speaker 2: don't know you from any of your previous things.
0:51
Speaker 3: Well, a lot of people, I mean they still do
0:53
Speaker 3: you know, the whole living single vibe. And I think
0:57
Speaker 3: my favorite way to get recognized now is yo, ain't
0:59
Speaker 3: you that from the mic Ap show. That's my favorite.
1:05
Speaker 3: Like there's no there's no other career highlight.
1:07
Speaker 1: But that do you stay with this one more?
1:09
Speaker 5: Just because you know, like you're you're an old g
1:12
Speaker 5: and when you were young, when you had a lot
1:13
Speaker 5: of those other really hit show, Well.
1:18
Speaker 3: Thank you. I think this one hits different because of
1:21
Speaker 3: the timing. There's so many shows, there's so much content
1:25
Speaker 3: out there, there's so much noise out there, there's so
1:28
Speaker 3: many platforms. And for us to keep finding our lane
1:31
Speaker 3: and blazing new trails, breaking new ground, finding the audience
1:36
Speaker 3: finding us and loving us and being so loyal. I
1:39
Speaker 3: think that's you know, honestly what feels different about this one.
1:43
Speaker 6: And you're producing and directing it too, so being on
1:46
Speaker 6: both sides, how's that?
1:47
Speaker 3: It's it's fun. I love being able to have a
1:51
Speaker 3: voice for the whole thing. You know, sometimes when you're acting,
1:54
Speaker 3: you just have your voice for that one piece and
1:56
Speaker 3: then go home. And and so to be able to
2:00
Speaker 3: really care about and have a voice that's regarded when
2:04
Speaker 3: you're crafting the entire brand of the show, you know,
2:10
Speaker 3: the storylines, the casting, this that all the Nixon cranny's
2:15
Speaker 3: of it.
2:15
Speaker 5: Is there a science that a successful sitcom or is
2:18
Speaker 5: it just lucky to draw well.
2:19
Speaker 3: I think it's a little bit of both, But there
2:21
Speaker 3: is a science in terms of and especially again timing.
2:25
Speaker 3: You got to be authentic. Everybody wants to see stories
2:28
Speaker 3: and characters that really reflect the sign of the times,
2:32
Speaker 3: that reflect who they are, that they can relate to.
2:35
Speaker 3: I think relatability is the biggest thing right now, and
2:38
Speaker 3: in comedy you have to be extraordinarily funny. And with
2:42
Speaker 3: Mike and Wanda, when Mike started with the idea, he
2:45
Speaker 3: brought it to Wanda and then it unfolded from there.
2:49
Speaker 3: They said kind of the three tenants of the show
2:51
Speaker 3: would be it had to be really funny, and really
2:54
Speaker 3: messy and really real. And I feel like that's kind
2:57
Speaker 3: of that formula that gets you that life in a bottle.
3:01
Speaker 3: And then when I look back at my other series
3:04
Speaker 3: or even other successful shows, I think that's really what
3:07
Speaker 3: it comes down to. You know, are these characters engaging
3:11
Speaker 3: and what are they into and what are the stories
3:13
Speaker 3: and how do I relate to it? And if it's
3:15
Speaker 3: not something that's either funny or relatable like sci fi
3:20
Speaker 3: or period piece things like that, again, you've got to
3:23
Speaker 3: be so grounded in whatever the truth is and then
3:27
Speaker 3: let all of the you know, shenanigans or fantasy or
3:31
Speaker 3: whatever kind of stem from that.
3:32
Speaker 2: I think it doesn't get difficult to stay consistent because
3:35
Speaker 2: I don't see that many black shows on ARA anymore
3:39
Speaker 2: like I used to, and as actresses do so many gigs,
3:43
Speaker 2: Is it easier to get gigs.
3:44
Speaker 4: Or is it more difficult? Is it less work out there?
3:47
Speaker 3: Yeah? I was just talking with Holly Robinson Pete about this,
3:50
Speaker 3: and it just seems like it's harder now and post
3:54
Speaker 3: strike bounce back and things like that. One would think
3:58
Speaker 3: that because again, like I said, there's much content, there's
4:01
Speaker 3: so many platforms that there'd just be this plethora of
4:03
Speaker 3: of of jobs and things. But at the same time,
4:07
Speaker 3: you've got less episodes in a season now, so I
4:11
Speaker 3: think that gets factored in as well. But overall, it
4:16
Speaker 3: is an effort that you have got to put in
4:19
Speaker 3: to keep it fresh, to keep it popping, because people
4:24
Speaker 3: can recognize game and if you're trying to phone it in,
4:27
Speaker 3: that's not gonna fly, you know, So, so you do
4:30
Speaker 3: have to be committed and at the end of or
4:33
Speaker 3: at the beginning of every season of the upshows. I'm
4:35
Speaker 3: always you know, kind of giving our our war cry
4:39
Speaker 3: of level up, let's level up. And I think that's
4:42
Speaker 3: what we do.
4:42
Speaker 1: Do they have to do?
4:43
Speaker 2: You have to go out and try out for these
4:45
Speaker 2: parts anymore as one of those things. But like now
4:46
Speaker 2: they'll call me for a part I'm not I'm not
4:48
Speaker 2: I'm not at there. I'm too iconic, I'm not doing that.
4:58
Speaker 3: There is a shift. So I don't know necessarily audition
5:01
Speaker 3: and I haven't for quite some time. Amen, But you know,
5:04
Speaker 3: you get considered. But my thing is, don't just tell me, well,
5:08
Speaker 3: you know your name is out there or your name
5:11
Speaker 3: is on the list, because I don't know what people
5:14
Speaker 3: think when they think Kim Fields, especially the industry, And
5:18
Speaker 3: so my thing is I'm usually having to erase some ghosts,
5:25
Speaker 3: you know what I mean.
5:26
Speaker 4: So that meaning I.
5:28
Speaker 3: Don't I don't want you to just go, oh yeah,
5:31
Speaker 3: well Kim Field's and then your mind thinks of anything
5:34
Speaker 3: from facts of life to and with the internet everything.
5:38
Speaker 3: I mean, I just posted Miss Butterworth commercial, you know,
5:42
Speaker 3: as a throwback living single. You just never know what
5:47
Speaker 3: people's perception is, not just in terms of you, but
5:51
Speaker 3: then your ability to do that character to be a chameleon,
5:55
Speaker 3: and to me, that's one of the greatest gifts of
5:57
Speaker 3: acting is to be a chameleon. I don't don't want
6:00
Speaker 3: to play Kim Fields and something because then what is
6:03
Speaker 3: that I'm not acting, which is why Regime was one
6:05
Speaker 3: of my favorites to play because she was so not
6:08
Speaker 3: like me. But but I'm not in that space of
6:11
Speaker 3: where I go in and audition and things like that.
6:14
Speaker 3: There are times that I'll go in and meet like
6:17
Speaker 3: a chemistry read go in and meet casting or producer's
6:21
Speaker 3: director just so that they they see what's up. I can't.
6:27
Speaker 5: I guess the best way to describe it most of
6:29
Speaker 5: the times in Hollywood is not even about what you
6:30
Speaker 5: do on camera.
6:31
Speaker 1: That was how you are off camera.
6:33
Speaker 5: But you I don't know, but you've never had that
6:35
Speaker 5: reputation to be in like difficult to work when you
6:37
Speaker 5: never flipped the table in the.
6:42
Speaker 3: I don't know, no, no, because I feel like number one,
6:46
Speaker 3: I just love our industry. And then in terms of
6:50
Speaker 3: somebody who is into wellness, you treat people with respect
6:53
Speaker 3: and and you you know, should get that reciprocity. There
6:59
Speaker 3: are times when you do difficult moments, sure, and working
7:02
Speaker 3: on a project after a while working like with family,
7:05
Speaker 3: and we all know that family can you know, be
7:08
Speaker 3: you know, interesting to to navigate and so. But but
7:12
Speaker 3: there's a certain level of professionalism, there's a certain level
7:15
Speaker 3: of respect. Home training you.
7:20
Speaker 1: Don't hear that no more.
7:22
Speaker 3: You got from home Trainers, right exactly.
7:26
Speaker 6: Regime was my girl, though, like that was my I'm
7:28
Speaker 6: glad that you said that that was your favorite to
7:30
Speaker 6: play because that was my girl.
7:31
Speaker 4: I grew up watching that show.
7:33
Speaker 6: And speaking of those shows like Facts of Life and
7:36
Speaker 6: Living Single, how are you with the cast of those shows?
7:40
Speaker 3: So close? So close? Yes, Kim Coles and I just
7:44
Speaker 3: had a text and tc uh the Living Single cast
7:48
Speaker 3: along with the show's creator. Event we are on a
7:52
Speaker 3: text thread that is that should really be the reboot
7:55
Speaker 3: just this text or just just take snaps a screenshot
7:58
Speaker 3: to that. But we are super close basically Again, like
8:02
Speaker 3: I said, when you work with people for a stretch
8:04
Speaker 3: of time, even on a movie, you know that's a
8:07
Speaker 3: month or six weeks, eight weeks sometimes you know, six months,
8:11
Speaker 3: you really do become like a family. And when I
8:13
Speaker 3: grew up, I started out as a crew baby. So
8:16
Speaker 3: I always love you know that that kind of famiale concept.
8:21
Speaker 3: So we always keep in touch. I'm always, you know,
8:24
Speaker 3: making sure that I'm doing my part, you know, to
8:27
Speaker 3: stay in touch with people and see what's up.
8:30
Speaker 5: I've been hearing Queen Erica Alexander talk talk about a reboot.
8:34
Speaker 5: I don't know how serious it is because she jokes
8:35
Speaker 5: a lot, but she'll put up She'll be like, you'll say,
8:37
Speaker 5: money to the GoFundMe.
8:38
Speaker 1: Don't you know what I mean? Are there really some
8:41
Speaker 1: serious talks happening.
8:43
Speaker 3: We've been on and off in serious talks. And I
8:45
Speaker 3: think the thing that is the great disruptor, and it's
8:48
Speaker 3: a good problem to have, is nobody's available. I mean,
8:51
Speaker 3: that's that's a great problem to have. Nobody is sitting
8:54
Speaker 3: around like, yeah, y'all remember me, we could do this.
8:58
Speaker 3: It's not the case at all. And so I think
9:00
Speaker 3: that that's that's really like I said, it's a good
9:02
Speaker 3: problem to have. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And you know, to me,
9:08
Speaker 3: the thing about reboots, you gotta be careful with them,
9:10
Speaker 3: I think because there the idea is always intriguing and
9:14
Speaker 3: and you want more of of something that's familiar to you.
9:18
Speaker 3: But if you get it wrong, you can't just throw
9:21
Speaker 3: these characters back together and be like, what would y'all
9:23
Speaker 3: be doing now? And and so I really applaud people
9:27
Speaker 3: who do it really well because they're taking the time
9:31
Speaker 3: to not just think about what these characters would be
9:33
Speaker 3: doing now, but how to not like Cobra Kai, they
9:36
Speaker 3: did the damn thing. You know, they really that was
9:39
Speaker 3: a reboot slash reimagining. And so I feel like when
9:43
Speaker 3: you when you really fine tuned it and you're strategic
9:46
Speaker 3: about it, it can be great. But again the timing,
9:49
Speaker 3: do you.
9:49
Speaker 2: Feel like you have to remind people I said, you said?
9:52
Speaker 2: You reposted an old Waterworth commercial. Sometimes you feel like
9:55
Speaker 2: you got to remind people what you've done because they
9:57
Speaker 2: forget so fast.
9:58
Speaker 3: Oh No, the Internet is marvelous.
10:02
Speaker 4: Maybe I should, as you get embarrassed with some of
10:04
Speaker 4: the older stuff.
10:06
Speaker 3: No, because I know the place that it comes from.
10:09
Speaker 3: I recognize that the characters that I've been able to
10:11
Speaker 3: breathe life into the shows that I've been a part of,
10:15
Speaker 3: they mean something to people, and not just people of color,
10:19
Speaker 3: not just black women, but they mean something. And so
10:22
Speaker 3: I understand again the place that it that it comes from. So,
10:26
Speaker 3: you know, I don't get that that don't get mad
10:29
Speaker 3: or upset or embarrassed. It's actually still very surreal, you know,
10:33
Speaker 3: the way that you can do something and it has impact.
10:37
Speaker 3: What you guys do here, and it has impact, you know,
10:41
Speaker 3: and people hold on to some of these gems and
10:45
Speaker 3: and won't let them go.
10:47
Speaker 5: You know, I wanted to ask you, what do you
10:49
Speaker 5: think Black people are more impactful nowadays behind the camera
10:52
Speaker 5: are in front of the camera.
10:55
Speaker 3: Well, I think it's finally, you know, kind of evened
10:58
Speaker 3: itself out in terms of the amount of storytellers and
11:01
Speaker 3: creatives behind the scenes, so that there are more stories.
11:06
Speaker 3: But we're not just telling black stories either, and so
11:10
Speaker 3: I feel like that's been really significant, you know. But
11:14
Speaker 3: I think that we're evening out in terms of where
11:17
Speaker 3: our impact is. We have more cinematographers, we have more editors,
11:22
Speaker 3: we have more showrunners, more makeup and hair teams. I mean,
11:27
Speaker 3: you know, you have people that are just in all
11:29
Speaker 3: the spaces more now than ever, and so I feel
11:34
Speaker 3: like that's helping to level the playing fields so that
11:37
Speaker 3: we're now more of a collective as opposed to just
11:40
Speaker 3: the select actors and actresses that were the chosen ones.
11:46
Speaker 1: I know, the representation always matters. Where does it?
11:49
Speaker 5: What do you think it matters more? Hm, Well, to
11:54
Speaker 5: be seen or creating this story.
11:56
Speaker 3: So to speak, Well, if you well, I think you
11:59
Speaker 3: know it's it's one of those which comes first, chicken
12:01
Speaker 3: of the egg, because you have to have the story
12:04
Speaker 3: to be seen in. Yeah, but then you have to
12:07
Speaker 3: have the lights to be seen. You have to have
12:11
Speaker 3: you know, the cameras to CEOs. So so I feel
12:15
Speaker 3: like it's it's all it's all one. It's it's it's
12:19
Speaker 3: a movement, you know, I feel like it's all one movement.
12:22
Speaker 1: Lighting is important for black people, say, we don't talk
12:25
Speaker 1: about that enough. Lighting is important.
12:26
Speaker 5: You know.
12:27
Speaker 3: There is a celebrated director of photography who started out
12:31
Speaker 3: as a lighting director. Well he didn't start out like
12:33
Speaker 3: they probably started as you know well below that named
12:36
Speaker 3: Don Morgan. And Don Morgan was just I think last
12:41
Speaker 3: year inducted into the Hall of Fame. He has one
12:44
Speaker 3: countless multiple emmys. Uh. And he started I learned from
12:49
Speaker 3: him on Facts of Life and then he was the
12:52
Speaker 3: original lighting director and set in DP and set the
12:56
Speaker 3: show for the upshows. So coming full circle, the woman
12:59
Speaker 3: who does my makeup on the Upshaws did my makeup
13:02
Speaker 3: on facts of Life.
13:04
Speaker 5: Wow.
13:04
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, our first A d started out as a
13:08
Speaker 3: runner on Facts of Life and now he's you know,
13:11
Speaker 3: so it's just it's some of our camera people, you know,
13:14
Speaker 3: people that I've known since I was a little girl
13:16
Speaker 3: and I learned from. But but everybody is important. I
13:21
Speaker 3: think that's that's the main thing about crew. And you know,
13:25
Speaker 3: they used to call it above the line, below the line,
13:28
Speaker 3: and at this point there's no line anymore. You know,
13:30
Speaker 3: some people will be like, well, there is for paying,
13:33
Speaker 3: but we're talking about it from a creative aspect and
13:36
Speaker 3: right now, you know, it's it's all the collective effort, effort.
13:40
Speaker 4: Now, you started out so young acting, right, yes, And.
13:43
Speaker 2: We hear all these stories about childhood actors and actresses.
13:46
Speaker 1: Did you have to go.
13:46
Speaker 2: Through any of that where you know, how did your
13:49
Speaker 2: parents or family make sure that you were safe from
13:50
Speaker 2: all the stuff that we're hearing about exactly?
13:57
Speaker 3: And you know, the thing that still gets me to
13:58
Speaker 3: this day, bro, is that she was a single teen mom.
14:02
Speaker 3: She ain't know nothing about raising a kid, let alone
14:04
Speaker 3: raising a kid in the industry, but she had the
14:08
Speaker 3: good sense to know, hey, we need to make sure
14:12
Speaker 3: you're kind. She was an actress and always knew to
14:17
Speaker 3: be professional, so she imparted that to me, but she
14:21
Speaker 3: never stopped parenting me. You know, So a lot of
14:25
Speaker 3: the stuff now, just growing up, that's you know, whether
14:29
Speaker 3: you're in Hollywood or you know, anywhere else in the
14:32
Speaker 3: Hollywood of Harlem, you're still going to have to grow
14:35
Speaker 3: up and deal with all the shit that comes from
14:38
Speaker 3: just growing up, growing pains. But when you're doing it,
14:43
Speaker 3: you know, in a fish bowl, of course it's different.
14:45
Speaker 3: There's more pressure. But but again, I'm chips Kid, so
14:50
Speaker 3: you know, it's one of that I got home training.
14:52
Speaker 3: I knew better.
14:53
Speaker 6: You had directed a bunch of episodes of the keen
14:56
Speaker 6: and Kenan and Cal Show as well, And I don't
14:58
Speaker 6: know if you saw the Quiet on the Set documentary.
15:00
Speaker 3: But I did not see it, but I'm aware of it,
15:03
Speaker 3: and I was actually not there during that time. I
15:06
Speaker 3: was after that time. But I don't know if that
15:09
Speaker 3: was your question.
15:10
Speaker 6: Yea, how closely did you work with Dan Schneider?
15:13
Speaker 3: And yeah, like Keenan said, you know, we kind of
15:17
Speaker 3: came after all of that, so we were in a
15:19
Speaker 3: different time frames.
15:23
Speaker 5: Miss Chipsfield, right when you saw that episode, on Good
15:27
Speaker 5: Times when she played Janet Jackson Mama, yeah, right with
15:30
Speaker 5: that eye in and everything else. Do you have an
15:32
Speaker 5: Askcret where did that come from? And I know she
15:34
Speaker 5: wasn't doing that.
15:35
Speaker 3: No, No, she wasn't doing uh. And the thing for
15:41
Speaker 3: me with that episode is and that storyline is I
15:44
Speaker 3: saw them practice. I saw them rehearse. LaToya would bring
15:50
Speaker 3: jan over to our apartment and studio city and they
15:52
Speaker 3: would work on that material. So to me, it wasn't terrifying,
15:58
Speaker 3: like you know, everybody's like this woman scared me and
16:01
Speaker 3: still does and I'm shook and all that. I'm like,
16:03
Speaker 3: they just they were working hard in the kitchen, and
16:06
Speaker 3: you know, so I have a very different perspective on it.
16:10
Speaker 3: But I'd always known my mother to be a tremendous actor.
16:15
Speaker 3: I mean tremendous actor back in that New York early seventies,
16:21
Speaker 3: mid seventies when they were doing all the movies out
16:23
Speaker 3: here and and just it was a different type of acting,
16:29
Speaker 3: you know that was so hardcore and so real, Clauding
16:33
Speaker 3: taking a pelm one, two three, Come Back, Charleston Blue,
16:36
Speaker 3: you know, those those movies where they weren't the blaxploitation is,
16:40
Speaker 3: and she she was, I mean she was, you know,
16:42
Speaker 3: twenty twenty one, twenty two coming up in that and
16:45
Speaker 3: she would bring the thunder all the time. And so
16:48
Speaker 3: when she migrated to La they you know, it was
16:51
Speaker 3: almost like that hadn't seen that kind of that style
16:53
Speaker 3: of acting, which is why she really stood out.
16:56
Speaker 5: Did she did she like, I don't want to say force,
16:58
Speaker 5: that's nothing, right Rod, But did she pushed you to Hollywood?
17:00
Speaker 3: Not at all? Not at all. So when mom was
17:03
Speaker 3: doing Pearl Bailey's Hello Dolly, I would go to either
17:08
Speaker 3: to the theater here on Broadway, or I would go
17:10
Speaker 3: to see her on tour. And I loved being behind
17:15
Speaker 3: the scenes. Like I'm a really shy person, and I
17:17
Speaker 3: was a very shy kid. I was an only child
17:20
Speaker 3: for the longest time, so I wasn't like watch me
17:23
Speaker 3: and not at all. I was one of them, you know,
17:25
Speaker 3: sit back in the cut and watch. But I loved
17:28
Speaker 3: seeing what I would come to know as the artisans, right,
17:31
Speaker 3: the people, the crew babies. Well, I mean I was
17:34
Speaker 3: the crew baby, but the crew still working and seeing
17:37
Speaker 3: them create the wigs and the makeup and the sets
17:40
Speaker 3: and this and the costumes and everything, and so That's
17:42
Speaker 3: what I loved about it, and I knew that I
17:45
Speaker 3: wanted to be a part of that. And she would
17:47
Speaker 3: always once I got started in it, she would always say, well,
17:51
Speaker 3: do you want to do this? Like every time we
17:52
Speaker 3: would get the call that facts life had been picked up,
17:55
Speaker 3: she said, do you still want to do it? Do
17:56
Speaker 3: you still want to act? You still want to do
17:58
Speaker 3: this again? And wow, because like, how do you know
18:02
Speaker 3: to do that?
18:03
Speaker 1: So did you ever get out of line?
18:05
Speaker 5: And she grabbed an iron and just playing, but she did.
18:09
Speaker 3: She did backhand me, and I was like, okay, mama,
18:13
Speaker 3: backhand and one just a note. Well, I had warning too,
18:18
Speaker 3: because my mom, from the time she was a little girl,
18:21
Speaker 3: she had a temper and and so if she bit
18:24
Speaker 3: her knuckle, that means you get the hell out the way. Yeah. Yeah,
18:29
Speaker 3: And so I saw it and I was like, but
18:32
Speaker 3: that don't mean me right now, I'm not doing it
18:38
Speaker 3: it exactly now.
18:39
Speaker 2: I wanted to you know, you pick what you want
18:41
Speaker 2: to do. Is it's something that you've been thinking about
18:43
Speaker 2: that you want to do?
18:45
Speaker 3: Oh? Boy, absolutely, I want to do some And I've
18:51
Speaker 3: been developing with a really great team some projects in
18:54
Speaker 3: the sci fi genre. I have an inner mermaid in
18:59
Speaker 3: me that is just dying to come out. I also
19:02
Speaker 3: have an inner explorer in me. So I'm just now
19:06
Speaker 3: starting to have conversations with National Geographic, which nice man.
19:11
Speaker 3: Wait to y'all see me at the top of some
19:13
Speaker 3: glacier and you know, listen, that is me all day,
19:17
Speaker 3: every day. Yes, So I just love that kind of
19:22
Speaker 3: like we're not going on that.
19:27
Speaker 4: Glacier.
19:29
Speaker 1: So you want to play like a mermaid like.
19:31
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, but but but like you mean like like
19:36
Speaker 3: mermaids water swimming. Yes, absolutely.
19:40
Speaker 1: Well.
19:40
Speaker 3: I love water. I love water, and so I've always
19:43
Speaker 3: been fascinated with what is beneath the surface and I
19:47
Speaker 3: really love like Netflix had this documentary I'll call people
19:51
Speaker 3: Sean listen that thing right there. I started following all
19:54
Speaker 3: of them and they were like, oh my god. And
19:57
Speaker 3: so I just think it's really just so fascinat And
20:00
Speaker 3: my son asked me once, you know, if you had
20:02
Speaker 3: a superpower, well, and I was like, I'd want to
20:04
Speaker 3: breathe underwater, Like that's the superpower that I what is?
20:08
Speaker 3: People people are the mermaid culture. So they are it's
20:15
Speaker 3: a subculture, but it's like a whole thing. Like they
20:17
Speaker 3: got like festivals and co. But they they they embraced
20:32
Speaker 3: the mermaid concept for the mermaid concept, and then they
20:36
Speaker 3: have cruisers, they have competitions and things. And there's this guy,
20:40
Speaker 3: Merr Taylor. He makes these incredible I promised before God
20:44
Speaker 3: that he makes these incredible fins tails. But they are
20:49
Speaker 3: so gorgeous and elaborate. And he started as a kid
20:53
Speaker 3: by watching in Florida this hole in the sixties. They
20:57
Speaker 3: had like this whole swim show with these with these
21:01
Speaker 3: women who would wear these beautiful costumes and things, and
21:05
Speaker 3: I was fascinating. So I've always loved that. So then
21:08
Speaker 3: I'm like, what if there's like a c I A
21:10
Speaker 3: but for the whole mirror culture.
21:13
Speaker 4: They aliens for the aliens they have for the Mermaids.
21:15
Speaker 3: Right exactly exactly, but but it's it's it's their version
21:20
Speaker 3: of the CIA. Like why do y'all keep coming in
21:22
Speaker 3: the water looking for stuff? Get out of here? That
21:25
Speaker 3: could be it could be c Like come on, now, yeah.
21:31
Speaker 5: I got a book I'm going to recommend you called
21:32
Speaker 5: Shallow Waters. It's about uh we got them. Oh yes,
21:36
Speaker 5: it's by It's good. It's a fictional.
21:38
Speaker 1: Book to read.
21:40
Speaker 3: I love to.
21:45
Speaker 6: That don't even read.
21:45
Speaker 3: I love, I love to read. I'm actually reading this
21:52
Speaker 3: beautiful story. It's actually the true story of Elizabeth Taylor
21:56
Speaker 3: and Montgomery Cliff and their friendship and they're working together
21:59
Speaker 3: and it's it's beautiful. But going back to the book, yes.
22:03
Speaker 5: I'm gonna give you if you leave, But like I
22:05
Speaker 5: love the underwater exploration because I feel like the Earth
22:08
Speaker 5: is not seventy five percent water for no reason. You
22:11
Speaker 5: hear those stories about how it probably was a huge flood,
22:13
Speaker 5: and like there's so much under there, like a whole
22:15
Speaker 5: other civilizations.
22:16
Speaker 1: I truly believe that.
22:18
Speaker 3: Okay, so this weekend I'm dropping my first in person
22:22
Speaker 3: conversation with refreshed by KF that's my series of conversations
22:26
Speaker 3: in my wellness space, and my first in person conversation
22:29
Speaker 3: is with an explorer engineer named Albert Lynn. Albert was
22:33
Speaker 3: on the show Welcome to Earth that Will Smith did
22:36
Speaker 3: for National Geographic and then he hosts these shows Cities
22:41
Speaker 3: Revealed Lost Cities, the under what is it not underwater
22:45
Speaker 3: but the lost civilizations of the Mayans, And we were
22:48
Speaker 3: talking about, you know, these civilizations and how when they
22:53
Speaker 3: discover what really was there, who was there? How empowering
22:58
Speaker 3: it is for the people who were there. So I'm
23:02
Speaker 3: really as you can hear and see, I'm just I'm fascinated.
23:05
Speaker 4: Can you better not get on one of them submarines
23:06
Speaker 4: to go down there?
23:07
Speaker 1: You better not to go down there? You better not.
23:17
Speaker 3: I will do my very best. I will do my best,
23:19
Speaker 3: but I mean, you know, there's there's certain dramas that
23:22
Speaker 3: that for me. In twenty sixteen, I told my team
23:25
Speaker 3: it's all about uncharted waters. We only say yes to
23:29
Speaker 3: things we haven't done before, to spaces we have not
23:32
Speaker 3: been in before. And not only saying yes, but go
23:35
Speaker 3: out and go out into the uncharted waters and find
23:39
Speaker 3: the new storytellers, find the new characters and things like that,
23:43
Speaker 3: the new styles of storytelling. So that's where I am
23:47
Speaker 3: with that, because I still love after all this time,
23:50
Speaker 3: I still love what I do. And that's why when
23:53
Speaker 3: I put the Miss Butterworth picture up as like, Wow,
23:56
Speaker 3: that's me and we're still going. You know, we're still going?
24:01
Speaker 1: Is what has changed in Hollywood?
24:05
Speaker 3: Well, I think obviously the biggest thing is just technology
24:09
Speaker 3: that then informs things like how people watch, where people watch,
24:15
Speaker 3: how much people can watch. So I think tech has
24:19
Speaker 3: really made such an impact. But I remember when we
24:21
Speaker 3: were doing Living Single and it was like, oh, we
24:23
Speaker 3: got to renegotiate because DVDs is a thing and nobody
24:26
Speaker 3: knew what that was going to be, like you know,
24:28
Speaker 3: and so now there's streaming and now there's all these
24:31
Speaker 3: different ways that you can watch. But everything is cyclical,
24:35
Speaker 3: you know, everything comes back. But I think tech that
24:39
Speaker 3: you know, you can shoot anything on your phone and
24:42
Speaker 3: upload it to your own YouTube channel and now you're
24:44
Speaker 3: a network executive. Well then that's the thing. That's why
24:50
Speaker 3: when people ask man, I'm like, always make sure the
24:52
Speaker 3: quality is there because everybody has a microphone now and
24:56
Speaker 3: everybody has a camera now, But it's how you're using it.
24:59
Speaker 2: How does that effect when you're renegotiating and you're doing
25:02
Speaker 2: all these things. Because you know, we were growing up,
25:04
Speaker 2: we would set out we were Thursday at eight, we
25:06
Speaker 2: have to watch this, you know, Sunday at this we'd
25:08
Speaker 2: have to watch this. But now it's kind of like,
25:10
Speaker 2: you know, well I'll I'll catch it tomorrow. Yeah, I mean,
25:13
Speaker 2: and how does that.
25:14
Speaker 4: Because can you actually register who's watching what shows?
25:17
Speaker 2: Because if you look at social media, the shows are hits,
25:20
Speaker 2: but the shows that.
25:20
Speaker 4: Are hits that we love sometimes don't get renewed.
25:23
Speaker 3: Yeah, well, they talk about and they use words like
25:27
Speaker 3: analytics and you know, algorithms and all of that to
25:32
Speaker 3: really measure who's watching what, how much you how much
25:36
Speaker 3: time you're watching something and all that, which is again
25:39
Speaker 3: a testament to everyone who loves the Upshaws because we
25:43
Speaker 3: stay in the top ten for so long even though
25:47
Speaker 3: we're a half hour show and we only have you know,
25:50
Speaker 3: like five episodes or four episodes or six episodes, and
25:54
Speaker 3: so the idea that we are holding our own with
25:57
Speaker 3: these brands and these titles that have you know, ten
26:01
Speaker 3: episodes of one hour, that's you know, a lot more time,
26:06
Speaker 3: and yet we're still you know, in the running with them.
26:09
Speaker 3: So yes, they do have ways to monetize it and
26:14
Speaker 3: monitor it. That's as far as I as I as
26:18
Speaker 3: I know. In terms of the contracts though, yes, when
26:22
Speaker 3: you see like people getting monetizing from like YouTube or
26:27
Speaker 3: Google ads and things like that, so there are certain
26:29
Speaker 3: contracts where they say okay, after a certain number of
26:32
Speaker 3: minutes that are engaged or hours that are engaged, then
26:35
Speaker 3: you know, you get a check or you get more
26:37
Speaker 3: checks and things like that so they say that there's
26:41
Speaker 3: you know, there there's a science to all of it.
26:44
Speaker 5: They never going to show you the real numbers though,
26:46
Speaker 5: They're never going to show you all the analytics.
26:47
Speaker 3: Well, you know, don't don't. Don't look behind the curtain
26:50
Speaker 3: too hard.
26:53
Speaker 1: May is mental Health Awareness month.
26:55
Speaker 3: It's also my birthday month. But yes it is. Thank
26:59
Speaker 3: you so very much, thank you, thank you.
27:00
Speaker 1: But yes it is a refreshed by KF. What is
27:04
Speaker 1: that exactly? I heard you mentioned it earlier.
27:05
Speaker 3: Yes, so refreshed by KF. Thank you for asking. That's
27:08
Speaker 3: my wellness platform. It's my wellness brand. We do events,
27:13
Speaker 3: we have retreats, we have one coming up in June,
27:18
Speaker 3: and it's a space where for me, I needed to
27:21
Speaker 3: be able to have wellness presented in a way that
27:25
Speaker 3: for me, was accessible, that was attainable, sustainable. You know,
27:31
Speaker 3: that didn't mean I had to eat just only green
27:34
Speaker 3: foods and have no fun and you know, if I
27:38
Speaker 3: didn't have my ankle and my you know neck and
27:41
Speaker 3: wrapped up and all this stuff, that I'm not going
27:44
Speaker 3: to be well. And I just felt like, well, that
27:46
Speaker 3: can't be And I wanted to hear from people who
27:50
Speaker 3: were either on wellness journeys or healing from different things,
27:54
Speaker 3: or had different products and brands that weren't getting featured
27:58
Speaker 3: in some of the more mainstream you know, wink wink,
28:02
Speaker 3: mainstream area.
28:08
Speaker 6: You can't drop no hints in here.
28:14
Speaker 3: Okay, but but but it's not a black brand. Refreshed
28:19
Speaker 3: by KF is for literally every body. And so my job,
28:24
Speaker 3: I feel like in the wellness space is I'm not
28:26
Speaker 3: an expert. I don't have answers, but I'm standing next
28:30
Speaker 3: to the man or next to the woman who does.
28:32
Speaker 3: I'm able to set a table and provide meals. What
28:36
Speaker 3: you choose to come and eat, that's on you. And
28:39
Speaker 3: that's how I feel about the wellness space. So without retreats,
28:44
Speaker 3: I do the same kind of thing where I curate it.
28:46
Speaker 3: I personally cultivated the location, the spaces, the activities, activations,
28:52
Speaker 3: all of that, the refreshing friends who are coming, and
28:55
Speaker 3: just making sure the schedule, you know, because I just
28:58
Speaker 3: start with what is it that I need? Because I
29:00
Speaker 3: keep finding out that when I put out there, here's
29:03
Speaker 3: what I need, Here's what I'm feeling, Here's what I'm thinking,
29:05
Speaker 3: Here's what's on me. The masses are like yo, shit,
29:09
Speaker 3: me do and it ends up becoming that type of
29:13
Speaker 3: unique share, you know, and an environment in a safe space.
29:18
Speaker 3: So that's refreshed by KF. We have live conversations now,
29:22
Speaker 3: we have the IG conversations that started back in twenty twenty.
29:26
Speaker 3: We have the retreats. We have of course social media,
29:30
Speaker 3: the YouTube channel where we help you know, people find
29:34
Speaker 3: their inner explorer. We shine light on different subcultures, not
29:39
Speaker 3: just the murror people, but like mixologists, you know, and
29:44
Speaker 3: just different places and spaces where you go, oh my gosh,
29:48
Speaker 3: that's really interesting stories and people and experiences that maybe
29:53
Speaker 3: inspire you to go you know what, I will. I
29:56
Speaker 3: will get up ten minutes earlier and go walking, or
29:58
Speaker 3: I will learn how to swim, or I will decide
30:03
Speaker 3: to kayak for five minutes or whatever it may be.
30:06
Speaker 3: That just helps people come out of their comfort zones
30:09
Speaker 3: but deal with their well being. Our tagline is give
30:14
Speaker 3: yourself permission to be well. As an actor, I'm always
30:17
Speaker 3: finding how powerful it is when you give your self
30:19
Speaker 3: permission to go there right, to be even funnier, to
30:23
Speaker 3: be even more emotional, and you give yourself permission. And
30:26
Speaker 3: that's always the catchphrase in acting. And I thought, well,
30:29
Speaker 3: what if we open that up more in terms of
30:32
Speaker 3: your well being, you know, and we also make sure
30:37
Speaker 3: I truly am am the champion for making sure that
30:41
Speaker 3: men and men's wellness is a big part of our platform.
30:45
Speaker 3: So we have refreshments and the emmy n is you know,
30:49
Speaker 3: more prominent, and it's to make sure that the fellas
30:51
Speaker 3: know you are welcomed here and we will help you
30:55
Speaker 3: cultivate your wellness journey as well.
30:58
Speaker 1: Incredible where did they go to?
30:59
Speaker 3: The Yes So Refresh Retreat by KF dot com. That's
31:04
Speaker 3: the website for the retreat and that also gives you
31:07
Speaker 3: things like our store. We just dropped our first playlist
31:10
Speaker 3: that I curated on Spotify and we again have Channel
31:15
Speaker 3: Refresh on YouTube of course, refreshed by KF is the
31:21
Speaker 3: ig and TikTok and social media, but basically using your
31:29
Speaker 3: microphone and your platform to really impact in a different way.
31:33
Speaker 3: And that's that's what I feel. People ask me about
31:35
Speaker 3: legacy quite a bit, and I feel like, at some
31:39
Speaker 3: point I want legacy for me not just to be
31:42
Speaker 3: these great characters, but also these great experiences and this
31:47
Speaker 3: great space that people feel like she helped me take
31:51
Speaker 3: care of myself and not just with the gift of
31:54
Speaker 3: laughter or the gift of being seen on television seeing
31:59
Speaker 3: somebody that looked like me, but my literal wellness as well.
32:04
Speaker 5: You know, want to ask, because you brought up the
32:06
Speaker 5: characters that you play, you played some iconic characters, like
32:09
Speaker 5: that's rare for anybody.
32:10
Speaker 1: I don't get black, white.
32:11
Speaker 5: Whatever, it's real you to have that type of success,
32:13
Speaker 5: you know three different times. Was there ever a role
32:16
Speaker 5: that you auditioned for or even turned down that that
32:19
Speaker 5: became iconic with somebody else and you was like, damn,
32:21
Speaker 5: I should have did that.
32:23
Speaker 3: No, okay, but but I do have a story in reverse.
32:28
Speaker 3: So I got a call to h I got a
32:33
Speaker 3: call to go in for storm for the X Men. Wow,
32:36
Speaker 3: don't get happy, don't do it family. And so when
32:42
Speaker 3: I got the call, I thought.
32:44
Speaker 1: What is helly?
32:44
Speaker 3: Don't what is she tripping?
32:46
Speaker 5: What?
32:46
Speaker 3: Don't do that?
32:47
Speaker 4: Girl?
32:47
Speaker 3: But okay, one man's trash is another man's track. So
32:51
Speaker 3: I'm like, okay. So I got my boots out and
32:53
Speaker 3: my outfit and I was on white hair Listen. I
32:57
Speaker 3: was ready to show them, only to find out that
33:01
Speaker 3: the damn thing was for the animated series.
33:07
Speaker 2: It was like, oh, they probably like the way you
33:13
Speaker 2: showed up.
33:22
Speaker 3: No I didn't. I didn't show up for that like that,
33:25
Speaker 3: and yeah, so but yeah, no, that's that's all.
33:30
Speaker 4: Yeah, five of the up shows out on that season.
33:33
Speaker 1: Five.
33:34
Speaker 3: No, no, no, he's right. So they did this thing,
33:37
Speaker 3: they did like a little test to see, you know,
33:40
Speaker 3: calling it parts rather than seasons because they would drop
33:43
Speaker 3: half and half and so, so they called it parts.
33:47
Speaker 3: So it's part. I just say new episodes, new episodes,
33:51
Speaker 3: and just you know, leave it at that.
33:54
Speaker 1: Parts are usually for films.
33:56
Speaker 3: Listen, yes, volume six, Well check it out.
34:01
Speaker 4: It's on Netflix right now. And we appreciate you for joining.
34:04
Speaker 3: Us so much. Thank you for having me. Thank you.
34:07
Speaker 2: All right, it's ken Fields, it's the Breakfast Club. Good morning,
34:10
Speaker 2: Wake that ass.
34:11
Speaker 1: Up in the morning Club. Breakfast Club.