Latest / Yeah Buddy! Podcast / From Friday After Next to Tyler Perry: Inside Reggie Gaskins’ Cinematic Climb
Transcript
- 0:00Music.
- 0:30Yes, yes, yes. What's going on, world? This is your man, Buddy Romick,
- 0:33and we are back at it with another episode of the Yeah Buddy podcast.
- 0:37And you know how we do on every episode. I like to bring some of my friends
- 0:40in the entertainment business.
- 0:42We sit down, chop it up, talk about our journeys in Hollywood, see what we got going on.
- 0:46And this episode is like no other,
- 0:48y'all. So if you are a first time listener, thank you for tuning in.
- 0:51And if you are a returning friend, y'all welcome back. We got another exciting episode for y'all.
- 0:54We got my good friend here, man. Y'all might have seen him in the movie Friday
- 0:57after next. You're also going to see the Tyler Perry series.
- 1:01She's the people streaming right now on Netflix, and you've seen them on a whole
- 1:05bunch of TV shows and movies.
- 1:06In the meantime, in between time, right now, y'all, I want y'all to make it live.
- 1:11We'll make it live for my good friend, Mr. Reggie Gaskins, in the building, y'all.
- 1:15Thank you, man. Reggie, man. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you,
- 1:17Reggie, for coming and sitting down on the Yeah Buddy podcast. Thank you for tuning in.
- 1:23Yeah, buddy. Yeah, buddy. Yeah, buddy.
- 1:27So quick recap of how we got introduced. A short film of mine that I produced
- 1:31and directed was playing at the Chinese Theater earlier in May for this wonderful,
- 1:36wonderful film festival that was put on called the Andy Nights Film Festival.
- 1:41And that's how we had got introduced. What was your kind of connection?
- 1:46What led you to be there at the Andy Nights Film Festival?
- 1:49Andy Nights Film Festival started with my boy Dave Brown. So my very,
- 1:55my second short film that I ever did was one of the first films ever screened
- 2:00at an Indy Night Film Festival when he started it some 15 years ago.
- 2:05So I've been going to Indy Night off and on over the years, ever since the inaugural
- 2:11festival, which was 20 some years ago.
- 2:14Oh, awesome, man. That's great to see that, see how that's that kind of support
- 2:18because people need that.
- 2:19Because like you say, you the second one there, ours was like just this past month.
- 2:24So the support is what's really important. And like for us, like actors,
- 2:29you know, trying to make it as crazy as Hollywood and stuff like that.
- 2:32So that's your film was a really good film, dude.
- 2:37Oh, thank you, man. Yeah. Yeah. That almost. That was funny.
- 2:40Think that was that was probably like the first time oh well i've seen it you
- 2:44know i said because i was buying like edit and stuff like that but for the the
- 2:47crew and the cast and stuff like that that was able to make it out there that
- 2:50was their very first time not only seeing the movie but probably most likely
- 2:55see like seeing themselves on the big screen so that's why like i said like,
- 3:00that's important like paying it forward because you like you wouldn't ever know
- 3:03that back there just being at this film festival oh let me
- 3:06keep support let me keep supporting just how far
- 3:09you could take because i said i don't know that that could have been like our oscar
- 3:12moment you know what i'm saying just being there on hollywood boulevard and
- 3:15like nobody up here in sacramento says that they had a
- 3:18movie played at the chinese theater exactly right yeah
- 3:21so yeah so that's dope
- 3:24man that's dope and uh so your big break in in
- 3:27hollywood came being cast as officer officer b dicks and if friday friday after
- 3:34next how did that role how did that role come about So I was on a television
- 3:40pilot for ABC called Go Sick and the original Punk'd.
- 3:46And in that show, I played a meter maid who would give people parking tickets for no reason.
- 3:54And it became this big thing in Hollywood.
- 3:57And the producers of Friday After Next got wind of it, saw it.
- 4:03All my agents were like, yo, we want him to come in and audition for Officer B. Dix.
- 4:08And I'm still new, you know, in Hollywood to a certain extent.
- 4:11And I get in there and I see all these other great actors and comedians.
- 4:17I was like, yo, darn the audition. I need to get an autograph and a couple pictures.
- 4:22Because I didn't know. I was the funniest dude in Hollywood or anything like that.
- 4:28And I just went in there, did my thing, had some fun, you know,
- 4:31clowning, and got the call. And it was like, they booked you. And I was like, what?
- 4:35And for me, especially at that time, it was a testament of just staying diligent
- 4:43in prayer, because I prayed about it a lot, and diligent in the work ethic.
- 4:50I was always practicing acting. I used to go to talk to trees in the park and play characters.
- 4:58You know? And so for me, it was just a work ethic, to be honest with you.
- 5:04I just really tried to stay diligent and being prepared whenever that opportunity came.
- 5:10Yeah. I think that's what you talk about, like with the work ethic.
- 5:13Because as actors, we all think we're a unique room. We all think we're our
- 5:17own individual person, which we are.
- 5:19But it's different. like when you walk into like the audition room
- 5:22and there's like a hundred people that look like
- 5:25you you know i say people that audition for the same type of role you're like
- 5:28oh i guess i'm like you know it may not be
- 5:31as unique as i as i thought i was so it's bad now it's
- 5:34like you say that work ethic is that work ethic that's going
- 5:36to separate it you know that put it in that work that's going to separate you
- 5:41from getting that audition right right yeah and i have so um and so yeah i have
- 5:50a motto I live by that and I learned this from a motivational speaker.
- 5:55He said that success can only be purchased with the currency of hard work.
- 6:02I try to live by that. Oh, yeah. I'm going to take that with me.
- 6:08Can you say it one more time? Success can only be purchased by the currency of hard work.
- 6:15Awesome. Y'all's purchase it.
- 6:18And you had a background into a comedy firm, doing like sketch,
- 6:22also doing some stand-up and stuff like that. So what was it like?
- 6:25I saw some of your YouTube clips, bro. I saw some of your YouTube clips.
- 6:28I saw the performance at the Comedy Chateau and stuff like that.
- 6:31But yeah. So I studied at Second City in L.A. and Groundings in L.A. for a hot minute, right?
- 6:39I never wanted to do comedy. I didn't even want to do sketch.
- 6:43I got to L.A. from Philly coming off of the stages of Philly and New York and Off-Broadway.
- 6:49So I had done two trains, running my rainy black bottom, fences,
- 6:53pearly, victorious, you know, all these plays. Yeah.
- 6:57A plays. And I get to L.A. and they're like, oh, you're hilarious.
- 7:00No. No. You're like, I'm serious.
- 7:03Ain't nothing funny about what I'm about to do right now.
- 7:06And my A's like, Regis, you're funny. You should do more stand-up. For what?
- 7:11I can get you more auditions. Well, get better at your job, bro. Yeah.
- 7:16If you can't give me auditions as me as a dramatic actor, do your job.
- 7:20I don't want to do stand-up.
- 7:22And I said, I'm good at sketch. But stand-up, I was like, that's a whole other
- 7:27beast. You know, I can say, now, but don't put me in front of 30,000 people
- 7:31with a microphone in a band.
- 7:33Everybody won't look, you know?
- 7:36But my boy at the time, a brother named Earthquake, and another good friend
- 7:41of mine passed away, a brother named David Arnold.
- 7:43They said, Reg, if they want to pay you to be funny, learn to be funny.
- 7:49And I never looked at it like that. I'm all in my pride and ego.
- 7:53Like, I'm a theater-trained actor. I've done fences and my radius black bottom,
- 7:58you know, and when they put it so simple, it's like, you know what, let me learn it.
- 8:03And so I let me try.
- 8:06And brother named Chris Spencer, the first person that gave me a shot,
- 8:10put me on stage at the Laugh Factory. Hmm.
- 8:15Not the Laugh Factory. Shoot. A
- 8:17good thing. The club will come to me in a second. It's a famous club, too.
- 8:21And from there, I got into doing stand-up, which helped me book the role.
- 8:27ABC, which helped me book the role in Friday After Next.
- 8:31Yeah, it's crazy how, like, with doing stand-up comedy, I feel like,
- 8:35because you're right, as long as you write, it's always about yourself.
- 8:38It's about yourself, kind of, like, your view on things. and then
- 8:41you kind of you're able to kind of like take that into acting like make like
- 8:46you're able like more personable like with acting and stuff like that you i
- 8:49gotta be somebody else or trying to be somebody else you don't find yourself
- 8:52in somebody else but in stand-up comedy it's like i'm really just finding myself
- 8:56within myself exactly exactly.
- 9:01Just to put me up at the comedy store and yeah it's a whole art to it my boy
- 9:06david arnold used to teach a class called The Art of Stand-Up and just,
- 9:10you know, back then having the opportunity to work with Kat and Mike Epps and,
- 9:14you know, Kevin Hart and I and a couple other cats played on the celebrity basketball team.
- 9:20And just listening to them, the work ethic, you know, Earthquake used to get
- 9:25a newspaper and read the paper every day and try to figure out where's the funny
- 9:31in this as it relates to my life.
- 9:34And Quake and David Arnold, Chris Spencer, you know, scruncho and Rodney Perry,
- 9:40all these dudes, man, their work ethic is,
- 9:43be the best comedian they could be was inspiring to me to be the best actor I could be.
- 9:51Yeah. That was my passion.
- 9:54Stand up's your passion. Go for yours. Acting is mine.
- 9:58And I'm always pushing myself to try to be the best. I don't even get,
- 10:02you know, I ain't been on some of the shows I wouldn't be on.
- 10:05You know, I was up for and ain't get.
- 10:08But I never lost the joy for it, never lost the passion for it.
- 10:12And I'm so thankful and grateful to be on the Tyler Perry show.
- 10:16Coming out also, starring me, Andre Fuller and Selena Kay, Judy Johnson and
- 10:21Richard White. And so I'm just thankful, man.
- 10:24Is this another show? Besides She's the People?
- 10:28It's a new movie that I did called Commandment X that's coming out.
- 10:33Yeah. And this one, this one's a monster.
- 10:36Okay. We got the Yeah, Buddy exclusive. You don't got to say too much.
- 10:40I know NDAs and all that type of stuff. But yeah, we got the Yeah Buddy exclusive
- 10:44right now. Yeah. Awesome.
- 10:46And it's the first time we're talking about it publicly. All right,
- 10:49cool. I'll take it, man. I'll take it.
- 10:52I don't want to get you in too much trouble. So let's move on to the other project
- 10:55that you had just. You talked about comedy and stuff like that.
- 10:58I watched the Tyler Perry, She's the People. Shout out to Terry J.
- 11:01Vaughn, one of my favorite actresses.
- 11:02She actually just did a short film out here in the Bay Area,
- 11:05which is doing really good out here.
- 11:07But yeah, Tyler Perry, she's the people in this TV show.
- 11:11You play a character by the name of Reverend Jones in episode five and six.
- 11:18Yeah. Stick up.
- 11:22Tell us a little bit about the character, what it kind of took you to break
- 11:28it down, like the backstory for this character and how you kind of got into this character.
- 11:32So when I got the script and read about him, I was like, oh, he's a little shady.
- 11:36And so my first thought was, instead of just playing the character as this overly
- 11:43shady type dude, he just believes that what he's doing is right.
- 11:48He believes that the Lord has blessed him to do the things that he's doing,
- 11:53no matter how wrong they may be.
- 11:57I just kept it very natural, where it's like, I don't believe I'm doing anything
- 12:02wrong. You know, and he's a praying man. So the spirit hits him at any moment.
- 12:09You just never know when the spirit, oh glory, you just never know.
- 12:15It may hit him. And that was something that Tyler allowed me to incorporate.
- 12:20And Tyler is a very graceful, graceful director to actors.
- 12:23You know, he allows you to do your work.
- 12:28You know, it's the director thing. You know, it's like if I'm the director,
- 12:31I'm not the actor. You do your job. He,
- 12:36do their job at levels maybe they didn't even see themselves going.
- 12:41Very collaborative and I appreciate him for that. It was a great experience.
- 12:45I loved playing Reverend Jones.
- 12:46Everybody, write in the comments, bring back Reverend Jones.
- 12:50He has to come back. That pipeline is an essential storyline in the show.
- 12:56He has to come back because he plays an important part. He didn't even come
- 13:00back really rich. Right.
- 13:04Or the old most hated made it down,
- 13:08yeah and then so like speak like how you say one thing I just noticed when you
- 13:13was acting you talk about like with Tyler Perry a lot of you show like a free range like just.
- 13:19The two episodes that you were in I noticed you were able to show a huge range
- 13:25different types of emotions from being seriously concerned to like you said
- 13:29just break it out to the prayer to just being very,
- 13:31comical with it you know with just the two episodes that you were in.
- 13:37How were you able to kind of, I guess this is leading into like with your production
- 13:42company, Holla It's Your Boy Productions.
- 13:44How have you been able to, being your lead actor, directing yourself,
- 13:49editing yourself, writing yourself, how have you been able to take that and
- 13:53incorporate it into these other projects that you do on these other productions?
- 13:58So in terms of writing and directing for myself and stuff like that with my
- 14:02production company, company.
- 14:04Like I said, Hollywood sold me as a comedian. I saw myself as an actor.
- 14:09And I remember early on my career on stage, I was playing a slave.
- 14:14And this was like my third time playing a slave or something.
- 14:18And I was like, I don't want my whole career to be, yes, a boss,
- 14:21anything else. I was like, I don't want that.
- 14:24And the director said, if you want to do something on your own,
- 14:28write it yourself. But when you're on my stage, you focus on your character.
- 14:32And when he said write it yourself that stuck with me
- 14:35and i wrote my own film for me to star in because i was like i can play other
- 14:40characters and i was like i played high school basketball and college basketball
- 14:45and the coach said if you're not in it to win a championship don't do it so
- 14:50i attacked writing like i want to write to win an award you know.
- 14:56If I'm directing it, I want to direct to win an award. And if I'm going to act
- 15:01in it, I have to act to win an award.
- 15:04So out of two aspects, necessity and being thorough.
- 15:09Hollywood is like they're not at the time giving me a shot to play a dramatic
- 15:13act. So let me write it myself, you know, and start it myself.
- 15:18Yeah. I don't have all the equipment, you know, and I got to figure out how
- 15:23to shoot it. I figured out how to rent the equipment and work with certain people.
- 15:27And then when people saw my films, Hey, can you do my film? Can you produce
- 15:31my film? Can you direct it?
- 15:32And that's how my company came about. So if you need a company,
- 15:37yeah, facilitate you getting a retold from script to screen.
- 15:42You know, I can assist with writing. I can bring a whole team together to shoot
- 15:46it, edit it, and give you a finished product.
- 15:49And that's how the company came about and directing.
- 15:53If you have a passion And I'll use Jordan Even though Jordan had a coach He
- 16:00directed himself To be the best player he could be Ron, Kevin Garnett Jalen Hurst.
- 16:09McPatrick Mahomes Even though they have a
- 16:12coach They're still out there Doing their job And working hard to be good at
- 16:17it So I worked hard at being a good director And being a good actor so when
- 16:23I got my shot set up and I know what I want as a director switch now you're coming to that zone.
- 16:32And being able to do both stems from your passion do you want how bad do you want it and I wanted both,
- 16:42yeah and then what were you able to learn like being like owning your own production
- 16:48company what were you able to learn about the business side of movie making
- 16:51that you didn't really necessarily know just for being the actor.
- 16:56How hard it is to get money to make a dad-go-a-film.
- 17:00Yeah. You know, when you're an actor, you just get hired and you go to work.
- 17:05You don't want to... Man, when I tell you... Goodness.
- 17:12It is a difficult, tall task. Raising a fuck to make a film,
- 17:18and it's a difficult talk to ensure that that film makes money.
- 17:23I didn't know that.
- 17:28But it's just through prayer and supplication, you just stay diligent.
- 17:35If the world sees your will to succeed,
- 17:43Eventually, the world will bend to your will. Wow, I can see how bad he wants it.
- 17:49When you started your project, I'm sure there was a point where nobody saw how bad you want it. Yeah.
- 17:55Or how bad you want it. Mm-hmm.
- 17:58Yeah. You want this little thing. Yeah, buddy, good luck. You know? Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 18:04They saw, yo, he really wants this. Mm-hmm. What can I help?
- 18:08You know, how can I come on board? And next thing you know, you're sitting in
- 18:11Man's Chinese Theater watching your project.
- 18:14Yeah, man. That's why we had kind of put the, like at the end credits,
- 18:17we had put the, it was kind of unconventional, like in credits,
- 18:19we just put like just a slideshow of just all the work that we had put in to get to this point.
- 18:24Cause that was kind of like, that was kind of like, that was,
- 18:26that was, that was my movie within the movie.
- 18:28Cause it was a testament, like how you say it from, it started off with nobody
- 18:32believing in the project except for me and the writer.
- 18:35And then it ended with all these, these wonderful people just jumping off board
- 18:39and helping out. it. Yeah, it was such a beautiful thing. Yeah, yeah.
- 18:44Cool. And then before we do wrap this up, I don't think I mentioned this in
- 18:47your introduction, but you are, congratulations, you're an NAACP Award Image
- 18:52Award nominee, which is a huge thing for, it was Restraining Order,
- 18:56was that the name of the film?
- 18:58Yeah, Restraining Order. Yeah, yeah. How did that come about?
- 19:03Restraining Order was the first feature
- 19:04film that I wrote, and I was just dogmatic in beliefs of this film.
- 19:08And I shot a short of it and put the short on YouTube.
- 19:12And I would post a short and go on way back on MySpace.
- 19:19MySpace and then Facebook. And I was like, yo, here's the short version of this
- 19:23film. I'm seeking money to get a feature.
- 19:25And long story short, somebody on the internet only, they wrote and said, how much do you need?
- 19:31And I wrote back and I said, well, much you got.
- 19:36We kept that conversation going. They ultimately financed the film.
- 19:42And like I said, I strive to just, you know, go for it because we never have
- 19:46enough money to do anything. Oh, yeah.
- 19:49Go for it. And Robin, it's a day one about Robin Gibbons. Robin Gibbons ain't
- 19:53no joke when it comes to acting. And she's a good rabbit.
- 19:56Robin Gibbons came. She put it down. Sean Blakemore, Kiki Haynes,
- 20:00who's also starring in Tyler Perry's film, All the Queen's Men.
- 20:05Sean Blake, they all came together and we put together a good film.
- 20:09And thankfully, I was nominated. I didn't win. I lost to a kill in the beat.
- 20:15Hey, but you can't be mad at losing to Angela Bassett and Kiki Palmer.
- 20:20You're in the same category as them, man. You're in the same category as them.
- 20:24You can't be mad at that. I wasn't mad at all.
- 20:26So I wanted to play a character, which was a lawyer that I loved playing.
- 20:34Hollywood wouldn't give me a shot. So I wrote it.
- 20:37Let's do the best directing, best writing, best editing.
- 20:41And it came about from that.
- 20:44I know you, I know you just talk about playing the lawyer. I know you love playing
- 20:47lawyers. I got to go back and I got to go and finish watching the lawyer movie that you did.
- 20:53But I got to start. Like I said, it was on my queue of movies to watch.
- 20:57I like my life halfway through it. But yeah, I need to go back and finish watching it.
- 21:00Okay. Yeah, what was the name of that movie again?
- 21:04The lawyer movie that you played the lawyer? I played the Lawyer and Restraining
- 21:07Order, but the most current one is The Lying Truth.
- 21:10And that was the one, The Lying Truth. Yeah, that was what I was peeping at
- 21:14the other day. Yeah, and both of those were on Peacock.
- 21:17And shout out to the man Grant who was on The Gates.
- 21:20She's in The Lying Truth and my film, my romantic comedy called Because We're Done.
- 21:26Those are all through your production company, right?
- 21:29Yes. Awesome, man. Amazing. Amazing. So before we do get up at it,
- 21:33I know I'll let you get up at it and do some things.
- 21:35But like I said, before we was talking, you grew up in Philly.
- 21:41That's what you call it from. That's what you call it from. Philly.
- 21:44And one thing I realized up here in the Bay Area, because my friend Tim,
- 21:48he has a documentary that he's doing on this rapper that I passed away called The Jacket.
- 21:52And one of the rappers, Freeway from Philly, she did something on the documentary,
- 21:59just speaking about their relationship.
- 22:01And that kind of got me to realize just how really connected Philadelphia and
- 22:07the Bay Area is as far as with the arts and entertainment.
- 22:11There's so much rich history with both cities kind of having a pipeline to Hollywood.
- 22:18So like with you growing up in Philly, was there kind of like that pipeline?
- 22:23Or were you kind of like the person that established that pipeline?
- 22:26Like, hey, here's how you make it to Hollywood.
- 22:28No, that pipeline was kind of there. I mean, you know, some of the old years,
- 22:32Kevin Bacon from Philly, Bradley Cooper, you know, a lot of people don't know.
- 22:36And Freedom Theater is where I started at, which produced a lot of people,
- 22:41great actors in the business.
- 22:43Who really taught me
- 22:46to be respected as a
- 22:49craft didn't teach me to try to be
- 22:52a star or want to be a star like if you want to be famous go somewhere else
- 22:56but if you want to be respected as a good actor writer producer director this
- 23:00is the the starting point of how to be respected for the work that you do and
- 23:07that's what it you know and i was on the show eve also from philly.
- 23:12And Eve was just about the work.
- 23:15She wasn't trying to be famous. She wasn't trying to be a star or whatever. You know what I mean?
- 23:18She did. And she was like, what I do?
- 23:23Yeah, yeah. So I just want to be a really great actress right now. Yeah.
- 23:27Right. And that's the work that I feel that Philly put in me.
- 23:31And then watching Kevin Hart's work ethic is maniacal, you know?
- 23:36It's crazy. I don't know Jill Scott, but I've heard the stories.
- 23:40Her work ethic, maniacal. Yeah.
- 23:43Cooper kept his regular job.
- 23:47Even when he was doing big movies, he's like, I'm keeping my job until I'm sure I'm okay.
- 23:55You know? He just kept.
- 23:58So that's what filming us do. Work ethic. Yeah, we kind of had,
- 24:02like I said, that same pipeline up here with the barrier. Like ours, we got like the E.
- 24:08Before we got the Zidaya's. Tyler Perry's even come up here a couple of times.
- 24:13We got Paul Moody's been up here. You know, did great. It's a huge pipeline
- 24:15for like comedians and stuff like that too.
- 24:17So like I said, that's kind of like the symmetry that we have up here,
- 24:21the symmetry that we have.
- 24:22Right. That was just a little fun fact, but that was just a little fun fact
- 24:25that I wanted to point out here and stuff like that.
- 24:28But yeah, so before we do wrap up this episode of the Yeah, Buddy podcast,
- 24:31tell people where they can find you at, follow you at, and then like I said,
- 24:35tell them a little bit about Tyler Perry. She's the people where they can watch it at.
- 24:38So you can find me on all social media under my name, Reggie Gaskins.
- 24:42If it's on your screen, you can see how it's spelled out. That's everywhere.
- 24:46Shooting Tyler Perry, she the people. I'm loving the show.
- 24:49Terry J. Vaughn, I've known her 20 years. She is incredible.
- 24:52Her husband, Karan, they're good people.
- 24:54Tyler is a good, good man. Y'all get what you heard. He's a good dude.
- 24:59He's a business to run. Everybody run their business with a certain way of necessity
- 25:05and what they have to do to get their business to flourish.
- 25:10And look out for my new film called Commandment X. Commandment X.
- 25:16You play the what? I play an assassin. Oh, okay. Okay, cool.
- 25:21Yeah, we're definitely going to be looking to check it out for that one. So, yeah.
- 25:24Reggie Gaskins, y'all follow him where he said to. And then I said,
- 25:27Buddy Rami, catch me at YeahBuddyENT or go to my website, YeahBuddyENT.com for
- 25:32all my podcasts, stand-up and sketches.
- 25:34And then like I said if you was a returning friend thank you for tuning in if
- 25:37this is your first time I hope you enjoyed the show and I will catch you next
- 25:41time until then I'll be your man Buddy Rami I'll catch y'all next time thank
- 25:45you my man thank you thank you man.
- 25:49Music.